Changing Views on the Pure Land: Kimura Taiken and Modernist Interpretation of Buddhism

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  • 日本近代における浄土観の一考察――木村泰賢を中心として――
  • ニホン キンダイ ニ オケル ジョウドカン ノ イチ コウサツ : キムラタイケン オ チュウシン ト シテ

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<p>In the modern period, the existence of the Pure Land became a major problem in Japanese Buddhism. In this paper, I examine the case of the Buddhist scholar Kimura Taiken (1881–1930). In new modernist interpretations of Buddhism, the existence of the Pure Land as an objective place for rebirth was virtually denied. However, Kimura’s views differed from those of his contemporaries. According to Kimura, the Pure Land should be realized both mentally and materially in this world, and aspiring to the Pure Land conforms to the fundamental spirit of Mahayana Buddhism.</p><p>Kimura’s interpretation of Pure Land as a concrete realm to be realized in this world connects to the theme of “Buddhism and social movements.” Kimura maintains that trying to make this world into a pure land is none other than the embodiment of the fundamental spirit of Mahayana Buddhism, and such work is the proper social activity of Buddhists.</p>

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