Against Harmony traces the history of progressive and radical experiments in Japanese Buddhist thought and practice from the mid-Meiji period through the early Shōwa period (1885–1935), when historical events coalesced to eliminate all such experiments. It is a work of both intellectual history and of critical, comparative thought. Perhaps the two best representations of progressive Buddhism during this period were the New Buddhist Fellowship (1899–1915) and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism (1931–1936). Both were nonsectarian, lay movements comprising young men with education in classical Buddhist texts as well as Western literature, philosophy, and religion. Their work effectively collapses commonly held distinctions between religion, philosophy, ethics, politics, and economics. Unlike many others of their day, these “New Buddhists” did not regard the novel forces of modernization as problematic and disruptive, but rather, as an opportunity to explore and expand the possibilities of the dharma. Moreover, these and similar Buddhist and Buddhist-inspired movements experimented with novel, alternative forms of modernity, rooted in variations on what might be called “dharmic materialism.” In short, they did not simply inherit or mimic the dominant Western model(s). For this reason, their work remains of relevance in the early twenty-first century.
目次
Front Matter Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgments Introduction Prelude: Red Pines and Black Sheep: The Akamatsu Legacy
1 The Many Faces of Meiji Buddhist Enlightenment 2 Unification and Spiritual Activism: Murakami and Manshi 3 Warp and Woof: The New Buddhist Discovery of Society 4 Zen and the Art of Treason: Renegade Priests of Late Meiji 5 Anarcho-Buddhist Utopia: Taishō Tolstoyans 6 Extremes Meet: Radical Buddhists of Early Shōwa Conclusion: Overcoming Materialism, Overcoming Modernity
End Matter Appendix Founding Proclamation of the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism (read during the Initial Meeting of the Youth League at Tokyo Imperial University, April 5, 1931) Notes Bibliography Index
