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  Religion is a matter of individual experience

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  Shinran Shonin

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  “Amida’s salvation is for oneself alone.”

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  the more thoroughly an individual delves into their personal religious experience, the more it becomes a social matter

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  Bodhisattva Dharmakara (法蔵菩薩 Hōzō Bosatsu)

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  “Until all sentient beings are saved, I will not attain salvation for myself. I will be saved together with all others, not going ahead of them,”

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  the two sides of the same religious life.

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  To realise the free expression of this religious life, one must maintain a stance that is uniquely individual yet universally comprehensive—the position of a free religious person 自由宗教人 Jiyū Shūkyō-jin).

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  There is no position for free religious people that exists apart from the true position of all religious individuals. The position of a true religious person, who is not constrained by anything, is indeed the position of a free religion person. I would respond, “Free religion actually means religion itself.”

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  a free religious church must be a democratic institution that equally respects individuals and groups.

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  the church should belong not to religious professionals (clergy, pastors, etc.) but to the general church members (laypeople 一般教会員).

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  the sovereignty of the church should be shared among all church members, and clergy and pastors would be considered executive authorities.

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  The same principle should apply to the position of the founder.

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  “Shinran has no disciples. All are fellow travellers (同行), friends,”

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  If fellow members become truly close, intimately interconnected, then the founder and officials can fade into the background. It is even conceivable that the church can function without a founder or officials.

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  The truly great founder and officials are those who provide inspiration and guidance beyond their “on-stage” activities.

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  the interactions and mutual growth among the members become more important than the sermons and activities of the officials.

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  even though a free religious person seeks freedom, it is impossible for them to have no intellectual expression of their beliefs.

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  it is natural and free for individuals to have various beliefs.

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  free religious people may even possess more beliefs than those adhering to established religions.

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  these beliefs are private and individual, never to be used as an instrument of coercion by external religious authorities. Free religious people would never accept dogmas like the Apostles’, Nicene, or Athanasian Creeds as immutable truths, unable to add or subtract a single word.

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  The assertion that free religious people have no creeds means that they do not reject all beliefs but rather recognize that beliefs are personal and diverse, evolving with individuals and through time, expressing only a part of the truth, not its entirety.

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  Despite their partial nature, these expressions of truth should resonate with and evoke empathy from others who hold sincere beliefs.

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  organising a congregation, it is undoubtedly essential to have some kind of manifesto (綱領) that clarifies the basis for the congregation’s unity. However, this manifesto should not be a statement of specific beliefs but rather a declaration of shared purposes or guidelines for practice (実践要綱).

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  Free religious people may not have rituals that declare salvation is achieved through baptism or chanting sutras. However, religious beliefs do not exist in their own right, but are always embodied in some form.

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  since material things and forms vary widely and are never uniform, religious rituals also differ widely, and it seems as if there is no point of convergence.

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  The religion of a free religious person is a universal religion (普遍的宗教), and since it is a religion that applies to all people under heaven, it should not be the case that, due to rituals, it does not resonate with certain kinds of people. If that were the case, then that free religion could no longer be called a universal religion. If it truly possesses universal life, then naturally it should have enough appeal to evoke empathy even in people accustomed to different rituals, transcending the differences in rituals

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  the rituals adopted in the worship service of a free religious individual’s church do not need to be anything specific. What is essential is not the issue of rituals but the pulsation of the universal great life (普遍的大生命) that moves and inspires even those accustomed to different rituals. However, if someone insists that this pulsation of universal great life can only be evoked through a particular ritual (and not some other ritual), I would begin to question the universality of the religion held by such people.

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  while the Religious Association is a collaboration concerned with the secondary aspects of various religions, a Free Religion Church is a union in the essence of these religions. Consequently, it is difficult to conduct worship within a Religious Association, but in a Free Religion Church, worship can (and rather must) be conducted.

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  The Religious Federation remains a liaison organisation, while the Free Religion Church is an independent and autonomous church.

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  Is the Free Religion Church a single sect, or does it transcend sects? My answer to this question is both yes and no. If an established church is not exclusive and grasps the universal religious life through the symbol of a sect, then tha

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  established church is already, in essence, a Free Religion Church. In such cases, one can belong to either church, and as long as one has the energy, they may even belong to both churches at the same time.

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  in many cases, existing established churches are exclusive in the sense of being sectarian, and for that reason, there is a great need to newly establish a Free Religion Church that transcends these existing churches. Thus, it is natural and necessary to cut ties with established churches and dedicate oneself fully to nurturing the Free Religion Church. Therefore, even if the intention is non-sectarian (超宗派的), once the Free Religion Church is formed, it is no longer strictly non-sectarian in the true sense; it becomes a new sect. However, rather than reverting to the old exclusive and self-righteous form of so-called sects, by always adopting a progressive and developmental form in response to the times, it will become a sect that aims for the best possible growth of the universal religious life (普遍的宗教的生命). In other words, it will become a nonsectarian sect.

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  The essence of religion is greater and more sacred than Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Shinto, creeds, rituals, or sects. It is the universal life (which we may call love, perhaps) that transcends all of these. A free religious person is solely dedicated to the free expansion of that universal life.

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  However, I did not feel comfortable identifying myself as either a Buddhist or a Shintoist. At the same time, I felt that I could say I was both a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Shintoist. But the most accurate expression for me is that, after fifty years of religious pilgrimage, the final destination I arrived at was free religion.

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  I believe that free religion has two central principles. The first is the respect for freedom or individuality. In other words, it is a religion that is not bound by anything, a truly personal religion that has become part of one’s own life. To put it in the strictest and most simple way, it is a religion not bound by creeds (仰箇条).

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  Creeds as intellectual expressions of religious experience are, of course, valuable. However, they are not religion itself. Although creeds may hold significant historical importance at the time of their establishment, they are not eternal, unchanging truths. As times progress, creeds must also be altered.

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  free religion first advocates for liberation from creeds. However, this does not mean rejecting personal principles (which, strictly speaking, are not creeds) or even the bylaws of churches or denominations that have been created for sake of expediency, nor does it aim to bind others to such things.

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  the presence of monks and pastors is secondary in our religious life. If anything, our religious movement should take the form of a layperson’s movement (平徒運動). Accordingly, whether temples or churches, they should not belong to monks or pastors, but to lay-people (平徒) in general.

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  ree religion is also liberated from founders. Buddhism and Christianity revere Shakyamuni or Christ as founders. However, in free religion, there are no founders. This does not mean, in some egotistical sense, that we ignore or disdain Shakyamuni or Christ. It simply means that we do not depend on or cling to any specific founder. Therefore, we respect not only Shakyamuni and Chris

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  but all the sages and wise teachers from both East and West, ancient and modern, and learn from their teachings.

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  The characteristic of free religion is precisely that it is unclear whether it is Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam. I find the very notion that religion must be either Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, or Shinto to be strange.

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  Such a way of thinking is the belief that religion is fine as something “ready-made”

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  Religion must be “made-to-order”

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  It must perfectly fit each individual’s personality. In the end, it must be your own personal religion.

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  Having one’s true personal religion, on the contrary, brings people into true cooperation and unity. It also leads to a deeper, broader and more universal faith. This is just like how a truly strong society is built by individuals who have awakened to their own personality. On one hand, respecting freedom and the individual, and on the other, valuing cooperation and society, the principles of democracy are also the principles of free religion. Therefore, free religion does not consider personal salvation and social salvation as separate matters. It does not think of the individual being saved first and then, through the cooperation of those saved individuals, society being saved. Rather, it considers personal salvation and social salvation as simultaneous.

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  But what moves me even more is the Eighteenth Vow of Bodhisattva Dharmakara (法蔵菩薩 Hōzō Bosatsu), which stirs infinite emotion within me. Bodhisattva Dharmakara vowed that unless all sentient beings in the ten directions are saved, he himself would not be saved.

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  A great teacher never looks down on their students or seeks to create disciples. If they create anything, it is individuals greater than themselves. In other words, they willingly enter into the lives of their students and devote themselves to the mutual refinement of character through shared work.

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  Shinran

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  “I have not a single disciple”

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  Is not a bodhisattva who suffers and struggles alongside us more worthy of reverence than a god who has already reached enlightenment? Is it not within the love that suffers and struggles together with the people that salvation and enlightenment are truly found?

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  As a natural consequence of the assertion that free religion considers personal salvation and social salvation (社会の数と個人の数) as inseparable, it advocates the absolute necessity of the church. This is the second central point of free religion. In other words, free religion resolutely rejects the anti-social, individualistic, self-righteous, non-church attitude (無教会主義) (or indifference towards the church) of intellectuals

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  the church it organises does not have the monastic or cloistered character detached from real society, but is a microcosm of actual society

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  it is an exemplary model of real society

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  From the standpoint of free religion, true religious life can only exist within real social life itself. Therefore, we are absolutely opposed to the idea that temples and churches are sacred, but real society is secular. It is religion that sanctifies real society itself. Consequently, from the standpoint of free religion, paradise or heaven, the Pure Land of the West, and the afterlife should not be sought in the hereafter, but should be found within the real social community. In other words, there is no paradise or heaven apart from an ideal communal society (理想的な共同社会) realised in the real world.

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  A free religious person, above all, seeks to have their own religion, but if they are fortunate enough that an established religion generally satisfies their needs, they naturally become a believer of that established religion. It is like when ready-made clothes are sufficient, there is no need to go out of one's way to have new ones made. However, in such cases, a free religious person who is also a member of an established religion respects the freedom of others’ faith just as they respect their own, and therefore never asserts the absolute nature of their own established religious position or seeks to reject other religions or sects.

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  However, the majority of free religious people tend to be those who find they can no longer be satisfied by established religions. Even these individuals do not completely disregard the traditions of the past. They find something worthy of respect and inherit it, but they cannot be satisfied with just that, and so they seek to create new traditions. Consequently, while they respect established religions, they also seek to develop their own new position. In short, free religion may exist within established religions, but generally, it tends to move in a direction that transcends them. From a transcendent perspective, it becomes a new religion. However, rather than being one more sect among many, it is a universal religion (普遍的宗教)—one that encompasses all established religions and sects, while simultaneously opening new spiritual horizons.

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  I do not believe that I have fully grasped the essence of free religion through a decade of seeking and contemplation. I still consider myself as being simply seeker on the path. I am not a shepherd guiding a flock of lost sheep. The experiments must continue, but I believe I have reached a state of mind where I can put my experiments into practice.

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  Free religion is a religion that thoroughly emphasises freedom. It not only refuses to be bound by fixed dogmas or rituals, but also advocates liberation from religious founders.

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  It emphasises freedom, autonomy, and creativity. It values the process of improvement and development over the idea of reaching a final endpoint.

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  simply the gospel of creative love

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  the grasping of Dharma (ダルマ) — the fundamental law of creative evolution (創造的進化) that adapts to circumstances and manifests in countless forms (I think this could even be translated as “humanism”

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  This kind of flexible, non-dogmatic religion is what we call free religion.

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  What is important, therefore, is to bring these rigidified, formalized established religions back to their sources and revive them as free and creative life forces.

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  But if free Christianity and free Buddhism are to be truly “free,” then there is no need to cling to the traditional names of Christianity or Buddhism. I think simply “free religion” is enough. Therefore, we at the Kiitsu Kyōkai believe we have created one example of true free religion.

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  From the standpoint that values the process (progress) more than the final destination, I think we should not apply hierarchical distinctions between polytheism (多神論), monotheism (一 神論), personal theism (人格神論), impersonal theism (無人格神論) (a form of atheism), and what is called spiritualism (心霊論). Therefore, Kiitsu Kyōkai includes everything—Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and more.

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  However, this does not mean that all religions are unconditionally unified. Noise and harmony must be distinguished. In order for all religions truly to unify, they must refine and improve each other through mutual polishing.

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  all religions must first become free religions. In other words, the doctrines, rituals, and organisations of religions should not be considered ultimate or absolute but should be understood as secondary and symbolic, shaped by historical and environmental circumstances. Religions must awaken to the fact that what is important lies beyond these dogmas and symbols.

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  There is a criticism that I often hear, saying that the Kiitsu Kyōkai has no creed, no scriptures, no pastor or abbot, and is too vague to grasp. This is indeed a fair point. However, as the essence of religion (宗教の神髄) lies in grasping the free and unattainable (自由で無得な) great life force of creative evolution (創造的進化の大生命), such things are merely superficial details. However, just because they are superficial details does not mean they are entirely unnecessary, so I think that, in time, this church should also arrange such things.

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  From the standpoint of the Kiitsu Kyōkai, which is free, tolerant, universal, and all-embracing, the Buddhist scriptures, the Bible, the Qur’an, and the Vedas must all be considered scriptures of Kiitsu Kyōkai. Furthermore, the sages of the past, bot

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  from East and West, must all be respected as the founding teachers of Kiitsu Kyōkai. Some might say that there are too many scriptures and too many founding sages, but that is the same as going to a café and thinking that you must eat all the dishes laid out there. No matter how broad-minded Kiitsu Kyōkai may be, it would never force you to overeat. The only thing Kiitsu Kyōkai emphasises is that you do not eat an unbalanced diet

Prompts

Per Imaoka (1951), what does Shinran Shonin's statement “Amida’s salvation is for oneself alone” emphasize? :: Religion is a matter of individual experience

Per Imaoka (1951), what happens the more an individual delves into their personal religious experience? :: Religion becomes a social matter.

Imaoka (1951) described the position of a free religious person as (hint: Unitarian-Universalist) :: Uniquely individual yet universally comprehensive.

Per Imaoka (1951), church sovereignty will be shared among ??? with the clergy serving as ???. :: church members, executive authorities

Per Imaoka (1951), if fellow church members become truly close and intimately interconnected, what will happen to the church founder and its officials? :: Fade into the background.

For Imaoka (1951), what should church leaders do beyond their "on-stage" activities to be truly great? :: Provide guidance and inspiration outside on-stage activities.

Per Imaoka (1951), since beliefs are individual, they should never be used as what? :: Instruments of coercion

Per Imaoka (1951), what is the free religious person's position on intellectual expressions of beliefs, such as creeds? (Hint: four adjectives) :: These are personal, diverse, evolving, and partial.

Per Imaoka (1951), while a free religious church may not have a creed, what form of organizing document can it use? :: A manifesto.

Per Imaoka (1951), what is the use of a church manifesto? :: Clarifies the basis for a church's unity.

Per Imaoka (1951), a church manifesto should not be ??? but rather a ??? :: a statement of specific beliefs, a declaration of shared purposes or guidelines for practice

Per Imaoka (1951), why may free religious people have rituals? :: Religious beliefs are always embodied.

Per Imaoka (1951), why do religious rituals vary? :: Materials and forms vary

Per Imaoka (1951), for free religion to be universal, what should its position on rituals be? :: Transcend differences in rituals.