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Introduction
As described in “Zen Philosophy and History, Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity” Buddhism originally started from the perspective of personal perfection, becoming a transcendent being who could escape all suffering through ascetic practice, and then shifted to the salvation of more people, which came to Japan in the form of Mahayana Buddhism.
Buddhism introduced during the reign of Prince Shotoku was focused on its philosophical aspect and spread as an ideology to accommodate the nation.
However, as Buddhism gained in authority, the interpretation of “all people” was limited to the aristocrats who were the powerful class at that time, and Buddhism gradually shifted to an esoteric-centered world to seek the benefits of this world, which was the demand of those aristocrats.
Fuji eruption, earthquakes, and the spread of epidemics, as described in “History of Mt. Fuji Climbing and Mountain Climbing Race” as well as the collapse of the Ritsuryo system (taxation had been based on the number of people, but as the population grew, the system was changed to land-based taxation and the rise of the samurai, a powerful military group, further disrupted the local regions. ), the idea of the end of the world spread.
In such an era, people questioned the existing religions and returned to the original Mahayana philosophy that “all people can become Buddhas.” Kuya, Honen, Shinran, Ippen, and others founded and spread the Pure Land philosophy, which was for all common people except the aristocracy. In this article, I would like to discuss these Pure Land philosophies.
Kuuya
Kuya, who is also famous for the standing wooden statue of Kuya Shonin in the collection of Rokuharamitsuji Temple, is regarded as a pioneer of Pure Land Buddhism and Nembutsu worship in Japan. He is said to have been the first person on record in Japan to have practiced the shomyo nembutsu (recitation of the name of the Buddha), in which one praises the Buddha with one’s mouth, “Namu amidabutsu,” without contemplation, and to have promoted nembutsu belief among a wide range of people, from regal families to the general public, especially among lay people rather than among ordained monks.
The most famous Kuya statue is that of Kuya Shonin at Rokuharamitsuji Temple in Kyoto. This statue is a sculpture of the legend that when Kuya Shonin chanted “Namu Amidabutsu” each note (Namu Amidabutsu) became Amidabutsu, and it expresses the strength of Kuya Shonin who lived with the people, although he was thin. The work vividly depicts Kuya, who not only proselytized but also built bridges and dug wells, and was adored by the people.
Honen
Honen was a Japanese monk of the late Heian to early Kamakura periods, who initially studied the Tendai sect of Buddhism at the Yamamon (Mt. Hiei). In 1175, he preached the doctrine of Senshu-Nenbutsu, which teaches that if one believes solely in the vow of Amida Buddha and chants “Namu Amida Butsu” (Amitabha), one will be equally reborn after death, and later became the founder of the Pure Land sect.
As can be seen in his portrait, Honen was a gentle man who did not like conflict. In his later years, he was noticed by the existing power (monks of Mt. Hieizan, etc.) and was ordered by the Emperor Go-Toba to cease his Buddhist practice, and even when he was exiled to Sanuki province, he accepted the situation and went to the region to engage in missionary activities. In the words of Honen
The mind of an ordinary person is like the mind of a man who drinks wine every day and never determines what is right or wrong, and at any given moment there may be a hundred different kinds of troubles, so that it is easy to become confused between right and wrong.
In other words, human nature is that of an ordinary person who is always lost, and human beings are incapable of practicing asceticism on their own, let alone rebirth, because of their own “wakara” (tendency). If one did so, he claimed, he would surely be saved by the Amida Buddha and welcomed by the Pure Land.
The gentle practice of reciting only the nembutsu (nembutsu) is a pioneering invention of Honen, who believed that “human beings are all ordinary people.
Honen’s teaching and the ease with which it could be practiced were so contrary to conventional Buddhism that countless criticisms and doubts were leveled at him about whether he could save people with such simplicity. In response, Honen replied
How can the wondrous power of Buddha Dharma be so beneficial to us?
The “mysterious power of Buddha Dharma” is vast and limitless, and the power to save comes to us from beyond. The Buddha Dharma throws salvation to us according to our capacity. This idea is similar to that of the monotheistic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, as described in “Reading the Core of Christianity: The Three Monotheistic Religions, the Old Testament, and Abraham. The act of becoming “nothingness” through zazen in Zen also does not seem to be so distant from this concept.
Shinran
Shinran was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the early to mid Kamakura period, known as Shinran Shonin, who became the founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism.
Shinran, who looked up to Honen as his teacher, devoted his entire life to carrying on and furthering “the true teaching of Pure Land Buddhism, which was revealed by Honen. It is thought that he had no intention of founding his own sect. He did not have his own temples, but rather established simple Buddhist dojos in various places to teach the Buddha’s teachings.
Shinran was troubled by various problems. One was lust, and the other was that he was under the spell of the Latter Day of the Law. He therefore fled from Mt. Hiei and holed himself up in Rokkakudo (Rokkaku Summit Buddhist Temple, founded by Prince Shotoku as a memorial service for Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy) in Kyoto, where he was taught the following words
He then said, “Gyoja, if you do not commit female genital mutilation, I will become a tama-yojo (a woman) and be violated. I will be a jade woman and be raped. I will be solemnized for the rest of my life, and on my deathbed, I will be guided to the paradise where I will be born.
This dream told him that he would be reborn in paradise. Shinran’s doubts were dissipated by this dream, and he visited Honen and applied for initiation with a determination not to be deterred. Thereafter, he devoted his life to practicing Honen’s teachings, devising ways to pray to Amida Nyorai and to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
The criticism of Honen and his cult, which advocated innovative Buddhism, was severe, and when Honen and his followers were exiled to Shikoku, as mentioned above, Shinran was exiled to Niigata. Some of Honen’s disciples were executed, and Honen and Shinran were stripped of their priesthood and forced to take secular names.
Shinran took “bald” as his family name, and after his exile, he called himself “Kabaku Shinran” (evil bald Shinran). He called people living in the Latter Day of the Law, including himself, “kuzoku-gusoku-bonbu” (ordinary people who are full of vexations) and “sin-karma-bonbu” (ordinary people with deep karma), and advocated that people are sinful, vexation-ridden ordinary people.
Shinran’s well-known teaching, “Zenjin still want to live, even though they have bad karma,” is taken in this context, and the bad person here is inevitably a bad person due to karma caused by being born in the time of the Latter Day of the Law. This is the basis of Shinran’s teaching.
Ippen
Ippen, who was also mentioned in the “Kaido yuku Shinshu Sakuhira-michi (Nagano),” was a monk of the Kamakura period and the founder of the Jishu sect of Zen Buddhism.
Ippen” is the name of a Buddhist priesthood, and the real name of the Dharma name is “Jishin”. Ippen means “one and yet all-pervasive,” Wisdom means “wisdom of enlightenment,” and Truth means “the Truth as manifested by the Buddha. The head temple of the Jishu sect of Buddhism, which Ippen advocated, is located at Yugyo-ji Temple in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Jishu extends the teachings of the Jodo sect in a more general way, teaching that one can be reborn as long as one recites the Amida Buddha regardless of whether one believes in or disbelieves in the Buddha. The interpretation is that the power of the Buddha’s true desire is so absolute that it extends to those who do not believe in it.
Summary
Jodo-kyo, which revolutionized the Mahayana Buddhist teachings that aimed at the salvation of ordinary people who would never be perfected from the “perfected human fulfillment” by a limited few in the past, and constructed the teaching that everyone can be literally saved by the Amida Buddha, can be said to be one completed form of altruistic thought. Jodo-kyo has become a source of reassurance and hope for all people, and it is also a religion that has matured a sense of community cohesion and has become the base of the Japanese way of thinking, which emphasizes social connectedness.
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