The use of locks and keys is probably not thought to be a characteristic of monasticism. In fact, such usage has rarely received much attention at all, and this makes what can be seen in a Buddhist Monastic Code (Vinaya) appear to be unusual, even when it is not. To demonstrate this, references to the use of locks and keys in one Buddhist Monastic Code will be surveyed, and their various functions and roles noted. Then a brief sketch will be presented of their strikingly similar roles and functions in other monasticisms, which points to them being an integral part of what monasteries everywhere typically were as wealthy propertied institutions and how they worked on a daily basis.
This articles examines the response of the Japanese Zen master Shaku S & omacr;en (sic) (1860-1919) to his experience of British colonialism on Sri Lanka from the point of view of a global history of religions. Previous scholarship has situated S & omacr;en in the context of the Zen school and more generally has conceptualized the formation of modern Japanese Buddhism in the framework of "from the West to the rest" theories of modernization. The present article instead builds on recent work recovering the agency of Asian actors. It demonstrates that S & omacr;en was deeply indebted to the Sri Lankan Christian intellectual James d'Alwis (1823-78), who mediated Western influences on S & omacr;en and conditioned his understanding of Buddhism's potential as an anticolonial force. The article consequently shows S & omacr;en's thinking as arising from an entanglement of modern Japanese Buddhist politics, Western discourses on Buddhism, and, crucially, Sri Lankan Buddhist and Christian perspectives. It concludes by tracing the legacies of S & omacr;en's politics, especially his conception of a metaphysically grounded social equality, to explicitly totalitarian or autocratic understandings of the Japanese polity in the first half of the twentieth century.
This article examines how, in the late nineteenth century, Japanese Buddhists reinterpreted the European Reformation and repurposed it as a tool for their own renewal. While "Reformations East and West"-a 1911 short essay by historian Hara Katsur & omacr; (1871-1924) that systematically compared German Protestantism and Japanese Buddhism-is often cited as the foundational work in this discourse, earlier examples abound. Although sixteenth-century European missionaries had noted similarities between Martin Luther's movement and certain local religious groups, by the mid-nineteenth century, it was Japanese Buddhists themselves who began emphasizing these parallels. Unlike early modern Catholic priests, who viewed Protestantism as a dangerous heresy, these Buddhists framed it as a positive and progressive force. Focusing on the mid-to-late 1880s, this article traces the genealogy of this association, examining how Japanese Buddhists appropriated the image of Luther and the trope of "reformation" to advance their own agendas. From early figures like Kitabatake D & omacr;ry & umacr; (1820-1907) and Mizutani Jinkai (1836-1896) to intellectuals such as Inoue Enry & omacr; (1858-1919), Takahashi Gor & omacr; (1856-1935), and Nakanishi Ushir & omacr; (1859-1930), Japanese thinkers integrated various strands of social evolutionism into their discourse, asserting that religion must adapt to the times. This trend ultimately culminated in the popularization of the idea of a "New Buddhism," characterized by an emphasis on progress, openness to lay participation, and individual faith. In short, this study explores how Japanese Buddhists' engagement with the European Reformation helped shape the trajectory of modern Buddhism during the Meiji period and beyond.
Religion is fundamentally about belonging. This is how it is framed within the two dimensions, personal/individual and social, that dominate in definitions of religion: an experience of subjective belonging/identity at the individual level, and placement within particular social, institutional, and historical formations designated by the term "tradition." Yet, just as belonging is experienced differentially across a city, by residents of different kinds and in different social, physical, and cultural locations, so too may it be with religion, where belonging may not be in fact seamless, undifferentiated, and singular across those who comprise a religious social body. We can see this as a kind of ambivalence, a constitutive and productive internal tension. This is not, however, something generally accounted for in our definitions of religions. What are the implications of seeing this kind of ambivalence in belonging as fundamental to the "religious," as a phenomenon? If belonging itself can be multiform and variable in degree, cannot multiple forms of belonging coexist, without undermining the belonging that seems to define the "religious"? And, if we allow for differential experiences/degrees of belonging, what does that mean for our understanding of religious differences between religions, as well as within them? How do we address the articulation of commonality across religions-which troubles our understanding of religious belonging by not adhering to religious boundaries-alongside difference? This essay explores these issues in the context of early modern South Asian religions, with attention to attendant placements in urban and semi-urban landscapes that inform their articulation, to argue that the effort to name and value commonality is both intellectually and ethically imperative in our current moment.
This article addresses the formation of Buddhisms against the backdrop of the double ambivalence its practitioners had between (a) the religion of the Buddha and local religious practice, and (b) between the physical and conceptual spaces of the wilderness and the urban. Such tensions internal to the religious field are considered paramount to unpacking and analyzing the transformations of Buddhism, as they hold the potential for religious changes. The first section presents some examples of temporary and situational subversion of power relations between divine entities, Buddha, and metapersons, as well as spatial consequences of unsolved tensions. By focusing on the northern Gandharan context, the second section discusses two cases in which the Gandharan urban culture acts as a booster and stabilizer of ambivalence-driven changes in the religious field in regard to the Buddhist doctrine and authorized media of communication.
How did the inherent ambivalence of religion impact the transformation of cities? This article starts from conceptualizing religion as being performed in three interrelated fields, namely communication, sacralization, and reflection. To explore how this practice of "religion" has changed and could change the interaction with human Others in urban contexts, I propose the notion of ambivalence, which has repeatedly, but never consistently, been employed for both the characterization of religion and the urban. To that purpose, the article analytically distinguishes the four dimensions of spatiality, temporality, materiality, and sociality. It proposes modeling religion within these four dimensions, situating religion in urban contexts, and exploring the impact of religion in each of the four dimensions with regard to a basic social ambivalence of the urban, namely its concurrent striving for unity, communality, and diversity. Methodologically, the aim is to develop a heuristic model for the investigation of the mutual formation of religion and urbanity based on observations taken from the history of religion. Complementing the other articles of this special issue, the argument is based on examples beyond South Asia and from the ancient Mediterranean in particular.
This article examines the collaboration of the Shingon monk Chogen (1121-1206) and the powerful courtier Kujo Kanezane (1149-1207) in the restoration of Todaiji's Great Buddha statue, which still stands as one of Japan's leading national symbols. Resituating Judith Butler's insights on how performance continuously constructs rather than simply expresses identity, I use Chogen's and Kanezane's material, ritual, and narrative restoration activities to argue that this insight holds as true for the objects and places venerated in religious performances as for the performers themselves. The article is most concerned with the shifting deity identities for the Great Buddha enacted by the monk and the courtier in connection with their dedications of relics and other material-ritual offerings. The article also shows that those deity identities were tied to identifications of the statue as an embodiment of imperial and Buddhist law (obo-buppo) and to constructions of Todaiji and Japan as Buddhist centers in their own right. I argue that these multiple, intertwined identities for icon, object, and place were-like the gender and sexual identities that Butler explores-all contingently constructed through performances that changed over time. Moreover, I suggest, the very need for repetition underscores the fluidity and instability of the identities invoked in the performances. Simultaneously, however, I argue that we must also recognize the constraints for resignification imposed by the particular contexts of materiality and precedent that we examine.
This article is about how silkworms spun Buddhism in middle-period China (ca. third-tenth centuries CE). It traces the activities and influences of silkworms in Chinese Buddhist texts, which it treats as products of intrinsic entanglements among human and nonhuman agents. Throughout middle-period China, silk was the fabric of Buddhist monasticism. Silk enmeshed Buddhist monastery precincts, institutional economies, and modes of literary production. Chinese Buddhist texts were inscribed on silk; bound, wrapped, and tied in silk; and replete with discursive vestiges of silk and its other-than-human producers. This article shows how silkworms emerged through these sources as thinking, feeling, and moral subjects, as the kin of humans and deities, and as bodhisattvas themselves. It aims to foreground the many "small agencies" that contributed to building Chinese Buddhism from the ground up, literally: from the nutrients of the soil, through the leaves of trees and bodies of insects, to the halls of capital monasteries and doctrinal discourses of transmitted Buddhist texts. Silkworm caterpillars consumed mulberry leaves, secreted silk filaments, cocooned their bodies, transformed into pupae and moths, and were boiled to death in the cauldrons of human sericulture industry. Through these willful acts of consumptive production, silkworms embodied in form and function, and materialized in silk-spun cocoons, the central truths of the dharma. Silkworms did this through their intrinsic interrelations with human modes of sociomaterial production and samsaric existence. And in turn, human beings wove Buddhism in middle-period China, as with their material livelihoods, through the many small agencies of silkworm caterpillars.
This article explores the nuanced impact of Japanese colonial policies on religious practices in Taiwan and Manchukuo. It delves into the imposition of State Shinto and diverse religious reforms and their role in shaping local identities within these territories. The discussion highlights the complexities of Japanization, the challenges of assimilation, and the broader implications of top-down religious transformations during colonization. It successively compares three aspects concerning religious practices and regulations in Manchukuo and Taiwan under Japanese rule: the educational and political backgrounds of officials in charge of religious affairs and scholars researching local religions in the two territories; the legal definition of religion and the practical application of religious legislation; and the role of Confucianism and promotion of State Shinto. The article shows that the evolution of Japan's religious policy in Manchuria was notably akin to that in colonial Taiwan, but its implementation was tailored to accommodate local contexts, demographic nuances, and distinct expansionist agendas. It underscores challenges in distinguishing Manchukuo as a state from Taiwan as a colony and explores the coercive nature of State Shinto in shaping national identity and the contrasting viewpoints on assimilation. Despite efforts, Japanization struggled to establish a strong local identity in both regions.
