Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/96
was not used to help them in further theological speculation, the cosmology was not prepared for its own sake, but was prepared with the object of serving the polity. "Thus in this (Records of Ancient Matters) so called 'Bible of the Japanese' we have a work written with a definite purpose, the correction of false claims and the establishment of the monarchy, while in a secondary way we are to be given the origin of the universe itself. There is no pretence of a religious motive, nor of setting forth a moral code, but, in accordance with Chinese precedents, Japan too shall have a cosmology, a national history, and an account of the fashion in which the imperial house obtained its power."[1]
The influence of the Chinese philosophy helped Japan to unify its cults to some extent, but the influence of Indian thought and method was greater in this direction. Japan was thoroughly changed by the influence of Buddhism. But the Buddhism which influenced Japan was entirely different from what was preached by Gautama. It was in fact Hinduism which was carried to Japan under the name of Buddha. As Hinduism absorbs all heterogeneous worships and rites, so did the Greater Vehicle sect of Buddhism. In the year 552 A.D. priests and images migrated to Japan, but the foreign cult instead of destroying the pre-existing cult absorbed it. One Japanese Buddhist, Kobo-Daishi, who was a man of great influence, declared that the native Gods were incarnations of Buddha himself. As in India the pantheistic Vedanta philosophy united all divinities and worships instead of annihilating them, so in Japan; Shinto was not deserted, but was turned to account by Buddhism.
- ↑ Knox, The Development of Religions in Japan, 1907, p. 57.