An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism: The Essentials of Buddhist Spirituality (34 page)

113

(20) Japan

i. The Introduction of Buddhism into Japan

Buddhism was first introduced into Japan from the Korean kingdom

of Paekche (Kudara) during the Asuka Period (sixth century A.D.) by

Shōtoko Taishi, regent of his aunt, the Empress Suiko. The exact date

is traditional y said to have been 552 A.D. The magnificent early Bud-

dhist works of art in the seventh century monastery of Hōryū-ji, near

Nara in Japan, are considered to have been produced by Korean sculp-

tors and craftsmen as well as by their Japanese pupils.

It is remarkable how rapidly the transmission of Buddhist teach-

ings over immense distances could take place. For example, the Indian

master of the
Vajrayāna
school, Vajrabodhi, arrived in China in 720

A.D. His chosen disciple was Amoghavajra (Pu-k’ung), and the lat-

ter’s primary successor was the Japanese Kōbō Daishi (Kūkai), who

returned to Japan at the beginning of the ninth century, where he

founded the Shingon sect. All this (from India, via China, to Japan)

happened within the space of about 80 years.

The Japanese historical periods are shown on the next page.

The priest Kōbō Daishi as a child, Japan, 14th century

Make the practice of
Nembutsu
[
the invocation of the saving

Name of the Buddha
]
the chief thing in life. Lay aside everything

that may interfere with it.

Hōnen

114

An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism

ii. The Japanese Periods

600 B.C.

Foundation of the Japanese Empire by

Jimmu Tennō

600 B.C.-c. 250 B.C.

Jōmon Period

c. 250 B.C.-c. 250 A.D. Yayoi Period

c. 250 A.D.-c. 552 A.D. Kofun Period

552 A.D.-645 A.D.

Asuka Period

645 A.D.-794 A.D.

Nara Period

645 A.D.-710 A.D. Hakuhō Period

711 A.D.-794 A.D. Tempyō Period

794 A.D.-1185 A.D.

Heian Period

794 A.D.-897 A.D. Jōgan Period

898 A.D.-1185 A.D. Fujiwara Period

1185 A.D.-1333 A.D. Kamakura Period

1333 A.D.-1392 A.D. Nambokuchō Period

1392 A.D.-1568 A.D. Muromachi Period

1568 A.D.-1615 A.D. Momoyama Period

1615 A.D.-1868 A.D. Edo Period

1615 A.D.-1688 A.D. Early Edo Period

1688 A.D.-1764 A.D. Middle Edo Period

1764 A.D.-1868 A.D. Later Edo Period

1868 A.D.-present

Modern Japan

1868 A.D.-1912 A.D. Meiji era

1912 A.D.-1926 A.D. Taishō era

1926 A.D.-present Shōwa era

Japan

115

iii. A Selection of Haiku (Japanese 17-syllable Poems)1

My ears had found the sermon dull and stale;

But in the woods outside—the nightingale!

Masaoka Shiki
(1866-1902)

Without a word of warning, look, alone

Above the autumn clouds, Mount Fuji’s cone!

Kamijima Onitsura
(1660-1738)

O timid snail, by nature weak and lowly,

Crawl up the cone of Fuji slowly, slowly. . . .

Kobayashi Issa
(1763-1827)

Between the washing-bowls at birth and death,

All that I uttered: what a waste of breath!

Kobayashi Issa
(1763-1827)

I have seen moon and blossoms, now I go

To view the last and lovliest: the snow.

Rippo
(1600-1669)2

1 From
A Net of Fireflies
,
translations by Harold Stewart (Rutland, Vermont, and Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1960).

2 Written by the poet on his death-bed. Moon and blossoms are forms. The snow is

pure Substance.

116

An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism

iv. The Sects of Japanese Buddhism

The Japanese masters Dengyō-Daishi (Saichō) (767-822) and Kōbō

Daishi (Kūkai) (774-835) were acquainted with each other, but of dif-

fering perspectives. Both studied in China and both returned to Japan

at the beginning of the ninth century A.D. Dengyō Daishi founded the

Tendai sect, the name of which comes from the Chinese Mount
Tien-

t’ai
(“Heavenly Terrace”) and Kōbō Daishi founded the Shingon sect,

the name coming from the Chinese
Chen-yen
(“True Word”).

The Tendai school includes a wide variety of spiritual practic-

es, whereas other schools tend to focus on one or another of them.

Thus Tendai incorporates liturgical rites (which are characteristic of

the Shingon school), “sitting meditation” or
zazen
(on which the Zen

school lays emphasis), and
mantra
s such as the
nembutsu
(of the
Jōdo

or “Pure Land” school).

Tendai is known as the school of teaching and study (of the

sūtra
s).
The Patron of the school is the Bodhisattva known in Japanese

as
Fudō-Myō-ō
(Sanskrit:
Achala Vidyārāja
,
“the Unshakable King of

Knowledge”), viewed as a manifestation of
Dainichi Nyorai
(Sanskrit:

Dharmakāya
or
Mahāvairochana
)—the Supreme Reality. Fudō is the

awesome opponent of the world’s inequities, stupor, and indifference

to truth. The fire of his righteous anger burns up error and sin while

il uminating the darkest corners of
samsāra
.

In Zen (see pp. 54-55, 61, and 63), a well-known feature is the

kōan
,
the purpose of which is to stimulate
satori
(sudden il umination, unitive knowledge or gnosis, spiritual realization). The
kōan
is
usually

a phrase from Scripture, often paradoxical in nature, and its compre-

hension involves the transcending of discursive thought.

The central spiritual practice of
Jōdo
,
namely
nembutsu
,
has been described on pp. 79-80.

In the following table of some of the major Japanese Buddhist

sects or schools, the names of the founders are given within brackets.

It should be said once again that these various “sects” represent varying

angles of vision with regard to the original Buddhist revelation and all

of them, though they sometimes differ greatly one from another, are

intrinsical y orthodox.

Japan

117

Some of the Major Sects of Japanese Buddhism1

The founders’ names are given within parentheses. For the antecedent

and corresponding Chinese sects, see p. 101.

“Kyoto sects”

ninth century

Kegon

Tendai

Shingon

(Shinsō)

(Dengyō Daishi) (Kōbō Daishi)

Zen

twelfth-thirteenth

centuries

Rinzai

Sōtō

Obaku

(Eisai)

(Dōgen)

(Ingen)

Amidism

twelfth-thirteenth