Recognizing the Founder, Seeing Amida Buddha: Kakunyo's Hōon kōshiki

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)While it is common to refer to Shinran ... (1173-1262) as the founder of Jodo Shinshu ... (True Pure Land School), one of the largest and most historically significant Buddhist sects in Japan, he died largely unknown but to a small group of disciples who were indistinct from a larger Pure Land movement inspired by his teacher, Honen ?? (1133- 1212). The development of a community centered around devotion to Shinran may be said to have begun with the construction of a memorial chapel and the donation of that memorial site to his followers by his youngest daughter Kakushin-ni ??? (1224-1283). It was, however, not until Kakunyo ?? (1270- 1351), Shinran's great-grandson, that a distinct religious community was envisioned with Shinran as its founder through the institution of regular memorial services at the site and the production of a number of ritual, biographical, and doctrinal texts for use in the memorial services. The first of these was an elegiac liturgy for Shinran entitled Hoon koshiki ???? (Koshiki on responding to benevolence) composed for use in the memorial services on the occasion of the thirty-third anniversary of Shinran's death. Shortly after, Kakunyo produced the first illustrated biography of Shinran to be viewed and sacralized in the memorial services, an illustrated hand scroll (emaki ??) that recorded the of the teacher Shinran, the teaching of the true import (shinshu ??), and the community that took shape after his death.1 During the course of his life, Kakunyo would go on to produce five more illustrated editions of the Shinran den'e ?? ??2 and a host of other hagiographic representations that would serve to differentiate Shinran and his teachings in his efforts to transform the memorial site into a center of a new and distinct community.While the Shinran den'e has received a lot of scholarly attention by both historians and sectarian scholars wanting to reconstruct the historical life of Shinran, the Hoon koshiki has received relatively less attention.3 Later doctrinal writings by Kakunyo such as the Kudensho ??? (Extracts from the oral transmission) or the Gaijasho ??? (Extracts correcting heresy), have also received attention for they are regarded as important sources for scholars wishing to write a history of the development of Shin doctrine (Dobbins 1989, 79-98). As historical studies of Shinran and his thought has dominated past scholarship on Shin Buddhism, it probably does not come as a surprise that a ritual text in a community that is largely perceived as having little concern for ritual due to Shinran's emphasis on faith alone, would be put to the side. Nevertheless, I would argue that ritual congregations of Pure Land practitioners, which can be traced back to Genshin ?? (942-1017) and the rise of Amida devotionalism in the Heian period (794-1185), have always played a crucial role in the life of Pure Land Buddhism and in the case of the new Pure Land communities that arose in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), would continue to play an integral role in their genesis and popularity.With the Hoon koshiki and the production of the illustrated biographies, Kakunyo transformed the memorial services for Shinran into an occasion to express gratitude toward Shinran as founder of a new religious community and the means through which the community was able to witness the life of Shinran and his teaching. By the time of Rennyo ?? (1415-1499), the memorial services for Shinran would become week-long, large-scale assemblies for the whole community known as the Hoon ko ???,4 in which the Hoon koshiki was recited and the large scale hanging scroll versions of the illustrated biographies were displayed and performed. These memorial services continue to be held today, with observances of the Hoon ko at the central temples of the community as well as local temples throughout Japan.5 Although not much is known about the earliest memorial services to Shinran, a closer examination of Hoon koshiki, read alongside the illustrated biographies of Shinran, will show how Kakunyo sought to refocus the newly emerging community around devotion to Shinran and redefine Shin Buddhist practice as gratitude. …