Why Has Zen Buddhism Proven so Resilient in Japan?

1341 Words6 Pages
This essay will explore why Zen Buddhism has proven so resilient in Japan and why its presence is felt by many Japanese in everyday life. This essay will also look at how other religions have been introduced into Japan but have not proven as effective in their staying power. First though, it’s important to realise what Zen Buddhism actually is and what it consists of. Zen Buddhism began to emerge as a separate strain of Buddhism in China as taught by Bodhidharama, an Indian sage who emphasised the importance of meditation. His teachings co-existed alongside other Buddhist developments that had already been founded. This form of Buddhism travelled from China to Korea before finally arriving in Japan in the 13th century. Zen Buddhism became popular amongst the warrior class who felt at ease with its strict discipline before trickling its way down to lower classes. Zen Buddhism teaches, amongst other ideologies, that an individual can achieve insight and realisation through perseverance and mediation. During the first half of the 19th century, several attempts were made to introduce Catholicism by missionaries without success.(Kitagawa 1987) They were largely unsuccessful due to then perilous trade treaty that existed between the Japanese, Chinese and Dutch, as the Chinese and Dutch traders harboured a certain hostility towards Catholicism. However as more and more foreign personal started working in Japan, the authorities soon realised that the religious needs of the foreign personal needed acknowledgement. Treaties established in 1858 allowed for the freedom of worship, even though this treaty allowed churches and cemeteries to be built; it did extend the freedom of worship to the Japanese people. It was officially limited to the foreign personal and traders, but many Catholics believed they could influence and convert the Japanese people by learning the language
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