Japanese Buddhism

Buddhism (see Buddhism) in Japan takes several forms but is particularly marked by a tendency toward the esoteric. The religion was introduced into Japan during the fifth and sixth centuries CE in connection with the gradual influx of Sino-Korean philosophy and imagery and the adaptation of the Chinese script. When Buddhism was officially introduced to the Japanese court in the sixth century, there was strong reaction against it on the part of the conservative guardians of the ancient Shinto (see Shinto entries) tradition and its divinities, or kami (see Kami). It was the powerful Soga clan that supported Buddhism and attached it to the state. Under the regent Prince Shotoku in the late sixth and early seventh centuries there was a bringing together of Buddhism and the indigenous Shinto religion that would color Japanese Buddhism from then on. In the eighth century—the Nara period—the religion flourished, especially in the capital, Nara, where many monasteries were established. The ninth century was marked by the development of the characteristic esoteric tradition that stressed enlightenment. The leaders in this movement were the Tendai (see Tendai Sect) and Shingon sects (see Shingon Sect). The Shingon sect especially stressed the esoteric, believing that the true Buddhist could achieve union with the absolute (see Japanese Buddhas, Bodhisattva). Influenced by Tantrism from India (see Tantrism), the esoteric sects gained in popularity with the Japanese people because of the emphasis they put on the accessibility of the nature of Buddha. They also gained in popularity by their willingness to assimilate the old Shinto kami into their systems. In the tenth century, the cult of the Buddha Amitābha or Amida Buddha (see Amida Buddha) gained in popularity. The Tendai sect especially preached the idea that Enlightenment through the teachings of the Buddha Sākyamuni (see Gautama Buddha) was no longer possible. To achieve Enlightenment the devout person would have to be reborn in the Pure Land (see Pure Land), or Gokuraku-jodo, the land where the Buddha Amida preached. It was the monk Honen and his disciple Shinran who in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries developed this doctrine. In reaction to Amidism the Zen (see Zen Buddhism) sect arose. Its first master was the thirteenth-century monk Dogen. Dogen advocated the practice of ecstatic meditation and a return to the original principles of the Buddha Sākyamuni. Some sects of Zen Buddhism consider him their founder.