The Myōkōnin, Asahara Saichi, and D. T. Suzuki by Rev Prof Kemmyo Taira Sato Lecture 3. 20 June 2025
The Buddhist Society 100th Anniversary Memorial Lecture Series on ...
The Buddhist Society 100th Anniversary Memorial Lecture Series on Japanese Buddhism
http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org
Supported by the Numata Foundation
Lecture 3. The Myōkōnin, Asahara Saichi, and D. T. Suzuki
by Reverend Professor Kemmyo Taira Sato
Held at ...The Buddhist Society and online 20th June 2024
Thursday 13th June, Wednesday 19th June and Thursday 20th June 2024 at 6.30pm
Lecture 1. Shinran’s understanding of Pure Land Buddhism - 13th June
After a brief introduction to Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, the speaker will talk about the religious philosophy of Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of Jōdo Shinshū (also known as Shin Buddhism), the largest religious order amongst the traditional Buddhist denominations in Japan. In this first talk the speaker will explicate key notions such as “Amida Buddha’s Original Vow”, “salvation through faith alone”, “Other Power”, “the Nenbutsu (pronouncing Amida’s Name)” and “birth in the Pure Land” by referring to Shinran’ paradoxical sayings compiled in the Tannishō and also The Letters of Shinran Shoninwritten in his eighties.
Lecture 2. Rennyo’s epistolary teachings - 19th June
Rennyo (1414-1499) was the eighth Head Priest of the Honganji lineage of Shin Buddhism. His vigorous reforming activities made Shin Buddhism the largest religious group in Japan in the Middle Ages. In order to teach people he wrote a great many letters to individual followers and sometimes to particular groups. The number of surviving letters amounts to two hundred and fifty-two. Shinran’s essential teachings, which Rennyo carefully digested in his own faith-experience, are found to have been given simple and succinct expressions in these letters. By quoting from his letters the speaker will refer to Rennyo’s important teachings such as anjin or “peaceful awareness”, which is synonymous with “the awakening of Other Power faith”, and the subsequent natural way of living with the Nenbutsu of gratitude.
Lecture 3. The Myōkōnin, Asahara Saichi, and D. T. Suzuki – 20th June
Very much influenced by Rennyo’s teaching, there appeared a great number of devout Shin Buddhist followers known as Myokonin (literally “people who are wonderful and beautiful like lotus flowers”). Before the end of the World War II, D. T. Suzuki found a number of documents about the Myokonin. Though his study of these figures he came to emphasise the extreme importance of their profound spirituality, which had long been underestimated and considered as peripheral phenomena by Shin Buddhist scholars. The speaker, who studied Buddhism with D. T. Suzuki, will speak about his master’s appreciation of the religious poems of Asahara Saichi (1850-1932), one of the most exemplary Myokonin.
About Rev. Professor Kemmyo Taira Sato
Born in 1939 in Usuki Japan Rev. Professor Kemmyo Taira Sato is the Director and Founder of Three Wheels Shin Buddhist Temple. He is one of the Trustees of The Buddhist Society in London; Former Associate Editor of The Eastern Buddhist; Former Full Professor, Otani Women's University, Osaka Japan; Former Professorial Research Associate at SOAS of London University. Professor Sato has won numerous awards includingThe Japan Society’s Annual Award (Contribution to the Anglo-Japanese Relationships) in 2009, Foreign Minister’s Award外務大臣表彰（日英の相互理解促進）2013, The Order of the Rising Sun and Lights旭日双光章授与（日英の和解と文化交流の促進）2019.
MAJOR PUBLICATIONS
1) English books
2010 Great Living - In the Pure Encounter between Master and Disciple- by Kemmyo Taira Sato, American Buddhist Study Center Press, New York. (『歎異抄』英訳解説）
2018 Living with Thanks - The Five Fascicle version of Rennyo Shonin's Letters -by Kemmyo Taira Sato, The Buddhist Society Trust, London. (『五帖御文』英訳解説）
2019 5-7-5 The Haiku of Basho by John White and Kemmyo Taira Sato, The Buddhist Society Trust, London.
2019 5-7-5 The Haiku of Buson by John White and Kemmyo Taira Sato, The Buddhist Society Trust, London.
2019 5-7-5 The Haiku of Issa by John White and Kemmyo Taira Sato, The Buddhist Society Trust, London.
2021 Living in Nenbutsu – Commentary on the Shoshinge by Shinran – by Kemmyo Taira Sato, The Buddhist Society Trust, London.(『正信偈』英訳解説)
2) English articles
1985 The Awakening of Faith in the Myokonin Asahara Saichi by Taira Sato, The Eastern Buddhist - New Series - Vol. 18 No. 1.
2008 D.T. Suzuki and the Question of War by Kemmyo Taira Sato, translated in collaboration with Thomas Kirchner, The Eastern Buddhist - New Series - Vol. 39 No.1.
3) Japanese books.
1983『鈴木大拙真宗入門』春秋社（鈴木大拙の英文真宗講演の和訳解説）。
1987『大乗仏典ー中国・日本編』第28巻ー妙好人ー、水上勉・佐藤平編、中央公論社。
1995『大乗仏典ー中国・日本編』第21巻ー法然・一遍ー、佐藤平・徳永道雄訳、中央公論社。
2007 佐藤平顕明著『鈴木大拙のまこと』正行寺経蔵資料室。
2021 『真宗とは何か』法蔵館（鈴木大拙の英文真宗論集の和訳解説）。Show More
