SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

A Tale of Two Buddhisms. Will the 'Real' Buddhism Please Stand Up?

Abstract:

This lecture compares and contrasts martyred Uchiyama Gudo's politically left-wing understanding of Buddhism with that of Imperial Army General Matsui Iwane, 1939 founder of the Kōa (Develop Asia) Kannon temple. In the Tokyo War Crimes trials, Iwane was found responsible for the December 1937 Nanking Massacre and executed in December 1948. The goal of this lecture is not to determine which of these two understandings of Buddhism is correct, but to serve as a catalyst for exploring what Buddhism's political ideology might be (should it have one). 

Bio:

Brian Daizen Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. He holds a M.A. in Buddhist Studies from Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Religious Studies at Temple University. In addition to a 2nd, enlarged edition of Zen At War (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), Brian's major writings include Zen War Stories (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003); an autobiographical work in Japanese entitled Gaijin de ari, Zen bozu de ari (As a Foreigner, As a Zen Priest), published by San-ichi Shobo in 1971; Zen Master Dōgen, coauthored with Prof. Yokoi Yūhō of Aichi-gakuin University (Weatherhill, 1976); and a translation of The Zen Life by Sato Koji (Weatherhill, 1972).

Brian is professor of Japanese Studies and director of the AEA Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program at Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio.