Critical Buddhism (Japanese: 批判仏教, hihan bukkyō) was a trend in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese Buddhist scholarship, associated primarily with the works of
Hakamaya Noriaki (袴谷憲昭) and
Matsumoto Shirō (松本史朗).
Hakamaya stated that "'
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
is
criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...
' or that 'only that which is critical is Buddhism.'"
He contrasted it with what he called ''Topical Buddhism'', in comparison to the concepts of
critical philosophy
Critical philosophy () is a movement inaugurated by Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). It is dedicated to the self-examination of reason with the aim of exposing its inherent limitations, that is, to defining the possibilities of knowledge as a prere ...
and topical
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
.
According to
Lin Chen-kuo, Hakamaya's view is that "Critical Buddhism sees methodical, rational critique as belonging to the very foundations of
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
itself, while 'Topical Buddhism' emphasizes the priority of rhetoric over logical thinking, of
ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...
over
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
."
Critical Buddhism targeted specifically certain concepts prevalent in Japanese Mahayana Buddhism and rejected them as being non-buddhist.
For example, Matsumoto Shirō and Hakamaya Noriaki rejected the doctrine of
Tathagatagarbha
In Buddhist philosophy and soteriology, Buddha-nature ( Chinese: , Japanese: , , Sanskrit: ) is the innate potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all sentient beings already have a pure Buddha-essence within ...
, which according to their view was at odds with the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of
dependent origination
A dependant (US spelling: dependent) is a person who relies on another as a primary source of income and usually assistance with activities of daily living. A common-law spouse who is financially supported by their partner may also be included ...
.
Critical Buddhism became known to Western scholarship due to a panel discussion held at the American Academy of Religion's 1993 meeting in Washington, DC with the title "Critical Buddhism: Issues and Responses to a New Methodological Movement", which led to an English collection of essays.
The movement is seen as having peaked in 1997 and having declined by 2001.
See also
*
Koshin
*
Buddhist ethics
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on the Enlightenment in Buddhism, enlightened perspective of the Buddha. In Buddhism, ethics or morality are understood by the term ''śīla'' () or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' is one of three sections o ...
*
Buddhist logic
Buddhist logico-epistemology is a term used in Western scholarship to describe Buddhism, Buddhist systems of ' (Epistemology, epistemic tool, valid cognition) and ' (reasoning, logic).
While the term may refer to various Buddhist systems and vi ...
*
Critical theory
Critical theory is a social, historical, and political school of thought and philosophical perspective which centers on analyzing and challenging systemic power relations in society, arguing that knowledge, truth, and social structures are ...
*
Criticism of Buddhism#Buddhist self-criticism
*
Four Noble Truths
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (; ; "The Four Arya (Buddhism), arya satya") are "the truths of the noble one (the Buddha)," a statement of how things really are (Three marks of existence, the three marks of existence) when they are seen co ...
*
Hongaku
The moon reflected in water is a popular simile for enlightenment used by Dōgen in the '' East Asian Buddhist doctrine often translated as "inherent", "innate", "intrinsic" or "original" enlightenment in Buddhism">awakeness.
This doctrine hold ...
References
Further reading
* Stone, Jacqueline (1999)
"Some Reflections on Critical Buddhism" Review: Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson, Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 26 (1-2), 159-188
*
__NOTOC__
Buddhism in Japan
{{Japan-reli-stub