Jōdo-shū
![]() Jōdo-shū | |
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Classification | Pure Land Buddhism |
Scripture | The Three Pure Land Sutras and the Senchakushū |
Divisions | Chinzei, Seizan |
Liturgy | Jōdo-shū Otsutome |
Headquarters | Chion-in (Chinzei), Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji (Seizan) |
Founder | Honen Shonin |
Origin | 1175 Kyoto, Japan |
Separated from | Tendai |
Members | Over 6,000,000[1] |
Ministers | 9,500[2] |
Places of worship | 7,000[3] |
Official website |
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Jōdo-shū (
History
[edit]The Founder: Hōnen
[edit]Hōnen (
Hōnen was well respected for his knowledge and for his adherence to the Five Precepts, but in time, Hōnen became dissatisfied with the Tendai teachings he learned at Mount Hiei. Influenced by the writings of Shandao, Hōnen devoted himself solely to Amitābha as expressed through the practice of nembutsu.
In time, Hōnen gathered disciples from all walks of life, and developed a large following, notably women, who had been excluded from serious Buddhist practice up to this point. This included fishermen, prostitutes[7] and fortune tellers. Hōnen also distinguished himself by not discriminating against women who were menstruating, thought at the time to be unclean. Some followers more strictly followed Buddhist conduct, whereas others assumed they were saved by Amida Buddha and behaved recklessly, earning criticism from established monastic communities such as Enryakuji and Kofukuji.
To counter these criticisms, Honen insisted his followers sign the Seven Article Pledge, or shichikajō seikai (
Protest and Banishment
[edit]The monastic communities were satisfied for a time, until in 1207, when Kofukuji temple made another petition to the Emperor. Meanwhile, two of Honen's disciples, Jūren (
This is recorded in the Tannisho of Shinran's disciple, Yuien-bō, as follows:[9]
Master Honen and seven of his disciples were exiled, and four other disciples were executed. The Master was banished to a place called Hata in Tosa province and, stripped of ordination, given a secular name: the male Fujii no Motohiko; he was seventy-six years old. Shinran was exiled to Echigo province. His secular name was Fujii no Yoshizane, he was thirty-five. [Among the others exiled:] Jomon-bo, to Bingo province; Chosai Zenko-bo, to Hoki province; Kokaku-bo, to Izu province; Gyoku Hohon-bo, to Sado province. It was also determined that Kosai Jokaku-bo and Zenne-bo both receive banishment, but the former abbot of Mudo-ji temple took them under his custody.
Jūren and Anraku-bō were executed along with a few other disciples.
Eventually, Hōnen was pardoned and returned to Kyoto in 1211, but died soon after in 1212, just two days after giving his final testament, the One-Sheet Document to disciple Genchi.
Early Years After Hōnen
[edit]The remaining disciples in the capitol collected Honen's writings and erected a mausoleum, while doctrinal disagreements between Honen's disciples Ryūkan, Chōsai and Shōkú escalated.
When Hōnen's work, the Senchakushu, began to circulate in 1227, this enraged the monastic community on Enryakuji, and a force of sōhei warriors were sent to raid the tomb of Hōnen.[8] This is known as the Karoku Persecution (karoku no hōgan
Remote Disciples and Doctrines
[edit]Many, though not all, of the disciples of Honen were exiled to remote provinces in either 1207 by order of Emperor Go-toba, or later in 1227. Each established a local community in their respective provinces and with nuances in the teachings ("gi",
Jodo-Shu Lineage Chart[10] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The largest branch of Jōdo-shū, the Chinzei-ha (
Finally, Shinran, another disciple established communities in Echigo Province, but the sect gradually differed enough from others to be considered a separate sect, Jodo Shinshu.
Other disciples of note:
- Genchi, Honen's disciple and personal attendant who stayed in Kyoto. Later, met Ryōchū in 1248, and agreed to merge with the Chinzei branch after reaching an accord.[11] Was Hōnen's witness when he dictated the One-Sheet Document, his final testament.
- Shinkū, helped to establish Hōnen's mausoleum, and later protect its relics during the Persecution of 1227.
- Ryūkan, one of Honen's more elderly disciples, emphasized the efficacy of the nembutsu as practice and encouraged its frequent recitation, leading to his teachings being called the "many callings school" or tanen-gi (
多 念 義 ). He was exiled to eastern Japan in 1227, where he died en route.[11] - Kōsai, a disciple who advocated that a single recitation of the nembutsu was all that was necessary. His doctrine of "once-calling" or ichinen-gi (
一念 義 ) provided considerable controversy, and Honen eventually disavowed Kōsai and his teachings. He was later exiled to the island of Shikoku.[11] - Chōsai, the last of Hōnen's direct disciples. Where Honen and other Pure Land followers focused on the 18th, or Primal Vow, of Amida Buddha, Chõsai felt that the 20th Vow of the Immeasurable Life Sutra also applied, and thus taught that other practices in Buddhism would lead to birth in the Pure Land. This was the shogyō hongan (
諸行 本願 , "Primal Vow for Miscellaneous Practices") teaching. Founder of the Kuhonji-gi branch (九品寺 義 ), based around Kuhonji temple in Kyoto.[11][10] - Kujō Kanezane, an influential of the Fujiwara Clan, he helped defend and protect Honen from some political persecution. A number of letters and poetry exchanged Honen and Kanezane have been preserved.
- Awanosuke (
阿波 介 ), the fortune-teller, is credited with the double-stranded Buddhist prayer beads used in Jōdo-shū, though he did not establish a branch of his own.
Reintegration
[edit]A generation later, Bencho's disciple, Ryōchū, became his disciple for a year, and then spread Benchō's and Hōnen's teachings throughout Japan before reaching the new capital at Kamakura. Ryōchū helped to legitimize the "Chinzei branch" of Jōdo Shū as the mainstream one, and is credited as the 3rd Patriarch accordingly. He also referred to Benchō, his teacher, as the 2nd Patriarch after Hōnen. Ryōchū also met with Renjaku-bo, whose own teacher Genchi, had been another disciple of Hōnen. Renjaku-bo felt that Genchi and Benchō had been in complete agreement, so he willingly united his lineage with Ryōchū's, helping to further increase its standing.[12]
Jōdo Shū through the Chinzei lineage continued to develop until the 8th Patriarch, Shōgei (
Edo Period
[edit]In 1590, during the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Jōdo-shū was officially patronized by Tokugawa Ieyasu,[10][13] leading to an era of great prosperity for the sect that lasted throughout the Edo period and beyond. Zōjō-ji in Edo, previously a Shingon sect temple converted to a Jōdo-shū temple, became the family temple of the Tokugawa clan during the same year, receiving considerable patronage.[14] Several shoguns of the Tokugawa family are still interred in mausoleums at Zōjō-ji, though Ieyasu himself is interred at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū shrine.
Meiji Period
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Fukuda_Gy%C5%8Dkai.jpg/220px-Fukuda_Gy%C5%8Dkai.jpg)
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 marked a tumultuous period for Japanese Buddhism. The separation of Shinto and Buddhism unintentionally triggered the haibutsu kishaku, a nationwide movement targeting Buddhist institutions, in which temples were demolished, their properties revoked, and their monks forcibly defrocked.[15]
Jōdo-shū, having formerly received considerable patronage from the Tokugawa Shogunate, now embarked on a period of internal reform in which several monks emerged as important reformers.
Among these reformers was Tetsujō Ukai (
Another important figure within the reform movement was Fukuda Gyōkai (
Shōwa Period
[edit]Before and during World War II, Jōdo-shū, along with other Buddhist sects, faced pressure to endorse the actions of Imperial Japan and its policy of State Shintō. Despite the protests of certain members of the sect, the Jōdo-shū organization nevertheless complied with the policy of State Shintō. This included building several temples within Japan’s overseas colonies (all of which would later be destroyed in the years following the war) and providing memorial services to deceased soldiers as well as relief for their families. The school subsequently apologized for its wartime actions alongside the other Buddhist sects of Japan.[19]
After the Second World War, during the 1940s and early 1950s, several temples broke off from the main Chinzei Branch of Jōdo-shū, forming their own independent sects. However, this period of fragmentation proved to be relatively short-lived. In January 1961, on the 750th anniversary of Hōnen’s death, the majority of the breakaway sects of Jōdo-shū merged back into the primary Chinzei branch, which remains the largest branch of Jōdo-shū in the modern day.
Geographic Distribution
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Honen_shonin_eden_-_Public_preach.jpg/220px-Honen_shonin_eden_-_Public_preach.jpg)
Although Jōdo-shū is mainly found in Japan, a sizable Jōdo-shū community exists in Hawaii as well as a few temples in the continental United States and Brazil. The first Jōdo-shū temple built in Hawai'i was the Hāmākua Bukkyo Kaido, constructed in 1896 under the supervision of Reverend Gakuo Okabe.[20][21] The Jodo Shu North America Buddhist Missions was the first Jōdo-shū temple to be built in mainland America in 1936 in Los Angeles, California.[22][23]
Doctrine
[edit]Pure Land Buddhist teachings had been prevalent in Japan for centuries, particularly in the Tendai sect through Ennin, Genshin, and others, but what distinguished Honen's teaching was the notion senju nembutsu (
Toward the end of the Immeasurable Life Sutra is the following passage:
The Buddha further said, "I have expounded this teaching for the sake of sentient beings and enabled you to see Amitāyus and all in his land. Strive to do what you should. After I have passed into Nirvāṇa, do not allow doubt to arise. In the future, the Buddhist scriptures and teachings will perish." But, out of pity and compassion, I will especially preserve this sutra and maintain it in the world for a hundred years more. Those beings who encounter it will attain deliverance in accord with their aspirations.
— Hisao Inagaki, translation
Since the Jōdo-shū school was founded near the end of the Heian period, when Buddhism in Japan had become deeply involved in political schemes, and some in Japan saw monks flaunting wealth and power, it was felt that society had already reached the era of latter days of the Dharma, and that, based on the passage above, all other practices had ceased to have any efficacy.
Further, Hōnen sought to provide people a simple Buddhist practice that anybody could use toward enlightenment, no matter how degenerate the times because he was concerned that many people were excluded from existing sects:[24]
"The reason I founded the Jōdo [
浄土 , Pure Land] sect was that I might show the ordinary man how to be born into the Buddha’s real land of recompense [e.g. the Pure Land]. According to the Tendai sect, the ordinary man may be born into the so-called Pure Land, but that land is conceived of as a very inferior place. Although the Hossō [Yogacara] sect conceives of it as indeed a very fine superior place, they do not allow that the common man can be born there at all. And all the sects, though differing in many points, all agree in not allowing that the common man can be born into the Buddha’s land of real compensation....Unless I start a separate sect, the truth that the common man may be born into the Buddha’s land of compensation will be obscured, and it will be hard to realize the deep meaning Amida [Buddha]’s Original Vow [to provide a refuge for all beings]."— Rev. Harper Coates and Rev. Ryugaku Ishizuka, translation
Since, according to Honen's line of reasoning, salvation was mostly due to Amida Buddha's power, there was no reason why anyone who sincerely recited the nembutsu couldn't be reborn in the Pure Land.
Practice
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Recitation of the nembutsu, lit. namu amida butsu (
- Jūnen (
十念 , "Ten Recitations") - reciting the nembutsu ten times, with eight recitations of "Namu Amida Bu," followed by one "Namu Amida Butsu," and one final drawn out "Namu Amida Bu," accompanied by a bow. - Nembutsu Ichie (
念仏 一 会 , "Nembutsu Gathering") - reciting the nembutsu as many times as possible in a sitting, regardless of number. - Nembutsu Sanshōrai (
念仏 三唱 礼 , "Three Intonations of Praise") - a style involving three drawn-out recitations of the nembutsu, followed by a bow. This is repeated twice more for a total of nine recitations.
However, in addition to this, practitioners are encouraged to engage in "auxiliary" practices, such as observing the five precepts, meditation, the chanting of sutras, and other good conduct. There is no strict rule on this however, as Jōdo-shū stresses that the compassion of Amitābha is extended to all beings who recite the nembutsu, so how one observes auxiliary practices is left to the individual to decide. Furthermore, Jōdo-shū practitioners are allowed to worship kami and visit Shinto shrines as long as they do not worship the kami as a means to enter the pure land.[24]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Chionin01n4272.jpg/220px-Chionin01n4272.jpg)
Of the entire Buddhist canon, Sutra of Immeasurable Life is the central Buddhist scripture for Jōdo-shū Buddhism, and the foundation of the belief in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. In addition to this, the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra and the Amitabha Sutra are important to the Jōdo-shū school. Collectively, these are known as the Sanbukyō (
Further, the writings of Hōnen, contained mostly in the Senchaku-hongan-nembutsu-shū (often abbreviated to Senchakushū), are another source for Jōdo-shū thought as is his last writing, the Ichimai-Kishōmon (
Head Temples and Clergy
[edit]Jōdo-shū, like other Buddhist schools, maintains a professional, monastic priesthood, based on the parent Tendai-sect monastic organization, with two "head temples", one at Chion-in in Kyoto, and one at Zojoji in Tokyo. The head of the Jōdo-shū school is called the monshu in Japanese, and lives at the head temple of Chion-in. For the Seizan branch, there are three sub-branches, each with their own head temple.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "
日本 の主 な宗教 宗派 ".文化庁 . 1998. - ^ "The originator of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, St.Honen, His Life and Thought" (PDF). Bukkyo University.
- ^ "The originator of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, St.Honen, His Life and Thought" (PDF). Bukkyo University.
- ^
詳説 日本 仏教 13宗派 がわかる本 . Kodansha. - ^
宗派 について. Kanetsu Seien. - ^
浄土宗 西山 禅林寺 派 宗祖 法然 上人 立教 開 宗 850年 記念 サイト. honen850.jp - ^ "Nyorai-in in Settsu". Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ^ a b c Jones, Charles B. (2021). Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice (Buddhist Foundations). Shambhala. pp. 123–135. ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
- ^ "TANNISHO: A Record in Lament of Divergences". Retrieved 2023-06-27.
- ^ a b c d
服部 ,淳一 (2008).日本人 として心 が豊 かになる仏事 とおつとめ浄土宗 単行本 .青 志 社 . pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-4-903853-24-6. - ^ a b c d Traversing the Pure Land Path: A Lifetime of Encounters with Honen Shonin. Jodo Shu Press. 2005. pp. 89–94, 124–131, 150–153. ISBN 4-88363-342-X.
- ^ Traversing the Pure Land Path: A Lifetime of Encounters with Hōnen Shonin. Jodo Shu Press. 2005. pp. 152–153. ISBN 4-88363-342-X.
- ^ "JODO SHU English". www.jodo.org. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
- ^ "
大本山 増上寺 ". www.zojoji.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-04-24. - ^ John Breen (July 2000). Mark Teeuwen (ed.). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-8248-2363-4. OCLC 43487317
- ^ "
養 鸕徹定 ". WEB版 新 纂浄土宗 大 辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-01-23. - ^
知 恩 院 ,浄土宗 総本山 . "福田 行誡 上人 の足跡 を訪 ねて|浄土宗 総本山 知 恩 院 ".浄土宗 総本山 知 恩 院 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-01-23. - ^ "
諸宗 同 徳 会 盟 ". WEB版 新 纂浄土宗 大 辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-01-22. - ^ Victoria, Brian (1992). ZEN AT WAR (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (published 2006).
- ^ HistoricHawaii. "Hāmākua Jodo Mission: Past, Present and Future". Historic Hawaii Foundation. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
- ^ "Our History". Hamakua Jodo Mission. 2019-12-14. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
- ^ "JODO SHU English". www.jodo.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
- ^ "Jodo Shu North America Buddhist Missions |". english.jodoshuna.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
- ^ a b Fitzgerald, Joseph A. (2006). Honen The Buddhist Saint: Essential Writings and Official Biography. World Wisdom. ISBN 1-933316-13-6.
- ^ "Teachings and Practice". Retrieved 2011-10-17.
Literature
[edit]- Blum, Mark L. The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism: a Study and Translation of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Matsunaga, Daigan, and Alicia Matsunaga. Foundation of Japanese buddhism, Vol. 2: The Mass Movement (Kamakura and Muromachi Periods). Los Angeles, Tokyo, Buddhist Books International, 1990.
- The Three Pure Land Sutras. Rev. 2nd ed. Translated by Hisao Inagaki with Harold Stewart, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2003. PDF
External links
[edit]- English Language Site for Jodo Shu - The official website for Jodo Shu. Also contains information on Pure Land Buddhism in general.
- The Jodo Shu Research Institute - Responsible for providing research and English-language resources on Jodo Shu, as well as publications.