SD31FPM-T

Founding proclamation (宣言) and mission statement (綱領) of the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism (新興仏教青年同盟), unanimously adopted at its founding meeting on 5 April 1931. Both documents were originally drafted by Seno'o Girō.

Original publication: 妹尾義郎「宣言」「綱領」『新興佛教の旗の下に』第1巻、1931年. Seno’o Girō. “Sengen” 宣言 [“Proclamation”] and “Kōryō” 綱領 [“Mission Statement”]. In Shinkō Bukkyō no hata no moto ni 新興佛教の旗の下に [Under the Banner of Revitalized Buddhism], vol. 1, 1931.

English translation of: 稲垣真美『仏陀を背負いて街頭へ――妹尾義郎と新興仏教青年同盟』東京：岩波書店、1974年、6–7頁. Inagaki Masami. Budda o seoite gaitō e: Seno’o Girō to Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei 仏陀を背負いて街頭へ――妹尾義郎と新興仏教青年同盟 [Taking the Buddha on Their Backs and Going to the Streets: Seno’o Girō and the YLRB]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1974, 6–7. Translated by James Mark Shields for the Radical Buddhism Project, 2026.

➣ Original Text.

Proclamation

The modern age is in anguish. Our fellow human beings yearn for love and trust yet are compelled to struggle; the masses seek bread only to be met with repression. Escape or struggle? The world now wanders amid chaos and destitution.

In such an age, what do Buddhists recognize, and what are they contributing to society? We need not concern ourselves with the great number of Buddhists who lie intoxicated in a cheap peace of mind.

(There is no need even to take up the foolishness of the many Buddhists who are content with intoxication in an illusory peace of mind and with the stale rituals of funerals and memorial services.) But what connection with the lives of the masses do those Buddhists actually maintain who proudly proclaim Buddhism to be the supreme principle for guiding humanity? (For all their self-satisfied study of Buddhist doctrine, their organization of sectarian institutions, their ceaseless propagation of the teachings, and so forth, when the many so-called pioneers and scholar-masters of the Buddhist world stand before the overbearing ruling class, what authority do they ultimately possess other than that of a reactionary religion in service to state power?) They say, “Religion transcends class. It esteems harmony.” Yet in reality, has it become anything more than an opiate, earning the curses of the masses and arousing the righteous indignation of young Buddhists? Such a state of affairs is simply intolerable to sincere faith. (Enough of merely proclaiming that religion is a salvation of the spirit transcending class! Buddhism now stands at the crossroads of survival or extinction!!) And yet we know that established religion is far too deeply mired in convention and corruption for us to look to it for correction (reform).

It is for this reason that we have been left with no choice but resolutely to advocate a movement for Revitalized Buddhism. (The advocacy of Revitalized Buddhism!! But under such circumstances, Revitalized Buddhism is nothing other than the pioneering movement of a Buddhist revolution erupting from the righteous indignation of the young.)

Revitalized Buddhism must begin, first of all, with self-reflection. Revitalized Buddhism rejects the existing sectarian organizations, whose divisions have already lost their significance, and calls upon all Buddhists, as one, to return to the Buddha. Revitalized Buddhism recognizes that the suffering of contemporary society is caused primarily by the capitalist economic system, and seeks to secure the welfare of the masses by cooperating in its fundamental reform. It seeks to revolutionize bourgeois Buddhism and make it a Buddhism of the masses. Revitalized Buddhism seeks to deepen thought and research, promote a Buddhist culture suited to the new age, and bring about genuine world peace.

(Revitalized Buddhism must begin by reexamining the Buddhist spirit that bourgeois Buddhist scholars have distorted through idealist thinking, and must fully illuminate the scientific character that constitutes Buddhism’s original essence. That is, taking as its foundation an aspiration toward the Buddha—who, in accordance with the principle of necessity, realized love, equality, and freedom through practice—together with the autonomous practice of his teachings, it emphasizes the proper social development of those teachings and takes as its central aim the construction, through their bold practice, of a new society based on equality of personhood. Accordingly, the fundamental reform of the capitalist economic system, the principal cause of the suffering in the lives of the contemporary masses, is—whether viewed from a scientific standpoint or considered in terms of humane feeling—an inevitable demand of the masses and a natural mission of Buddhists. We must therefore cooperate in carrying it through, not only in the sphere of cultural struggle but, going further, as political struggle as well.)

As for the anti-religious movements now in vogue, Revitalized Buddhism has not the slightest reason to fear them. For we believe that so long as human life, finite though it is, aspires toward the infinite and demands love and trust even amid struggle, religion will by no means disappear. The religion we seek is not a god who created heaven and earth. Is not the modern age far too full of contradictions for us to believe in an omnipotent god?

The Buddhism in which we believe is an aspiration toward the Buddha, who, in accordance with the principle of necessity, realized love, equality, and freedom through practice. We are convinced that this aspiration is the fundamental demand of human life in its quest for the perfection of personhood, and that through it humanity is continually creating its own distinctive forms of culture. Thus, anti-religious movements amount either to an inadequate understanding of life itself or to nothing more than the liquidation of the many superstitions concealed within the halls of mystery; and we are convinced that, on the contrary, they provide good nourishment for the revival of true Buddhism. (Moreover, with regard to international problems, the buraku problem, the women’s problem, and every other social phenomenon that runs counter to the Buddhist spirit of equality of personhood, Revitalized Buddhism resolutely presses forward with their reform. We emphatically insist that such social practice is possible only by relying upon the advancing power of the rising class.)

Young Buddhists! Now is the time for us to rise. Resolutely cast aside convention and, as one, return to the Buddha. First experience within yourselves the Buddhist spirit of love and equality, and then boldly advance straight toward the fundamental transformation of capitalism. In this way, let us strive to build the Buddhist society that is our ideal!

(Behold! The surging currents of mass thought! The upheaval of the old traditions! Where does justice lie? Escape is a social crime. Young Buddhists! Now is the time. Resolutely liquidate sectarian tradition, kick aside convention, and, in the name of the Buddha, let us all link arms firmly together! And, convinced that this courageous class struggle itself constitutes the contemporary experience of the Buddhist spirit of love, trust, and equality, and the contemporary meaning of the perfection of personhood, we pledge to struggle with all our strength.

And what of the persecution and condemnation that we may suffer as a result? It is nothing other than the glorious crown of thorns borne by those who proclaim the truth. Have we not been prepared for this from the outset? Now, comrades!! Onward to the construction of a new society!!)

(Note: The portions in parentheses were subsequently added and revised.)

➣ Original Text.

Mission Statement

1. We revere Śākyamuni Buddha as humanity's supreme person and, following the guiding principle of love and trust among our fellow human beings, pledge ourselves to the construction of the Buddha-land (bukkokudo 仏国土).

2. We recognize that all established sectarian organizations, having profaned the Buddhist spirit, exist as little more than wreckage; we pledge ourselves to repudiate them and to elucidate and promote Buddhism for the new age.

3. We recognize that the present capitalist economic system runs counter to the Buddhist spirit and obstructs the welfare of the masses, and pledge ourselves to reform it so as to realize the society to come.