INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND NICHIREN BUDDHISM

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how specific Mahāyāna ethics, namely the interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra by Zhiyi (536–597), Nichiren (1222–1282) and Sōka Gakkai (1930–), can relate to core principles of international humanitarian law (IHL). In particular, it also assesses and discusses how Sōka Gakkai’s three key doctrines (the dignity of life, the variability of life and the interconnectedness of life) are congruent with some IHL principles. The paper then analyses how Buddhist organisations today can be advocates of IHL and specifically looks at how Sōka Gakkai agrees with – and commits to – IHL in terms of the humanitarian impact of the use of nuclear weapons.

KEYWORDS:

• International humanitarian law (IHL)
• Lotus Sūtra
• Sōka Gakkai
• nuclear weapons
• bodhisattva
• dignity of life
• interconnection
• Buddhist

Disclosure statement

This article has been supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Notes

1. Recent scholarship on Sōka Gakkai includes Metraux (1996), Fisker-Nielsen (2012) and McLaughlin (2018).

2. For more about Zhiyi and early Tiantai interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra see e.g. Ziporyn (2016).

3. About Nichiren, see e.g. Satō 佐藤 (2003, 69–190).

4. Often translated as ‘Glory to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra’, the formula contains a vow to embrace and manifest one’s Buddha nature.

5. The Gohonzon (‘object of devotion’) is a scroll containing Chinese and Sanskrit characters aimed at aiding in the process of bringing forth the life condition of Buddhahood.

6. Followers of the practice of recitation (nembutsu 念仏) of Amida’s name, especially in the Pure Land schools.

7. Those who violated the Peace Preservation Law in Japan during and before WWII were called ‘thought criminals’.

8. The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 (GC I, II, III and IV), which have been universally ratified, constitute the core treaties of IHL. The Conventions have been supplemented by Additional Protocols I and II of 1977 (AP I and AP II) relating to the protection of victims of international and non-international armed conflict, respectively; and by Additional Protocol III of 2005 (AP III) relating to an additional distinctive emblem (the red crystal).

9. See Watson (2009, 209–220).

10. From 10 to 13 November 2017, for instance, 165 SGI-USA members joined its sixth Veterans/Active Duty Conference held at the Florida Nature and Culture Center. Details are available at https://www.worldtribune.org/2017/11/carrying-mission-kosen-rufu/.

11. The famous story of King Ashoka also suggests that Buddhism inspired him to transform his life. His story illustrates the potential for good within a life of evil acts. It is said that the Indian ruler King Ashoka (304–232 BCE) was a merciless king of the Mauryan Empire and waged many wars. He waged war against the state of Kalinga and conquered it around 261 BCE. The war led to the killing of 100,000 people and the deportation of 150,000 others. The horror of this war and of what it did left him tormented to the extent that he repented of his cruelty and vowed to never again wage war. It is said that he learnt about Buddhist teachings immediately before he started governing his realm, though he did not immediately take it to heart. Ten years after he ascended the throne, he visited the place where Shakyamuni achieved enlightenment and started his circumambulation, seeking the Buddhist law. Over the following decades of his reign, he constructed wells, planted trees, built hospitals to cure humans and animals, encouraged cultural exchanges and erected stone pillars engraved with edicts, such as those admonishing against the taking of life. See Thapar (1997, 255).

12. For a translation of and commentary on Mohe zhiguan see Swanson (2017).

13. Also, non-duality of life and its environment; the principle that life and its environment, although two seemingly distinct phenomena, are essentially non-dual; they are two integral phases of a single reality. In the Japanese term eshō-funi, eshō is a compound of shōhō, meaning life or a living being, and ehō, its environment. Funi, meaning ‘not two’, indicates oneness or non-duality. It is short for nini-funi, which means ‘two (in phenomena) but not two (in essence)’. Hō of shōhō and ehō means reward or effect. It indicates that ‘life’ constitutes a subjective self that experiences the effects of its past actions, and ‘its environment’ is an objective realm in which individuals’ karmic rewards find expression. Each living being has its own unique environment. The effects of karma appear in oneself and in one’s objective environment, because self and environment are two integral aspects of an individual. See Sōka Gakkai (2002, 477–478).

14. See also Nishimura 西村 (2004).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daiki Kinoshita

Daiki Kinoshita works for the Public Relations Office of the Soka Gakkai and is responsible for academic affairs. From 2011 to 2017, he worked in the Soka Gakkai Public Relations Office for the Kansai region, where he organised seminars and symposiums. Prior to this, he was a journalist for the organisation’s daily Japanese newspaper, the Seikyo Shimbun, for about 20 years. He has been an associate member of the Japanese Association for the Study of Religion and Society since 2012, a member of the Research Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs since 2019, and a member of the International Human Rights Law Association since 2021. He was awarded a bachelor of economics from Keio University in 1991.