GENSHIN
Genshin (Eshin Sozu, 942–1017) was a Japanese
Tendai Buddhist master who is best known for his
teachings on PURELANDBUDDHISM. Genshin helped
popularize the deathbed nenbutsuritual, in which the
dying believer has a vision of Amida (AMITABHA)
Buddha and his retinue coming to usher the person
into the Pure Land paradise. Genshin’s most famous
work, Ojoyoshu(Collection of Essentials on Birth in the
Pure Land), left an indelible mark on the thought and
practice of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan, influenc-
ing later masters such as HONEN(1133–1212) and
SHINRAN(1173–1262).
Though Genshin is remembered principally for the
Ojoyoshu,he was also a proponent of mainstream
Tendai beliefs, particularly in his later years. He com-
piled an important work on the Tendai doctrine of
universal enlightenment found in the LOTUSSUTRA
(SADDHARMAPUNDARIKA-SUTRA), and he organized the
Shakako, a religious association that constantly tended
the icon of S ́akyamuni Buddha in Ryozen’in hall at
Yokawa on Mount Hiei. Thus, Genshin’s Pure Land
teachings, though largely separated nowadays from
their original context, were simply part of Mount
Hiei’s Tendai culture during his period.
The Ojoyoshuis a compendium of quotations from
scriptures, commentaries, and treatises on all aspects
of Pure Land belief and practice. It may not have had
an extensive readership in Genshin’s lifetime, but be-
came widely known in subsequent centuries. Themat-
ically, it focuses on the nenbutsu, the practice of
contemplating Amida Buddha, particularly in medita-
tive visualization, and of invoking his name as a verbal
chant. Overall, the Ojoyoshu presents visualization of
the Buddha and his resplendent world as the superior
practice for birth in the Pure Land. But it also recom-
mends vocal invocation of his name as an important
practice for those incapable of meditation.
Among the practices outlined in the Ojoyoshu,and
also developed by the Nijugo zammaie (Twenty-five
Member Meditation Society) on Mount Hiei, was the
deathbed nenbutsuritual. It was based on passages in
the Pure Land scriptures indicating that Amida Bud-
dha and his retinue would come to meet believers
(raigo) on their deathbed to usher them into the Pure
Land. There thus developed the practice of sequester-
ing the dying, surrounding them with spiritual friends,
erecting an image of Amida before them, urging them
to chant the nenbutsu,keeping their mind undistracted
and focused on the next life, and thereby assisting them
in a final vision of the Buddha coming to greet them
at death. This ritual gradually spread and became es-
pecially popular among Kyoto aristocrats, though later
PURELAND SCHOOLSdid not all adopt it.
Genshin’s lasting influence is reflected in the fact
that one of Mount Hiei’s two dominant doctrinal lin-
eages, the Eshinryu, traced its beginnings to him.See also:Japan; Nenbutsu (Chinese, Nianfo; Korean,
Yo ̆mbul)Bibliography
Andrews, Allan A. The Teachings Essential for Rebirth: A Study
of Genshin’s Ojoyoshu.Tokyo: Sophia University, 1973.
Dobbins, James C. “Genshin’s Deathbed Nembutsu Ritual in
Pure Land Buddhism.” In Religions of Japan in Practice,ed.
George J. Tanabe, Jr. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1999.
Horton, Sarah Johanna. “The Role of Genshin and Religious
Associations in the Mid-Heian Spread of Pure Land Bud-
dhism.” Ph.D. diss. Yale University, 2001.
Reischauer, August Karl. “Genshin’s Ojoyoshu: Collected Es-
says on Birth into Paradise.” Transactions of the Asiatic So-
ciety of Japan,second series 7 (1930): 16–97.JAMESC. DOBBINSGHOST FESTIVALThe Ghost Festival is the Buddhist-inspired festival
held throughout China and East Asia on the full moon
(fifteenth day) of the seventh lunar month. In modern
China it is known as the Ghost Festival (guijie) or Rite
of Universal Salvation (pudu). Older sources describe
it as the Yulanpen Festival; various Sanskrit etymolo-
gies have been provided for the term yulanpen,which
refers to “the bowl” (pen) in which food offerings are
placed for bringing aid to the ancestors suffering the
fate of “hanging upside-down” (yulan) in purgatory.
In Japan the festival is known as urabon(the Japanese
pronunciation of yulanpen) or more colloquially as
Obon,the Bon festival, while in Korea it is called
manghon il,“Lost Souls’ Day.”
Most of the components of the festival were known
in early Indian Buddhism, but it was only in China that
they coalesced into a single mythological and ritual
unit. Indian san ̇ghas observed a rain retreat that ended
with a monastic ritual in the middle of the seventhGHOSTFESTIVAL