My Shin BuddhismⅢ_Prince Shotoku's Buddhist Dharma

Ⅲ01. Buddha in Japan

The two main religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. Shintoism has its origins in ancient Japan and is an indigenous belief unique to this island nation. In contrast, Buddhism is an imported religion that was transmitted to Japan from India, across mainland China, and via the Korean Peninsula about 1,500 years ago.

Prince Shoutoku was a famous Buddhist during the Asuka period, when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Many historically prominent Japanese monks have revered Prince Shoutoku as the founder of Japanese Buddhism, or the “Japanese Buddha.”

Although Prince Shoutoku was the person responsible for establishing Buddhism in Japan, he was not a monk. He was a prince of Wakoku (WA-no-kuni/country of WA), ancient proto-Japan, and also a politician who supported the female emperor and played a central role in her rule.

Prince Shoutoku is a legendary historical figure so well known by Japanese people that no one doesn’t know him. Through various political initiatives based on Buddhist ideas, he succeeded in creating a socially independent nation in East Asia.

Prince Shoutoku believed that mastering Buddhism was something that had to be put into practice in social life. And based on such Mahayana spirits, He practiced Buddhism not as a monk but as a layparson.

A characteristic of Mahayana Buddhism is its sociality, which actively accepts interaction with others. Mahayana Buddhism believes that by doing this proactively, one can grow as a person without limit. Prince Shoutoku was undoubtedly a true Mahayana Buddhist.

He believed that by being open to helping others rather than focusing on our own benefits, a better state of affairs for everyone would naturally emerge.

By examining the prince’s achievements that have been passed down to the present day, we can see that they are consistently based on the spirituality of Mahayana Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhism preaches the idea of emptiness.

In Mahayana Buddhism, all things that we perceive without question as REAL are understood to exist based on emptiness. They exist provisionally as a phenomenon, changing within relationships, and cannot be defined as absolute entities.

They do not exist as singular entities.

However, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

They appear to exist to us as phenomena.

Mahayana Buddhism seeks to understand the phenomenal world from a perspective based on emptiness.

There is no need to become attached to things that are insubstantial and hollow.

We should create tools to make our life more culturally enriched.

Tools exist for us to use, not for us to be used by them.

In the past, portraits of Prince Shoutoku were printed on Japan’s large banknotes.