The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and JapanNukariya, Kaiten
Religion
The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan
Nukariya, Kaiten
Buddhism -- China; Buddhism -- Japan; China -- Religion; Human beings -- Origin; Japan -- Religion; Zen Buddhism
After the Restoration of the Mei-ji (1867) the popularity of Zen
began to wane, and for some thirty years remained in inactivity; but
since the Russo-Japanese War its revival has taken place. And now it
is looked upon as an ideal faith, both for a nation full of hope and
energy, and for a person who has to fight his own way in the strife
of life. Bushido, or the code of chivalry, should be observed not
only by the soldier in the battle-field, but by every citizen in the
struggle for existence. If a person be a person and not a beast,
then he must be a Samurai-brave, generous, upright, faithful, and
manly, full of self-respect and self-confidence, at the same time
full of the spirit of self-sacrifice. We can find an incarnation of
Bushido in the late General Nogi, the hero of Port Arthur, who, after
the sacrifice of his two sons for the country in the Russo-Japanese
War, gave up his own and his wife's life for the sake of the deceased
Emperor. He died not in vain, as some might think, because his
simplicity, uprightness, loyalty, bravery, self-control, and
self-sacrifice, all combined in his last act, surely inspire the
rising generation with the spirit of the Samurai to give birth to
hundreds of Nogis. Now let us see in the following chapters what Zen
so closely connected with Bushido teaches us.
CHAPTER III
THE UNIVERSE IS THE SCRIPTURE[FN#107] OF ZEN
1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper.
[FN#107] Zen is not based on any particular sutra, either of
Mahayana or of Hinayana. There are twofold Tripitakas (or the three
collections of the Buddhist scriptures)-namely, the
Mahayana-tripitaka and the Hinayana-tripitaka. The former are the
basis of the Mahayana, or the higher and reformed Buddhism, full of
profound metaphysical reasonings; while the latter form that of the
Hinayana, or the lower and early Buddhism, which is simple and
ethical teaching. These twofold Tripitakas are as follows:
THE MAHAYANA-TRIPITAKA.
The Sutra Pitaka.-The Saddharma-pundarika-sutra,
Samdhi-nirmocana-sutra, Avatamsaka-sutra, Prajnyaparamita-sutra,
Amitayus-sutra, Mahaparinirvana-sutra, etc.
The Vinaya Pitaka.--Brahmajala-sutra, Bodhisattva-caryanirdeca, etc.
The Abhidharma Pitaka.--Mahaprajnyaparamita-sutra,
Mahayana-craddhotpada-castra, Madhyamaka-castra, Yogacarya
bhumi-castra, etc.
THE HINAYANA-TRIPITAKA.
The Sutra Pitaka.--Dirghagama, Ekottaragama, Madhyamagama,
Samyuktagama, etc.
The Vinaya Pitaka.--Dharmagupta-vinaya, Mahasamghika-vinaya,
Sarvastivada-vinaya, etc.
The Abhidharma Pitaka.--Dharma-skandha-pada, Samgiti-paryaya-pada,
Jnyanaprasthana-castra, Abhidharma-kosa-castra, etc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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