Matylda wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:42 am
ok i think that there is some material on the internet, anyway if you are interested please look for yourself...
https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/120002815246 it is just the first from the pages responding to the key words 浄土真宗英語の翻訳の問題
for non-Japanese speakers from the link:
In 1978 with the publication of the Letters of Shinran: A translation of the Mattōshō, translators working at the Hongwanji International Center sparked a debate that continues at present regarding the translation or transliteration of the term shinjin. That this debate continues into the present day is not surprising when we consider that shinjin is the cornerstone of Shin Buddhist paths of awakening. This paper begins by analyzing shinjin within Shinran's writings and the Shin Buddhist tradition. Second, it examines arguments for and against either the transliteration or translation of shinjin. This paper then concludes by arguing that depending on context it is necessary to employ both strategies in order to properly communicate Shin Buddhism in English.
The choice of wording regarding translations of Shinjin is quite well known. I don't think this is an inroad of Protestantism however.
LetGo wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:52 am
Zhen Li wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:13 pm
Matylda wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:47 pm
Well christian terminology in English shin texts is just historical fact. so, i have nothing to say more about it
If you can provide me with citations,
Buddhist psalms translated from the Japanese, of Shinran Shōnin, by S. Yamabe and L. Adams Beck, Published John Murray 1921
- One of the earliest translations with a title lifted straight from Judeo-Christianity.
Shinran's Gospel of Pure Grace - A Bloom · 1963
- Another early work, from Bloom, a former Evangelical Christian missionary.
The Ritual Use of Music in US Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Communities
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. ... ode=rcbh20
- Academic paper on "US Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist songs in the style of Christian hymns", which appear very early in US Jodo Shinshu as an attempt to "Americanize".
Yes, Yamabe and Beck's translations are horrendous throughout. I cannot disagree with that. They definitely need to be put behind glass in a museum. I don't know if anyone actually uses that and it is too bad if it has led people astray.
Bloom knew Shinran quite well. If you read his works, such as Essential Shinran, this will be evident. I have heard the title of his dissertation but never actually came across a copy or PDF, so I cannot comment. Unfortunately, as covered in an old thread on this board, Bloom seems to have admitted to Richard St. Clair that he didn't actually believe in Amida. I don't think he had ulterior motives but I cannot comment on any of his works except Essential Shinran, which personally I find entirely orthodox JSS without any Christianity.
I also noticed that Gātha are essentially set to Christian tunes. Actually, they have an organ even at Tsukiji Hongwanji in Tokyo. This is an outward form, however. Despite being the opposite of many peoples' tastes these days, they were seen as progressive at the time they were introduced, I think. Anyway, I think people in BCA have an attachment to the Christian sounding hymns and I think they are unlikely to change anytime soon. But I do know that they give some Buddhists considering Jōdo Shinshū from other traditions an odd first impression which might not be in the best service of the tradition. I think, at the end of the day, this is more a matter of what the sangha likes. I heard some sanghas just recite in English and don't have gāthas but that it didn't catch on.
But anyway, it is not just an American thing. It comes along with the whole "modernization" going on in the Meiji and Taisho period in Japan as well.