Kiyozawa Manshi.Processes of Modernization of Japanese Buddhism and Personal Path to Faith

Abstract

The article examines the life and ideas of Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903), one of the leading Buddhist thinkers of Japan during the Meiji era. He actively par­ticipated in the processes of modernization of Japanese Buddhism, which took place at that time, and his works reflected all the characteristics of the transfor­mation of Buddhism: the definition of Buddhism as a doctrine based on per­sonal religious experience; in-depth attention to the inner world of the believer, rather than to ritual and dogma; constant correlation of Buddhism and Chris­tianity and resistance to the latter, considered as one of the tools for promoting the colonial rule of the West. The specifics of Kiyozawa’s philosophical thought within these processes were determined by the fact that he professed Shin Bud­dhism, a branch of Japanese Buddhism based on the veneration of the Buddha Amida, who in immemorial times took a vow to save all those who believed in him. Against the background of rapid socio-political and spiritual changes that accompanied the adaptation of Japanese society and Japanese Buddhism to modern conditions, Kiyozawa Manshi’s personal path took him from a philo­sophical understanding of Buddhist teachings to a deep personal faith. Evidence of this was Kiyozawa’s dying will, the essay My faith (Waga shinnen). This lit­tle work is remarkable in two respects. On the one hand, Kiyozawa describes the general mechanisms of religious faith with the objectivity of a researcher, using his characteristic method of deep introspection. On the other hand, the es­say My faith can be called one of the outstanding examples of a personal con­fession of faith. The translation of the essay “My faith” is given in the final part of the article.