Jōdo Shinshū
The ‘True Pure Land School’ founded by Shinran (1173-1262) in the early Kamakura period. Shinran had been a disciple of Hōnen (1133-1212), but was exiled and forcibly defrocked in 1207 along with Hōnen himself and other disciples when the group suffered the wrath of the imperial court after two of Hōnen's disciples spent the night in the ladies' chambers of the palace. No longer a priest, but unable to accept lay status completely, Shinran began working among the common people, married, and had children. He took an even more extreme view about the inability of beings in this world to effect their own salvation than his master, and taught that believers could do nothing for themselves, but had to rely exlusively upon the grace of Amitābha (Japanese, Amida) Buddha, even for the awakening of the faith (śraddhā) that impelled them to call upon him to take them to rebirth in the Pure Land after death. Consequently, in the debates about ‘once-calling’ (Japanese, ichinengi) versus ‘many-calling’ that ensued among Hōnen's disciples after Hōnen's death, Shinran took the ‘once-calling’ position, claiming that to call Amitābha's name repeatedly as a means of religious cultivation was useless and a sign of hubris. When true faith had arisen, one calling of the name sufficed, since the Buddha had all the power necessary to save the individual.
After Shinran's death, the local congregations that had grown up under his leadership in the Kantō region in eastern Japan became increasingly fragmented. The doctrine of absolute reliance on the ‘other power’ (tariki) of Amitābha and the elimination of a monastic elite gave the groups a sense of autonomy and complete equality, while the lack of basic education in Buddhist teachings gave rise to diverse interpretations of Shinran's teaching. Eventually, Shinran's grandson Kakunyo (1270-1351) and great-grandson Zonkaku (1290-1373) managed to consolidate leadership by appealing to a cult of Shinran centred on the mausoleum where his remains were enshrined, which came to be known as the Honganji (Temple of the Original Vow). While the principle of hisō hizoku (‘neither monk nor lay’) still held, the Shinshū did acquire a kind of clerical establishment over time, although their functions within locally autonomous meeting-halls (Japanese, dōjō), centring as they do on preaching and pastoral care, resemble those of Protestant ministers rather than those of traditional celibate monks. These local meeting-halls also supported themselves through the direct contributions of the faithful, rather than depending upon revenues and grants from aristocratic patrons, which gave believers a new sense of independence from traditional, hereditary rulers. Leadership at the Honganji devolved upon blood-descendants of Shinran, while entrance into clerical ranks at the local and regional levels came about as a result of education and aptitude rather than the conferral of a new status perceived as soteriologically superior to that of the laity. All of these ideas—equality of all people (including women and men) before the grace of Amitābha, the autonomy of the local congregation, support of local halls through the contributions of the faithful, and leadership based on competence rather than status—gave the Shinshū a very modern outlook.
The Honganji organization expanded rapidly under the leadership of Shinran's eighth-generation grandson Rennyo (1415-99). He launched several new initiatives: recruitment drives in areas not previously penetrated by the Shinshū message, preaching tours, and pastoral letters (Japanese, ofumi). His efforts blended well with social changes that were gathering momentum at that time, which saw the erosion of older aristocratic and imperial power and the rise of a new middle class and increased autonomy for local peasants. Oppressive taxation had driven many of these local groups into a posture of self-defence, and the Shinshū message of complete equality before the highest Buddha provided an ideological impetus for their self-assertion (in contrast to the hierarchy of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas espoused by older, imperial-sponsored Buddhism in order to justify centralized power). During Rennyo's tenure, local rebellions known as ikkō ikki broke out under the Shinshū banner. In Kaga province, the ikkō ikki leagues were so successful that they ousted the landed aristocrats in 1475 and ruled the province themselves for 92 years. (It is perhaps significant that Christianity, espousing similar teachings, also provided the basis for rebellion against the old, entrenched aristocracy in other provinces.) Rennyo also had 27 children with five wives, and his placement of all of them, sons and daughters alike, in top administrative positions helped give women greater prominence at the uppermost circles of the Shinshū.
After Rennyo, the Shinshū became a prominent economic force in Japanese society. It combined multiple circles of membership, including local congregations, ikkō ikki leagues, and commercial ventures called jinaichō in the larger towns, all of which provided avenues for the exchange of wealth outside of the old aristocratic and warlord-dominated domains. In this way, Shinshū gained great significance in providing avenues for the expansion of the middle and lower classes' economic power. On the religious front, it also aided modernization by actively suppressing aspects of older kami faith that tended to elevate the aristocracy, esoterism in any form, belief in magic and curses, belief in demonic possession, and any other practice it considered ‘superstitious’. Shinshū's increasing encroachments into the civil sphere were cut off by the reunification of Japan under the Tokugawa regime in the second decade of the 17th century. After a forcible repression of its activities by Oda Nobunaga, the Shinshū organization came to an accommodation with the government. At the same time, a lineage dispute in the Honganji resulted in a rift that saw the establishment of two Honganji temples, the Nishi (west) and Higashi (east). After these disruptions, however, the two Shinshū groups grew rapidly, especially after the government issued orders that all citizens register with some Buddhist temple. By 1850 the two Honganjis claimed about 25 per cent of the population. Shinshū continues to the present to be the largest Buddhist group in Japan.
Shinshū beliefs, following Shinran's teachings, emphasize the complete depravity of human beings and their total dependence upon the vow of Amitābha Buddha to bring those who call his name with faith during their lives to rebirth in the Pure Land after death. In contrast to the Jōdo Shū, which holds that one can lose the assurance of rebirth during one's lifetime, Shinshū teaches that rebirth is certain after one calls Amitābha's name once with faith (although this faith is itself Amitābha's gift). Because of this certainty, a believer's first calling of the name with faith marks their entrance into the stage of non-retrogression, since rebirth in the Pure Land assures one of the eventual attainment of Buddhahood. In this, Shinshū contrasts with the teachings of the Jishū, which holds that when one calls Amitābha's name, with or without faith, one is at that moment reborn into the Pure Land. Shinshū religious practice centres around meetings of local self-supporting congregations, consisting primarily of preaching and singing hymns of praise. At the upper levels, the primary ritual of the Honganji is the hō-onkō, held each year on the anniversary of Shinran's death to express the gratitude of the faithful for his vision and ministry.
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