Can Asians Share Common Ideals in Their Religions? ― A key to the Formation of Asian Community ―
ICHIMURA Shinichi / Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University
December 15, 2006
Many argue that to cope with NAFTA and EU the formation of Asian Community is desirable. Let me consider what is needed for Asia to develop such a community. Basically a sense of community will gradually have to be developed. As Asian nations are dramatically achieving economic growth and increasing their various interchanges, it may not take too long for many Asians to have a sense of community among themselves. For this purpose, peaceful political relations in Asia is essential by maintaining a degree of balance of power between Continental countries like China or India and the rest of Asia-Pacific oceanic and peninsula countries. Particularly of crucial and urgent importance is the friendly relation between China and Japan, since it requires a solution of difficult issues pertaining to Taiwan and North Korea within reasonable time.
It seems to me, however, that above these socio-economic and political requisites there is another cultural dimension of reconciliation to form the Asian community; namely, how to share the common ideals in their different religions and civilizations as well as the political organizations fostered through history. The colors of Asian civilizations are as abundant as the colors of tropical fish. The reconciliation among these civilizations would be realized only if they are awakened to the fact that the fundamental ideals of their religions have much in common.
Do Chinese and Indian civilizations have any ideal in common? If so, what is it? With this question in mind, Okakura Tenshin propounded the common ideals of the East in his immortal literary work: The Ideals of the East. This book has been much misunderstood due to its famous opening phrase 'Asia is one.' What he meant thereby was that the compassionate spirit permeating both to the 'veda', love in its ideal shape, of Buddhism-Hinduism of the Indian people and to Confucian benevolence of the Chinese people may combine Asian nations in one entity, in spite of the high peaks of the Himalayas that have separated the two peoples. We, Japanese, may add to this the
spirit of 'wa': harmony of the Japanese people.
As is well-known, in Southeast Asia two or more civilizations of Indian, Chinese and other origins do exist side by side. Take Indonesia for example. From time immemorial Hinduism, Buddhism, then Islam and Christianity came to their shores in succession. If they had tried to unify their religion by a single faith, their land would have been bloodied by religious wars like in the Balkans. Instead, the founding fathers of the present-day Indonesia like Sukarno, Hatta and others advocated the idea "unity in diversity" and thereby tried to unite the peoples as a new nation. This slogan clearly shows the way in which East Asian nations must orient themselves in the future. It requires reconciliation among various religions or peaceful co-existence among religions. This reality and the tasks of religions in Asia do not seem to differ much from those facing the whole world.
It is said that the religions are to be classified into either monotheism and polytheism. In the Western world religion in Greek mythology is polytheism, while Judaism, Christianity and Islam are polytheisms, sharing the same origin. In the meantime, all principal Asian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism seem to be polytheisms. An interesting difference between Greek gods and Asian deity is, that while in both polytheisms the water is ruled by Water God and the fire by Fire God, in Asia these gods are incarnations of one central Deity and in Greek mythology they are separate gods. In both Shintoism and Buddhism, however, it is believed that one Deity is incarnated into various gods. This is a Pantheistic belief that J. W. V. Goethe and F. Schelling placed high reverence as a religious creed.
I, for one, believe that if an Asian community is to be formed, religious leaders and populace must accept the peaceful co-existence among religions, a pantheistic state of the world in the most serious meaning. Metaphorically speaking, the ascent of Mt. Fuji may be achieved through various routes. Even the Catholic Pope lately advocates the need for tolerance and, mutual understanding among all religions. The peace in the world surely requires this creed, and in Asia peace and prosperity may only be achieved by this ideal.
The world in which Muslims fight against Hindus and Buddhists against Christians means, in the historical Japanese context, to turn back the clock by over thousand years and return back into the olden times when the Mononobe Family holding traditional Shintoist gods fought against the Soga Family revering the then-newly-arrived Buddhism. The contemporary Japanese reject such futile fight, as the Japanese have achieved the living-together between Buddhism and Shintoism, taking over thousand years. Likewise, influential Japanese Christians in Meiji Japan harmonized with their Shintoistic environment by developing Christian faith through the idea of non-church Christianity.
The most serious matter for this spiritual question is the future of Chinese peoples' mind. I believe that the Chinese people must be reawakened to the traditional spirit of benevolence, by overcoming communism, the spirit of the founding fathers of the contemporary China. However difficult it would be, there would be no other escape route to save the Chinese civilization. This return to the traditional national spirit in China is quite same as the Russian return to traditional Russian Orthodox Church negating Leninism and Stalinism. Such restoration of tradition is required to a lesser extent for Indonesians, the Philippines, Thais and Malays as well. I am deeply convinced that the final key to open the East Asian Community rests with the religious reconciliation by East Asian peoples.
The writer is Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University.
It seems to me, however, that above these socio-economic and political requisites there is another cultural dimension of reconciliation to form the Asian community; namely, how to share the common ideals in their different religions and civilizations as well as the political organizations fostered through history. The colors of Asian civilizations are as abundant as the colors of tropical fish. The reconciliation among these civilizations would be realized only if they are awakened to the fact that the fundamental ideals of their religions have much in common.
Do Chinese and Indian civilizations have any ideal in common? If so, what is it? With this question in mind, Okakura Tenshin propounded the common ideals of the East in his immortal literary work: The Ideals of the East. This book has been much misunderstood due to its famous opening phrase 'Asia is one.' What he meant thereby was that the compassionate spirit permeating both to the 'veda', love in its ideal shape, of Buddhism-Hinduism of the Indian people and to Confucian benevolence of the Chinese people may combine Asian nations in one entity, in spite of the high peaks of the Himalayas that have separated the two peoples. We, Japanese, may add to this the
spirit of 'wa': harmony of the Japanese people.
As is well-known, in Southeast Asia two or more civilizations of Indian, Chinese and other origins do exist side by side. Take Indonesia for example. From time immemorial Hinduism, Buddhism, then Islam and Christianity came to their shores in succession. If they had tried to unify their religion by a single faith, their land would have been bloodied by religious wars like in the Balkans. Instead, the founding fathers of the present-day Indonesia like Sukarno, Hatta and others advocated the idea "unity in diversity" and thereby tried to unite the peoples as a new nation. This slogan clearly shows the way in which East Asian nations must orient themselves in the future. It requires reconciliation among various religions or peaceful co-existence among religions. This reality and the tasks of religions in Asia do not seem to differ much from those facing the whole world.
It is said that the religions are to be classified into either monotheism and polytheism. In the Western world religion in Greek mythology is polytheism, while Judaism, Christianity and Islam are polytheisms, sharing the same origin. In the meantime, all principal Asian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism seem to be polytheisms. An interesting difference between Greek gods and Asian deity is, that while in both polytheisms the water is ruled by Water God and the fire by Fire God, in Asia these gods are incarnations of one central Deity and in Greek mythology they are separate gods. In both Shintoism and Buddhism, however, it is believed that one Deity is incarnated into various gods. This is a Pantheistic belief that J. W. V. Goethe and F. Schelling placed high reverence as a religious creed.
I, for one, believe that if an Asian community is to be formed, religious leaders and populace must accept the peaceful co-existence among religions, a pantheistic state of the world in the most serious meaning. Metaphorically speaking, the ascent of Mt. Fuji may be achieved through various routes. Even the Catholic Pope lately advocates the need for tolerance and, mutual understanding among all religions. The peace in the world surely requires this creed, and in Asia peace and prosperity may only be achieved by this ideal.
The world in which Muslims fight against Hindus and Buddhists against Christians means, in the historical Japanese context, to turn back the clock by over thousand years and return back into the olden times when the Mononobe Family holding traditional Shintoist gods fought against the Soga Family revering the then-newly-arrived Buddhism. The contemporary Japanese reject such futile fight, as the Japanese have achieved the living-together between Buddhism and Shintoism, taking over thousand years. Likewise, influential Japanese Christians in Meiji Japan harmonized with their Shintoistic environment by developing Christian faith through the idea of non-church Christianity.
The most serious matter for this spiritual question is the future of Chinese peoples' mind. I believe that the Chinese people must be reawakened to the traditional spirit of benevolence, by overcoming communism, the spirit of the founding fathers of the contemporary China. However difficult it would be, there would be no other escape route to save the Chinese civilization. This return to the traditional national spirit in China is quite same as the Russian return to traditional Russian Orthodox Church negating Leninism and Stalinism. Such restoration of tradition is required to a lesser extent for Indonesians, the Philippines, Thais and Malays as well. I am deeply convinced that the final key to open the East Asian Community rests with the religious reconciliation by East Asian peoples.
The writer is Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
アジアで理想の共有は可能か
市村眞一 / 京都大学名誉教授
2006年 12月 15日
東アジアに何らかの共同体が形成されるためには、いかなる条件が必要か。それには、アジア諸国間の相互交流が飛躍的に拡大して、次第に共同体意識が芽生えることが基本的であり、政治的にも、日中関係の友好的安定や北朝鮮・台湾問題の解決、さらには中国と海洋国家群との間にある程度の力のバランス 生まれる必要がある。
しかし私には、それ以上に大事なのは理想の共有による多様な文明の融和であると思われる。アジアには多種多様な宗教が共存し、東洋文明の色調は、熱 帯魚のごとく豊富であるが、その融和は、各宗教がそれぞれの根本理想においては互いに共通していることに目覚めれば実現しよう。
中華文明の理想、インド文明の理想の間に共通点はないか。あるとすれば、それは何か。そこに着目して「東洋の理想」を語ったのが岡倉天心であった。 彼の名著『東洋の理想』は、その冒頭の一句「アジアは一なり」によって誤解を受けたが、その真意は、ヒンズー教=仏教の理想の愛（ヴェーダ）とシナの儒教の仁慈に共通する慈愛の精神が、両国を分かつヒマラヤの峻峰にもかかわらず、アジアを一つにつなぐと言ったのである。 私たちは、 それに日本の「和」の精神を加えてもよい。
周知の通り、東南アジアには、インド系とシナ系の文明が混在している。たとえばインドネシアには、まずヒンズー教、仏教、次いで回教、キリスト教と次々に入った。それを一宗教に統一する事はできない。そんな事をしようとすれば、バルカン同様、宗教戦争になる。そこでインドネシア建国の時、スカルノやハッタ等が考えたのが「多様のなかの統合」というスローガンであった。この「多様のなかの統一」という考えこそ正に東アジア諸国の目指すべきものである。それは宗教の融和、宗教の平和共存を要求する。実はそれが今や世界的課題で、アジアの宗教的現実も課題は同じである。
宗教には、多神教と一神教と汎神教があると言われる。欧米においては、ギリシャ神話に現れてくる宗教は多神教であるが、ユダヤ教もキリスト教も回教も、同じ根から出た同じ一神教である。これに対してアジアの主要な宗教であるヒンズー教、仏教、神道は多神教のように見うけられる。水には水の神、火には火の神がおられるというのは多神教的だが、アジアではその神は違った神様ではない。ギリシャ神話では別々の神様であるが、神道でも仏教でも、ひとつの神がいろんな形で現れると考える。それは西洋でもギリシャ以来の道統があり、ドイツのゲーテや哲学者シェリングが尊んだ汎神論の世界である。
私はアジア共同体の形成には、宗教家も人々も、宗教の平和共存、深刻なる意味の汎神論的世界に、目覚めねばならないと信じる。富士山への登り道はいろいろあっても、結局行く先は富士山頂である。そう悟る以外には人類は救われようがない。バチカンの法王も最近は諸宗教の間の寛容の必要性を述べている。世界平和にはその信条が必要だし、アジアの平和と繁栄の道は正にそれしかない。
もし回教徒がヒンズー教徒と戦い、仏教徒が神教徒と戦うならば、日本では物部氏と蘇我氏の昔にかえる事であり、我々はその愚を知っている。日本人は２０００年近くかかって、神道と仏教の融和を実現した。明治時代のクリスチャン達も、西洋の教会を離れて無教会派のキリスト教を作り出して神道的世界と融和した。
中国人も、現代中国の建国の精神である共産主義を克服して、シナ本来の道教=儒教の伝統である仁慈の精神に覚醒せねばいけない。いかに困難であろうとも、それ以外に中華文明を救う道はない。それは、ロシア人がレーニン・スターリンを否定して、ロシア正教の伝統に復帰したのと同じである。インドネシア人、フィリピン人、タイ人、マライ人も同様である。それぞれの東アジア諸国民がこの点に気付き、宗教的な融和を実現することに、東アジア共同体の形成への最大の鍵が潜むと、私は確信する。
（筆者は京都大学名誉教授。）
しかし私には、それ以上に大事なのは理想の共有による多様な文明の融和であると思われる。アジアには多種多様な宗教が共存し、東洋文明の色調は、熱 帯魚のごとく豊富であるが、その融和は、各宗教がそれぞれの根本理想においては互いに共通していることに目覚めれば実現しよう。
中華文明の理想、インド文明の理想の間に共通点はないか。あるとすれば、それは何か。そこに着目して「東洋の理想」を語ったのが岡倉天心であった。 彼の名著『東洋の理想』は、その冒頭の一句「アジアは一なり」によって誤解を受けたが、その真意は、ヒンズー教=仏教の理想の愛（ヴェーダ）とシナの儒教の仁慈に共通する慈愛の精神が、両国を分かつヒマラヤの峻峰にもかかわらず、アジアを一つにつなぐと言ったのである。 私たちは、 それに日本の「和」の精神を加えてもよい。
周知の通り、東南アジアには、インド系とシナ系の文明が混在している。たとえばインドネシアには、まずヒンズー教、仏教、次いで回教、キリスト教と次々に入った。それを一宗教に統一する事はできない。そんな事をしようとすれば、バルカン同様、宗教戦争になる。そこでインドネシア建国の時、スカルノやハッタ等が考えたのが「多様のなかの統合」というスローガンであった。この「多様のなかの統一」という考えこそ正に東アジア諸国の目指すべきものである。それは宗教の融和、宗教の平和共存を要求する。実はそれが今や世界的課題で、アジアの宗教的現実も課題は同じである。
宗教には、多神教と一神教と汎神教があると言われる。欧米においては、ギリシャ神話に現れてくる宗教は多神教であるが、ユダヤ教もキリスト教も回教も、同じ根から出た同じ一神教である。これに対してアジアの主要な宗教であるヒンズー教、仏教、神道は多神教のように見うけられる。水には水の神、火には火の神がおられるというのは多神教的だが、アジアではその神は違った神様ではない。ギリシャ神話では別々の神様であるが、神道でも仏教でも、ひとつの神がいろんな形で現れると考える。それは西洋でもギリシャ以来の道統があり、ドイツのゲーテや哲学者シェリングが尊んだ汎神論の世界である。
私はアジア共同体の形成には、宗教家も人々も、宗教の平和共存、深刻なる意味の汎神論的世界に、目覚めねばならないと信じる。富士山への登り道はいろいろあっても、結局行く先は富士山頂である。そう悟る以外には人類は救われようがない。バチカンの法王も最近は諸宗教の間の寛容の必要性を述べている。世界平和にはその信条が必要だし、アジアの平和と繁栄の道は正にそれしかない。
もし回教徒がヒンズー教徒と戦い、仏教徒が神教徒と戦うならば、日本では物部氏と蘇我氏の昔にかえる事であり、我々はその愚を知っている。日本人は２０００年近くかかって、神道と仏教の融和を実現した。明治時代のクリスチャン達も、西洋の教会を離れて無教会派のキリスト教を作り出して神道的世界と融和した。
中国人も、現代中国の建国の精神である共産主義を克服して、シナ本来の道教=儒教の伝統である仁慈の精神に覚醒せねばいけない。いかに困難であろうとも、それ以外に中華文明を救う道はない。それは、ロシア人がレーニン・スターリンを否定して、ロシア正教の伝統に復帰したのと同じである。インドネシア人、フィリピン人、タイ人、マライ人も同様である。それぞれの東アジア諸国民がこの点に気付き、宗教的な融和を実現することに、東アジア共同体の形成への最大の鍵が潜むと、私は確信する。
（筆者は京都大学名誉教授。）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟