The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (812 page)

(Jap., ‘neither give nor accept’). A ‘branch’ (
ha
) of the
Nichiren
school of Japanese Buddhism established by Nichi
(1565–1630) in 1595. This branch of Nichiren Buddhism teaches that both lay persons and monks and nuns should neither give nor receive alms from persons belonging to other schools and sectarian movements of Buddhism. Although originally suppressed by secular authorities, adherents of this sect continued practising their faith in secret, calling themselves
nai-shinja
, ‘secret believers’. In 1874, the government finally granted the Fujifuse Branch legal recognition. Its headquarters temple is the My
kakuji in Okayama Prefecture.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Fujikan
.

A meditation practice in Japanese Buddhism, in which Skt. letters, especially
A
, are written on various parts of the body; their power is then absorbed into the body.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Fujisan
.

Mount Fuji (usually known in the W. as Fujiyama from a confusion arising from the Chinese character which can be pronounced ‘yama’ or ‘san’), a cone-shaped dormant volcano, the highest mountain in Japan (3,776 metres), about 75 miles SW of Tokyo, greatly revered for its beauty and sacred character. Although adherents of all Japanese religions revere Mount Fuji, it was made particularly sacred by the Yamabushi, the mountain
ascetics
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Fujiyama
:

see
FUJISAN
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Jap., ‘the unsayable’). The Zen insistence that the experience of enlightenment (
kensho
,
satori
) cannot be described or communicated. Anyone who realizes his
bussho
(buddha-nature) is like a dumb man after a beautiful dream. It follows also that words are always approximate and corrigible: they are the sign that points to the moon, but not the moon itself. Hence arises the famous formula of ‘transmission outside the scriptures’, i.e. through the direct interaction of
mond
or
hossen
, attributed first to
Bodhidharma
, but perhaps from
Nan-chuan Pu-yuan
:
kyoge betsuden
(transmission outside the formal teaching),
furyu monji
(transmission outside the scriptures), and
jikishi ninshin
(direct pointing to the human being or heart) lead to the realization of one's buddha-nature (
kensh
j
butsu
).
Fukasetsu has its parallel in Zen,
fukashigi
, ‘the unthinkable’, that which can be experienced (enlightenment) but cannot be conceptualized.