Controversies on the Buddhist Interpretation of Retributive Justice found in the Meiji Period Journal Buddhism

Abstract

This study examines how Buddhists in the mid-Meiji period responded to criticisms about Buddhist interpretations of retributive justice, especially that of Katō Hiroyuki 加藤弘之.

To examine this debate, I used the articles found in the journal Buddhism (Bukkyō仏教), published by the Keiikai 経緯会. Its members included Nishiyori Ichiroku 西依一六, Sakaino Tekkai 境野哲海, and Ōkubo Shōnan 大久保昌南, who were among the young, energetic stars of the Buddhist literary world. In this study, I consider their arguments and their respective role in the debate.

In conclusion, it may be said that, on the one hand they disliked fatalism, but on the other hand agreed that retribution spanned the three temporal worlds 三世因果. Nishiyori in particular understood that this is not fatalism or arbitrarism but causalism. Therefore, the authors considered claimed that the Buddhist notion of retributive justice serves to abolish superstitious practices.