How Was The Gospel of Buddha Accepted

As the Canon or an Apocryphal Buddhist Gospel?

Abstract

The Gospel of Buddha, written and published in English by Paul Carus in 1894, was translated into Japanese by Daisetsu Suzuki the following year and was subsequently translated into various languages and read by many people. Despite this widespread interest, its content was severely criticized by Western philologists. This is because the book, which is a combination of both the Pali Canon and Mahāyāna writings, was considered inappropriate as a representation of Buddhist philosophy. Carus argued that his writings reflected the original ideas of Śākyamuni. This paper establishes that Carus was trying to show “the Religion of Science” he advocated by arbitrarily selecting Buddhist books, including translations of the Pali Canon. Next, using materials such as related works and letters, this paper shows that Carus had experience interacting with Japanese monks and preferred them to Christian clergymen because they were “not hampered by any creed.” This attitude of Carus’, who regarded Japanese Buddhism as a kind of philosophy rather than as a religion and expected it to develop into a scientific religion, was well received not only by Japanese Buddhists who were trying to establish modern Buddhism, but also by other Japanese intellectuals.