It may be no coincidence that the oldest, formal, “Account of Ancient Matters”, which is the earliest known written description of Japan’s famous mystical “religion”, or belief system, Shinto, was defined on the orders of Japan’s fourth Empress regnant in the eighth century.
Certainly, the arrival of “Indian” born Bodhisena, in the eighth century, bringing with him formalised versions of Buddhist philosophy, must have confused a nation, of which, today, some 80% claim adherence to the traditional Shinto, whilst, at the same time, most of those comprise the, around 80%, who also claim adherence to Buddhism.
Recovered during excavations at Wari Bateshwar, the site of the ancient trading centre on the banks of the old Brahmaputra, in Narshingdh, some two hours north of Dhaka is a dish inscribed with a remarkable assembly of symbolism. It is not hard to interpret the tripartite decoration as referring to Animist, Shamanic and Buddhist beliefs. And, in such mysticism, it is not hard to see the foundations of Shinto.
It is clearly remarkable to find such a unique combination in an artefact recovered from an ancient trading centre on the banks of the old Brahmaputra, from which, we have every reason to believe, Buddhist emissaries set out, both into prehistoric China heading up the Brahmaputra, on what Chinese archaeologists call, the Southern Silk Road. And also from where other Buddhists certainly embarked to travel by sea across South east Asia, from early times.
Bodhisena is described, online, as being born in South India in the early eightth century. He is also described, rightly, as “an Indian Buddhist” and scholar. As ever, when reading such online, we need to remind ourselves that what was “Indian”, centuries ago, does not necessarily make them that today.
Since his education was clearly undertaken in “North East” India, whence he travelled to China, from where he was invited by the then Emperor of Japan to support the development of the Buddhist belief groups, we may assume, both that he was probably educated, at least in part, within the two great universities in the lands that are now Bangladesh, at Paharpur and Jahagadal, and that he travelled to China along the Southern Silk Road, along the Brahmaputra.
Online references are unsparing in their ability to confuse the reader between lands that were once, ancient Indian subcontinent, and today’s nations now sharing that subcontinent. This is, clearly, a reflection of today’s India’s mastery of the internet, especially compared with that of Bangladesh. It is also, of course, something of a reflection of the achievements of Indian archaeologists and historians, with far superior resources to those available to those in Bangladesh. Sadly, of course, it results in the hijacking of so much of the history that was, in fact, uniquely that of the lands that are now Bangladesh.
Shinto, a little like both Sufism and Baul, is a belief based on mysticism. It is surely no coincidence that such mysticism, deriving, at least in part from, the “Great Tidal River” that is so strongly represented in, especially, Mahayana Buddhism, that underlies such mysticism, continues to find a home in the lands that are now Bangladesh. Certainly, we have every reason to believe that, with foundations in flourishing international trade and social intercourse millennia ago, such mysticism found a natural home in Bangladesh.
Mysticism, of course, underlies some part of all great religions. A simple belief in the existence of, and the influence of, what cannot be seen, touched, tasted, inhaled or heard. The celebration of such belief manifests itself in so many cultures in a wide diversity of ways.
It is clearly not beyond the bounds of possibility that the empathy between modern Japan, and modern Bangladesh, reflected in the rapid recognition by Japan of Bangladesh as an independent nation in February 1972, has roots set deep long ago. At least from the time of the arrival of Bodhisena, in Japan, in the eighth century. And there is no doubt of his role in ensuring the compatibility of Shinto and Buddhism as belief groups.
By the time that Bodhisena travelled, first, to the Imperial Court in China, there is little doubt that Shomapur Mahabihar at Paharpur, now a Unesco world heritage site, and acknowledged as the largest such Buddhist centre in the subcontinent, would have been on his itinerary.
Since we may also be reasonably sure that, at the time, the most used route to China was, indeed, the Brahmaputra, Pahapur was, in all likelyhood, his point of departure from India, to which it appears he never returned.
That he took with him some appreciation of the mystic similarities between Buddhism, with a Hindu tradition that grew out of Animism and Shamanism, appears more than likely. Especially since the more “liberal” and mystic Buddhist school of Mahayana Buddhism seems to have developed in the lands of Bangladesh, which were less vulnerable to the more authoritarian traditions of both Brahmanic Hindu tradition, and the more conservative traditions of Theravada Buddhism.
It was, in fact, pursuit of his study of the more mystical aspects of Mahayana that took Bodhisena to China in the first place, seeking the incarnation of Manjusri, identified as the earliest, and most important bodhisattva, one of the four sublime states to which a Buddhist may aspire, in the Mahayana tradition.
Arriving at the Imperial Court in China, he found that the incarnation of Manjusri was, in fact, to be found in Japan.
It is unclear just how he succeeded in receiving an invitation to travel to Japan to pursue his ambition to develop his studies, but there is little doubt that, when he did so, he played a key role in cultural developments in Japan.
Not the least of these was the influence of Sanskrit in the development of the Japanese vocabulary; a travel companion, Kibi no Makibi, a Japanese Buddhist monk, is credited with the development of Katakana, one of the main components in Japan’s distinctive writing systems. The identifiable influence of Sanskrit in this system is credited to the influence of Bodhisena.
There is little doubt that Bohisena, in the work he undertook to promote Buddhism in Japan, played a significant role in reconciling what might, otherwise, have developed into a conflict between two such belief and practice groups.
That, even today, the Shinto and Buddhism, especially mystic traditions of Buddhism, exist and flourish side by side in Japan, has its foundations in that eighth century arrival of the “Indian”, Buddhist monk. And that his work was influenced by mystical belief traditions that have deep roots, even today, as they did in his own lifetime, in the eighth century Asia.
One wonders also, if the credit given to Bodhisena for some of the elements of traditional courtly dance and music, owe something to the traditions that continue to be honoured by many, even today, in Bangladesh.
