Editing Takagi Kenmyo (section)

==== Amida, Equality, and the Common People ====

The first “object of faith” in Takagi's socialism is the Buddhist teaching itself, which he identifies simply as ''Namu Amida Butsu''. For Takagi, the ''nenbutsu'' 念仏 expresses the universal and egalitarian character of Amida's compassion. It is the Buddha's “saving voice,” offering “absolute equality” and extending peace, comfort, and salvation to all. Although Amida's compassion embraces intellectuals, scholars, government officials, and the wealthy, Takagi insists that its principal concern is with the common people (''heimin'' 平民), including ordinary men and women traditionally dismissed as ignorant. ''Namu Amida Butsu'' thus becomes not merely an expression of individual salvation but a religious affirmation of human equality.<ref>Takagi (1904), 「余が社会主義」, pp. 55–56.</ref>

Takagi contrasts this understanding sharply with the mobilization of Buddhism on behalf of the Russo-Japanese War. Amida's compassion signifies “peace and comfort as well as salvation and happiness provided equally to all.” He is therefore appalled that ''Namu Amida Butsu'' could be transformed into a “command to killing.” As an example, Takagi recalls hearing the prominent Buddhist scholar Nanjō Bun'yū 南条文雄 (1849–1927) exhort listeners to attack the enemy without fear because death would lead them to the Pure Land. For Takagi, such rhetoric represented a fundamental inversion of the meaning of the ''nenbutsu''.

The second object of faith is the “teacher” (''ninshi'' 人師), by which Takagi means exemplary religious figures whose lives embody this egalitarian ideal. Foremost among them is Śākyamuni, whom Takagi portrays as abandoning royal status to become a mendicant and devoting his life to removing suffering and bringing happiness to others. Was the Buddha not, Takagi asks, “a great socialist of the spiritual realm”? Significantly, he immediately qualifies the comparison: Śākyamuni's socialism was not identical to that of contemporary socialist organizations such as the Heiminsha 平民社.<ref>Takagi (1904), 「余が社会主義」, p. 56.</ref>

Takagi discovers the same orientation among major figures in Japanese Buddhist history, including Saichō 最澄, Kūkai 空海, Hōnen 法然, Shinran, Ikkyū 一休, and Rennyo 蓮如, all of whom he describes as possessing deep sympathy for the common people. Shinran is especially important. Takagi invokes his language of “fellow practitioners walking together in the same direction” (''ondōbō ondōgyō'' 御同朋御同行) and his criticism of clerical titles to portray him as having realized a life of equality in the spiritual realm. Again Takagi distinguishes this religious socialism from the doctrines of contemporary socialists, but the conclusion he draws is deliberately provocative: “Buddhism is the mother of the common people and the enemy of the nobility.”<ref>Takagi (1904), 「余が社会主義」, pp. 56–57.</ref>