Studies in Japanese Buddhism

By August Karl Reischauer 1917

This book was a good primer to Buddhism.   Now before I get too far along, this book is not a catechism of the Buddhist faith, but rather a history of Buddhism and how it relates to Japan as of the early 20th century.  Knowing very little personally of Buddhism and Japanese history and culture, this book was very informative.

The author starts with a solid background of Buddha and the early religion. One cannot understand Gautama (Buddha) without having some idea of the times in which he lived. The path of Buddhism travels across the Asian continent where it is modified and changed by various other beliefs. Eventually around a thousand years later it reaches Japan as Mahayana Buddhism. There it is confronted with Shinto and adapts to rule as the state religion over a thousand years. This takes us to more modern time being the 19th century where Japan has its own Reformation and as of the writing of this book, Buddhism was in a decline and was trying to identify and adapt to a modern materialistic world.

I want to finish with a few of what the author called “Buddhist Gold Nuggets”.

* Do not make light of little evils, thinking them harmless; for even drops of water, small as they are, will at length fill a large vessel.
* He who does not know how to be content with what he has is poor however rich he may be; but he who has learned to be content is rich even though he may have very little.
* There are three rules which a friend should observe towards a friend, namely: He should admonish him when at fault, cherish with a deep joy whatever good there is in him, stand by him in time of trouble.