A New Worldview from the Standpoint of Buddhism: A Critique of Modern Reason

Is Buddhism an Intellectual Religion?

Buddhism is generally considered to be an intellectual and rational religion. It may be said to have a pessimistic view of life as the Buddha taught that human life was full of suffering and misery; however, instead of lamenting this fact, the Buddha rather encouraged reflection on the human situation in order to find a way to transcend it by means of nonemotional and intellectual mentation. The “four noble truths” (āryasatya) express the most fundamental Buddhist truths. They are:

1. 1. The nature of “suffering” (duḥkha): Human life is full of suffering. The four main sources of suffering are: birth, aging, illness, and death. It is a fact that nobody can escape from these four types of suffering.

2. 2. The “origin of suffering” (samudaya): One is able to ascertain the reason why such suffering occurs by means of contemplating the principle of dependent origination. The representative way of explaining the origin of suffering is by the principle of the “twelve links of dependent origination” (dvādaśa astanga pratītyasamutpāda). The twelve links begin with ignorance and end with the suffering of aging and death. The fundamental source of suffering is ignorance of the truth of dependent origination. Through this process of intellectual reflection we arrive at the true source of suffering.

3. 3. The “cessation of suffering” (nirodha): If we trace the twelve links of dependent origination in a reverse way, the cessation of ignorance will result in the cessation of the suffering of aging and death. The purpose of Buddhist practice is to remove ignorance and attain wisdom. Wisdom is the state of the unclouded and calm mind that is not moved by feeling, emotion, or passion.

4. 4. The “path” (mārga) leading to the cessation of suffering: This refers to the noble “eightfold path” (āryâṣṭâṅgika-mārga). It begins with right view and ends with right meditation. The eightfold path is the way to attain wisdom.

As seen above, the Buddha’s teaching appears very rational and theoretical. Feeling, emotion, and passion are perceived as negative and are to be transcended. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the basic teaching is the same. The ultimate goal is the attainment of “perfect wisdom” (prajñā pāramitā). Perfect wisdom is to arrive at the truth of Emptiness. Nāgārjuna (c. 2nd cent.) demonstrated the “emptiness” (śunyatā) of this world in a very logical manner. In a general sense it can be said that the Buddhist philosophy that developed in India was analytical and logical in nature. In this way, Buddhism is thought to be a rational religion, and thus might be better referred to as a “philosophy” rather than a “religion.”

Thus far, I have described a modern understanding of Buddhism that is still widespread today. In truth, it is questionable whether Buddhism is as rational as it is generally considered to be. The idea that ignorance is the ultimate cause of suffering may be an intellectual assertion, but it contains unconscious and irrational elements as well. Therefore, one cannot attain wisdom only by means of intellectual understanding. Perfect wisdom includes intellectual elements but in the end must transcend them. Modern interpretations of Buddhism followed in this intellectual approach, and its many interpreters in Japan such as WATSUJI Tetsurō和辻哲郎 (1889-1960) and NAKAMURA Hajime中村元 (1912-1999) attempted to demonstrate that Buddhism was in accord with the modern worldview. However, it is now necessary to reexamine this rationalistic interpretation of Buddhism. We need to recognize the irrational elements of the human mind at this time when the myth of humanity’s intellectual development has become very doubtful.

In this paper, I am going to approach Buddhism in a different way from what is seen in “standard” Buddhist scholarship. That is, I will not rely on an analytical and theoretical interpretation of Buddhist texts, but rather will investigate the role of funeral Buddhism within Japanese history. It is hoped that by so doing, the importance of the relationship with the dead will thereby make it possible to reevaluate...