「文明の創造、宗教篇」昭和27(1952)年

元来仏教は、小乗が本来である事は、以前私はかいた事があるが、小乗である仏教の中にも、大乗と小乗のある事を知っておかねばならないのである。之を判り易く言えば、小乗は自力本位であり、大乗は他力本位であると思えばいい。そうして仏教中禅宗と日蓮宗は小乗であって、其他は悉く大乗である事で、茲では先ず小乗から解説してみるが、之は自力であるから、どこ迄も難行苦行を修行の第一義としている。というのは此考え方は、其根本が姿羅門宗から出ている為である。殊に彼の禅宗に至っては、最も此行り方が濃厚に表われている。

曩にも詳しく説いた如く、釈尊によって主唱された仏教精神は、婆羅門式難行苦行は誤りであるとし、それに代るに経文を唱える事によって、悟りを得るという言わば経文宗教ともいうべきもので、或期間印度全体を風擁した事は人の知る処であるが、其勢いに対してもそれに従う事なく、依然として婆羅門宗を奉ずる一団があった。勿論信念は頗る固く、相変らず禁欲的難行苦行の道を歩み続けて来たのは勿論で、其信仰の的としては彼の達磨であった。そうして達磨思想の真髄としては、苦行の外に学問であって、此両道によって悟道に入るべく、錬磨研鑽したのである。

処が釈尊入滅後数十年を経てから、婆羅門宗の行者の中に、傑出した一人物が現われた。之が彼の有名な維摩居士である。此維摩こそ禅宗の開祖であって、此本流が彼の臨済禅である。処が彼は業成るや、印度を捨てて支郡内地に移り、布教の為各地を巡跡し、最後に至って有名な五台山に登って道場を開き、道教の祖となったのである。其様な訳であるから本当からいえば、禅宗は仏教から出たものではなく、日本に入ってから仏教化したものであろうし、そうしなければ布教上にも困難があったからでもあろう。

此意味に於て禅宗の寺院も修行法も、僧侶の日常生活等も他宗とは大いに異っているにみても分るのである。彼の禅宗のみに行われる坐禅の行も、 開祖の達磨の修行に則ったものであるのは言う迄もない。又問答を修行の第一義としているが、之も他の仏教とは異つたもので、学問から生れたからに違いない。それらに就ても肯かれる事は、支那日本に於ける古来からの禅僧である。彼等の中、学高き者は漢詩の如きものを作るが、之には禅の悟りを含めたような、言わば漢詩禅ともいうべき詩文を作り、旺んに書いたらしい。

今日之等の書や大字など相当残っているが、好事家から非常に珍重され、価格も高いが、静かに観ると実に脱俗的匂いは人の心に迫り、よく筆者の人格を表わしていて、実に頭の下る思いがする。其中でも有名な彼の『碧巌録』の作者圓悟禅師の如きは支那随一とされている。

日本に於ける禅宗の開祖は、京都大徳寺の開山大燈国師であるが、此人も当時から傑出した僧で、其文といい書体といい、先ず日本一と言ってよかろう。次は鎌倉円覚寺の開祖無学禅師であるが、私は此人の書は殊に好きである。此様に見て来ると、禅宗の高僧は僧侶よりも寧ろ宗教学者といった方がいい位である。そうして今日日本の禅宗は曹洞宗、臨済宗、黄檗宗の三派となっているが、黄檗宗は微々たるもので、之は支那の方が旺んだという事である。禅宗の方は此位にしておいて、次は日蓮宗をかいてみよう。

日蓮宗は勿論小乗仏教であって、難行苦行による自力本位であるから、他宗の如く釈迦や阿弥陀には余り重きを措（お）かないようで、只一途に開祖日蓮上人を中心に拝み、苦行によって自力を強めようと修行するのは人のよく知る処である。即ち之等によってみると此宗は釈尊の仏教を通り越して、婆羅門の流れを汲んだものといってもいい位である。上人が｢吾は法華経の行者なり｣と言われたが、此行者の言葉も婆羅門から出ているのである。といって上人は釈尊の経文にも大いに重きを置いている。法華経二十人品を同宗の基礎とした事によってみても分るが、言わば上人は精神は姿羅門に従い、形体は釈尊に学んだといってもよかろう。そうして此宗は最も霊憑りを奨励し、修行の第一義としているが、之も仏教的ではなく婆羅門的である。

Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism

Creation of Civilization, written by Mokichi Okada in 1952

I have mentioned before that original Buddhism is called Theravada Buddhism. Even in Theravada Buddhism, there are Mahayana and Theravada schools. To put it simply, you just think that the believers of Theravada Buddhism train themselves, whereas those of Mahayana Buddhism rely on others. In Japan, the Zen and Nichiren sect are included in Theravada Buddhism and all the other sects are in Mahayana Buddhism. First, I explain what Theravada Buddhism is. Since the believers of Theravada Buddhism train themselves, they persistently put hard penance first. This idea originally comes from Brahminism. In particular, it deeply reflects upon Zen Buddhism.

As I previously explained in detail, according to the spirit of Buddhism that Sakyamuni advocated, it is wrong to perform penance as the believers of Brahminism do. Instead of such practice, he told that everyone would attain enlightenment by chanting Sutras. Buddhism should be, so to speak, the religion for Sutra. It is a well-known fact that Buddhism spread all over India for a certain period. However, there was a group that didn’t follow that movement but was still devoted to Brahminism. They had very strong beliefs and, of course, went on performing puritanical penance. Their object of faith was Bodhidharma. The essence of his thought was a study as well as penance. The believers trained hard in both methods to reach enlightenment.

Decades after the death of Sakyamuni, an outstanding person appeared out of Brahman ascetics. He was a famous Vimalakirti and the founder of Zen Buddhism. Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism is its mainstream. When he achieved his goal, he left India and moved to an inland area of China. He travelled from place to place for the propagation. He finally climbed up the famous Mt. Godai, opened a training hall and became the founder of Taoism. For this reason, Zen Buddhism actually does not come from Buddhism. It became Buddhism after it arrived in Japan. If it had not done so, it would have been difficult to propagate its teachings. In this sense, it is clear that the temples, the way of training and the monk’s daily life of Zen Buddhism are different from those of other Buddhist sects. Needless to say, its own unique practice of Zen meditation follows the training of the founder Bodhidharma. In addition, Zen monks also regard Zen dialogue as their principal training. That is also unique to Zen Buddhism and must be derived from the study, which is convinced by what Chinese and Japanese Zen monks did since ancient times. Among them, highly trained monks composed something like poems in Chinese. They include their state of enlightenment and could be said to be Zen poems. They frequently composed and wrote such poems. Their writings and big calligraphies have remained. They are prised by dilettanti and sold at a high price. When appreciating them calmly, I am so impressed with their unworldly atmosphere. They really express their own dispositions and I cannot help but show respect for them. Among them, the famous Zen master Yuan-wu, who wrote “Blue Cliff Record,” is regarded to be the best in China.

In Japan, Daito-Kokushi is the founder of Zen Buddhism who opened the Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto. He was also an outstanding monk even during his lifetime. His writings and the shape of his calligraphies would be the best in Japan. The next is Mugaku Zen master who was the founder of Enkakuji Temple in Kamakura. I especially love his writings. From these points of view, high trained Zen masters would be called religious scholars rather than Zen monks. In Japan, there are three Zen sects today; Soto, Rinzai and Obaku. Obaku sect has a small number of believers in Japan. It is much popular in China than in Japan. Here I conclude this subject and describe the Nichiren sect next.

As I mentioned, the Nichiren sect belongs to Theravada Buddhism. The believers train themselves by performing penance. Unlike other Buddhist sects, they wouldn’t highly regard Sakyamuni and Amitabha as important. It is a well-known fact that the believers single-mindedly pray for the founder Nichiren as the main object and try to gain their own strength by performing penance. From these points of view, it would be said that this sect pass through Buddhism and become descended from Brahminism. Nichiren said, “I am an ascetic for Lotus Sutras.” The word “ascetic” is derived from Brahminism. On the other hand, he highly regarded Sutras made by Sakyamuni as important. It is clear from the fact that his teachings were based on “Twenty-eight Chapters of Lotus Sutra.” In other words, it would be said that he spiritually relied on  Brahminism and learnt from Sakyamuni as his teaching style. This sect most encourages spirit possession and puts it first as its training. This fact also shows it belongs to Brahminism rather than Buddhism.

Translated by N.H.

You can read the other teachings in English on Johrei.