Takamaro Shigaraki - Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path: A Life of Awakening

HEART OF THE SHIN BUDDHIST PATH

The frontispiece consists of the calligraphy and artwork of Takamaro Shigaraki. The calligraphy is of a poem, which states,

Shibugaki no shibu ga sono mama amami kana.

(Ah! How very sweet!
Is the bitterness of the
Bitter Persimmon.)

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2013 Takamaro Shigaraki; English translation 2013 David Matsumoto

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shigaraki, Takamaro, 1926

[Shinshu no taii. English]

Heart of the Shin Buddhist path : a life of awakening / Takamaro Shigaraki ; translated by David Matsumoto.

pages cm

The present text developed out of the notes of lectures that Dr. Shigaraki delivered at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in 1999. Those notes were originally published in Japanese as Shinshu no taii [The Essence of Shin Buddhism] in 2000.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-61429-049-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Shin (Sect)Doctrines. I. Shigaraki, Takamaro, 1926 Shinshu no taii. Translation of: II. Title.

BQ8718.3.S4513 2013

294.3926dc23

2012042378

ISBN 9781614290490; eBook ISBN 9781614290605

17 16 15 14 13

5 4 3 2 1

Cover and interior design by Gopa&Ted2. Set in Garamond Premier Pro 11.4/15.2.

Wisdom Publications books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Printed in the United States of America.

This book was produced with environmental mindfulness. We have elected to print this title on 30% PCW recycled paper. As a result, we have saved the following resources: 10 trees, 4 million BTUs of energy, 818 lbs. of greenhouse gases, 4,439 gallons of water, and 297 lbs. of solid waste. For more information, please visit our website, www.wisdompubs.org. This paper is also FSC certified. For more information, please visit www.fscus.org.

Table of Contents

IN SEPTEMBER 1999, I was offered the opportunity to speak about the fundamental principles of Shin Buddhism during three days of intensive lectures at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Most of those in attendance had some prior connection with Buddhism or Shin Buddhism. However, we were also joined by many people from various other religious traditions. I was not certain whether my thoughts would be sufficiently conveyed at such a venuebut I was happy to receive favorable comments from the attendees and was grateful that my own hopes seemed to have been attained. This small volume arose out of my notes for those lectures, with a few minor revisions.

Through the lectures I came to realize that if the teaching of Shin Buddhism is to gain general acceptance in the world of the future, more than anything else, it must be clearly grounded in Eastern logic and particularly in the principles of Mahayana Buddhism.

As long as Shin Buddhism remains stuck as the abstract and sectarian doctrine of the Shin Buddhist religious institutions, it cannot claim to represent the true Buddhist teaching. Further, it will not be accepted by the people of the world as a legitimate alternative to Christianity, Islam, or other religions. And, certainly, it will never be studied with sufficient interest. Therefore, I believe that the traditional doctrine of Shin Buddhism must be reexamined, and in its place a new teaching must be formulated. That new approach must offer an immediate return to the fundamental principles of Mahayana Buddhism and engage directly the basic intentions of Shinran, the founder of Shin Buddhism. It must also be capable of responding to the many and various problems that the people of the world will come to face in this new century.

My understanding of Shin Buddhism, which I have presented here, has been born of this aspiration. I am afraid, however, that my thoughts are truly wanting, not wholly fulfilling this aspiration. For their completion I can only look forward in anticipation to the young scholars who will carry on these efforts after me. I sincerely hope that Shin Buddhist studies of the future will continue to point in this direction and be addressed with even more diligence and thoroughness.

These lectures took place as part of the Yehan Numata Lectures, and I feel profound gratitude for the late Mr. Numatas abiding benevolence in support of academic endeavors. In addition, all of the planning and preparations for these lectures was done through the efforts of David Matsumoto of the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California, and Professor Mitsuya Dake of the Department of Intercultural Communication of Rykoku University in Kyoto, Japan. I would like to express my deep gratitude to them.

The publication of this text has come about through the good offices of President Shichihei Nishimura and Mr. Kenyu Ikeda of Hzkan Publications in Kyoto. To them I also offer my sincere appreciation.

If this small volume may in some way prove helpful in allowing the teachings of Shin Buddhism and Amida Buddha to spread to the people of Japan and the world, I will be most gratified.

Takamaro Shigaraki

Kyoto, Japan

WITH THIS TEXT, Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path: A Life of Awakening, an important voice rejoins an ongoing discussion in the West concerning Shin Buddhist thought and practice. Takamaro Shigaraki begins this work with the simple declaration that Shin Buddhism is a path for our attainment of buddhahood. To some people familiar with Mahayana Buddhism this statement might appear to be an obvious one, requiring no explanation or elaboration. For Dr. Shigaraki, however, it represents an essential focal point, which when carefully examined will allow the heart and value of the Shin Buddhist teaching to become fully realized in a human life.

Shin Buddhism (Jdo Shinsh in Japanese) is a school of Pure Land Buddhism founded by Shinran (11731262) in Kamakura-era Japan. In the centuries since its inception, it has become a major school of Buddhism in Japan in terms of the number of its followers, the richness of its tradition, the highly organized structure of its institutions, and its well-developed liturgy and cultural ethos. In the Hongwanji and tani branches sectarian scholarship and contemporary studies of Shin Buddhism operate in parallel with one another. The classic studies of the former branch have been introduced in small part in the West, with much of it reflecting the traditional approaches adopted in orthodox thought.