Buddhism1

Asian History Japan

BUDDHISM AS PROTECTOR OF THE NATION

Buddhism came to Japan in 552 A.D. (or 538), and contributed to the establishment of new national institutions and to the development of a new set of values. Its images, paintings and psalmody were beautiful and overpowering, bridging the distance between this world and the other world. They seemed to contain magical powers far more potent than those found in the liturgies of the indigenous Shinto cult.

The power of Buddhism was not overlooked by the ruling sovereigns. For example, after the Jinshin rebellion, Emperor Ternmu periodically decreed observance of Buddhist practices and payment of stipends to Buddhist monasteries (Document 6), obviously in an attempt to acquire merits and to achieve peace and harmony in his realm.

The most popular Buddhist sutra in Japan through the Nara period was the Sutra of the Golden Light (Document 7). It claimed that if the sutra were studied diligently, the Four Deva Kings would come to defend the country from calamities and from pestilence. The scripture was presumed to have the power of protecting the state, and could provide rules for administration. In 741 Emperor Shomu ordered that provincial monasteries and nunneries be established throughout the country, and provided sustenance households for them (Document 8). He was the same emperor who erected the statue of Roshana Buddha and built the Todaiji (temple). The new faith was well provided for, and in return "protected" the nation.

The idea that Buddhism could protect the nation was not created in Japan, but its origin can be traced to the Buddhism of the northern dynasties in China. Its application in Japan was both an act of faith and a shrewd political move. The monasteries and nunneries became the outposts for the influence of the imperial power. The imperial court which lacked physical power to gain allegiance from remote provinces, was able to bring the remote provinces securely under its fold through the moral suasion provided by the newly found faith.

There is no doubt that 1he acceptance of Buddhism before and during the Nara period was motivated mainly by a desire for greater material and political benefits and there was very little spiritual quest. However, at the same time, Buddhism was also able to serve as a "magic garden" to stir Japanese imagination for greater creativity, in architecture, sculpture, and literature.

6 Temmu's Propagation of Buddhism, 676-685 A.D. On this day [Autumn, eighth month, 17th day, fifth year of the reign of Temmu, or 676], the Emperor ordered all the privinces to release living things.

Winter, eleventh month, 20th day. Messengers were sent to all parts of the country to expound the Sutra of the Golden Light and the Ninno Sutra.

Summer, fifth month, 1st day [680]. By the imperial command, a gift of varying amount consisting of coarse silk, floss silk, raw silk, and cloth was made to each of the twenty-four temples located within the capital.

The expounding of the Sutra of the Golden Light was begun this day in the imperial palace and in the temples.

Winter, eleventh month, 12th day. The Empress was taken ill. The Emperor in praying for her recovery made a vow on her behalf, and began the erection of the Yakushiji. He ordered the ordination of one hundred persons to enter the Buddhist priesthood. As a result the Empress recovered and an amnesty was proclaimed.

Spring, third month, 27th day [685]. The Emperor decreed that every household in every province should erect a family Buddhist shrine in which to place an image of Buddha along with Buddhist sutras. These shrines were to be worshipped and offerings of food were to be made to them.

Sutra of the Golden Light of the Most Excellent Kings

At this time,the Four Deva Kings'?and others in unison replied to the most Gracious Lord: "Fitting indeed! Fitting indeed! If there are kings who propagate and study this precious Sutra of the Golden Light, we the Four Deva Kings shall come to protect them always, and be with them at all times. Whatever calamities may befall or curses cast upon them, we the Four Deva Kings shall extinguish them. Eradicating all fears and pestilence from among them, we shall increase their longevity, and let them share in the propitious happiness of heaven. Their hearts?desires shall be fulfilled and there shall be an outpouring of joy. We shall also make all soldiers in their countries to become strong...."

Buddha replied and said: "If a king studies this Sutra of the Golden Light and lets its knowledge spread throughout his country, there will be four kinds of benefits for his ministers and functionaries. The four are as follows: First, the ministers and functionaries will become friendly, respectful and loving toward each other. Second, they will become cherished ones in the heart of the king and will be revered by priests, brahmans, large countries and small countries alike. Third, they will respect the law, pay less attention to material wealth, and seek no worldly gains. And their good names shall be known everywhere and venerated by the people. Fourth, their lives shall be prolonged and become peaceful and joyful. These are then called the four benefits. If there is a country where this sutra is preached, priests and brahmans shall gain four kinds of victories. The four are as follows: First, they will not be in want of clothing, food, sleeping quarters, and medicine. Second, they will all gain peace of mind, and meditate and study the sutra. Third, they will find a good place of abode by the mountains and trees. Fourth, they will all become content according to their hearts?desires. These are then, called the four victories. If there is a country where this sutra is taught, all the people will become happy and prosperous. There will be no more pestilence, and all the business houses will gain many riches in their business transactions, and realize the dream of happiness and prosperity. These are called various merits and benefits.?At this point, the Four Deva Kings and a host of others asked Buddha: "Most Gracious Lord! These deep meanings contained in the sutra, if they exist, we must all know. There are thirty-seven types of laws to aid us in attaining wisdom given by the Tathagata (he who has thus come to lead the path, another name for Buddha) which have been in existence and have not been extinguished. If this sutra is extinguished or destroyed, then the Sacred Law may also be extinguished."

Buddha answered, saying: "Well spoken, well spoken, I therefore beseech all of you good men to have diligence in studying, upholding, meditating, and mastering every phrase, every sentence, every paragraph and every volume of this Sutra of the Golden Light. And for the sake of all sentient beings, preach and spread its teachings. If you do so, you shall have peace and joy in long nights, and acquire unlimited merits.?teaching is the superiority of the Lotus, and the doctrine of universal enlightenment for all sentient beings comes through very clearly.

The following selection, taken from Kern's translation from the original Sanskrit rendered in 1884, contains a parable of the burning house in which the superiority of the one vehicle over the three vehicles is shown. The use of parables in Buddhist sutras inspired the rise of morality tales, which often captured the life-style and sentiment of the common man. Two of the most representative compilations of such tales were the Konjaku Monogatarishu (Tales of the Old and New), and Uji Shui Monogatari (Tales from Uji) (Documents 7-9). And through these morality tales, Buddhist teachings found greater popular acceptance.

1 A Parable of the Burning House' Let us suppose the following case,

Sariputra.... There was a certain housekeeper, old, aged, decrepit, very advanced in years, rich, wealthy, opulent; he had a great house, high, spacious, built a long time ago and old, inhabited by some two, three, four, or five hundred living beings. The house had but one door, and a thatch; its terraces were tottering, the bases of its pillars rotten, the coverings and plaster of the walls loose. On a sudden the whole house was from every side put in conflagration by a mass of fire. Let us suppose that the man had many little boys, say five, or ten, or even twenty, and that he himself had come out of the house.

Now, Sariputra, that man, on seeing the house from every side wrapt in a blaze by a great mass of fire, got afraid, and... calls to the boys: "Come, my children; the house is burning with a mass of fire; come, lest you be burnt in the mass fire, and come to grief and disaster,?But the ignorant boys do not heed the words of him who is their well-wisher; they are not afraid... nor know the purport of the word burning? they run hither and thither, walk about, and repeatedly look at their father; all, because they are so ignorant.

...The man has a clear perception of their inclinations. Now these boys happen to have many and manifold toys to play with, pretty, nice, pleasant, dear, amusing, and precious. The man, knowing the disposition of the boys, says to them: "My children, your toys, which you are so loath to miss, which are so various and multifarious, [such as] bullock-carts, goat-carts, deer-carts, which are so pretty, nice, dear, and precious to you, have all been put by me outside the house-door for you to play with. Come, run out, leave the house; to each of you I shall give what he wants. Come soon, come out for the sake of these toys.?And the boys, on hearing the names mentioned of such playthings as they like and desire, quickly rush out from the burning house, with eager effort and great alacrity, one having no time to wait for the other, and pushing each other on with the cry of ?ho shall arrive first, the very first?"

The man, seeing that his children have safely and happily escaped, goes and sits down in the open air on the square of the village, his heart is filled with joy and delight. The boys go up to the place where their father is sitting, and say: Father, give us those toys to play with, those bullock-carts, and deer-carts.?Then, Sariputra, the man gives to his sons, who run swift as the wind, bullock-carts only, made of seven precious substances, provided with benches, hung with a multitude of small bells, lofty, adorned with rare and wonderful jewels, embellished with jewel wreaths, decorated with garlands of flowers, carpeted with cotton mattresses and woolen coverlets, covered with white cloth and silk, having on both sides rosy cushions, yoked with white, very fair and fleet bullocks, led by a multitude of men. To each of his children he gives several bullock-carts of one appearance and one kind, provided with flags, and swift as wind. That man does so, Sariputra, because being rich,... he rightly thinks: Why should I give these boys inferior carts, all these boys being my own children, dear and precious? I have such great vehicles, and ought to treat all the boys equally and without partiality. As I won many treasures and granaries, I could give such great vehicles to all beings, how much more then to my own children.?Meanwhile the boys are mounting the vehicles with feelings of astonishment and wonder. Now, Sariputra, what is thy opinion? Has that man made himself guilty of a falsehood by first holding out to his children the prospect of three vehicles and afterwards giving to each of them the greatest vehicles only, the most magnificent vehicle?

Sariputra answered: By no means, Lord. That is not sufficient to qualify the man as a speaker of falsehood, since it only was a skilful device to persuade his children to go out of the burning house and save their lives. Nay, besides recovering their very bodies, 0 Lord, they have received all those toys. If that man, 0 Lord, had given no single cart, even then he would not have been a speaker of falsehood, for he had previously been meditating on saving the little boys from a great mass of pain by some able device....

The venerable Sariputra having thus spoken, the Lord said to him: Very well, Sariputra, quite so; it is even as you say. So too, Sariputra, the Tathagata is free from all dangers, wholly exempt from all misfortune, despondency, calamity, pain, grief, the thick enveloping dark mists of ignorance. He, the Tathagata, endowed with Buddha-knowledge, forces, absence of hesitation, uncommon properties, and mighty by magical power, is the father of the world, who has reached the highest perfection in the knowledge of skilful means, who is most merciful, long-suffering, benevolent, compassionate. He appears in this triple world, which is like a house the roof and shelter whereof are decayed, [a house] burning by a mass of misery,....

Once born, he sees how the creatures are burnt, tormented, vexed, distressed by birth, old age, disease, death, grief, wailing, pain, melancholy, despondency; how for the sake of enjoyment, and prompted by sensual desires, they severally suffer various pains. In consequence both of what in this world they are seeking and what they have acquired, they will in a future state suffer various pains, in hell, in the brute creation, in the realm of Yamaraja (king of the dead); suffer such pains as poverty in the world of gods or men, union with hateful persons or things, and separation from the beloved ones. And while incessantly whirling in that mass of evils they are sporting, playing, diverting themselves; they do not fear, nor dread, nor are they seized with terror; they do not know, nor mind; they are not startled, do not try to escape, but are enjoying themselves in that triple world which is like unto a burning house, and run hither and thither. Though overwhelmed by that mass of evil, they do not conceive the idea that they must beware of it.

Under such circumstances, Sariputra, the Tathagata reflects thus: Verify, I am the father of these beings; I must save them from this mass of evil, and bestow on them the immense, inconceivable bliss of Buddha-know-ledge, wherewith they shall sport, play, and divert themselves, wherein they shall find their rest. If, in the conviction of my possessing the power of knowledge and magical faculties, I manifest to these beings the knowledge, forces, and absence of hesitation of the Tathagata, without availing myself of some device, these beings will not escape. For they are attached to the pleasures of the five senses, to worldly pleasures; they will not be freed from birth, old age, disease, death, grief, wailing, pain, melancholy, despondency, by which they are burnt, tormented, vexed, distressed. Unless they are forced to leave the triple world which is like a house the shelter and roof whereof is in a blaze, how are they to get acquainted with Buddha-knowledge?"

Now, Sariputra, even as that man with powerful arms, without using the strength of his arms, attracts his children out of the burning house by an able device, and afterwards gives them magnificent, great carts, so Sariputra, the Tathagata possessed of knowledge and freedom from all hesitation, without using them, in order to attract the creatures out of the triple world which is like a burning house with decayed roof and shelter, shows, by his knowledge of able devices, three vehicles, viz. the vehicle of the disciples, the vehicle of the pratyeka-buddhas, and the vehicle of the bodhisattvas. By means of these three vehicles he attracts the creatures and speaks to them thus: Do not delight in this triple world, which is like a burning house, in these miserable forms, sounds, odors, flavors, and contacts. For in delighting in this triple world you are burnt, heated, inflamed with the thirst inseparable from the pleasures of the five senses. Fly from this triple world; betake yourselves to the three vehicles.... I give you my pledge for it, that I shall give you these three vehicles, make an effort to run out of this triple world. And to attract them I say: These vehicles are grand, praised by the Aryas, and provided with most pleasant things; with such you are to sport, play, and divert yourselves in a noble manner. You will feel the great delight of the faculties, powers, constituents of Bodhi, meditations, the eight degrees of emancipation, self-concentration, and the results of self-concentration, and you will become greatly happy and cheerful."