Faith alone

 

This content-creator, who calls himself Shaku Joshin, promotes a peculiar form of Buddhism. The group calls itself Amidaji International Temple, Amidaji for short. It seems to be a small breakaway faction from the Japanese Pure Land denomination Jodo Shinshu. Many members (including the founder) are White. This could be a thing, since Amidaji very strongly implies that their little sect are the only true Buddhists. White people telling Asians how to practice the Dharma? OK, bruh.

What struck me most when listening to Shaku Joshin is that he has almost exactly the same mentality as a evangelical or charismatic Christian. Indeed, he was one in his younger days. It´s all in there. The strong emotional investment in a loving savior-figure? Check. Except that the savior in this case is Amitabha Buddha (called Amida in Japanese) rather than Jesus. The evangelistic mindset? Check. The constant attacks on co-religionists for getting it wrong? Check. The sectarian attitude that your path is the only path to salvation, everyone else be damned? Check. While the content-creator doesn´t seem to believe in hell, he does regard this world as rather hellish, so being stuck here rebirth after rebirth might as well be damnation.

There are even doctrinal similarities. Pure Land Buddhists do teach a kind of salvation by faith and grace. Many have remarked on the similarities between this and Protestantism. But just like evangelicals attacking each other, Shaku Joshin claims that only Amidaji teaches *real* salvation by faith/grace alone. I encountered a similar small group of White American Amidists on the web about ten years ago, and I can´t help wondering if this is the sequel! Maybe the two groups actually are connected somehow. 

I used to think that White American Buddhists are very tolerant and liberal (or at least pretends to), but here we have an explicit exception. I can´t say Quasi-Japanese Buddhism with a Bible Belt psychology is much of an improvement, though...