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snarf137's review against another edition
Full disclosure: I am not a Buddhist, but am interested in comparitive religion and the history of religions. This book assumes an understanding of Japanese history and Buddhist concepts that I was sorely lacking. Regardless, and despite strings of passages that required intensive Wikapedia-ing to understand, I feel like I have walked away with a much clearer picture of Buddhism's history in Japan.
What struck me in particular was the varieties of Buddhism that have co-existed in Japan throughout its various eras, where ideas of "orthodox" understanding were less rigid. That is not to say that certain ideas and exegesis did not tend to dominate Japanese Buddhist thought. From what I can tell, for example, the Lotus Sutra in particular seems to have played an outsized influence on Japanese Buddhist spirituality, scholarship, and activity.
Similarly to many religious traditions, there was a rhythm to developments within Japanese Buddhism. Older lineages were deemed by reformers to be corrupted and/or diluted, leading to regular splintering and new perspectives, beginning with Tendai/Shingon consolidations, the plethora of new traditions in the Kamakura period (Nichiren Buddhism), and the flurry of intellectual activity during the Tokugawa and Modern periods. This was further complicated by regular injections of new ideas from the mainland, especially China.
The main line of conflict appears to have been between schools/sects jostling for patronage, the accumulation of esoteric ritual knowledge (which imperial and feudal powers desired for prestige, success, and virtue), tensions between hermit-ascetics/preachers and formal temple institutions, and in later eras the invention of distinct Buddhist-Shinto rivalries. The books also pays attention to women's role in Japanese Buddhism (the first Japanese monastics in the 6th century were women!) , as well as modern "new religions" in which Nicheren Buddhist traditions seem to have thrived.
What struck me in particular was the varieties of Buddhism that have co-existed in Japan throughout its various eras, where ideas of "orthodox" understanding were less rigid. That is not to say that certain ideas and exegesis did not tend to dominate Japanese Buddhist thought. From what I can tell, for example, the Lotus Sutra in particular seems to have played an outsized influence on Japanese Buddhist spirituality, scholarship, and activity.
Similarly to many religious traditions, there was a rhythm to developments within Japanese Buddhism. Older lineages were deemed by reformers to be corrupted and/or diluted, leading to regular splintering and new perspectives, beginning with Tendai/Shingon consolidations, the plethora of new traditions in the Kamakura period (Nichiren Buddhism), and the flurry of intellectual activity during the Tokugawa and Modern periods. This was further complicated by regular injections of new ideas from the mainland, especially China.
The main line of conflict appears to have been between schools/sects jostling for patronage, the accumulation of esoteric ritual knowledge (which imperial and feudal powers desired for prestige, success, and virtue), tensions between hermit-ascetics/preachers and formal temple institutions, and in later eras the invention of distinct Buddhist-Shinto rivalries. The books also pays attention to women's role in Japanese Buddhism (the first Japanese monastics in the 6th century were women!) , as well as modern "new religions" in which Nicheren Buddhist traditions seem to have thrived.
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