Pure Land Buddhism

Japanese: 浄土教 - じょうどきょう

In Buddhism, this teaching advocates striving to be reborn in a pure land of Buddha. Originally, the Pure Land was said to be the place where many Buddhas resided, but after Shakyamuni's death, believers expressed their devotion to the current Buddha, Shakyamuni, through pagodas, statues of Buddhas, and bodhi trees. With the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, which holds that countless Buddhas exist in the world of the ten directions, the belief developed that one could be born in the eastern land of Myo-ki of Ashukubutsu, or in the western paradise of Amida Buddha, a hundred thousand billion land lands, and attain enlightenment by seeing and hearing the Buddha's teachings. In particular, the idea of the Pure Land of Amida, which has countless lifespans and light, which are the desires of all people, is said to have been established around 100 AD in northwestern India under the Kushan dynasty. The main sutras that preach about Amitabha's Pure Land are the three Pure Land sutras, the "Amitabha Sutra," the "Amitabha Sutra," and the "Amitabha Sutra," which is suspected to have been written in China, but the "Amitabha Sutra" is the central one. Strict precepts and training are not required for rebirth in the Pure Land, and the belief that one can quickly go to the Pure Land and attain a state of non-reversibility by simply believing in the Tathagata's original vow and chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha has become a belief that many people have converted to.

[Makita Taisuke]

China

The first introduction of Pure Land Buddhism to China is known as the translation of the "Hanju Samadhikyo Sutra" by Shilou Kasen in 179 (Kowa 2) during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Later Han Dynasty. Later, many Pure Land Buddhist scriptures were translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva and others, giving Indian Pure Land Buddhism the opportunity to develop in China. It is known that important ruins along the Silk Road, the route by which Buddhism entered China, contained many artworks showing Pure Land paintings and sculptures. Huiyuan (334-416) of Lushan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty founded a nembutsu organization called Byakurensha, which meditated on Amida Buddha as one of the Buddhas present in the ten directions through the "Hanju Samadhikyo Sutra," and established a nembutsu association. Although it is different from the later Chinese practice of chanting the name of Buddha, it is considered the founder of Pure Land Buddhism, and even in the Japanese Pure Land sect, the name Rensha is used as the posthumous name of monks. The idea of the Latter Days of the Law, which was particularly emphasized in Chinese Buddhism, had a major impact on the development of Pure Land faith, which was disillusioned with the unstable state of the world and placed its hopes in future generations. Donluan (476-542), who sought the method of immortality, was given the Sutra of Immeasurable Life by Bodhiruci and became a practitioner of Pure Land Nembutsu. His work, "Commentary on the Treatise on Pure Land Buddhism," is a harmonious fusion of two major Indian philosophies (Vasuphin's Treatise on Pure Land Buddhism and Nagarjuna's Treatise on the Vibhāsāstra), and in it he preached the Five Gates of Remembrance - worship, praise, wishful thinking, observation, and dedication - as a practice of Pure Land faith for the common people, and established the foundation of Pure Land Buddhism in China. After this, it was passed down to Doshaku (562-645), Zendo (613-681), and others, and Pure Land Buddhism developed as a form of Buddhism suited to the Chinese. From the mid-Tang dynasty onwards, Hosho (?-821) of Mount Wutai made an effort to popularize and popularize Nembutsu, centering on the "Goenenbutsu Hojisan." The monk Ennin, who had traveled to Tang China, brought this Goenenbutsu back to Japan and had a major impact on the development of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. Throughout the Song dynasty, Rensha Nembutsu became popular mainly in Zhejiang Province, and eventually Nembutsu, a fusion of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, became the mainstream of Chinese Buddhism.

[Makita Taisuke]

Japan

During the Nara period, the Pure Land Buddhist scriptures were imported from China, and their beginnings can be seen in Chikou, Zenshu, and others, but they did not flourish during the Nara period when the style of official Chinese Buddhism was introduced. During the Heian period, when the Tendai sect was founded by Saicho, Ennin at the Jyogyo Sanmai-do Hall on Mount Hiei developed the Chinese Gokai Nembutsu into "continuous nembutsu," and a unique sect style of "morning daimoku and evening nembutsu" was born. Genshin (Eshin Sozu), who lived on Mount Hiei, wrote the "Ojoyoshu," which played an extremely large role in the development of Pure Land Buddhism. Eventually, during the Kamakura period, the Jodo sect was established by Honen (Genku), the Jodo Shinshu sect by Shinran, and the Jishu sect by Ippen (Chishin). Combined with the social unrest and popularity of the idea of the Latter Days of the Law at the time, this saw the perfection of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan.

[Makita Taisuke]

"The Origin and Development of Pure Land Buddhism" by Mochizuki Nobuyuki (1930, Kyoritsusha)" ▽ "A History of the Doctrine of the Pure Land in China" by Mochizuki Nobuyuki (1942, Hozokan)" ▽ "A Study of Primitive Pure Land Thought" by Fujita Hirotatsu (1970, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "A History of Asian Buddhism: India Volume III: Mahayana Buddhism" edited and supervised by Nakamura Hajime et al. (1973, Kosei Publishing)

[Reference] | Jishū | Jodo sect | Jodo Shinshu

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

仏教でとくに清浄な仏の国に往生(おうじょう)するよう努めることを説く教え。もともと浄土とは諸仏の住むところというが、釈尊の死後、仏塔、仏影、菩提樹(ぼだいじゅ)などによって、信者たちは現在仏、釈尊への帰依(きえ)を表していた。十方(じっぽう)の世界には無量の諸仏が現存するという大乗仏教の興隆により、阿閦仏(あしゅくぶつ)の東方妙喜(みょうき)国、阿弥陀仏(あみだぶつ)の西方十万億土の極楽(ごくらく)世界に生まれて見仏聞法して悟りを得ることを求める信仰が発展した。とくに万人の願いである無量の寿、無量の光をもつ阿弥陀浄土の思想は、クシャン（貴霜）王朝下の西北インドで、紀元100年ごろに成立したといわれる。阿弥陀浄土を説いた主要経典は、『無量寿経(むりょうじゅきょう)』『阿弥陀経』、中国で撰述(せんじゅつ)されたと疑われる『観無量寿経(かんむりょうじゅきょう)』の浄土三部経であるが、『無量寿経』がその中心である。浄土往生には厳しい戒律生活や修行は要求されず、如来(にょらい)の本願を信じてただひたすら阿弥陀仏の名を唱えれば速やかに浄土に往生して不退転の位に入れるという信仰は、多くの人々の帰信するところとなった。

［牧田諦亮］

中国

179年（光和2）後漢(ごかん)の霊帝の世に支婁迦讖(しるかせん)が『般舟三昧経(はんじゅざんまいきょう)』を訳したことが、中国における浄土教の初伝として知られる。のち鳩摩羅什(くまらじゅう)らによって多数の浄土教経典が漢訳されて、インドの浄土教は中国に発展の機を得た。仏教が中国に入った経路にあたるシルク・ロードの重要な遺跡には、浄土教絵画・彫刻などを示す芸術作品が多くあったことが知られる。東晋(とうしん)、廬山(ろざん)の慧遠(えおん)（334―416）は『般舟三昧経』によって十方現在仏の一としての阿弥陀仏を想念する白蓮社(びゃくれんしゃ)という念仏団体をつくり、結社念仏をたてた。それは、後の中国の称名(しょうみょう)念仏とは異なるが、浄土教の始祖とされ、日本の浄土宗でも僧侶(そうりょ)の法名に蓮社号を用いる。中国仏教でとくに強調された末法(まっぽう)思想は、現実の不安定な世相に失望し、希望を後世に託そうとする浄土教信仰の発展に大きな影響を与えた。不老長生の法を求めんとした曇鸞(どんらん)（476―542）は菩提流支(ぼだいるし)から『無量寿経』を与えられて浄土念仏の修行者となる。その著『浄土論註(ろんちゅう)』はインドの二大思想（世親(せしん)の『浄土論』と龍樹(りゅうじゅ)の『十住毘婆沙論(じゅうじゅうびばしゃろん)』）を調和融合させたもので、このなかに庶民の浄土信仰の実践としての礼拝(らいはい)・讃歎(さんだん)・作願(さがん)・観察(かんざつ)・回向(えこう)の五念門が説かれ、中国浄土教の基礎を確立した。この後、道綽(どうしゃく)（562―645）、善導(ぜんどう)（613―681）らに受け継がれて中国人に相応した仏教としての浄土教が発展した。中唐以降には五台山の法照(ほうしょう)（？―821）が「五会念仏法事讃(ごえねんぶつほうじさん)」を中心として念仏の庶民化、普及に努めた。入唐(にっとう)僧円仁(えんにん)がこの五会念仏を日本に持ち帰り、日本浄土教の発展に大きな影響を与えた。宋(そう)代を通じて蓮社念仏は浙江(せっこう)省を中心に流行し、ついに禅浄(ぜんじょう)融合の念仏が中国仏教の主流となった。

［牧田諦亮］

日本

奈良時代に浄土経典が中国から将来され、その萌芽(ほうが)は智光(ちこう)、善珠(ぜんしゅ)らにもみられるが、中国の官立仏教の風を伝えた奈良時代には振るわなかった。平安時代、最澄(さいちょう)により天台宗が開創されると、比叡山(ひえいざん)常行三昧堂(じょうぎょうさんまいどう)に円仁が中国の五会念仏を将来、「不断(ふだん)念仏」として発展し、「朝題目夕念仏(あさだいもくゆうねんぶつ)」の独特の宗風がおこり、比叡山に住した源信（恵心僧都(えしんそうず)）が『往生要集』を著し、浄土教発展に果たした役割はきわめて大きい。ひいては鎌倉時代に、法然(ほうねん)（源空）による浄土宗が確立し、親鸞(しんらん)によって浄土真宗が、一遍(いっぺん)（智真(ちしん)）によって時宗が成立し、当時の社会不安や末法思想の流行と相まって日本浄土教の大成をみることとなる。

［牧田諦亮］

『望月信亨著『浄土教の起源及発達』（1930・共立社）』▽『望月信亨著『支那浄土教理史』（1942・法蔵館）』▽『藤田宏達著『原始浄土思想の研究』（1970・岩波書店）』▽『中村元他監修・編集『アジア仏教史　インド編Ⅲ　大乗仏教』（1973・佼成出版社）』

[参照項目] | 時宗 | 浄土宗 | 浄土真宗

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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