This article recently came out, which deals with science and Buddhism as well as the appropriation of Shingon to resurrect Zhenyan
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/9/675 ... Eds81NWCDE
From China to Japan and Back Again: An Energetic Example of Bidirectional Sino-Japanese Esoteric Buddhist Transmission
Abstract
Sino-Japanese religious discourse, more often than not, is treated as a unidirectional phenomenon. Academic treatments of pre-modern East Asian religion usually portray Japan as the passive recipient of Chinese Buddhist traditions, while explorations of Buddhist modernization efforts focus on how Chinese Buddhists utilized Japanese adoptions of Western understandings of religion. This paper explores a case where Japan was simultaneously the receptor and agent by exploring the Chinese revival of Tang-dynasty Zhenyan. This revival—which I refer to as Neo-Zhenyan—was actualized by Chinese Buddhists who received empowerment (Skt. abhiṣeka) under Shingon priests in Japan in order to claim the authority to found “Zhenyan” centers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and even the USA. Moreover, in addition to utilizing Japanese Buddhist sectarianism to root their lineage in the past, the first known architect of Neo-Zhenyan, Wuguang (1918–2000), used energeticism, the thermodynamic theory propagated by the German chemist Freidrich Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932; 1919 Nobel Prize for Chemistry) that was popular among early Japanese Buddhist modernists, such as Inoue Enryō (1858–1919), to portray his resurrected form of Zhenyan as the most suitable form of Buddhism for the future. Based upon the circular nature of esoteric transmission from China to Japan and back to the greater Sinosphere and the use of energeticism within Neo-Zhenyan doctrine, this paper reveals the sometimes cyclical nature of Sino-Japanese religious influence. Data were gathered by closely analyzing the writings of prominent Zhenyan leaders alongside onsite fieldwork conducted in Taiwan from 2011–2019.
Article on Science and Zhenyan Shingon Appropriation
Jump to
- Welcome
- ↳ TERMS OF SERVICE (including Reporting Procedures)
- ↳ Announcements
- ↳ Introductions
- ↳ Suggestion Box
- Bodhisattvacarya
- ↳ Mahāyāna Buddhism
- ↳ Tibetan Buddhism
- ↳ Dzogchen
- ↳ Nyingma
- ↳ Mahamudra
- ↳ Kagyu
- ↳ Sakya
- ↳ Gelug
- ↳ Jonang
- ↳ Chod
- ↳ Bön
- ↳ Buddhist Tantra Talk
- ↳ East Asian Buddhism
- ↳ Zen
- ↳ Chan
- ↳ Seon
- ↳ Rinzai
- ↳ Soto
- ↳ Thien
- ↳ Pure Land
- ↳ Jodo Shin Shu
- ↳ Tendai
- ↳ Nichiren
- ↳ Soka Gakkai/SGI
- ↳ Nichiren Shu
- ↳ Nichiren Shoshu
- ↳ Shingon
- ↳ Sūtra Studies
- ↳ Academic Discussion
- General Dharma
- ↳ Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
- ↳ Abhidharmakosabhasyam Book Club
- ↳ Dharma in Everyday Life
- ↳ Help Required
- ↳ Dharma Events
- ↳ North America (USA & Canada)
- ↳ Central & South America
- ↳ Europe
- ↳ Asia/Pacific
- ↳ Australia/NZ
- ↳ Africa
- ↳ Dharma Stories
- ↳ Shrine Room
- Upāya
- ↳ Meditation
- ↳ Ethical Conduct
- ↳ Engaged Buddhism
- ↳ Prayers and Aspirations
- ↳ Dāna for Dharma
- ↳ Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- ↳ Alternative Health
- ↳ Tibetan Medicine
- ↳ Dying and Death
- Teahouse of the Compassionate One
- ↳ Lounge
- ↳ Creative Writing
- ↳ Games & Humour
- ↳ Media
- ↳ Book Reviews
- ↳ Language
- ↳ Links to Other DW sites
- ↳ LINK TO: Dhamma Wheel Theravada Buddhism Forum
- ↳ LINK TO: Dharma Paths—Comparative Religion Forum
- ↳ LINK TO: Dhamma/Dharma Wiki - Buddhist encyclopedia