Shitennō-ji and Pure Land Teachings in Nara

Abstract

This paper examines the connection between Shitennō-ji and the Pure Land teachings in Nara. During the Insei 院政 era, or the period of rule by the cloistered emperors (1086–1192), the practice of chanting the nenbutsu one million times at Shitennō-ji, primarily at the West Gate, was popular. Around the same time, in the 12th century, the Pure Land teachings, starting with Eikan (永観, 1033–1111), became influential in Nara. Eikan and Chinkai (珍海, 1091–1152) were also both affiliated with the Pure Land teachings at Shitennō-ji, while Eikan’s Ōjō jūin (往生拾因, The Ten Conditions for Attaining Birth in the Pure Land) especially provided a theoretical background for the nenbutsu practice at the West Gate and the rationale for the one-hundred-day nenbutsu practice at Gankō-ji, and encouraged the spread of yūzū nenbutsu 融通念仏, which mobilized numerous people.