Chapter 5
nara buddhism
In the tenth month of 552 c.e., the king of Paekche sent to Japan an envoy
with presents of an image of Buddha and sacred writings, apparently hoping
thereby to ingratiate himself with the Japanese court so as to win their military
support. He also sent a memorial lauding Buddhism:
This doctrine is among all doctrines the most excellent, but it is hard to
explain and hard to comprehend. Even the Duke of Zhou and Confucius
could not attain a knowledge of it. This doctrine can create religious merit
and retribution without measure and without bounds, and so lead on to
a full appreciation of the highest wisdom. Imagine a man in possession
of treasures to his heart’s content, so that he might satisfy all his wishes
in proportion as he used them. Thus it is with the treasure of this wonderful
doctrine. Every prayer is fulfilled and naught is wanting. Moreover,
from distant India it has extended hither to Korea, where there are none
who do not receive it with reverence as it is preached to them.1
We are told that Emperor Kinmei was so delighted with these tidings that
he leaped for joy. The head of the Soga clan, no less affected, urged that Japan
1. Aston, Nihongi, II, p. 66.
Nara Buddhism 101
follow the lead of all other civilized nations in adopting the new religion. More
conservative elements at the court objected, however, saying that the worship
of foreign deities could not help but incense the national gods. Soga was presented
with the image and allowed to worship it, but shortly afterward, when a
pestilence broke out, Shinto adherents persuaded the emperor that it was a
manifestation of the gods’ wrath. The image of Buddha was thrown into a moat,
and the temple built by the Soga family was razed.
Nothing much more was heard of Buddhism until 584, when another member
of the Soga clan was given two Buddhist images that had come from Korea.
He erected a temple to enshrine them and had three girls ordained as nuns by
a Korean monk living in Japan. This, we are informed by the Chronicles of
Japan, marked the real beginning of Buddhism in the country. It was not long,
however, before another plague caused the Shinto factions to throw the holy
images into the moat and to defrock the nuns. When these rigorous measures
failed to halt the spread of the disease, the emperor finally agreed to allow the
Soga family to worship Buddhism as it chose, and the nuns were given back
their robes.
Within a few years of the second start of Buddhism in Japan, a number of
learned Korean monks began to arrive. Among their most eager disciples was
Prince Sho¯toku. Most of the emperors and empresses in the next century became
Buddhists; and the subsequent Nara period (709–784) in some ways marks
a high point of early Buddhism in Japan.
It is not difficult to understand the success of the new religion. At the time
of its introduction to Japan, Buddhism was nearly a thousand years old and, as
the first world religion, had marched triumphantly to the east and west, raising
temples and monasteries and filling grottoes and caves with an amazing profusion
of art. It had become a well-organized and tested faith constituted under
its Three Treasures—Buddha, the Law (dharma), and the monastic orders (sangha).
It possessed a highly developed and decorated pantheon as its objects of
worship, a tremendous accumulation of literature called the Tripit.aka, and religious
orders dedicated to the propagation of its teachings by oaths of celibacy,
sobriety, and poverty.
In this connection, we should stress that the importance of Buddhist missionary
activity in Japan went far beyond propagation of the faith alone. Chinese
and Korean monks, carried across stormy seas by religious zeal, at the same
time served as the carriers of superior Chinese culture. They were no doubt
well aware that identification or association with this high culture lent them
great prestige in the eyes of admiring Japanese, but whether or not they chose
to capitalize on this, it would in any case have been impossible to disengage
this new religion from its cultural embodiment in China and Korea, the lands
of its adoption. To establish the new faith in Japan thus required the transplanting
of essential articles—images, vestments, books, ritual devices—as well as
ideas. The Japanese apprenticeship in the study of Chinese writing was un-
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doubtedly served in the copying by hand of large numbers of Buddhist su¯tras,
distributed by imperial order to the various temples and monasteries. Furthermore,
to erect temples and monasteries, carpenters and artisans had to be
brought over along with missionary monks, as illustrated by an entry in the
Chronicles of Japan (Nihongi) for the reign of Sujun (ca. 588):
This year the land of Paekche sent envoys, and along with them the
Buddhist monk Hyejong [and others] with a present of Buddhist relics.
The land of Paekche sent the Buddhist ecclesiastics Susin [and others]
with tribute and also with a present of Buddhist relics, the Buddhist monk
Nyo¯ng-chyo, the ascetics Yongwi [and others], the temple carpenters
Taeryangmidae and Mungagoja, a man learned in the art of making braziers
and chargers . . . men learned in pottery . . . and a painter named
Poega.2
It is apparent, too, that Buddhist monks were vessels for the transmission of
branches of learning that had no direct connection with religious doctrine or
institutions yet that they evidently regarded as being in no way incompatible
with the former. Thus during the tenth year of Suiko (602), it is recorded:
A Paekche monk named Kwallu˘k arrived and presented by way of tribute
books of calendar-making, of astronomy and of geomancy, and also books
on the art of invisibility and magic. At this time three or four pupils were
selected and made to study under Kwallu˘k. O¯ chin, the ancestor of the
scribes of Yako, studied the art of calendar-making. Ko¯so¯, Otomo no Suguri,
studied astronomy and the art of invisibility. Hinamitatsu, the Imperial
Chieftain of Yamashiro, studied magic. They all studied so far as
to perfect themselves in these arts.3
In the forms it took, Nara Buddhism was an extension of that of Tang China
and Silla. For example, it is in the Nara period that we first hear of Buddhist
sects in Japan, and it is customary to speak of the ‘‘six schools’’ then introduced
from China. Some of them, particularly the two Hı¯naya¯na sects, appear never
to have been independent, having served primarily as forms of religious discipline
for monks. The three main philosophical features of Nara Buddhism were
the dialectics of negation (the Sanron or ‘‘Three-Treatises’’ sect, associated with
the great Indian scholar Na¯ga¯rjuna and transmitted by Kuma¯rajı¯va), the doctrine
of the attainment of enlightenment through the powers of the mind (the
Hosso¯ or ‘‘Dharma-Character’’ sect, associated with Vasubandhu and Xuan-
2. Ibid., p. 117.
3. Ibid., p. 126.
Nara Buddhism 103
zang), and the metaphysics of the harmonious whole (taught by the Kegon or
‘‘Flower Garland’’ sect). The metaphysics of Kegon had been worked out and
elaborated by gifted philosophers in China and Korea and was known by the
time of its introduction to Japan as a philosophy so intricate and complex that
it could never be realized in actual practice. It was not until the revival of Nara
Buddhism during the early Kamakura period that practitioners like Myo¯e
Sho¯nin (1173–1232) successfully took up the challenge of transforming the Kegon
metaphysics of the interrelatedness of all things into a religion that could
be practiced by lay persons as well as monks.
The sixth sect (the Ritsu or Precepts school) was based on the rules of discipline
governing the lives of monks and nuns. A person could be initiated into
this discipline (called ‘‘receiving the precepts’’) only by a qualified master of
the precepts, and in 754 the intrepid Chinese priest Jianzhen (Ganjin) finally
arrived in Nara after five earlier attempts that had ended in shipwrecks. With
his legitimate transmission of the precepts to Japan and the establishment of
the ordination platform at To¯daiji, Buddhists could finally be ordained as authentic
clergy. As it is with most rules, however, the precepts became a legalistic
matter of formal obedience rather than the principles by which a Buddhist lived
and sought enlightenment. Like the metaphysics of Kegon, the precepts in time
became watered down and had to be infused with new life and philosophical
meaning in the Kamakura period by monks like Myo¯e and Gedatsu Sho¯nin
(1155–1213).
Common to these seemingly disparate views was the basic Buddhist doctrine
of impermanence, of non-ego (the absence of any enduring, substantial self),
and of the need for liberation from illusion and suffering by the attainment of
Nirvana or Buddhahood. Buddhism insisted on the need to free oneself from
relying on externals so changeable that they can only deceive. Therefore, these
must be negated exhaustively until all the usual distinctions of becoming, which
arise from incomplete knowledge, are denied and perfect knowledge can be
attained. Such was the teaching of Na¯ga¯rjuna. For the followers of the Hosso¯
sect, the school of the great Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, the outer world did
not exist at all but was a creation of the mind. How could someone turn to the
motions of the stars for guidance when they were illusory and without permanent
reality? Even in the Kegon school, which preached a cosmological harmony
governed by Lochana Buddha—who sits on a lotus throne of a thousand
petals, each of which is a universe containing millions of worlds like ours—it
is the mutable nature of this system and not its permanence (like the Confucian
Heaven) that is emphasized. Within the great harmony of the Kegon (or Flower
Garland), all beings are related and capable of mutual interaction until they
attain a fundamental communion with Buddha and, through him, with all other
beings.
We do not know how much of these abstruse doctrines was understood by
Japanese Buddhists of the Nara period, but expressions of religious fervor gen-
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erally assumed a tangible form. The court’s patronage of Buddhism led to the
building of Nara’s magnificent temples and monasteries, some of which still
survive. Certain court ceremonies such as the open confession of sins (keka)
show how the strong desire to lead a religious life permeated ruling circles.
Buddhist influence led also to the making of highways and bridges, to the use
of irrigation, and to the exploration of distant parts of the country by itinerant
monks (who drew the earliest Japanese maps). Even such features of Japanese
life as the public bath and cremation also date from the Buddhist inspiration
of this time.
For the small number of monks and scholars of the Nara period who were
well versed in Buddhist literature, four su¯tras were of special importance: the
Su¯tra of Past and Present, Cause and Effect; the Su¯tra of the Golden Light; the
Su¯tra of the Humane Kings; and the Kegon, or Flower Garland Su¯tra. The first
of these su¯tras is a biography of Buddha that declares his extraordinary attainments
to have been the cumulative merit of his meritorious deeds from the
infinitely distant past to the present. This concept contrasts with the Han Confucian
doctrine of kingly rule based on moral virtue in conformity with the
Way of Heaven, or the theory of the Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), where
we find genealogy to be essential to the legitimation of rulership.
The ruler’s responsibilities—and indeed the entire question of the relationship
between the state and Buddhism—were discussed most completely in the
Su¯tra of the Golden Light. This major work of Buddhist literature played a
more important role than any other text in establishing Buddhism as the state
religion of Japan, and its influence continued undiminished for centuries. It
opens with an eloquent proclamation of the eternity of Buddha’s life and declares
that he exists not only as a historical figure with a human form but also
in the cosmos as the ultimate law or Truth, and in the life hereafter as the savior
possessed of an all-embracing love. Since Buddha is omnipresent, everything
that exists is subject to his eternal vigilance of boundless compassion. The su¯tra
declares further that the gates of the paradise of the Lotus where Buddha dwells
are always open to all of humanity, for anyone can become a Buddha. The
methods the su¯tra especially recommends for bringing about this change for
the better are expiation and self-sacrifice, and accordingly, the climax of the
entire narration is the parable of Buddha giving himself up to feed a hungry
tiger.
The central theme of the su¯tra is the life of wisdom—prajn˜a¯, which distinguishes
good from evil and right from wrong. Everyone, from the king to his
lowliest subject, must obey the dictates of the inner light of reason. The religious
life starts with an awareness of one’s sins and the need to atone for them. It is
wisdom that enables people to surmount their failings, and the highest expression
of the triumph of wisdom is an act of self-sacrifice. Wisdom is also associated
with healing; Buddha is supremely possessed of wisdom and is the great
Nara Buddhism 105
healer as well. It was this aspect of Buddha that appealed most to Japanese of
the Nara period, as witnessed by the predominant role of Yakushi, the Healing
Bodhisattva, in both temples specifically dedicated to him and in most centers
of worship. The Su¯tra of the Golden Light contains a chapter entirely devoted
to medicine and healing, illustrating the close connection between religious
belief and medicine. (Buddhist monks introduced many medicines from China
during the Nara period.)
The political aspects of the su¯tra are most clearly stated in the chapter on
kingly law (O¯ bo¯sho¯-ron), which declares that government and religion are
united by the Buddhist Law (or dharma). The law of men must be universal
but not final, always subject to change, with peace as its ultimate end. Any king
who violates the Law will be punished, but as long as he is faithful to it, Buddha
will see to it that he enjoys immeasurable blessings. Japanese monarchs during
the Nara period held this su¯tra in such reverence that they attempted to make
it an instrument of state ideology. Copies of the su¯tra were distributed in all the
provinces in 741 c.e.by order of Emperor Sho¯mu, one of Japan’s most devout
rulers. At about the same time, Sho¯mu ordered each province to build a sevenstory
pagoda and to establish a Guardian Temple of the Province and an Atonement
Nunnery of the Province.
Sho¯mu also was responsible for building the Great Image of Lochana Buddha,
the most famous monument of the Nara period. Just as Lochana Buddha
is the central figure of the cosmogony of the Kegon Su¯tra, the Great Image and
its temple were intended as the center of the provincial temples and nunneries.
The Kegon Su¯tra is said to have been the teaching delivered by Buddha immediately
after attaining enlightenment, when he made no attempt to simplify
the complexities of his doctrines for the benefit of the less capable. Its difficulty
kept it from attaining the popularity of the Su¯tra of the Golden Light, but its
importance is evident from the efforts devoted to completing the Great Image
(more than fifty feet high). In 749, when gold was discovered in Japan for the
first time, it was regarded as an auspicious sign for completion of the monument.
Emperor Sho¯mu declared:
This is the Word of the Sovereign who is the Servant of the Three Treasures,
that he humbly speaks before the Image of Lochana.
In this land of Yamato since the beginning of Heaven and Earth, Gold,
though it has been brought as an offering from other countries, was
thought not to exist. But in the East of the land which We rule . . . Gold
has been found.
Hearing this We were astonished and rejoiced, and feeling that this is
a Gift bestowed upon Us by the love and blessing of Lochana Buddha,
We have received it with reverence and humbly accepted it, and have
brought with Us all Our officials to worship and give thanks.
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This We say reverently, reverently, in the Great Presence of the Three
Treasures whose name is to be spoken with awe.4
We cannot help but be struck by the humility of the terms that Sho¯mu uses.
For him to claim to be a ‘‘servant’’ of the Three Treasures marks an astonishing
departure from the previously held ideas of kingship in Japan. There seemingly
remained only one more step to be taken to make Japan into a true Buddha
land: to have a sovereign who was ordained as a minister to Buddha’s Law so
that the country could be governed in perfect consonance with these teachings.
And during the reign of Sho¯mu’s daughter, rule was nearly transferred to a
Buddhist monk.
In 764 c.e., Empress Ko¯toku, who had previously abdicated to enter the
religious life, suddenly decided to resume her rule despite the Buddhist vows
she had taken. Adopting a new reign title, Sho¯toku, she appointed Do¯kyo¯, a
master of the Hosso¯ sect, to be her chief minister. Do¯kyo¯ steadily rose in power.
In 766 he was appointed ‘‘king of the law’’ (ho¯o¯ ), and several years later the
empress, acting on a false oracle, was on the point of abdicating the throne in
his favor. However, powerful conservative forces at the court blocked this move,
and Japan never again came so close to becoming a Buddha land. Empress
Sho¯toku died in 770; Do¯kyo¯ was disgraced; and later new rulers turned from
Nara to Kyoto, where new forms of Buddhism were to dominate the scene.
THE SU¯ TRA OF THE GOLDEN LIGHT
The full title of this work, Su¯tra of the Sovereign Kings of the Golden Light Ray
(Konko¯ myo¯ saisho¯ o¯gyo¯), refers to the Deva Kings who came to pay homage to the
Buddha. The su¯tra is credited with inspiring the first temple built by the court, the
Shitenno¯ji (or Temple of the Four Deva Kings). When Tenmu seized the throne in
672, this su¯tra appears to have influenced his decision to promote Buddhism in the
interest of the new regime. His predecessor, Tenchi (Tenji), had been clearly associated
with the Confucian political order, and as we have seen, Tenchi’s assumption of power
was justified by numerous portents indicating that he had received the Mandate of
Heaven. Tenmu found a similar justification in the Golden Light Su¯tra, which set
forth a doctrine of kingship based on merit—merit achieved in former existences and
through the wholehearted support of Buddhism. It thus strongly implied that kings
rule by a kind of ‘‘divine right’’ not based on any hereditary claim but, rather, on the
ruler’s religious merit. In Tenmu’s case, his realm would enjoy peace and harmony
from the beneficial influence of Buddhist teachings on public morality, and even the
cosmic order would respond to his virtue and bestow blessings on him and his people.
Here, then, is a Buddhist claim to religious legitimacy overriding any customary right
4. Sansom, ‘‘The Imperial Edicts in the Shoku-Nihongi,’’ p. 26.
Nara Buddhism 107
of dynastic inheritance. It is no wonder that Tenmu held this su¯tra in particular honor
and fostered the growth of Buddhism by ordering every family to have a Buddhist
shrine in its house.
the protection of the country by the four deva kings
Then the Four Deva Kings, their right shoulders bared from their robes in
respect, arose from their seats and, with their right knees touching the ground
and their palms joined in humility, thus addressed Buddha:
‘‘Most Revered One! When, in some future time, this Su¯tra of the Golden
Light is transmitted to every part of a kingdom—to its cities, towns, and villages,
its mountains, forests, and fields—if the king of the land listens with his whole
heart to these writings, praises them, and makes offerings on their behalf, and
if moreover he supplies this su¯tra to the four classes of believers, protects them,
and keeps them from all harm, we Deva Kings, in recognition of his deeds, will
protect the king and his people, give them peace and freedom from suffering,
prolong their lives, and fill them with glory. Most Revered One! If when the
king sees that the four classes of believers receive the su¯tra, he respects and
protects them as he would his own parents, we Four Kings will so protect him
always that whatever he wishes will come about, and all sentient beings will
respect him.’’ . . .
Then Buddha declared to the Four Deva Kings:
‘‘Fitting is it indeed that you Four Kings should thus defend the holy writings.
In the past I practiced bitter austerities of every kind for 100,000 kalpas [eons].
Then, when I attained supreme enlightenment and realized in myself universal
wisdom, I taught this law. If a king upholds this su¯tra and makes offerings in its
behalf, I will purify him of suffering and illness and bring him peace of mind.
I will protect his cities, towns, and villages and scatter his enemies. I will make
all strife among the rulers of men to cease forever.
‘‘Know ye, Deva Kings, that the 84,000 rulers of the 84,000 cities, towns, and
villages of the world shall each enjoy happiness of every sort in his own land;
that they shall all possess freedom of action and obtain all manner of precious
things in abundance; that they shall never again invade each other’s territories;
that they shall receive recompense in accordance with their deeds of previous
existences; that they shall no longer yield to the evil desire of taking the lands
of others; that they shall learn that the smaller their desires the greater the
blessing; and that they shall emancipate themselves from the suffering of warfare
and bondage. The people of their lands shall be joyous, and upper and
lower classes will blend as smoothly as milk and water. They shall appreciate
each other’s feelings, join happily in diversions together, and, with all compassion
and modesty, increase the sources of goodness.
‘‘In this way the nations of the world shall live in peace and prosperity, the
108 early japan
peoples shall flourish, the earth shall be fertile, the climate temperate, and the
seasons shall follow in the proper order. The sun, moon, and the constellations
of stars shall continue their regular progress unhindered. The wind and rain
shall come in good season. All treasures shall be abundant. No meanness shall
be found in human hearts, but all shall practice almsgiving and cultivate the
ten good works. When the end of life comes, many shall be born in Heaven
and increase the celestial multitudes.’’
[Tsuji, Nihon bukkyo¯ shi, jo¯sei-hen, pp. 194–195]
THE FLOWER GARLAND SCHOOL
In seventh-century China and the Korean state of Silla, the teachings of the
Flower Garland (J: Kegon) school of Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism was a religious accompaniment
to the state-building process, and in eighth-century Nara-period
Japan, it served the same function. It preached a universal spiritual communion
in accordance with the doctrine of interdependent existence and interdependent
salvation as the basis for a universal state that would also be a Buddha
land or state.
the flower garland su¯ tra
The basic scripture of the Flower Garland school is the Flower Garland Su¯tra
(Kegon-kyo¯), a lengthy work describing an enormously grand vision of the universe.
The language of the su¯tra is so mythic and extravagant that it has acquired
a reputation for being abstruse and almost impossible to comprehend. Widely
regarded in the Maha¯ya¯na tradition as being the first sermon preached by the
Buddha, revealing the full content of his enlightenment, this su¯tra was said to
be too profound and lofty for most humans to understand. Therefore, after
making concessions to human limitations, the Buddha preached other su¯tras
that were easier to grasp.
The Flower Garland Su¯tra teaches tenets similar to those developed in other
schools and contributes to a doctrinal common ground for Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism
in general. The terms ‘‘interdependence,’’ ‘‘interpenetration,’’ ‘‘simultaneous
co-arising,’’ and ‘‘nonduality’’ express this basic notion that the diverse
elements of the universe are interdependent and interrelated. This is not to say
that everything is identical, however; rather, the Kegon vision affirms diversity
and attempts to explain the inherent and simultaneous interrelatedness of each
thing with all things and all things with each thing, without the loss of individual
identities.
The patriarchs of the school in China often enjoyed their rulers’ patronage.
Dushun (557–640), the school’s founder, was held in high esteem by Emperor
Wen (r. 589–605) of the Sui dynasty, and Fazang (643–712), the third patriarch
Nara Buddhism 109
and great systematizer of Kegon (Ch: Huayan) teachings, was honored several
times by Empress Wu (r. 684–704) of the Tang,5
who supported a new Chinese
translation of the Flower Garland Su¯tra by S´iksa¯nanda and was acclaimed by
Huayan monks as an incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya.
the flower garland su¯ tra: the tower of vairochana
The last section of the su¯tra tells of the pilgrimage of Sudhana, a youth who visits
various people, each of whom teaches him something about the Flower Garland
universe. Maitreya welcomed Sudhana by showing him the great tower of Vairochana,
the central Buddha of the su¯tra. The tower was a place in which the interrelatedness
of the universe could be seen and is described in the following excerpt taken from
S´iksa¯nanda’s translation.
In the Kegon view, a Buddhist state (bukkoku) would be one that supported this
universal spiritual communion. However, as a universal principle underlying a universal
state—the mutual fusion and permeability of all things—even while acting as a
solvent of all local loyalties and cultural particularism, it also left questions as to the
solid ground on which one might erect any social or political structure or ethic. In
effect, this left room for the persistence of strong indigenous customs, thus enabling
egalitarian spirituality to coexist with political and social hierarchy.
This is the place where all the buddhas live peacefully. This is the dwelling
place where a single eon permeates all eons and all eons permeate one eon
without loss of any of their own characteristics. This is the dwelling place where
one land permeates all lands and all lands permeate one land without loss of
any of their own characteristics. This is the dwelling place where one sentient
being permeates all sentient beings and all sentient beings permeate one sentient
being without loss of any of their own characteristics. This is the dwelling
place where one buddha permeates all buddhas and all buddhas permeate one
buddha without loss of their own characteristics. This is the dwelling place
where in a single moment of thought everything about the past, present, and
future can be known. This is the dwelling place where in a single moment of
thought one can travel to all countries. This is the dwelling place where all
sentient beings manifest all of their prior lives. This is the dwelling place of
concern for the benefit of everyone in the world. This is the dwelling place of
those who can go everywhere. This is the dwelling place of those who are
detached from the world and yet constantly remain there to teach other people.
[Kegonkyo¯, TD 10, no. 279:423; GT]
5. Actually, Empress Wu assumed the title of emperor, the only woman in Chinese history
to have done so, and adopted the dynastic name of Zhou, rather than Tang, during her period
of personal ascendancy.
110 early japan
the buddha kingdom of the flower garland
A common refrain in Kegon Buddhism is the claim that the perfect realm of the
Buddha (ri) is interfused with the ordinary world (ji) without obstruction (muge) and
that earthly rulers should manifest this universal harmony and order by ‘‘turning the
wheel of the dharma’’ throughout the land. With its vivid descriptions of this unity of
all parts within a whole, the Flower Garland Su¯tra articulated a spiritual ideal that
easily resonated with political objectives for unification and stability. In other East
Asian countries as well, the Kegon ideal of harmony inspired the building of the
Bulguk-sa (Temple of the Kingdom of the Buddha), which commemorated the unified
rule of the Korean kingdom of Silla, and the establishment of the Great Temple of
the East (To¯daiji) in Nara, which exemplified Emperor Sho¯mu’s (r. 724–49) vision of
centralized rule in Japan.
Chapter on the Exquisite Adornments of the Rulers of the World
All of the kingdoms in the ten directions
Will become purified and beautiful in a single moment
When rulers turn the wheel of the dharma
With the wondrous sounds of their voices
Reaching everywhere throughout their lands
With no place untouched.
The world of the Buddha is without bounds,
And his dharma realm inundates everything in an instant.
In every speck of dust the Buddha establishes a place of practice,
Where he enlightens every being and displays spiritual wonders.
The World Honored One practiced all spiritual disciplines
While coursing through a past of a hundred thousand eons,
Adorning all of the lands of the buddhas,
And manifesting himself without obstruction, as if in empty space.
The Buddha’s divine powers are unbounded,
Filling endless eons;
No one would tire of constantly watching him
Even for countless ages.
You should observe the realms of the Buddha’s power
Purifying and adorning all of the countries in the ten directions.
In all these places he manifests himself in myriad forms,
Never the same from moment to moment.
Nara Buddhism 111
Observe the Buddha for a hundred thousand countless eons,
But you will not discern a single hair on his body,
For through the unhindered use of skillful means
It is his radiance that shines on inconceivably numerous worlds.
In past ages the Buddha was in the world
Serving in a boundless ocean of all the buddhas.
All beings therefore came to make offerings to the World-Honored One,
Just as rivers flow to the sea.
The Buddha appears everywhere in the ten directions,
And in the countless lands of every speck of dust
Wherein are infinite realities
The Buddha abides in all, infinitely unbounded.
The Buddha in the past cultivated an ocean
Of unbounded compassion for sentient beings,
Whom he instructed and purified
As they entered life and death.
The Buddha lives in the dharma realm complex of truth
Free of forms, signs, and all defilements.
When people contemplate and see his many different bodies.
All their troubles and sufferings disappear.
[Kegonkyo¯, TD 10, no. 279:22; GT]
state sponsorship and control of buddhism
Buddhism’s early claim to exist beyond the authority of the state, as asserted by
Huiyuan in fifth-century China, was radically transformed in the Tang period
when it became an institutional arm of the state. The office of the ‘‘superintendent
of the Buddhist clergy (sangha),’’ which first appeared under the Northern
Wei in the mid-fifth century, marked the inception of this transformation. The
superintendent headed a bureaucracy staffed by lay officials or nominal
‘‘monks’’ charged with overseeing monastic affairs. He was not the head of an
autonomous religious organization but, rather, an appointee of the emperor
and given tonsure by the emperor’s hand.
The religious rationale for this government-run Buddhism in China was
supplied by the first superintendent, Faguo, who justified the monks’ service to
the government by directly identifying the emperor as the Buddha. In contrast
to Huiyuan’s rigorous defense of clerical independence, Faguo said that ‘‘Taizu
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is enlightened and loves the Way. He is in his very person the Thus-Come One.
Monks (shramanas) must and should pay him all homage. . . . He who propagates
the teaching of the Buddha is the lord of men. I am not doing obeisance
to the Emperor, I am merely worshiping the Buddha.’’6
A somewhat less accommodating
view is put forward in the following commentary on the Perfect
Wisdom Su¯tra for Humane Kings Who Wish to Protect Their States (known
in Japan as the Ninno¯kyo¯).
the humane king as protector of buddhism
As an alternative to Buddhism’s serving the state, the Su¯tra of the Humane King
proposes that the state and Buddhism serve each other. Using the vocabulary of Chinese
monarchy, the scripture asserts that ‘‘humane’’ or ‘‘benevolent’’ kings (renwang)
practice ‘‘outer protection’’ (waihu) and that this protection involves the patronage of
an independent clergy who practice the ‘‘inner protection’’ (neihu) of the bodhisattva
virtue of ‘‘forbearance’’ (ren). The pun on the term ren7
is the basis of the scripture
and the starting point of all its commentaries. Thus, according to the early-seventhcentury
Commentary on the Su¯tra of the Humane King, the ruler who protects Buddhism
thereby protects the state.
Because the humane king (renwang) explicates the Teaching and disseminates
virtue here below, he is called ‘‘humane.’’ Because he has transformed himself,
he is called ‘‘king.’’ The humane king’s ability is to protect (hu). What is protected
is the state. This is possible because the humane king uses the Teaching
to order the state. Now if we consider the Highest Perfect Wisdom (Prajn˜a¯pa¯ramita¯),
its ability is to protect. The humane king is he who is protected. Because
he uses the Highest Perfect Wisdom, the humane king is tranquil and hidden.
Thus, if he uses his ability to propagate the Teaching, the king is able to protect
[the state], and it is the Highest Perfect Wisdom which is the [method of]
protection. Moreover, one who is humane is forbearing [renzhe ren ye].8
Hearing
of good he is not overjoyed; hearing of bad he is not angry. Because he is
6. Hurvitz, Wei Shou, p. 53.
7. Ren, meaning ‘‘humaneness,’’ and ren, meaning ‘‘forbearance,’’ are homophones, but the
words are written with different Chinese characters.
8. A punning inversion of Mencius 7B:16, ‘‘To be humane (ren) is what it means to be human
(ren),’’ recalling also Confucius’ pun on ‘‘humaneness’’ (ren) and ‘‘forbearance’’ (ren) in Analects
12:3.
Nara Buddhism 113
able to hold to forbearance in good and bad, therefore he is called forbearing
(ren).
[TD 33, no. 1705:253; CO]
Here the scripture’s adroit use of language to reorder the relationship between religion
and the state is coupled with Maha¯ya¯na teachings of Perfect Wisdom. This eighthcentury
recension of the text by Amoghavajra, a leading monk at the Tang court, further
accentuates these teachings through the addition of such passages as the following based
on the dialectics of negation.
At that time the World-honored One said to King Prasenajit, ‘‘By what signs
do you contemplate the Thus-Come One?’’ King Prasenajit answered, ‘‘I contemplate
his body’s real signs; [I] contemplate the Buddha thus: without boundaries
in front, behind, and in the middle; not residing in the three times and
not transcending the three times; not residing in the five aggregates, not transcending
the five aggregates; not abiding in the four great elements and not
transcending the four great elements; not abiding in the six abodes of sensation
and not transcending the six abodes of sensation; not residing in the three
realms and not transcending the three realms; residing in no direction, transcending
no direction; [neither] illumination [nor] ignorance, and so on. Not
one, not different; not this, not that; not pure, not foul; not existent nor nonexistent;
without signs of self or signs of another; without name, without signs;
without strength, without weakness; without demonstration, without exposition;
not magnanimous, not stingy; not prohibited, not transgressed; not forbearing,
not hateful; not forward, not remiss; not fixed, not in disarray; not wise, not
stupid; not coming, not going; not entering, not leaving; not a field of blessings,
not a field of misfortune; without sign, without the lack of sign; not gathering,
not dispersing; not great, not small; not seen, not heard; not perceived, not
known. The mind, activities, and senses are extinguished, and the path of
speech is cut off. It is identical with the edge of reality and equal to the [real]
nature of things. I use these signs to contemplate the Thus-Come One.’’
[TD 8, no. 246:836; CO]
In the preceding passage, the ‘‘unboundedness’’ of the Buddha’s body and the principle
of universal emptiness in the Prajn˜a¯pa¯ramita¯ (expressed in the negation of all determinate
views) can also be understood in the more affirmative terms of the Kegon philosophy,
that is, the universal tolerance and mutual nonobstruction of all things (expressed as
‘‘nothing precludes or bars anything else,’’ jiji muge, or, politically, ‘‘any expedient means
may be made to serve the purposes of Buddhism.’’ Both formulations underlay the practice
of Amogavajra’s Esoteric Buddhism or Mystical Teaching, which was predicated on
a view similar to Huayan’s ‘‘True Emptiness [allows for] Mysterious or Wondrous Man-
114 early japan
ifestations (shinku¯ myo¯yu¯).’’ Thus mystic rites and incantations could play a part in
Buddhism’s consecrating and legitimizing of imperial rule.
BUDDHISM AND THE STATE IN NARA JAPAN
proclamation of the emperor sho¯ mu on the erection of
the great buddha image
Having respectfully succeeded to the throne through no virtue of our own, out
of a constant solicitude for all men, We have been ever intent on aiding them
to reach the shore of the Buddha land. Already even the distant seacoasts of
this land have been made to feel the influence of our benevolence and regard
for others, and yet not everywhere in this land do men enjoy the grace of
Buddha’s law. Our fervent desire is that under the aegis of the Three Treasures,
the benefits of peace may be brought to all in heaven and earth, even animals
and plants sharing in its fruits, for all time to come.
Therefore on the fifteenth day of the tenth month of the fifteenth year of
the Tempyo¯ reign [743], which is the year of the goat and water junior,9
We
take this occasion to proclaim our great vow of erecting an image of Lochana
Buddha in gold and copper. We wish to make the utmost use of the nation’s
resources of metal in the casting of this image, and also to level off the high
hill on which the great edifice is to be raised, so that the entire land may be
joined with us in the fellowship of Buddhism and enjoy in common the advantages
which this undertaking affords to the attainment of Buddhahood.
It is we who possess the wealth of the land; it is we who possess all power in
the land. With this wealth and power at our command, we have resolved to
create this venerable object of worship. The task would appear to be an easy
one, and yet a lack of sufficient forethought on our part might result in the
people’s being put to great trouble in vain, for the Buddha’s heart would never
be touched if, in the process, calumny and bitterness were provoked which led
unwittingly to crime and sin.
Therefore all who join in the fellowship of this undertaking must be sincerely
pious in order to obtain its great blessings, and they must daily pay homage to
Lochana Buddha, so that with constant devotion each may proceed to the
creation of Lochana Buddha.10
If there are some desirous of helping in the
9. Year designation according to the Chinese sexagenary cycle (see chapter 4).
10. Although it might seem impious to think that the Cosmic Buddha himself could be so
created, in the Kegon philosophy the particular and the universal are one and inseparable, so
that an image properly conceived with a devout realization of the Buddha’s true nature might
stand for the Buddha himself.
Nara Buddhism 115
construction of this image, though they have no more to offer than a twig or
handful of dirt, they should be permitted to do so. The provincial and county
authorities are not to disturb and harass the people by making arbitrary demands
on them in the name of this project. This is to be proclaimed far and wide so
that all may understand our intentions in this matter.
[From Shoku Nihongi, in Rikkokushi, III, pp. 320–321]
the bodhisattva gyo¯ gi
Gyo¯gi [670?–749], a major figure in the Buddhism of the Nara period, gained great
renown as a popular teacher and practitioner of good works—establishing hospitals,
orphanages, old people’s homes, rest houses, and the like and performing public works
such as the construction of bridges, harbors, and canals for navigation and irrigation.
At these sites, he established practice halls (do¯jo¯) that also served as seminaries for
those serving on these projects. Although early on, the court looked askance at Gyo¯gi’s
unconventional and unauthorized activities, in time, as he became popularly revered
as a bodhisattva incarnate, the court sought to appropriate his popularity and prestige
for itself, at which point Emperor Sho¯mu conferred on him high ecclesiastical rank
(daiso¯jo¯) in recognition of his standing among the people.
The following is taken from a collection of hagiographical writings compiled by
the Tendai monk Chingen around 1040, containing miracle stories ostensibly connected
with the Lotus Su¯tra. It shows how a charismatic figure like Gyo¯gi quickly
became the stuff of legend and how the popularization of Buddhism attended the
state-building process in the Nara period.
Bodhisattva Gyo¯gi was a man from the O¯ tori District of Izumi Province. Koshi
was his secular clan name.
When born, he was wrapped in a caul. His parents placed him on a tree
branch as a method of decontaminating him. After one night, the parents found
that their baby was out of the skin and already spoke well. They took him home
and reared him.
When still a boy, Gyo¯gi used to praise the Law together with the neighborhood
children. As time passed, Gyo¯gi had several followers, including young
cowherds who attended Gyo¯gi and ignored their cows and horses. When the
masters of these cowherds needed them, they sent people to fetch the boys. But
those who were sent for the boys, including men and women, the young and
the old, listened to Gyo¯gi preach and stayed with him, forgetting to ask the
cowherds about the cattle. So finally Gyo¯gi would climb to a high place and
call out to gather the cattle. The scattered cows and horses gathered near Gyo¯gi
and each master took his cattle home by himself.
Later Gyo¯gi took the tonsure and became a monk of Yakushiji Temple. He
116 early japan
read the commentaries including the Yugayuishikiron11
and perceived the deep
significance in these writings.
Gyo¯gi traveled widely in cities and in rural areas, cultivating the people.
Nearly one thousand people followed him, wishing to be taught. . . .
Gyo¯gi visited various dangerous and yet important places. He constructed
bridges and roads. He investigated the irrigation and cultivation of rice fields
and he dug ponds for reservoirs and built dikes. Those who heard of his projects
all gathered and helped him. So the construction was finished in a short time.
Since then, farmers and peasants have greatly benefited.
Gyo¯gi built as many as forty-nine halls12
in the area near the capital including
Yamato, Kawachi, Yamashiro, Izumi and Settsu and built more in other
provinces.
Once while on his way home after traveling in various provinces practicing
the Way, Gyo¯gi saw some villagers including adults and children gathered
around a pond, catching fish and eating them. As Gyo¯gi passed by, one of the
youngsters playfully urged Gyo¯gi to eat some of the cut-up raw fish. As Gyo¯gi
put the morsels into his mouth and spat them out, the fish meat became small
fish. Those who watched marveled greatly.
Emperor Sho¯mu respected Gyo¯gi and granted him the rank of Grand Ab-
bot.13
Chiko¯,14
another eminent monk of that time, felt jealous of Gyo¯gi, and
thought, ‘‘I am a learned Grand Abbot while Gyo¯gi is a mere monk without
much learning. Why does the emperor appreciate him so much more and
ignore me?’’ Holding a strong grudge against the emperor and Gyo¯gi, Chiko¯
retired into a mountain and soon died there. According to his wishes, Chiko¯’s
body was not immediately buried but was left as it was.
Ten days later, Chiko¯ revived and said to his disciples, ‘‘Messengers from
King Yama’s palace pursued me. As we ran, we saw a beautiful golden edifice
glittering with radiance. I asked the messengers whose palace it was. The messengers
replied that it was the place where Bodhisattva Gyo¯gi was born. As we
proceeded further, we saw fire and smoke ahead. When I asked the messengers,
they said that the fire and smoke were from the hell where I was going. Soon
we arrived there.
King Yama told me in a roaring voice that I was brought down to hell to be
punished for my evil and jealous feelings toward Gyo¯gi in the country of Japan.
Soon I was made to hold a hot copper pole and my flesh and bones burned
and festered. After I atoned for my sins, I was released.’’
11. A major text of the Dharma Character (Hosso¯) school translated by Xuanzang.
12. Temple construction was restricted in the Nara period, so village temples, which did not
conform to government restrictions, were called do¯jo¯, ‘‘practice halls.’’
13. Grand abbot or superintendent.
14. An eminent scholarly monk of the Nara period who studied the Three Treatise (Sanron)
Teachings, belonged to the Gango¯ji Temple, and left numerous commentaries on the su¯tras.
Nara Buddhism 117
Now that Chiko¯ had revived, he wished to apologize to Gyo¯gi. At that time,
Gyo¯gi was engaged in constructing a bridge spanning Naniwa Bay in Tsu Province.
When Gyo¯gi saw Chiko¯ at a distance, he smiled at him. Chiko¯ prostrated
himself before Gyo¯gi and tearfully begged his pardon.
When the emperor built the To¯daiji Temple,15
he ordered Gyo¯gi to offer a
dedication service for the temple as lecturer. Gyo¯gi replied that he would not
be able to serve as a lecturer at such a great meeting, but that a holy man from
a foreign country would come to offer the service.
When the day arrived, Gyo¯gi said that they should welcome the holy man.
With an imperial order, Gyo¯gi led ninety-nine priests and the officials from
three offices including those for aristocrats, for priests and nuns, and for music.
He went to the port of Naniwa and waited there with music.
Holding a set of argha16
(Buddhist utensils for offerings), with arranged flowers
and burning incense, Gyo¯gi took the hundredth place among the priests
and boarded a boat. . . .
After a while . . . they saw a small boat approaching. As it arrived at the
shore, an Indian stepped on the beach. Seeing this, Gyo¯gi raised a hand, smiled
at the Indian priest, and recited a poem,
The truth of the words
Vowed before Sha¯kyamuni
At Vulture Peak
Did not die and
We have met again.
The holy man from the foreign country responded by reciting his poem,
As promised to each other
At Kapilavastu,
I can now see
The face of Man˜jushrı¯.
Gyo¯gi said to the monks and laymen in his presence that the holy man was
Bodhisena, a monk from South India. The people gathered at the place now
knew that Gyo¯gi was an incarnation of Man˜jushrı¯. There is no more space to
itemize other miraculous happenings.
Gyo¯gi, at the age of eighty, passed away on the fourth day of the second
month of the first year of Tenpyo¯sho¯ho¯ (749).
[Trans. adapted from Dykstra, Miraculous Tales, pp. 27–29]
15. The Indian Bodhisena (704–760) came to Japan in 736 and, on Gyo¯gi’s recommendation,
presided at the Eye-Opening Ceremony of the Great Buddha of the To¯daiji Temple in 752.
16. A set of special containers are used for the aka or the water offered to the Buddha.
118 early japan
regulation of the buddhist orders
by the court
Not all those who embraced Buddhism, ‘‘left the world,’’ and joined monastic orders
did so with a full realization of what would be required of them in the religious life.
Consequently, it was not long after the first establishment of monasteries and nunneries
in Japan that charges were made of flagrant violations of Buddhist vows in regard to
the taking of life, sexual incontinence, and drunkenness. Since the throne had taken
a prominent part in establishing Buddhist institutions, it was expected that the court
would likewise assert its control over them, as indicated by the measures taken by
Suiko as early as 623 c.e. Such external controls proved largely ineffective, however,
for serious violations were common throughout the seventh and eighth centuries, and
it remained for reformers such as Ganjin and Saicho¯ (see chapter 6) to attempt to
tighten discipline from within.
31st year [623], Spring, 4th month, 3rd day. There was a Buddhist monk who
took an axe and smote therewith his paternal grandfather. Now the empress,
hearing of this, sent for the Great Imperial Chieftain Soga, and gave command,
saying: ‘‘The man who has entered religion should be devoted to the Three
Treasures and should cherish devoutly the prohibitions of the Buddhist Law.
How can he without compunction be readily guilty of crime? We now hear
that there is a monk who has struck his grandfather. Therefore, let all the monks
and nuns of the various temples be assembled, and investigation made. Let
severe punishment be inflicted on any who are convicted of offenses.’’ Hereupon
the monks and nuns were all assembled, and an examination held. The
wicked monks and nuns were all about to be punished, when Kwallu˘k, a Buddhist
monk of Paekche, presented a memorial, as follows: ‘‘The Law of Buddha
came from the Western country to Han.17
Three hundred years later it was
handed on to Paekche, since which time barely one hundred years had elapsed,
when our king, hearing that the emperor of Nippon was a wise man, sent him
tribute of an image of Buddha and of Buddhist su¯tras. Since that time, less than
one hundred years have passed, and consequently the monks and nuns have
not yet learned the Buddhist laws and readily commit wickedness. On this
account all the monks and nuns are afraid and do not know what to do. I humbly
pray that with the exception of the wicked [monk who struck his grandfather],
all the other monks and nuns be pardoned and not punished. That would be
a work of great merit.’’
Accordingly the empress granted [his petition].
17. The Chinese dynasty of that name.
Nara Buddhism 119
13th day. A decree was made as follows: ‘‘If even the monks continue to
offend against the Law, wherewithal shall the laymen be admonished? Therefore
from this time forward we appoint a So¯jo¯ and a So¯zu for the superintendence
of the monks and nuns.’’
Autumn, 9th month, 3rd day. There was an inspection of the temples and
of the monks and nuns, and an accurate record made of the circumstances of
the building of the temples, and also of the circumstances under which the
monks and nuns embraced religion, with the year, month, and day of their
taking orders. There were at this time 46 temples, 816 monks, and 569 nuns—
in all, 1,385 persons.
32nd year [624], Spring, 1st month, 7th day. The king of Koryo˘ sent tribute
of a Buddhist monk, named Hyegwan. He was appointed So¯jo¯ [superintendent
of monks and nuns].18
[Adapted from Aston, Nihongi, II, pp. 1522–1554]
edicts of the empress sho¯ toku
concerning do¯ kyo¯
These edicts, one making the priest Do¯kyo¯ the chief minister of the court and the
other naming him the king of the Law, preceded Empress Sho¯toku’s attempt to abdicate
the imperial throne in his favor.
edict of october 19, 764
It has been represented to us, in view of the master’s constant attendance on
us, that he has ambitions of rising to high office like his ancestors before him,
and we have been petitioned to dismiss him from our court. However, We have
observed his conduct and found it to be immaculate. Out of a desire to transmit
and promote Buddha’s Law, he has extended to us his guidance and protection.
How could we lightly dismiss such a teacher?
Although our head has been shaven and we wear Buddhist robes, we feel
obliged to conduct the government of the nation. As Buddha declared in the
[Bommo¯, Brahmaja¯la] Su¯tra, ‘‘Kings, ye who take up thrones, receive the ordination
of the bodhisattvas!’’ These words prove that there can be no objection
even for one who has taken holy orders in administering the government. We
deem it proper therefore, since the reigning monarch is ordained, that the chief
minister should also be an ordained monk. Hearken, all ye people, to our words:
18. The Japanese were still such novices in Buddhism that Korean monks were generally
selected as religious authorities.
120 early japan
We confer on the Master Do¯kyo¯ the title of chief minister and master, though
the title is not of his seeking. [pp. 93–94]
edict of november 26, 766
We do affirm in this edict our belief that when the Law of Buddha, the Supreme
One, is worshiped and revered with perfect sincerity of heart, he is certain to
vouchsafe some unusual sign. The sacred bone of the Tatha¯gata which has now
been manifested, of perfect shape and unusually large, is brighter and more
beautiful of color than ever we have seen; the mind cannot encompass its
splendor. Thus it is that night and day alike we pay it humble reverence with
our unwavering attention. Indeed, it appears to us that when the Transformation
Body of the Buddha extends its guidance to salvation in accordance with circumstances,
his compassionate aid is manifested with no delay. Nevertheless,
the Law depends on men for the continuation and spread of its prosperity. Thus,
it has been due to acts of leadership and guidance in consonance with the Law
performed by our chief minister and master, who stands at the head of all priests,
that this rare and holy Sign has been vouchsafed us. How could so holy and
joyous a thing delight us alone? Hearken, all ye people, to your sovereign’s will:
We bestow on our teacher, the chief minister, the title of king of the Law.19
We
declare again that such worldly titles have never been of his seeking; his mind
is set, with no other aspiration, on performing the acts of a bodhisattva and
leading all men to salvation. Hearken, all ye people, to your sovereign’s will:
We confer this position on him as an act of reverence and gratitude. [pp. 140–
141]
[From Shoku Nihongi, in Rikkokushi, VI, pp. 93–141]
THE MERGER OF BUDDHIST AND
SHINTO DEITIES
It is difficult to trace the early stages of the important process by which Buddhism was
made compatible with Shinto and thus became more easily acceptable to the Japanese.
The first clear indication of this appears in the middle of the Nara period—more than
two hundred years after the official introduction of Buddhism to Japan—in a biography
of Fujiwara Muchimaro. The author was obviously a Buddhist himself, and he portrayed
a Shinto deity seeking refuge in the power of Buddhism. The mutual relationship
of Buddhism with Shinto later developed in complex ways and by the Kamakura
period resulted in detailed explanations of the Shinto gods as the concrete manifestations
of Buddhist deities. This Buddhist argument was widely accepted and contrib-
19. Sometimes translated as ‘‘pope.’’
Nara Buddhism 121
uted significantly to the doctrinal, ritual, and institutional blending of both religions.
Muchimaro’s biography marks the textual beginning of this merger and tells how a
Shinto deity, still in command of its own powers, made a spiritual request that had an
institutional answer.
In the year 715, Fujiwara Muchimaro had a dream in which a strange man
appeared and said, ‘‘Since you revere the teachings of the Buddha, please build
a temple for my sake. I beg of you to fulfill my request and save me, for my
past karma has caused me to be a Shinto deity for a long time. Now I place
my trust in the way of the Buddha, and I wish to perform meritorious acts for
my happiness. Thus far, I have not been able to obtain the proper causes and
conditions for this, and therefore I have come to speak with you.’’
Muchimaro was suspicious and thought that the man might be the Kibi
deity. He wanted to say something in reply but found himself unable to speak.
Then he woke up from his dream. He offered a prayer, saying, ‘‘The ways of
the gods and men are different. What is obvious to the one is obscure for the
other. Who was that strange man appearing in my dream last night? If he should
prove himself to be a deity by showing me a sign, then I shall surely build a
temple for him.’’ At that point, the deity picked up a monk named Kume
Katsuashi and placed him at the very top of a tall tree. That, he said, was the
sign. Muchimaro then realized the truth and built a temple, which is now a
part of a Buddhist-Shinto shrine complex in Echizen Province.
[Tsuji, Bukkyo¯ shi, 1, p. 440; GT]