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K O K E T S U Kohei

THE ROLE OF M YSTICISM IN TEE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

OF HATANO SEIICHI (1877-1950)

G e n e r a l l y s p e a k i n g , he cen ral points in H a ajioTs philosophy

of religion are as f o l l o w s : ( 1 ) religious e x p e r i e n c e ; (2) fellowship
w ith o t h e r s ; (3) A a p e of the eternal God; and (4) time and e t e r n i
ty. If we are to have a correct u n d e r standing of his philosophy of
religion, we must be acquairL ed with Plotinus rs conception of nous
and S t . P a u l !s mystical conversion o God. In H a t a n o 's philosophy
of r e l i g i o n , the religious experience which he particularly empha
sizes is, indeed, based on Plotinus and S t . P a u l . It seems to me
that m a n y students of H a t a n o 1s thought have somewhat ignored this
f a c t . In this report I would like to explain briefly the role
m y s t i c i s m plays in his philos o p h y of r e l i g i o n .
- ~ Hatano' talks 'about P a u l !s m y s t i c i s m in his Genshi Kirisutokyo
(Primitive Christianity) (195 ) . M y s t i c i s m in its extreme form
tends towards panth e i s m and, as such, denies the person. H a t a n o ,
however, states explicitly that " e s s e n t i a l l y , mysticism does not
contradict the experience of p e r s o n a l i s m . M In the section on mysti
c ism in his Shukyo tetsugaku (Philosophy of religion) (1935 ) he had
a l r e a d y said that "personalism can retain religiosity only after ac
c epting m y s t i c i s m or the mystic tendency as an essential m o m e n n
Y e , what does it mean when he says that a moment of mystical ex
perience is n e c e s s a r y for the formation of personalism? P a r a p h r a s
ing M e i s t e r E c k h a r t 1s wor.ds, he c o n t i n u e s : "Union with God is n o t h
ing but the experience of the self being equivalent to nothing, or
the experience of the finiteness of the s e l f ... We are glad to see
the strong indication of the neces s i t y of conversion from mysticism
to pers onalism 0 Per s o n a l i s m begins where mysti c i s m ends .
That per s o n a l i s m begins where mysti c i s m ends m e a n s , t h u s , to
experience the self as equivalent to nothing. The question, then,
is how the self is considered in this c a s e . It was the mysticism
of Plotinus that gave Hatano the idea that the concept of "subject
in modern i d e a l i s m should be seen in terms of the concept of real
exist e n c e in ancient Greece. In this s e n s e , for Hatano mystic ex
perience could act as a m e d i u m to convert the ideal self into the
real s e l f . In his opinion, modern idealism, as in the absolute
spirit of Hegel, regards the self as that w h i c h advances to its own
amixipotence "and the absolute" real being, guided by its own subjec
tive d i r e c t i o n . In other w o r d s , it is a self that absorbs the ob-
j e c within i t s e l f . M y s t i c i s m is an important element for such a
self in converting itself to what is equivalent to nothing.
A c c o r d i n g to H a t a n o , mysti c i s m explains nothingness as occurring
w h e n he advancemerL and ra n s i ion of he relations in he world
are suddenly halted and made meaningless by an obstacle from an
e n t i r e l y unimaginable world. The existence and mea n i n g of his world
are toppled completely by his sudden stop. However, Hatano explains
he turnover of he self as f o l l o w s :
is he existence of his new meaning, i . e . , he sudden
appearance of existence as a symbol in his moment of self
reversal or self destruction hat is nothingness.
Unless he self and he world are experienced as sinking
into he depths of n o t h i n g n e s s , here is no purely religious
e x p e r i e n c e .M
Thus mystical experience is an indispensable condition for reaching
personalism. According to Hatano, the essential mea n i n g of religion
lies in personalism. Mystical experience is he first step to he
religious l i f e while revelation is he second step.