Document Type
Contribution to Book
Source Publication
Introduction to Buddhist East Asia
Link to Published Version
https://sunypress.edu/Books/I/Introduction-to-Buddhist-East-Asia
Publication Date
Spring 3-1-2023
Editor
Robert H. Scott and James McRae
Publisher
State University of New York Press
City
Albany, New York
Series
Suny Series in Asian Studies Development
ISBN
9781438492414
First Page
281
Last Page
304
Department
Comparative Humanities
Description
This chapter introduces the central arguments of Critical Buddhism as a lens by which to view the course of “modern” Buddhism in Japan, particularly as it relates to politics. It traces philosophical and political precedents for Critical Buddhism in the context of Japanese modernity, by focusing on several progressive Buddhist figures movements from mid-Meiji through early Shōwa, including the New Buddhist Fellowship and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism. I argue that previous attempts to centralize criticism as a basic Buddhist precept were unsuccessful in part do to an inability to distinguish the Buddhistic components of their thought and practice, but that the inspiration and central insights of Critical Buddhism and its progressive precedents remain relevant in the twenty-first century.
Recommended Citation
Shields, James Mark, "A Century of Critical Buddhism in Japan" (2023). Faculty Contributions to Books. 261.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/261
Included in
Asian History Commons, Buddhist Studies Commons, Comparative Philosophy Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Religion Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Political History Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons