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44-456: Hōnen (法然) was born in 1133, the son of Uruma no Tokikuni of a local ruling family in Mimasaka Province . Hōnen was originally named Seishimaru after the mahāsattva Seishi (Sanskrit Mahāsthāmaprāpta ). After a rival official assassinated his father in 1141, Hōnen was initiated into his uncle's monastery at the age of 9. From then on, Hōnen lived his life as a monk and eventually studied at

88-585: A large following, notably women, who had been excluded from serious Buddhist practice up to this point. This included fishermen, prostitutes 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

132-630: A refuge for all beings]." 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. Recitation of the nembutsu , lit. namu amida butsu ( 南無阿弥陀仏 , "Praise to the Buddha Amitabha") , is the most fundamental practice of Jōdo-shū, which derives from the Primal Vow of Amitābha. In home practice, or in temple liturgy,

176-555: 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. 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

220-791: A two lineages survive today: the Chinzei-ha branch and the Seizan-ha branch (with 3 sub-branches). Other offshoots such as Jodo Shinshu and the Ji-shū sects are considered different enough to be separate from Jodo-shū. The largest branch of Jōdo-shū, the Chinzei-ha ( 鎮西派 , "The Chinzei Branch") , named after the district of Chinzei in Kita-Kyushu , was originally established in the hometown of disciple, Benchō , who had been exiled in 1207, but grew through subsequent disciples. The rival Seizan-ha ( 西山派 , "The Seizan Branch") and Kuhon-ji branches grew around

264-644: Is known about Honen and his thought is attributed through sayings collected in the following century, the Senchakushū , and letters to his students and disciples. The One-Sheet Document is also read aloud in daily services as part of Jōdo-shū liturgy. 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

308-417: 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. 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,

352-782: The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra and the Amitabha Sutra are important to the Jōdo-shū school. Collectively, these are known as the Sanbukyō ( 三部経 , "Three Pure Land Sutras") . 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 ( 一枚起請文 , "One-Sheet Document") . Most of what

396-614: 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. 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. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 marked

440-955: The Muromachi period , the Ashikaga clan took over the former Hōjō holdings. No central powerful local clan ever rose to prominence and the province changed hands frequently between warring factions in the Sengoku period . Control shifted between the Yamana clan , the Akamatsu clan , the Amago clan , the Urakami clan , and the Ukita clan . After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, it became united again with Bizen Province under Kobayakawa Hideaki . After his death without heir only two years later,

484-458: The Senchakushu were relocated thanks to advance warning, but other writings of Honen's were destroyed, and more disciples were exiled. 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 ", 義), but only

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528-640: The Seven Article Pledge , or shichikajō seikai ( 七箇条制戒 ) in 1204, pledging not to disparage other sects, and to uphold the Buddha-Dharma. One-hundred and sixty-three followers, including Honen's chief disciples, signed the pledge. 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 (住蓮) and Anraku-bō (安楽房), were caught proselytizing to some of

572-659: The Tokugawa shogunate assigned most of the province to the Mori clan as Tsuyama Domain . The Mori moved the capital of the province from the Innoshō area , to their newly built jōkamachi at Tsuyama . In 1697, the Mori clan were replaced by a cadet branch of the Echizen- Matsudaira clan . The size of the domain was reduced to only 100,000 koku , and later to 50,000 koku . In 1767, another domain, Katsuyama Domain , with 23,000 koku ,

616-564: 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. This is known as the Karoku Persecution ( karoku no hōgan 嘉禄の法難) of 1227. Honen's body and copies of

660-528: The Chinzei lineage continued to develop until the 8th Patriarch, Shōgei (聖冏, 1341-1420) who formalized the training of priests (rather than training under Tendai or Shingon lineages), thus formally establishing it as an independent sect. In 1590, during the Azuchi–Momoyama period , Jōdo-shū was officially patronized by Tokugawa Ieyasu , leading to an era of great prosperity for the sect that lasted throughout

704-650: 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

748-643: 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. Mimasaka Province Mimasaka Province ( 美作国 , Mimasaka-no kuni ) was a province of Japan in the area that is northern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan. Mimasaka bordered Bitchū , Bizen , Harima , Hōki , and Inaba Provinces. Its abbreviated form name

792-490: The Pure Land was through reciting the nembutsu . In particular, Honen argued that it was through Amida Buddha's merit and compassion that one achieved rebirth, and since the nembutsu was explicitly called out in the Immeasurable Life Sutra in the 18th Vow (also known as the Primal Vow ), it was the only practice that would work, especially in the latter age of Mappō , when people could no longer effectively put

836-554: 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

880-528: The capitol of Kyoto , as Shōkū and Chōsai were among the few major disciples who were not exiled. 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: 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

924-418: 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

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968-531: The famous monastery of Mount Hiei . 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

1012-629: 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. 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

1056-496: The ladies in waiting of Emperor Go-toba , who had then decided to take tonsure and leave the service of the Emperor. In anger, the Emperor decreed that Honen and several followers be defrocked and sent into exile, while Jūren and Anraku-bō were executed. This is recorded in the Tannisho of Shinran 's disciple, Yuien-bō, as follows: Master Honen and seven of his disciples were exiled, and four other disciples were executed. The Master

1100-573: The name is derived from its central teaching of reciting Nembutsu at regular intervals. In the general classification of Buddhism in Japan, the Jōdo-shū, the Jōdo Shinshu , the Ji-shu and the Yuzu Nembutsu shu are collectively classified into the lineage of Jōdo Buddhism. (Jōdo kei, 浄土系) The school was founded in 1270 by Ippen . In addition to practicing nembutsu , he was strongly influenced by

1144-641: The nation's resources, the province had 766 villages, with a total kokudaka of 263,477 koku . [REDACTED] Media related to Mimasaka Province at Wikimedia Commons Ji-sh%C5%AB Ji-shū ( 時宗 , lit. time sect ) is one of four schools belonging to the Pure Land within Japanese Buddhism . The other three are Jōdo-shū ("the Pure Land"), Jōdo Shinshū ("the True Pure Land") and Yūzū Nembutsu . The school has around 500 temples and 3,400,000 followers. Ji-shū means "school of time" and

1188-445: The nembutsu may be recited in any number of styles including: 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

1232-517: 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. Jōdo Shū through

1276-576: The non-dualism within Zen . He even received Dharma transmission as a Zen master from Rōshi Kakushin. Other practices associated with the Ji-shū include scheduled sessions of chanting (hence the name Ji-shū "Time sect"), the handing out of slips of paper with the nembutsu written on them, and keeping a register of the converted. Shōjōkō-ji ( 清浄光寺 ) , a temple located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa , and serves as

1320-519: The other Buddhist sects of Japan. 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

1364-605: The primary Chinzei branch, which remains the largest branch of Jōdo-shū in the modern day. 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. The Jodo Shu North America Buddhist Missions

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1408-615: The reform movement was Fukuda Gyōkai (福田行誡), a Buddhist scholar, poet, and the head priest of Chion-in from 1887 to 1888. He promoted both the preservation of Buddhist traditions and the modernization of social welfare systems based on Buddhist philosophy . He also promoted the creation of the League of United Buddhist Sects (諸宗同徳会盟), which united several Buddhist sects to follow the goals of modernization and preventing Christian influences on Japan. Before and during World War II , Jōdo-shū, along with other Buddhist sects, faced pressure to endorse

1452-712: The ruins of the Mimasaka Kokubun-niji as located nearby, The ichinomiya of the province is the Nakayama Shrine , also located in Tsuyama. During the Heian period , the area was part of the holdings of the Heike clan . In the Kamakura period , Kajiwara no Kagetoki followed by Wada Yoshimori served as shugo before the province came under the direct control of the Hōjō clan . In

1496-554: The teachings of the Buddha into practice anymore. Other practices would neither add nor detract from Amida Buddha's power. 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

1540-567: Was Sakushū ( 作州 ) . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Mimasaka was one of the provinces of the San'in circuit. Under the Engishiki classification system, Mimasaka was ranked as one of the 35 "superior countries" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the "near countries" (近国) in terms of distance from the capital. The provincial capital was located in what is now the city of Tsuyama . Mimasaka

1584-445: Was Tetsujō Ukai (養鸕徹定), a Buddhist historian and the head priest of Chion-in from 1885 to 1887. He became a staunch defender of Buddhism during this period, opposing both the attempts to eradicate Buddhism in Japan and the rise of Western criticism aimed at the religion. He also emphasized the importance of Buddhism in Japanese history and culture, underscoring its contributions to the nation's history. Another important figure within

1628-775: Was a landlocked province on the southern side of the Chugoku Mountains . The area is very mountainous, and is divided into three major river basins. In the east is the Asahi River which flows through the Maniwa Basin. In the center is the Yoshii River, which flows through the Tsuyama Basin. To the west is the Mimasaka area, which contains three smaller river basins. Due to this geography, the main transportation method in pre-modern times

1672-491: 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. The remaining disciples in

1716-464: 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

1760-446: Was by boat. In 713, at the suggestion of Bizen-no-kami Nanten - and Bizen-no-suke Kamitsukeno-no-Kenji the Eita, Katsuta, Tomata, Kume, Mashima, and Oba districts of Bizen Province were separated into a new province, and, and Kamitsukeno-no-Kenji was appointed as the first governor of Mimasaka. This separation was the final stage of the disintegration of the former Kingdom of Kibi , and

1804-529: Was created for the Miura clan . Mimasaka was the home of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi , the author of The Book of Five Rings . In 1871, following the abolition of the han system , Mimasaka was divided into Tsuyama, Mashima, Kurashiki, Tsuruta, Koromo, Koga, Ikuno, Akashi, Numata, and Tatsuno prefectures, which were merged with Okayama Prefecture inI 1876. Per the early Meiji period Kyudaka kyuryo Torishirabe-chō ( 旧高旧領取調帳 ) , an official government assessment of

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1848-471: 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: "The reason I founded

1892-555: Was intended to further weaken the Kibi clan by putting its iron resources directly under the control of the imperial government . In Mimasaka, there are many place names that are directly linked to people or places in Yamato. The ruins of the kokufu have been located within what is now the city of Tsuyama. The site is now located under the Tsuyama Sōja shrine . The Mimasaka Kokubun-ji and

1936-460: Was the first Jōdo-shū temple to be built in mainland America in 1936 in Los Angeles, California . 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 ( 専修念仏 , "exclusive nembutsu") , whereby the only true means of achieving rebirth in

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