[How Jungian Psychology Has Been Developed in Japan].

Abstract

Jungian Psychology was introduced to Japan in 1931 by Kokyo Nakamura for the first time in Sekai Daishiso Zenshu ("The Complete Works of Thoughts in the World") vol. 33. (Shunjusha Publishing Company). Yoshitaka Takahashi and others made Jungian Psychology more accessible to the Japanese public in the mid-1950s although they did not succeed in full repre- sentation of the fundamental ideas of C. G. Jung. It was Hayao Kawai who truly understood those ideas and initiated the Jungian movements in Japan in 1967. In my opinion, however, there are hardly any Jungian Analysts who develop Jung's ideas further enough to reach a new awareness of the human psyche except a very few people such as Neumann, E., and Gug- genbtihl-Craig, A., Kalff, D. M., Spiegelman, M., Meier, C. A. and Hillman, J., Giegerich, W, in the West and H. Kawai and me in Japan. Kawai develops and deepens Jungian thoughts to a cer- tain extent in his book, The Buddhist Priest Myoe : A Life of Dreams (Shohakusha Publishing Company), while his understanding of Buddhism does not exceed what D. T. Suzuki describes in his work, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism. That is to say the ideas of both Zen and Shin Buddhism are abstracted and assimilated in general Buddhism in his work, resulting in losing their unique features which could have been pursued further. Moreover, although Kawai translates Jung's idea of SynchronizitAt to "kyoji-sei" (synchronicity), I claim that "engi-ritsu" (the pratitya-samutpada principle) would be a more appropriate term to reflect the original concept as it would imply the opposite principle to"inga-ritsu" (the causal principle). It should be noted that the pratitya-samutpada principle is different from the Buddhist concept of pratitya- samutpada which includes causality. In addition I transcribed the Avatamsaka sutra, which originated in India and was developed in China. I also attended to the 2"d international confer- ence featuring the Avatamsaka sutra at Belesbat on the outskirts of Paris. Eventually I have reached an idea that when combined with the concept of the pratitya-samutpada principle, the Avatamsaka sutra could be considered as a-product of Eastern wisdom which would provide an insight beyond Jung. What was originally comprehended by Gautama Buddha was crystallised in abstract images of Amitabha and Vairocana in China during the second and fourth centuries. Amitabha is a celestial buddha that Shinran, the founder of Shin Buddhism, established his own understanding of in his school whereas Vairocana is a celestial buddha that appears in the Avatamsaka sutra. Vairocana could be taken as an image of the"rising sun", the creator of all things, while Amitabha as the "sinking sun", the saviour of all creatures. This picture of psychological cosmology gives a new perspective on the human psyche that would succeed Jungian Psychology. I believe this unique conception is equivalent to the findings in modern physical cosmology, such as Einstein's theories and the Alpha-Beta-Gamow paper, which provided a new understanding of the universe.