Blog Entry #6 : Telling the Story of Buddhism in Japan

Rinzai and Soto Buddhism, which would focus
on Zen 

    In chapter 19 entitled "Zen Buddhism", Bresnan talks about how Buddhism had transported to Japan where it had flourish into Zen-oriented Buddhism. A Tendai scholar-monk named Myoan Eisai would attempt to reform and integrate Buddhism into his own called "school of the Buddha mind" although he claimed to still be a Tendai monk (Bresnan 490). 

    This would create two of the most popular Zen Buddhism practiced in Japan known as Rinzai and Soto Buddhism (Bresnan 491). Rinzai Buddhism would seem to be favored by the ruling class and the government while Soto Buddhism catered to the common and working class people. 

The Rinzai Zen Sangha

The first part of question 4 asks, "Why do you suppose that the samurai aristocracy in Japan took so fervently to Rinzai Buddhism?".

    Rinzai Buddhism was favored by the government and the emperor's court because of this it was evident that it would appeal to the ruling class as well (Bresnan 491). The ruling class in Japan during this time was a warrior nobility, the samurai who would use the Rinzai Monasteries "which men trained from time to time in the disciplines of  Zen" (Bresnan 492). 

    The samurai class would take liking to the teachings of Rinzai Buddhism "with its emphasis on simple virtues, self-discipline and self-reliance" as it would correlate with the tradition of the samurai known as "bushido" (Bresnan 492).

 Bushido being the "way of the warrior" would emphasize basic virtues such as protection of the weak and respect for traditional institutions. 

The second part of question 4 asks, "For that matter, why did they not feel just as fervent about Soto?".

The samurai class would not feel fervent about Soto because as it also catered to the working class Soto Buddhism seemed to have been ridiculed by how much it emphasized meditation (or known as zazen). Although Rinzai Buddhism also focused on zazen, it would become the main focus for Soto Buddhism. 

    Rinzai Buddhism would practice a stylized manner of koan contemplation which are questions that defies rational answers believed to help achieve enlightenment. Rinzai Buddhism which took a dynamic and energetic approach to zen caught the attention of the samurai ruling class compared to Soto Buddhism which took more of a contemplative approach (Bresnan 497). 

    

Works Cited 

Bresnan, Patrick. Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. 

O'Brien, Barbara. “What Is Linji Chan Buddhism?” Learn Religions, Learn Religions, 8 Mar. 2017, https://www.learnreligions.com/linji-chan-rinzai-zen-buddhism-449941.