Amida Faith - Amida Faith

Japanese: 阿弥陀信仰 - あみだしんこう

…Kannon and Seishi are his attendants. [Sadakata Akira]
[Amida Faith in Japan]
Faith in Amida spread to China via Central Asia, where it began to flourish from the latter half of the 4th century to the 5th century.

From [Kuuya]

...At the age of about 20, he became a monk at Kokubunji Temple in Owari, taking the name Kuya, and continued his training. When he studied the entire Buddhist canon at Mineai-ji Temple (Hoso-ji Temple) in Harima, whenever he encountered a difficult place, a golden man appeared in his dreams to teach him, and when he trained at Yushima in Shikoku, a statue of Kannon emitted light after he burned incense on his arm for seven days. After these trainings, Kuya turned to missionary work and traveled to the Oshu region, where during the Tenkei era (938-947) he preached the faith in Amida to the common people of Kyoto, so the people came to call him Ichi-Hijiri, and the well he dug was named Amida-i. In 948 (Tenryaku 2), he ascended Mount Hiei and received the precepts of Tendai Zasu Ensho, who gave him the name Kosho. He continued to work as a missionary among the people, and when an epidemic broke out in Kyoto, he appealed to the people to make a 1-jo (3.5 m) statue of Eleven-Headed Kannon, 6-foot (2.5 m) statues of Bonten, Taishakuten, and the Four Heavenly Kings, and made a vow to copy 600 volumes of the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra.

From [Pure Land]

...The "Tenjukoku" inscription in the Tenjukoku Embroidery Book also means a kind of Pure Land, but there are various theories, such as Gokuraku Jodo, Maitreya Jodo, Myoki Jodo, Sacred Mountain Jodo, Jippo Jodo, and Tenjiku Jodo, and it is not certain. In the Heian period, Amida faith and Hiei-zan Jodo sect developed, and even today, the Pure Land has come to refer to Gokuraku Jodo, as in the chant "There are many Pure Lands, but Amida's Pure Land is the best." In addition, in folk beliefs, apart from the theories in the scriptures, it is believed that there is a Pure Land in the mountains, in mountain faith and sacred mountain faith, where the soul goes to the mountains (the mountain afterlife view). ...

From [Pure Land Buddhism]

...However, in the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was replaced by the belief in the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. Incidentally, in China, popular rebellions in the name of Maitreya's descent from the dead occurred frequently, but it should be noted that these occurred after the Sui and Tang dynasties, when the belief in Amitabha overwhelmed the belief in Maitreya's ascending birth. Incidentally, there are more than 270 Buddhist scriptures in the Chinese translation of the Tripitaka that preach about Amitabha Buddha, accounting for 30% of all Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. In China and Japan, the belief in the Pure Land of Amitabha became widespread, overpowering other Pure Land sects, and it even appeared as if it was monopolizing the name of Pure Land Buddhism. ...

From [Nenbutsu]

...Nenbutsu includes nembutsu of Shaka, Yakushi, Maitreya, Kannon, and others, but nembutsu of Amida Buddha is the most representative, and nembutsu usually refers to remembering Amida Buddha's appearance and vows, or chanting the six-character name of Amida Buddha, "Namu Amida Butsu." As faith in Amida grew and the desire to be reborn in the Western Pure Land grew stronger, nembutsu came to be considered an essential practice for attaining rebirth. In Japan, contemplative nembutsu was popular from the Nara period to the mid-Heian period, and Amida Pure Land transformation paintings were created for contemplation purposes....

From [Buddhism]

…Honen wrote his main work, “Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu,” in which he rejected the significance of building temples, building Buddha statues, learning, and observing the precepts, which only aristocrats who monopolized wealth and knowledge could do, and taught that the key to attaining salvation was to believe in Amida Buddha and chant only the Nembutsu (Ikko Senshu), and that this would allow people to attain salvation while living a lay life, regardless of their social status or gender. In that the previous practice of contemplative worship of Amida Buddha or the recitation of the three Pure Land sutras was no longer necessary, and chanting the name of Amida Buddha alone was the “correct deed,” faith in Amida became easier to practice, and the conditions for it to take root in the lives of lay people were met. Honen’s teachings were further expanded by his disciple Shinran, who founded the Jodo Shinshu sect (Shinshu). …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Amida faith" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…観音，勢至を脇侍とする。【定方晟】
［日本における阿弥陀信仰］
　阿弥陀信仰は中央アジアを経て，中国に伝わった。中国でこの信仰が高まるのは4世紀後半から5世紀以後である。…

【空也】より

…20余歳で，尾張の国分寺で出家し，空也と名のり，さらに修行を続けたが，播磨の岑合（みねあい）寺(峰相寺)で一切経を学んだときには，難解な所に出会えば夢に金人が現れて教えてくれ，四国の湯島で修行したときには，7日間腕の上で焼香すると，観音の尊像が光を放ったという。こうした修行の後，布教活動に転じた空也は，奥羽地方に赴いたが，天慶年間(938‐947)，京都の庶民に阿弥陀信仰を説いたので，人々は空也を市聖と呼び，空也が掘った井戸は阿弥陀井と名付けられた。948年(天暦2)，比叡山に登って天台座主延昌について受戒し，光勝の名を与えられたが，その後も民間の布教僧として活動し，京都に疫病が流行すると，世人に呼びかけて，1丈の十一面観音像，6尺の梵天･帝釈天，および四天王の像を造り，大般若経600巻の書写をする願を発した。…

【浄土】より

…いわゆる天寿国繡帳（てんじゆこくしゆうちよう）銘にみえる〈天寿国〉も一種の浄土を意味しているが，極楽浄土，弥勒浄土，妙喜浄土，霊山浄土，十方浄土，天竺浄土などの諸説があって定かではない。平安時代になると阿弥陀信仰，叡山浄土教が発達し，今様にも〈浄土は数多（あまた）あんなれど，弥陀の浄土ぞ勝（すぐ）れたる〉とうたわれたように，浄土といえば極楽浄土を指すようになった。また民間信仰では，経典の説とは別に，山岳信仰，霊山信仰のなかで，山に霊魂がいく浄土がある(山中他界観)と考えられている。…

【浄土教】より

…しかし，隋･唐時代になると阿弥陀仏の西方浄土信仰にとってかわられる。ちなみに，中国では弥勒下生に名をかりた民衆反乱が頻発するのであるが，それらは阿弥陀信仰が弥勒上生信仰を圧倒した隋･唐以後であることは注目されてよかろう。ところで，《漢訳大蔵経》のなかで阿弥陀仏について説いている仏典は270余部で，大乗仏典全体の3割を占めていて，中国や日本では阿弥陀浄土の信仰が他の浄土教を圧倒して普及し，浄土教の名称を独占するかのごとき様相を呈するにいたる。…

【念仏】より

…念仏には釈迦，薬師，弥勒，観音などの念仏もあるが，阿弥陀仏の念仏が代表的で，ふつう念仏といえば，阿弥陀仏の相好やその誓願のことを憶念したり，〈南無阿弥陀仏〉の6文字の名号を口に唱えることをいう。阿弥陀信仰が興隆し，西方極楽浄土へ往生したいとの願望が強まるにつれ，念仏が往生のためには必須の行業であると考えられた。日本では奈良時代から平安時代中期にかけて観想念仏が盛んであり，観想のために阿弥陀浄土変相図がつくられた。…

【仏教】より

…法然は主著《選択（せんちやく）本願念仏集》を著し，富と知識を独占する貴族しかできない造寺･造仏･学解･持戒などの意義を退け，往生の要諦は阿弥陀―仏を信じて，念仏だけを唱えること(一向専修)で，これにより人びとは貴賤･男女の差別なく在家の生活のまま往生できると説いた。これまでのように観想の阿弥陀仏礼拝も，浄土三部経の読誦も不要であり，称名念仏だけが〈正定業（しようじようごう）〉であるという点で，阿弥陀信仰はより易行（いぎよう）となり，在家民衆の生活のなかに定着する条件をそなえた。法然の教えをさらに徹底化したのが，浄土真宗(真宗)を開いたその弟子親鸞である。…

※「阿弥陀信仰」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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