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From: amdcad!tymix!ichinen!jdoskow@decwrl.dec.com (Jonathan Doskow)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Some Shinto Mythology
Message-ID: <1991Jan11.013358.14113@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 11 Jan 91 01:33:58 GMT
References: <1991Jan3.083714.3406@nas.nasa.gov>
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In article <1991Jan3.083714.3406@nas.nasa.gov> loren@dweasel.llnl.gov (Loren Petrich) writes:
>
>	I have some questions about Shinto mythology that I have been
>trying to find answers to.
>
>
 ...
>the rest of the world. Those who questioned these dogmas, even in a
>learned work, he had said, would get into trouble. Presumably it would
>be very unpatriotic to believe that the there was some land mass older
>than the ones on which their great nation is situated. Does anyone
>know more of the official dogmas of State Shinto?
>
>	On the subject of obnoxious nationalism, I have read of some
>claims that the founder of Nichiren Buddhism had made some claims of
>that nature about Japan, that that was where humanity had first
>emerged and that Japanese was humanity's first language. If that is
>correct, then what "evidence" did he offer for these hypotheses? These
>claims seem especially far out since Buddhism is supposed to be a
>non-nationalist religion.
>
>

Since I haven't read all of Nichiren's writings I can't give an
authoratative answer, but there are a few observations I can make.

1)  There are several Nichiren sects.  They differ radically in theology,
    and relationship to Shinto is one aspect where that difference
    manifests itself.  The sect with which most westerners are familiar,
    Nichiren Shoshu, fiercely resisted forced practice of Shinto during
    the war.  Readers in other news groups may be tired of hearing me
    repeat this, but here it is again.  The founder of a lay society
    of Nichiren Shoshu, the Soka Gakkai, died in prison (November, 1943?)
    for opposing State Shinto, militarism, and the war.  The reasons for
    his opposition ran the gamut from religions to social.  His first
    disciple was also imprisoned with him but survived and built the
    Soka Gakkai that we know today.  As to the other sects, they offered
    no such tangible opposition and I suspect that some of them may have
    welcomed the government's attempts to force recalcitrant groups like
    Nichiren Shoshu to merge with them.

2)  The writings of Nichiren that are extent - and there are some 400
    seperate documents in his own hand or reliably attributed to him -
    consist of two types.  One is theoretical treatises, the other is
    letters to belivers.  Of the latter, I can well believe that he may
    have used an individual's beliefs as a means to explain some
    principal of Buddhism, and such references could be taken out of
    context to support the contentions above.  He likely offered no
    "evidence" to their validity.

    In the exegetical writings that deal with the relationship between
    the ideas that people revere (their religion) and the social,
    economic, and political consequences thereof, the universal and
    peaceful character of his teaching is clear.

    Suffice it to say that, when a complete volume of his works was
    published under the wartime government, the volume was censored in
    over 600 places for references thought to disrespect the emperor or
    some tenet of the official theology.  One quote that comes to mind
    (I'll provide publisher, date, page, etc if anyone wants it)
    describes the rulers of Japan as "island cheiftains."  I consider
    this reference to be both derogatory and diminutive.




=============================================================================
The thing I like about moral absolutes is that there are so many to
        choose from.

Opinions expressed are those of the author.
	jdoskow@Tymnet.COM
============================================================================