Shinrans Response to Tendai

·期刊原文
The Ultimacy of Jodo Shinshu: Shinran's Response to Tendai

By Alfred Bloom
The Pure Land
Vol. New series 10-11, 1994.12, pp. 28-55

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p. 28

INTRODUCTION

The topic of Jodo Shinshu as the ultimate teaching of the
Great Vehicle is significant for illuminating aspects of
Shinran's teaching which receive little direct attention
because of their sectarian implications. Nevertheless, an
understanding of the background which inspired Shinran to
assert the ultimacy of the Pure Land path is essential in
determining the relevance of his teaching for modern people.

This essay moves on two levels. The context of the paper
is the necessity for Shin Buddhism to address problems and
issues of the contemporary age in which we live. I am using
Shinran as an example of this response for his own time. The
second aspect is the points of doctrine which indicate
Shinran's effort to develop a comprehensive perspective on
Pure Land Buddhism as a response to the current thought of
his time, The paper assumes that Shinran was a person of his
times, aware of its character. However, it is where he goes
beyond the religious and perhaps social character of that age
to advance his own understanding and to assist other
contemporary seekers that his historical and religious
significance lies.

A meaningful theory of salvation for contemporary people
must be comprehensive in speaking to the human condition and
in offering a deep understanding of reality and religious
experience. Hence, it is important to take full account of
Shin-
p. 29

ran's religious experience and his subsequent religious
development and life-style which are reflected in his
writings. Shinran's response to Tendai-Lotus teaching reveals
the breadth and creativity of his thought and offers a good
example of the way in which Shin Buddhism must confront
trends in contemporary thought. Further, the presuppositions
of contemporary interfaith dialogue requires clarifying one's
own stance and seeing its relation to other alternatives.

The main point to be made in this paper is that, for
Shinran, the Pure Land teaching, as he understood it, is not
simply one alternative among a variety of possibilities to
the practice and teaching of Tendai and Shingon. Though these
two streams of teaching and practice formed the basis of
medieval Buddhism in what is generally known as the
kenmitsutaisei ( 陪盞蔨 ) that is, the systenl of exoteric
and esoteric teachings and practices. Shinran laid the
foundation for displacing them. While to some observers
Shinran's view may appear overly sectarian, he must be seen
in Iris context which discriminated people in terms of class
and religious ability. The major religious institutions were
aristocratic and elitist. For them Pure Land teaching was
simply a tactful device for people lacking in full spiritual
capacity. It is to be noted that Pure Land teaching received
persecution, not because of the belief in nembutsu or the
recitation of the Buddha Amida's name which was a sub-sidiary
practice in all traditions, but because Honen and his
followers, including Shinran, stressed the sole practice
(senju 盡) of recitation of the name. This issue was more
than religious, having social implications as well.

Confronting the religious monopoly of his time, Shinran
reinter-preted Pure Land teaching as the supreme expression
and representation of the truth of Buddhism. In doing this,
he challenged the traditional understanding of religion. By
drawing also on significant aspects of contemporary thought,
he

p. 30

completed the logic of the evolution of Pure Land thought
toward broader universality, and rooted its teaching and
practice in the very nature of Cosmic Amida Buddha.

The paper will demonstrate this effort by a survey of
several key issues emerging from Shinran's writings. It is
clear that the specter of Tendai teaching looms behind the
issues on which Shinran focusses in the Kyogyoshinsho and
elsewhere. Among the major issues to be discussed are A.) the
fundamental reason for the appearance of the Buddha in the
world; B.) the principle of the One Vehicle that grounds the
path to enlightenment; C.) Shinran's critical classification
of doctrine (nisoshiju 蛮 ) and the method of
correlating teachings (kenshoonmitsu 陪裹留盞 ) as well as
the distinction of true and temporary or provisional (shin-ke
痷安 ), all of which establish his interpretation of Pure
Land teaching as the supreme teaching in Buddhism; D.) the
renewed emphasis on bodhi-mind as the essence of shinjin
(endowed trust 獺み which is the foundation of the Buddhist
path and the related principle of faith-Buddha-nature
(shinjin-bussho 獺み︱┦ ) which correlates to features of
Tendai and Shingon on an Other Power basis; E.) the
universality of salvation, focussing on Ajatasatru as the
most evil person, which corresponds vividly to the teaching
of nijosabutsu(1) ( ︱; buddhahood of the two vehicles
and the salvation of Devadatta in the Lotus Sutra); F.) the
elevation of Amida Buddha to the level of eternal Buddha,
with no beginning and no end, the kuonjitsujo ( 环龟Θ )
Buddha based in the Tendai teaching of hongaku ( セ谋 ) as
the all pervasive and encompassing Buddha-nature, ensures the
attainment of enlightenment for all beings.

Shinran's reflection on his own religious experience
within the context of Pure Land tradition led to the
formulation of a religious perspective which took into
account the realities of human existence, the nature of
religious consciousness and ex-

p. 31

perience and the place of practice as an expression and
witness of religious reality. His perspective in its
comprehensiveness and realism challenged the prevailing
religious understanding of his time and beyond. In similar
fashion, it is essential that contemporary Shin Buddhists
follow Shinran's lead in offering an existentially grounded,
vital and creative interpretation of the teaching for all
modern people.

I. SHINRAN'S RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

It is well known that Shinran (1173-1262) spent twenty
years on Mount Hiei from the age of nine years to
twenty-nine. During that time, according to Shin tradition,
he studied the Tendai teaching thoroughly, including the
Lotus Sutra. However, despite his long, arduous practice and
study, he had no assurance that he would attain
enlightenment. According to his wife Eshin-ni, as a result of
meditation in Rokkakudo and a message he received from Prince
Shotoku, he became a disciple of Honen at his hermitage in
Yoshimizu.

Shinran is usually included in the group of teachers such
as Dogen and Nichiren who left the monastic institution of
Mount Hiei, embarking on their respective independent quests
for religious understanding and final enlightenment. They
departed from Hiei, because they perceived defects or
limitations within the Tendai system itself. They became
critics of such religious institutions, forming their own
alternatives.

In the case of Shinran, his basic motivation for leaving
was despair at realizing the high ideals of Tendai. He became
deeply aware of his own spiritual incapacity and limitations,
resulting front his passionate nature. Though his writings
were produced much later in his life, his personal
confessions of the power of his passions and attachments
represent a life-long, deeply felt awareness of his spiritual
condition. Shinran's self-

p. 32

understanding became the basis on which he re-interpreted the
path to enlightenment in Buddhism through absolute Other
Power. His doctrinal system is marked by a concern to clarify
the basis for the assurance of enlightenment for even the
most desperate, defiled person. Following the direction of
his own experience, Shinran found release through Honen in
the Pure Land tradition. However, in the course of his
ongoing reflection, he came to understand Pure Land teaching
as the reflection and expression of spiritual reality itself.
In other words, Pure Land teaching became the absolute and
ultimate path in Buddhism. He understood that the Buddha
reaches out actively to embrace sentient beings through his
Vow power, rather than sentient beings striving to realize
Buddha-nature through rigorous monastic practice. Only in
this way could foolish people such as himself receive the
assurance of enlightenment.

It is clear that Shinran was a man of his times and in
many ways affirmed or employed the prevailing understanding
of Buddhas, the Buddhist world view and kami, with which he
had been nurtured from his childhood. In this connection we
would call attention to the work of William LaFleur whose
text The Karma of Words(2) elucidates the context or
background within which Shinran lived. LaFleur defines the
medieval period in Japan as the age where a certain
understanding of Buddhist life constituted the basis of
Japanese religious and intellectual outlook. The elements of
this outlook included belief in karma and the six paths of
transmigration in Buddhist cosmology by the masses, and, in
addition, the principles of interdependence, and non-duality
or hongaku thought by Buddhist teachers, as well as literati
and artists. These aspects of Buddhist teaching captured the
intellectual imagination.

The pervasiveness of these features within the medieval
religious and philosophical environment clearly expressed
themselves in religion, literature and drama, supported in
the social

p. 33

sphere by the prevailing system of exoteric and esoteric
teachings and practices of the Tendai and Shingon sects. No
movement of the time could fail to be influenced by it.

Within this environment Shinran set himself clearly
against that ethos, going so far as to assert that the
general system of 84, 000 teachings, which symbolically
included all forms and doctrines of Buddhism, represented the
self-striving teachings in contrast to the one teaching of
absolute Other Power which cannot simply be included among
all the alternatives in Buddhism.(3) Rather, it stands alone
as the only true teaching, established by the power of the
Primal Vow. Therefore, what is most signiftcant about Shinran
is how he went beyond the common beliefs and perspectives to
enunciate a distinctive interpretation of Pure Land religious
experience, doctrine and realization, establishing it as the
supreme teaching of Buddhism.

His experience reshaped the teaching to express his
singular trust in, and devotion to, Amida Buddha as the sole
basis for the universal Enlightenment of ordinary,
passion-ridden people of the last age or any age. All other
forms of Buddhism were simply compassionate means designed to
lead people to the ultimate realization of the Buddha's
embrace which never abandons. He reversed the traditional
view of these practices which regarded Pure Land practice of
reciting the name as the compassionate means for weak people
who were unable to engage in more rigorous discipline.
According to Shinran, the assurance of enlightenmcnt rooted
in the nature of spiritual reality and not in human efforts.

Of all the teachers who rejected the Tendai tradition in a
formal sense, Shinran was the most decisive from the
doctrinal standpoint. Nevertheless, in his endeavor to state
the religio-philosophical grounds for his interpretation, he
had to deal with issues raised by the Tendai system.
According to Tendai

p. 34

understanding, the Lotus Sutra, together with the Nirvana
Sutra, was the final, supreme teaching of the Buddha. Without
indicating that the Pure Land teaching, as he understood it,
adequately encompassed those issues, it would remain simply a
relative path within Buddhism, albeit the most suitable for
ordinary people in the last age (mappo).

II. SHINRAN'S RESPONSE TO TENDAI AND THE LOTUS SUTRA

In this section we will explore various aspects of
Shinran's thought for significant indications of influence of
the Lotus-Sutra-Tendai teachings which may derive from his
exposure to that teaching. With Shinran's existing corpus of
writings he never directly quoted from the Lotus Sutra,
though he quoted other important Mahayana sutras such as the
Avatamsaka (Kegon) and Nirvana Sutra, as well as many
treatises and commentaries. Takada Jisho points out that
Shinran quotes from 13 types of sutras, 128 times, but not
once from the Lotus.(4) Further, Shinran was very severe in
his criticism of the style of religious faith which he
defines as self-power and symbolized for him by the Lotus
school (hokkeshu), meaning Tendai. The question becomes all
the more intriguing in view of the clear difference Shinran
made between his understanding of Buddhism and that of the
Nara, Tendai, Shingon and Zen schools. Despite his outward
rejection of this tradition, it contributed greatly, if
unconsciously, to the development of his teaching.

A. The Fundamental Purpose for the Appea rance
of the Buddha in the World

One of the most important passages for observing the
influence of the Lotus Sutra is in connection with the
concept of the original purpose for the Buddha's appearing in
the world

p. 35

(shusse honkai セ胔 ). This concept was an important
aspect of the spiritual authority attributed to the Lotus
Sutra. It proclaims the ideal of universal deliverance for
sentient beings. According to the Sutra, the Buddhas appear
in the world for one reason and that is "to cause all living
beings to open [the gate to] the insight of the
Buddha...."(5) The theme is reiterated four times in this
passage with certain modifications, indicating strong
emphasis. Later, the Buddha states that it is "only for the
purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle."

In the chapter on Teaching in the Kyogyoshinsho Shinran
establishes in the preface that the Larger Sutra has as its
central purpose to reveal the true teaching concerning Amida
Buddha's Vows, and that this was the reason for Sakyamuni's
appearing in the world. He proceeds to raise the question:
How is it known that [this Sutra] was the great matter for
which Sakyamuni appeared in the world? He responds by quoting
the Sutra which states:

I have appeared in the world and expounded the
teaching of the way to enlightenment, seeking to save the
multitudes of living beings by blessing them with the
benefrt that is true and real.(6)

In the conclusion of the chapter, Shinran declares that the
Larger Sutra "...is indeed the right exposition for which the
Tathagata appeared in the world, ...the conclusive and
ultimate exposition of the One Vehicle...."(7)

The emphasis which Shinran places on the purpose for the
Buddha's appearing in the world highlights the same issues as
the Lotus Sutra assertion, universal deliverance and the One
Vehicle. In a more concrete way Shinran's use of the term
daiji ( ㄆ ) or great matter, purpose, derives from the
Lotus Sutra phrase ichi-daiji-innen ( ㄆ絫 ) (Murano:
One great purpose). However, in the conclusion to the
Jodomonruijusho

p. 36

Shinran states: daisho-seson-shukko-ose daiji-innen ( 竧
碙砍ㄆ絫 ), which is a conflation of the terms of the
Larger Sutra and the Lotus Sutra.(8)

Zonkaku later argued in his Rokuyosho that despite the
fact that the honkai (original purpose, intention) does not
appear in the Pure Land Sutra, the concept is present. There
are, according to him, two types of understanding of the
concept. The Lotus Sutra is concerned with the One Vehicle in
terms of true and provisional teaching, while the Pure Land
teaching focusses on the nature of the beings for whom the
Buddha appears, particularly for those who live in the
defiled age.(9)

B. The Principle of One Vehicle as a Symbol of Ultimacy

Shinran declared in the Kyogyoshinsho that the Name or
absolute Other Power nembutsu is the concept of Sea of One
Vehicle (ichijokai). The principle of the One in the One
Vehicle is a central issue in the Mahayana tradition and the
various schools which developed within it as part of their
critical classification of doctrines. It is an assertion of
the ultimacy of the particular teaching in question.

In general the term generally has been thought to signify
the Mahayana teaching over against the Hinayana (namely the
Sravakas, listeners, or Pratyekabuddhas, the solitary
buddhas). The Mahayana, in contrast to these other ways, was
aimed to bring all beings to enlightenment. It proceeds in
spiritual development from seeking self-benefit to
benefitting others. Because the ultimate aim is to become
Buddha, the Mahayana is also called Buddhayana. The One means
unique or great. The vehicle means the teaching, that is, the
unique teaching that bears all beings to the other shore of
enlightenment. However, as Prof. Inagaki indicates, the One
Vehicle also transcends Mahayana, since it includes all
vehicles, rather than being simply a contrast to them in
accord with the goal of liberating all

p. 37

beings. All beings attain the same enlightenment, and all the
alternative paths are compassionate means leading to the One
Vehicle. For Shinran, the One Vehicle is the Single Buddha
Vehicle of the Primal Vow. As a consequence the 84,000
teachings are all provisional or temporary means which lead to
the Vow.(10)

This principle was employed in many traditions. We can
find it in the teachings of the Kegon, Tendai-Lotus and
Shingon traditions, as well as the Pure Land. The specific
term "Sea of the One Vehicle," which was adopted by Shinran,
appears in Shan-tao's commentary to the Meditation Sutra
(Gengibun section) where it is described as instantaneous or
immediate teaching ( 箉毙, tongyo). In this context it is the
unsurpassed great benefit, the true benefit. The term Sea
refers to the breadth or depth of the teaching. In other
words, the nembutsu of the Primal Vow is the ultimate
teaching.

In the Gutokusho(11) Shinran presents the Tendai-Lotus,
Shingon and Zen paths among the True Teachings of Buddhism
because they also are instantaneous, immediate teachings.
However, they are difficult paths or Saintly paths, in
contrast to the Pure Land teaching which is the easy way of
universal salvation based in the Vow. The teachings in the
difficult paths are upaya (ways to help people toward the
Pure Land path). As we pointed out above, Shinran indicates
that the 84,000 teachings are all upaya, compassionate means
of good of the Pure Land. They are the Yomon ( 璶 ),
essential gate or kemon ( 安 ), temporary gate, referred to
in the Transformed Land chapter of the Kyogyoshinsho.(12)
12)
Though the concept of One Vehicle appears in other schools
and in Pure Land tradition, the immediate background of
Shinran's thought is the expression of this principle in the
Tendai teaching and the Lotus Sutra which relates the One
Vehicle to the purpose of the Buddha's appearance in the

p. 38

world.

In the history of the interpretation of the Lotus Sutra
there has been a question whether there are only three
vehicles or possibly four. In chapter 2, we read that "There
is only one teaching, that is, the One-vehicle/ In the
Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters./ There is not a second or
a third vehicle/ Except when the Buddhas teach
expediently."(13) "(The Buddhas) appear in the worlds/ Only
for the One Vehicle. Only this is true; the other two are
not."(14)

In the same chapter there are several references to the
One Buddha-vehicle which the Buddha divides into three as a
means for teachings.(15) In the parable of the burning house,
the father had promised his children their favorite carts if
they would come out. These carts were sheep, deer and
bullock. However, in the end the father gave them all equally
large, white bullock carts. There is an implication of a
vehicle beyond the ordinary three. The Buddha declares:
"Sariputra! The rich man persuaded his sons to come out at
first by promising them the gifts of the three kinds of
carts. But the carts which he gave them later were the
largest, most comfortable carts adorned with treasures... I
led all beings at first with the teaching of the Three
Vehicles. Now I will save them only by the Great
Vehicle...."(16) Though it was apparently a vehicle beyond
the three that were promised, they were all united in
ultimately arriving at the same enlightenment.

While Shinran had the Lotus Sutra and Tendai Buddhism in
his background, his passage is based on the text of the Queen
Srimala Sutra (Shomangyo). However, Shinran's reading of the
passage differs from that in the Sutra itself.(17) Commenting
on the character of realization of the arhats and
pratyekabuddhas, the Sutra states: Why is that so? Because
the vehicles of the Disciples and the Self-Enlightened ones
are included in the Great Vehicle. Lord, the 'Great Vehicle'
is an expression for

p. 39

Buddha Vehicle. In that way, the three vehicles are counted
as one vehicle (ekayana).... The ultimate realization of the
Dharmakaya is the One Vehicle. Lord, the Tathagata is not one
thing, and the Dharmakaya something else, but the Tathagata
is himself the Dharmakaya. The ultimate realization of the
Dharmakaya is the ultimate of the One Vehicle...."(18) To
heighten the ultimacy of the teaching, Shinran reads the
passage "There is no other Tathagata, there is no other
dharma-body. "(19)

According to Yamabe and Akanuma, Shinran is maintaining
that there is no Tathagata, Dharmakaya, or Truth beyond or
different from the ultimate truth that the Buddha Vehicle (of
the Primal Vow) represents.(20) For Hoshino Gempo, this means
that for those who attain rebirth in the Pure Land are not
different from Amida Buddha and that rebirth is to attain
Nirvana. Dharmakaya, Bodhisattva, Amida Buddha, and Suchness,
are all one with no distinction.(21) Shinran holds to the
Four Vehicle interpretation in stating that there are no two
or three vehicles. The three lead to the One Vehicle which is
none other than the One (Unique) Buddha Vehicle.(22)

The Lotus Sutra is a conciliatory or unifying text. In
Japanese Tendai, it provided the basis of a broad syncretism.
In the case of Shinran and other Kamakura Buddhists, however,
the other side of the One Vehicle in terms of the ultimacy of
the teaching which embraces all and which all must embrace
became the emphasis. The ultimacy of the Name-nembutsu was
further strengthened by a quotation from the Nirvana Sutra:
"The ultimate in the process of consummation is the six
paramitas. The ultimate that has been consummated is the One
Vehicle that all sentient beings will realize. The
One-Vehicle is called Buddha-nature. All beings, without
exception, possess the One Vehicle. Because it is covered
over by their ignorance, they are unable to see it."(23)

p. 40

Following the presentation of the Ocean of the One Vehicle
in the Practice chapter of the Kyogyoshinsho, Shinran sets
out a long list of contrasts or comparisons from either the
standpoint of the nature of the teaching (48) or the person
(11). These comparisons are followed by a list of 27 similes
which drive home the point that the One Vehicle of the Vow
"is unhindered, unbounded, supreme, profound, inexplicable,
indescribable and inconceivable."(24) The many distinctions
and similes relate to the critical classification of
teachings. The contrast is essentially Other Power over
against self power. Shinran makes clear throughout the
absolute supremacy of the One Vehicle of the Primal Vow.

C. Shinran's Critical Classification of Doctrine

On the basis of Shinran's assertion that the Pure Land
teaching represented the fundamental purpose for the Buddha's
appearing in the world, and was the true One Vehicle teaching
or the supreme teaching, he had to formulate his own critical
classification of doctrines. He, therefore, followed the
practice of Mahayana Buddhist schools in positioning his
teaching in relation to other schools. While he generally
accepted the general line of Pure Land analysis delineated in
Honen's Senjakushu, as well as the shin-ke ( 痷安 ),
gon-jitsu ( 舦龟 ) distinctions of true and temporary or
provisional employed in general Mahayana and Tendai, they did
not fully afford him the categories with which to clarify the
supremacy of his teaching grounded in absolute Other Power.
The Tendai distinctions compared teachings in terms of their
completeness (en, ) and suddenness (ton, 箉 ). The Pure Land
system made distinctions based on the decline of human
capacity to fulfill the practices and the theory of mappo.

To make his point, Shinran required a system that singled
out the principle of absolute Other Power, as well as distin-

p. 41

guishing self-power Pure Land practice. As a consequence, he
developed the system known as Two Pairs and Four Levels
(nisoshiju 蛮 ).(25) In addition to the emphasis on
absolute Other Power, this theory implied the principle of
selection/ rejection (hairyu 紀ミ ) or aspect of
exclusiveness. On the other hand, he also employed the
principles of explicit and implicit (perhaps,
exoteric-surface, esoteric-inner) to correlate the Pure Land
Sutras teachings (kenshoonmitsu 陪裹留盞 ). This approach
reflected a more conciliatory and inclusive (kaie 秨穦 )
approach to the various teachings. Each approach aimed to
establish his interpretation of the Pure Land teaching as the
supreme teaching in Buddhism, while also exhibiting influence
from his Tendai background.

The terms which Shinran employed in the system of Two
Pairs and Four Levels appear in Pure Land sources. However,
his arrangement and interpretation derived from his own
experience and need to clarify the relation of his teaching
to Buddhism generally and alternative Pure Land factions
specifically.

Shinran's system makes the distinction of transcendence
(cho 禬 ) and progression (shutsn  ), corresponding to the
Mahayana principle of suddenness or gradualness, and from the
standpoint of Other Power, vertical-lengthwise (shu 捷 ),
self power and horizontal-crosswise (o 绢 ), absolute Other
Power. Hence, the combination of these terms result in four
types of teachings, indicating the religious styles of the
many sects.

Shushutsu (vertical-lengthwise progression) represents the
Hinayana tradition of attaining Enlightenment through many
aeons of cultivation and development. Shucho (vertical
transcendence) signifies the self-striving Mahayana sects
such as Tendai, Shingon and Zen which offer the way to
Buddhahood through many methods of self-cultivation. Oshutsu
(horizontal progression) stands for attaining rebirth in the
Pure Land

p. 42

through self-striving nembutsu. Finally, Ocho (crosswise-
transcendence) expresses Shinran's sense of the unconditional
embrace of the Buddha which never abandons but takes us in
completely in an instant, experienced as the moment of joyous
trust. Shinran declares: "Transcending crosswise is the true
teaching based on the fulfillment of the Vow, which embodies
the perfectly consummate true reality. This indeed is the
true essence of the Pure Land way."(26)

The principle of explicit and implicit understanding isn't
strictly a critical classification of doctrine.(27) Rather,
it is a method of harmonizing the different tendencies or
perspectives on religious practice of the Larger Pure Land
Srirra, the Smaller Pure Land Sutra and the Meditacion
Sritra. Each sutra was typified by a particular Vow among the
forty-eight Vows of Amida Buddha. As we have seen above, the
Larger Sutra preeminently represents the Eighteenth Vow,
while the St7laller Sutra epitomizes the twentieth Vow and
the practice of recitation of the Name. The Meditacion Sritra
exemplifies the nineteenth Vow and practices of morality and
meditation. According to Shinran, the Larger Sutra clearly
teaches the principle of absolute Other Power. However, the
Smaller Sutra and the Meditation Sutra promote self power
practices exteriorally in their manifest teaching. However,
from the standpoint of trust (shinjin), they all teach the
Primal Vow of absolute Other Power. Though focussed on Pure
Land teaching, Shinran's perspective on the sutras hints at a
mode of classification which reflects the exoteric-esoteric
outlook of Tendai and its Shingon component.

D. Shinran's renewed emphasis on Bodhi-mind

Honen had been criticised strongly by Myoe Shonin for his
apparent rejection of the cardinal Buddhist principle of
bodhi-mind. However Honen refers to it several times in the

p. 43

Senjakushu, but viewing it from the standpoint of the
universality of the nembutsu, he notes that each tradition in
Buddhism has its own concept and correlative practices.(28)
Over against the applicability of the nembutsu to any level
of spiritual development (or lack of it) the practices
employed in any school to fulfill the aspiration for
enlightenment, are, according to Honen, auxiliary practices
and provisional.(29) Though the principle is indispensable in
maintaining the spiritual foundation of Buddhist motivation
for undertaking discipline and practice, it was Honen's
insight that in the way it was presented by contemporary
schools, it could not be fulfilled by the common people of
the decadent age. Nevertheless, bodhi-mind is the mind that
aspires to become Buddha with the object of bringing all
other beings to equal enlightenment. The ideal which it
represents cannot be restricted to a particular school, since
it is a fundamental principle of all Buddhism.

It may have appeared to Honen's critics that he had
rejected the principle and ideal of bodhi-mind. Consequently,
Shinran focussed on this teaching in the Faith chapter of the
Kyogyoshinsho, indicating its fundamental importance for
spiritual life. In this text he states that in contrast to
the self-power-within- Other-Power aspiration for
enlightenment, the bodhi-mind of transcending crosscwise"
(ocho) "is directed to beings through the power of the Vow.
It is the mind that aspires to attain Buddhahood. The mind
that aspires to attain Buddhahood is the mind aspiring for
great enlightenment of crosswise orientation..."(30)
Bodhi-mind is shinjin.

Related to Shinran's renewal of emphasis on the principle
of bodhi-mind within the context of Pure Land thought, he
also stressed the identity of joyous trust (shingyo-shinjin)
Buddha-nature. To explicate this association Shinran depends
largely on the Nirvana Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra
(Kegon). In the Nirvana Sutra it states: "Buddha-nature is is
directed to beings through

p. 44

great shinjin. Why? Because through shinjin the bodhisattva-
mahasattva has acquired all the paramitas from charity to
wisdom. All sentient beings will without fail ultimately
realise great shinjin. Therefore it is taught, 'all sentient
beings are possessed of Buddha-nature.' Great shinjin is none
other than Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is Tathagata. "(31)
The concept of Buddha-nature, which is the forecast of the
realization for all beings, is given an active turn by
Shinran when he declares: "Because this mind is the
Tathagata's mind of great compassion, it necessarily becomes
the decisive cause of attaining the fulfilled land. The
Tathagata, turning with compassion toward the ocean of living
beings in pain and affliction, has given unhindered and vast
pure shinjin to the ocean of sentient beings."(32) Shinran
depicts the relation of the mind of sentient being and the
Buddha, quoting T'an-luan and Shan-tao. According to
T'an-luan, "This mind attains Buddhahood means that the mind
becomes Buddha; this mind is itself Buddha means that there
is no Buddha apart from the mind. This is like the
relationship of fire and wood; fire arises from the wood; it
cannot exist apart from the wood... The wood, on the other
hand, is consumed by the fire; it becomes the fire." Shan-tao
states: "This mind attains Buddhahood. This mind is itself
Buddha. There is no Buddha apart from this mind."(33)

It is also interesting to note that with this principle
Shinran also transcends the concept of mappo. The
pervasiveness of endowed trust-Buddha-nature (shinjin-bussho)
is not bound by time. Rather, the condition of sentient
beings, trapped within the wheel of births and deaths and
bound by ignorance and passion from beginningless time,
motivates and activates the Buddha's universal, unconditional
compassion through the cosmos and through all aeons.

The passages from the Nirvana Sutra reveal the source or
basis of endowed entrust. From the Avatamsaka Sutra Shinran

p. 45

quotes an eloquent poem exalting trusting faith, depicting
its manifestation within the person as the reflection of the
nature and character of Buddha. The experience of endowed
trust establishes the person as equal to the Tathagata.
According to the poem on trusting faith:

Shinjin is the source of enlightenment,
the mother of virtues;
It nurtures all forms of goodness.
It cuts away the net of doubt and breaks free
from the currents of desire;
It unfolds the supreme enlightenment of nirvana.(34)

The themes of attaining to the company of the truly
assured in this life, equality to the Tathagata, Maitreya or
Vaidehi in Shinran's writings express the high spiritual
status conferred on those who have experienced endowed
trust.(35) These concepts are Shinran's alternative to the
expectation in Tendai of attaining union with the reality of
all things in an instant of thought ichinen-sanzen ├
), based on the principle of the unity of Buddha-nature and
the ten worlds (jikkai-gogu がㄣ ), and the Shingon goal
of becoming Buddha in this very body (sokushin-jobutsu ōΘ
︱ ) which signifies union with the cosmos represented in
Tathagata Mahavairocana. However, where the latter, as
commonly understood, are pursued as the goal of discipline
and rigorous practice, the former result from the working of
Other Power which transforms attitudes and values. Hence, the
poem states that "If one awakens the mind that aspires for
enlightenment (in Shinran's thought this is Shinjin), One
diligently practices the virtues of the Buddhas."(36)
Nevertheless, despite the spiritual unity of the Buddha-mind
and the mind of sentient being, one remains a foolish common
mortal, while free of arrogance and self-indulgence, and
dwelling "In the realm of birth-and-death without fatigue or

p. 46

revulsion."(37)

E. The Universality of Deliverance

The Mahayana principle of universality of deliverance has
been expressed in various ways in our previous discussion.
However, it is a mark of the Lotus Sutra that all followers
of the various vehicles and paths in Buddhism will attain the
highest Enlightenment, even though their aspirations and
practice may be devoted to inferior ways. This is termed
nijosabutsu ( ︱ ) which signifies that followers of
the Sravaka and pratyekabuddha or hinayana paths, on entering
the Mahayana, all become Buddha. In addition, the Sutra
explains how Devadatta, who is traditionally known as an evil
person who tried to destroy the Buddha and take over the
Order, as well as inspiring Ajatasatru to his horrific crimes
against his parents, was a teacher of the Buddha in a past
life, and will himself become a Buddha named Heavenly
King.(38) It also depicts the immediate transformation of the
dragon king's daughter into a Buddha as a result of her trust
and devotion to the Buddha. The account relates her spiritual
capacities, but the monks did not believe she could become
Buddha in an instant, because she was a woman. However, her
offering was immediately accepted by the Buddha, and
instantly she transformed to a Buddha to the astonishment of
the disciples.(39) Further, in chapter II the Lotus Sutra
graphically delineates the universality and equality of
deliverance by recounting the various ways that people employ
to attain enlightenment beginning with the sages who have
undergone discipline to those who show even the slightest
spiritual inclination. All of these people attain the
enlightenment of the Buddha. Those who practised many
virtues, observed precepts and meditation down to those who
merely enter a stupa-mausoleum, reciting just once "Name
Buddhaya", or bowing to an image or doing

p. 47

gassho, all attain the same enlightenment.(40) All Buddhas
vow to cause all living beings to attain the same enlight-
enment as they do.

Honen and Shinran both emphasized the absolute
universality of enlightenment. In the Senjakushu Honen
discounts all those means to gain enlightenment which are
based on the accidents of birth, such as wealth, intellectual
and moral capacities. He attacked the elitist character of
the Buddhism of the time, and declared that the Buddha had
only vowed that the recitation of his name was the basis for
the enlightenment of all people. Shinran carried this thought
forward and in the Faith chapter, he indicates that the great
sea of faith, which is endowed and realized in the sea of
beings, makes absolutely no distinctions whatsoever, since
the trusting mind originates in the Buddha and not in
beings(41) In his description of transcending crosswise,
Shinran states that "in the pure fulfilled land of the Great
Vow, grade and level are irrelevant; in the space of an
instant, one swiftly transcends and realizes the supreme,
perfect, true enlightenment...."(42)

It is also significant that Shinran, quoting the Nirvana
Sutra extensively, focusses on Ajatasatru as representative
of the people "who are hard to cure", that is to bring to
enlightenment. The Sutra describes the complete vileness and
degeneracy of this king who had killed his own father and
threatened his mother at the instigation of Devadatta. As he
struggles for a solution to his ills by consulting with his
many ministers, Ajatasatru is led to approach the Buddha. The
Buddha defers going into nirvana, in order to deliver him. He
states: "Good sons! I say, For the sake of Ajatasatru, I will
not enter nirvana. You are yet unable to grasp the profound
meaning of this. Why? Because for the sake of means for all
foolish beings, and AjataSatru includes universally all those
who commit the five grave offenses. Further for the sake of
means for all sentient

p. 48

beings of the created state...Ajatasatru refers to those
possessed of blind passions...to all those who have yet to
awaken the mind aspiring for supreme, perfect
enlightenment."(43)

The consideration of the Ajatasatru story leads Shinran to
take up the exclusion clause attached to the Eighteenth Vow
which indicates that those who have committed the five grave
sins or slandered the dharma are excluded from the Vow.
According to traditional Buddhism, these evil deeds would
consign a person to the lowest hell for an inconceivable
length of time. However, Shan-tao maintained that the clause
intended to warn people not to commit such evil deeds, but
through Amida's compassion, they are still embraced by the
Vow. In general, Shinran follows Shan-tao, thereby
maintaining the universality of deliverance for even the most
evil person. In this way Shinran offers a counter to the
ideal of universal compassion in the Lotus Sutra, by
appealing to the Nirvana Sutra and Pure Land principle.

F. The Eternity of Amida Buddha

One of the signal elements in Shinran's thought which
reflects his background in the Lotus Sutra and Tendai thought
is his conception of Amida as the Eternal Buddha, designated
as kuonjitsujo. This term appears in Shinran's wasan. In his
hymns on the Pure Land Shinran states:

Since Amida became a Buddha
Ten kalpas have passed. So (the Sutra) says.
But he seems to be a Buddha
Older than the innumerable mote-dot kalpas.(44)

Also in #88 we read:

Amida, the Buddha existing from the eternal past,
Pitying the common fools (in the world) of the five

p. 49

defilements,
Appeared in the castle of Gaya
Manifesting himself as Sakyamuni Buddha.(45)

The background of these hymns may be found in the passage
from the Nirvana Sutra which Shinran quotes in conection
with the story of Ajatasatru:

Good sons! I therefore say for the sake of such
bodhisattvas, "The Tathagata is eternal, and
undergoes no change." My disciples, who on hearing
these words, do not grasp my intent, will surely say,
"The Tathagata after all will ultimately never enter
nirvana.(46)

Even more clearly, we can see the influence of the Lotus
Sutra which in chapter VII tells that the life of the Buddha
Great- Universal-Wisdom-Excellence lasted five hundred and
forty billion nayuta kalpas,(47) and chapter XVI which has
generally been regarded as the paramount source for the
principle of the eternity of the Buddha in Tendai
interpretation.

However, Shinran followed the image given in chapter VII
which narrates the parable of the magic city. According to
this illustration, the earth element of the universe is
ground to make ink. A drop of ink no larger than a particle
of dust and equalling a kalpa is deposited in each country of
the trichiliocosm until it is completely exhausted. The
length of the Buddha Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence is
calculated at five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas.
Further, it has been measureless time since he went into
nirvana.

Though chapter VII suggests that the Buddha has passed
into nirvana, despite his lengthy career, chapter XVI
indicates that the Buddha will never pass away. The Buddha
declares: "As I said before, it is very long since I became a
Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asamkhya
kalpas. I am al-

p. 50

ways here. I shall never pass away."(48) In a verse the Buddha
states:

In order to save the [perverted] people,
I will expediently show my Nirvana to them.
In reality I shall never pass away.
I always live here and expound the Law.(49)

Shinran must have been aware of these images and the Tendai
interpretation when he affirmed that even though the Pure
Land sutra indicates that it is ten kalpas since Amida became
Buddha, he was truly a Buddha of much greater age in the past
and in the future. In this context he used the term
jindenkuon-go ( 剐翴环 ) referring to this imagery. As
the eternal Buddha, he manifests himself as many Buddhas as a
compassionate means to guide complacent and ignorant beings
to enlightenment. The name Amitabha means infinite light and
Amitayus means eternal or infinite life. However, the numbers
employed to describe him do not compare to those from the
Lotus Sutra. Shinran apparently felt the disjunction and
reinterpreted the meaning of Amida.

This reinterpretation was necessary to provide the
absolute foundation for his understanding of the universal
condition of sentient beings and the source of deliverance.
The deeper the incapacity of beings to perfect themselves,
the more elevated and absolute must be the ground of that
deliverance. Absolute unconditional deliverance requires
absolute, universal foundation. Otherwise, there could be no
assurance of final enlightenment for such debased beings.
This insight derived from his own experience, enabled him to
see Amida as the total cosmic reality. As the true
representation of Buddha-nature in all beings, it becomes the
force within them that arouses their aspiration for final
fulfillment and enlightenment. Hence Shinran declares:

p. 51

Nirvana has innumerable names. It is impossible to give
them in detail; I will list only a few. Nirvana is called
extinction of passions, the uncreated, peaceful happiness,
eternal bliss, true reality, dharmakaya, dharma-nature,
suchness, oneness and Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is none
other than Tathagata. This Tathagata pervades the countless
worlds; it fills the hearts and minds of the ocean of all
beings. Thus plants, trees and land all attain Buddhahood...
Dharmakaya-as-suchness has neither color nor form. From this
oneness was manifested form, called Dharmakaya-as-compassion.
Taking this form, the Buddha proclaimed his name as Bhiksu
Dharmakara and established the 48 great Vows.... This
Tathagata has fulfilled the Vows which are the cause of his
Buddhahood, and is thus called "Tathagata of the fulfilled
body." This is none other than Amida Tathagata.(50)

CONCLUSION

We have attempted in this paper to survey the various ways
in which the Lotus Sutra and Tendai thought influenced or
provided background to Shinran's interpretation of Pure Land
teaching. Here I wish to express my appreciation to Prof.
Hisao Inagaki for his insights and suggestions in clarifying
various points.

In his interpretation of Pure Land thought, Shinran did
not directly attack or criticize the Tendai or other
contemporary traditions, or quote from the Lotus Sutra
itself. Rather, he addressed the major issues raised in that
tradition and formulated a comprehensive alternative. He
deepened the philosophical basis of Pure Land teaching,
establishing the supremacy of the teaching as the universal,
true way to enlightenment. On the basis of his own religious
experience he explicated the

p. 52

grounds for the assurance of deliverance for even the most
evil person. He thus dealt with the external basis of
deliverance in the cosmos and the internal expression and
witness of deliverance in personal life. The two aspects are
joined and united in our endowed trust (shinjin) through the
recitation of the nembutsu as the name which manifests the
source, and as our grateful testimony to the wisdom and
compassion revealed in our lives.

The comprehensiveness and spiritual keenness that marks
Shinran's interpretation provides us with a firm basis for
addressing modern problems of the meaning of life and of
religious faith in a dark time. He indicates that we can have
firm convictions without vindictiveness; we can be realistic,
without despair and we can share the teaching without fear of
rejection. Above all, we can be inspired and challenged by
the vast vision of Amida Buddha as the true essence of all
reality and the foundation of all our hopes.

NOTES

1. This term is translated directly. However, it has been
pointed out by Prof. Hisao Inagaki in personal correspondence
that the two vehicles are led to the Mahayana and thence
attain Buddhahood.
2. William R. LaFleur, The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the
literary Arts in Medieval Japan: University of California
Press, 1983. See also Hisao Inagaki, "The Bodhisattva
Doctrine as Conceived and Developed by the Founders of the
New Sects in the Heian and Kamakura Periods," in Leslie S.
Kawamura, ed., The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism. Canada:
Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1981. pp. 165-189. For
discussion of hongaku see pp. 177 ff.
3. Ichinentanenshomon. Jodo Shinshu Seiten, Kyoto: Honganji
Shuppankyoku, 1988. p. 690. See also, The True Teaching,
Practice and Realization of the Pure Land Way, Shin Buddhism
Translation Series. Kyoto: Honganji International Center. IV,
pp.501-502. (Hereafter SBTS and volume number). Kyogyoshinsho,
Keshindokan Shinshu Shogyo Zensho (SSZ) II, p. 154.
4. Takada, Jisho, "Shinran Shonin no Hokekyo-kan," Ryukoku

p. 53

Kyogaku, # 12 (1977, 6), p. 48. His information is based on
the article by Yamada Ryujo and Fukuhara Ryogen, "Shinran
Kyogaku to Sono Chosaku no In'yo-sho," Ryukoku Daigaku
Ronshu, # 365, # 366.
5. Senchu Murano, tr., The Lotus Sutra. Tokyo: Nichirenshu
Headquarters, 1974. pp. 28-29.
6. The True Teaching Practice and Realization, I. p. 65.
7. Ibid., p. 67.
8. "Truly we know, then, that the crucial matter for which
the Great Sage, the World-honored One, appeared in this world
was to reveal the true benefit of the compassionate Vow...."
Passages on the Pure Land Way. SBTS, 1982. p. 57. SSZ, II, p.
454. In the Preface to the chapter on Teaching of the
Kyogyoshinsho (SSZ I p. 4; SBTS I, p. 63, #2), Shinran
employs the terminology of the Larger Pure Land Sucra: Shaka
shukko ose ( 睦瓄砍 ). The Muryojunyoraie (SSZ, II, p.
4) gives it as Daishi shutsugen seken ( 瞷丁 ).
9. Ikuwa, Kanmyo, "Kyogyoshinsho ni sesshu seraretaru Hokk-
ekyo," Takada Gakuh4 36, 1954. pp. 22-23. Also SSZ, II, pp.
222-223.
10. Hoshino Gampo, Koge Kyogyoshinsho; Kyogyo no Kan. Kyoto:
Hozokan, 1982. pp. 372-373. See also Hisao Inagaki, "The
Bodhisattva Doctrine as Conceived and Developed by the
founders of the New Sects in the Heian and Kamakura Periods,"
in Leslie S. Kawamura, op cit., pp. 171-177.
11. Jodo Shinshu Seiten. Op. cit. p. 501; 519-520.
12. SSZ, II, p. 144.
13. Murano, op. cit., p. 33.
14. Ibid., p. 33.
15. Ibid., p. 30.
16. Ibid., p. 59.
17. SBTS, I, p. 184, note #84.
18. Alex and Hideko Wayman, tr., The Lion's Roar of Queen
Srimala. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974. p. 92.
19. Prof. Inagaki notes in personal correspondence that the
statement "There is no Other Tathagata, there is no other
dharma-body" is a common mistranslation. From 'That which is
Tathagata is not different from dharma-body. This means that
Tathagata and Dharmakaya are synonyms."
20. Yamabe Shugaku, Akanuma Chizen, Kyogyoshinsho Kogi,
Kyoto: Hozokan, 1952. I, p. 419. 21. Hoshino, op. cit., pp.
374-375.
21. Hoshino, op.cit., pp. 374-375.
22. SBTS, I, p. 148. In Letter # 10 of Shinran's Letters
[Jodo Shinshu Seiten, op. cit., p. 757] Shinran lists four
vehicles. In the chapter on the Transformed Land, of the
Kyogyoshinsho (SBTS, op. cit., IV, p. 503), Shinran
designates the teaching as "the true within the true, the One
Vehicle within the [One] Vehicle.

p. 54

The issue of three or four vehicles goes back to China.
The monk Fa Yun interpreted the Lotus Sutra as teaching four
vehicles. it was adopted by Chih I, founder of T'ien t'ai
(Tendai) and taught by Prince Shotoku in his commentary.
[Bukkyogo Daijiten, 3 vols., Kyoto, Hozokan, 1987. I, p.
524]. According to Bukkyo Tetsugaku Jiten, 5 vol., Tokyo:
Tozai Tetsugaku Shoin, 1966. III, pp. 204-205, the principle
was also adopted by the Hosso and Sanron schools. However,
Mochizuku Bukkyo Daijiten, 10 vols., Tokyo: Sekai Seiten
Kanko Kyokai, 1932-1963. II, pp. 1584-1586 states that Sanron
does not claim a fourth beyond the three vehicles. The Tendai
and Kegon sects see the three vehicles as upaya and the
Buddha vehicle as the true vehicle.
23. SBTS, I, p. 149.
24. Ibid., p. 156.
25. SBTS, II, pp. 250-251; 261-262.
26. Ibid., II, p. 261.
27. SBTS, IX, pp. 484-487; p. 506; 507-510.
28. Tessho Kondo & Morris J. Augustine, tr., "Senchaku Hongan
Nembutsu" The Pure Land. New Series 3, December 1986, pp.
87-88. Honen states: "Although the phrase 'awaken the bodhi
mind' remains the same, its meaning differs according to each
sect and school."
29. Kondo & Augustine, tr. "Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu", The
Pure Land. New Series, No. 1, December 1984. p. 6.
30. Ibid., II, p. 250.
31. Ibid., II, p. 236.
32. Ibid., II, p. 235.
33. Ibid., II, pp. 259-260.
34. Ibid., II, p. 238.
35. SSZ, II, pp. 661-662. Jodo Shinshu Seiten, #11, pp.
758-759. SBTS, II, p. 103.
36. Ibid., II, p. 240.
37. Ibid., II, p. 242.
38. Lotus Sutra, XII; Murano, op. cit., p. 179.
39. Ibid., pp. 181-183.
40. Ibid., pp. 36-39.
41. SBTS, II, pp. 249-250.
42. Ibid., II, pp. 261-262.
43. Ibid., II, pp. 291-292.
44. Jodo Wasan. Ryukoku Translation Series IV. Kyoto: Ryukoku
University Translation Center, 1965. p. 87, #55.
45. Ibid., p. 122.
46. SBTS, II, p. 309.
47. Murano, op.cit, pp.116-117. See also Jodo Wasan, Ryukoku
Translation Series IV, note 2, p. 87. It is pointed out here
that Shinran adopted the image of this chapter in defining his
idea of mote-dot kalpas.

p. 55

48. Ibid., II, p. 220.
49. Ibid., II, p. 22.
50. Yuishinshomon'i. Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Yoshi-
fumi Ueda ed., Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1979.
p. 42.