This paper has been printed in serial form, the first half in The Tetsugaku Shiso Ronso (Miscellanea Philosophica), vol. 15, 1997.
摘要
This article considers the popularization of early Japanese Buddhism through an examination of the narratives in “Nihonrydiki" written in the Nara period by the Japanese Buddhist priest Kyokai. While the theme of the popularization of early Japanese Buddhism has been discussed previously from various perspectives, this article focuses on a new perspective, namely, the dynamic relationship between Buddhism and “the ethics of reciprocity." In this article, the concept of 'reciprocity' is used in terms of Marshall Sahlins' formulation of "generalized reciprocity"m, a principle of unselfish distribution which takes it for granted that the haves give to the have-nots without compensation. In many traditional societies this ethic of reciprocity became one of the dominant social norms. In this ethic, according to such anthropologists as Jane Schneider, feelings of envy play an important role in controlling feelings of greed. The popularization of Buddhism in Japan can be seen as the dynamic process of exotic Buddhism's subsuming and acclimatizing on one hand and denying and eliminating on the other the conventional "ethics of reciprocity." "Nihonrydiki" includes many narratives expressing this dynamics. Through the examination of concrete examples, this article will discuss such vectors of Buddhism's subsuming and acclimatizing "the ethics of reciprocity" as: (i) the subsuming of mutual-aid relationships; (ii) the denial of greed; (iii) the acclimatization of envy; and (iv) the salvation of the suffering dead. lt will also discuss such vectors of denying and eliminating as: (v) the omission of envy; (vi) the interception of mutual-aid relationships; and (vii) the justification of greed.
