Immanent Frames: Meiji New Buddhism and the 'Religious Secular'

James Shields

Immanent Frames: Meiji New Buddhism and the 'Religious Secular'

James Shields

Bucknell University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The secularization thesis, rooted in the idea that “modernity” brings with it the destruction—or, at least, the ruthless privatization—of religion, is clearly grounded in specific, often oversimplified, interpretations of Western historical developments since the eighteenth century. In this article, I use the case of the New Buddhist Fellowship (Shin Bukky&omacr; D&omacr;shikai 新仏教同志会) of the Meiji period (1868–1911) to query the category of the secular in the context of Japanese modernity . I argue that the New Buddhists, drawing on elements of classical and East Asian Buddhism as well as modern Western thought, promoted a resolutely social and this-worldly Buddhism that collapses—or preempts—the conceptual and practical boundaries between religion and the secular. In short, the New Buddhists sought a lived Buddhism rooted in a decidedly “immanent frame” (Taylor), even while rejecting the “vulgar materialism” of secular radicalism.

Original language	American English
Journal	Default journal
Volume	30
State	Published - Jun 1 2017

Keywords

New Buddhist Fellowship
secularity
"social Buddhism"
progressivism
immanence

Disciplines

Asian History
Buddhist Studies
Ethics and Political Philosophy
Ethics in Religion
History of Religion
History of Religions of Eastern Origins
Intellectual History
Japanese Studies
Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Social History

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Immanent Frames Meiji New Buddhism and the Religious SecularFinal published version, 1.77 MBLicense: CC BY

Cite this

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Immanent Frames: Meiji New Buddhism and the 'Religious Secular'

Abstract

Keywords

Disciplines

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