Honji Suijaku

It is a concept based on the so-called Shinbutsu Shugo, which assimilates the ancient Japanese belief in Shinto gods and the Buddhist belief in Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and is the idea that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appear temporarily to save people in this world, with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as the original body (true body) and gods as the temporary body. It originally originated from the doctrines of the Honmon and Jakumon of the Lotus Sutra, and the Honji body and Kaji body of the Mahavairocana Sutra, and is based on the idea that the historical Shakyamuni was a manifestation of the eternal, universal, transcendent original Buddha.

Buddhism, an imported ideology, tried to assimilate with Shinto deities from an early stage, and in the Nara period, it succeeded in approaching them by eliminating the resistance that gods should not be included with Buddha. This was the appearance of Jinguji temples, the first of which was Taki Daijingu-ji Temple, which was moved to Watarai County, Ise Province (Mie Prefecture) in 698 (the second year of Emperor Mommu). In the process of building Jinguji temples at large shrines around the country, the idea of ​​inferiority complex was planted in Shinto deities, as if they were punishment for sins, and the idea that Buddha protects the gods, and conversely, the idea that gods protect Buddhas and rejoice in Buddhism, was born. It was Hachiman, the god who actively worked to assimilate Shinto and Buddhism. This was Usa Hachiman, who cooperated in the construction of the Great Buddha of Todaiji Temple, and Hachiman was the first god to be given the title of Bodhisattva. The progress of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism led to the popularity of sutra chanting in front of the shrine, Buddhist monks, copying sutras and copying Buddhas, and the establishment of guardian deities within temples. In 859 (Jogan 1), when Hachiman was enshrined at Iwashimizu by Daianji Gyokyo, the Tendai monk Eryo used the word "suijaku" (transformation) for the first time in a petition requesting the appointment of a yearly priest for the two gods Kamo and Kasuga, indicating that syncretism had progressed a step further. He explained that "the emperor's enlightened beings (Buddhas) are sometimes real and sometimes provisional, and sometimes follow the traces of the great masters (Bodhisattvas), and are sometimes kings or gods." This foundation gave rise to the expression "the manifestation of the Bodhisattva Gongen" in the petition of the Tendai monk Kenyu, who planned the construction of the Tahoto Pagoda at Jinguji Temple in Hakozaki Shrine in Chikuzen (Fukuoka Prefecture) in 937 (Shohei 7), in which he said that gods are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who have appeared provisionally and have betrayed their traces in this world. Thus, the idea of ​​the Bodhisattva Gongen as a manifestation gave rise to gongen such as Atsuta Gongen and Zao Gongen in the late Heian period, which led to the demand for clarification of their original form. At first, the "original enlightenment (original location)" of Hachiman Gongen, who was considered mysterious and unfathomable, was identified as Amida Buddha, and as Kumano Gongen was identified as the manifestation of Amida and Kannon, the original locations of the three Kumano shrines, Gosho-oji, and other shrines were clarified, and the tendency to determine the original location progressed further. In response to this movement, doctrinal support was provided in both the Tendai and Shingon sects, with Sanno Ichijitsu Shinto emerging in the Tendai sect and Ryobu Shugo Shinto emerging in the Shingon sect. However, in contrast to these theories of Buddha as the original location of God, the theory of Shinto as the original location of God and Buddha as the trace of God also emerged during the Nanboku-cho period, based on the idea of ​​Japan as a divine nation, and Kitabatake Chikafusa was a pioneer in this field.

[Mizumaro Ishida]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本古来の神祇(じんぎ)信仰と仏教の仏菩薩(ぶつぼさつ)の信仰が同化する、いわゆる神仏習合に基づく考え方で、仏菩薩がこの世の人を救うために仮に姿を現すとし、仏菩薩を本地（真実の身）、神を垂迹（仮の身）とする思想である。もとは『法華経(ほけきょう)』の本門・迹門、『大日経』の本地身・加持(かじ)身などの説に発し、歴史上の釈迦(しゃか)を永遠普遍の超越的な本仏の現れとする思想に基づく。

　外来思想である仏教は早くから神祇との習合に努め、奈良時代には、神は仏をいれないとする抵抗を排除して、接近に成功した。神宮寺(じんぐうじ)の出現がそれで、698年（文武天皇2）伊勢(いせ)国（三重県）度会(わたらい)郡に遷(うつ)された多気(たき)大神宮寺が初見である。そして各地の大社に神宮寺の建立をみた過程で、神を罪業(ざいごう)の報いとする劣等感を神祇に植え付け、仏はその神を守るとした考え方や、逆に神は仏を守り、仏法を喜ぶとした考えを生み出したが、神仏の習合に積極的に働いたのは八幡(はちまん)神である。東大寺大仏の建立に協力した宇佐八幡がそれで、菩薩号が与えられたのは八幡神が最初である。こうした神仏習合の進行は神前読経(どきょう)、度僧、写経、写仏の盛行を生み、また寺中に寺を守る鎮守神を置くに至るが、八幡神が大安寺行教(だいあんじぎょうきょう)によって石清水(いわしみず)に勧請(かんじょう)された859年（貞観1）、天台僧恵亮(えりょう)が賀茂(かも)・春日(かすが)二神のために年分度者(ねんぶんどしゃ)を置くよう請うた表に初めて垂迹の語を用いたことは、習合が一段と進んだことを示している。「皇覚（仏）物（衆生(しゅじょう)）を導くに且(かつ)は実、且は権(ごん)、大士(だいじ)（菩薩）迹(あと)を垂れて或(あるい)は王、或は神」と説いた。こうした素地は、937年（承平7）筑前(ちくぜん)（福岡県）筥崎(はこざき)宮の神宮寺多宝塔の建立を計画した天台僧兼祐(けんゆう)の申状の「権現(ごんげん)菩薩の垂迹」という表現を生み、神は仏菩薩が権(かり)に姿を現してこの世に迹を垂れたものとしたのである。こうして垂迹としての権現の思想は、平安後期には熱田(あつた)権現、蔵王(ざおう)権現などの権現を生み、それがその本地の明確化を要求するに至った。その初め、幽玄にして計りがたいとされた八幡権現の「本覚（本地）」が阿弥陀仏(あみだぶつ)とされ、熊野権現が弥陀・観音の垂迹とされるにつれて、やがて熊野三山の三所、五所王子などの本地が明らかにされることによって本地決定の傾向が一段と進んだ。またこの動きと呼応して天台、真言両宗では教義的裏づけが行われ、天台に山王一実(さんのういちじつ)神道、真言に両部習合神道が生じた。しかしこれら仏本神迹の説に対して、南北朝期には神国日本の理念にたって神本仏迹の神道論も生じ、北畠親房(きたばたけちかふさ)はその先駆けをなした。

［石田瑞麿］

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