MahaBlack

Magical Madeira, Portugal

How Buddhism Influenced Japan

I see Buddhism as less of a religion and more of a philosophy, as it doesn’t tell you what you can do and what you can’t do in order to avoid getting burn in the fires of hell but teaches you how to go to navigate through hell on Earth.

As for Shintoism, I see it as a way to respect all living things, which is why they believe that even a tree has a spirit that dwells within it. The idea is for us to respect it just as we would with a human being and not treat it as an object.

And it’s rare to see two “religions” joined together which what makes Buddhism unique in Japan as it has some elements of Shintoism. The two were originally fused thanks to the efforts of Emperor Shomu in the ancient capital of Nara.

Nichiren and The Great Mongol Invasion / Nichiren to Mōko Daishūrai (1958)

Few years before the Mongol Invasion, Japan is going through a political and religious turmoil, coupled with never ending natural disasters, which divided the peasants and the warrior class further. A monk named, Nichiren, arrives in Kamakura, hoping to help and unify the people, both peasants and samurai alike under the banner of the Buddha. 

He preaches the ideals of Lotus Sutra, while criticizing the various sects of Buddhism for their failures in helping those in need when the nation is struck by several calamities and citing the failures of the greedy Shogunate for its inability in unifying the country. He warned that such a path will lead to the destruction of the country by foreign invaders.