the Maha ̄ya ̄na bodhisattva precepts found in the Brahma ̄’s
Net Su ̄tra and Lotus Su ̄tra be substituted for it. Neither
source had been compiled with the objective of serving as the
basis of monastic discipline. Perhaps in recognition of this,
Saicho ̄ had proposed that his monks receive a “provisional
H ̄ınaya ̄na ordination” after spending twelve years on Mount
Hiei. This would have enabled the monks to participate in
monastic assemblies with monks from other schools. One
week after his death the court approved Saicho ̄’s proposal,
but his premature death had prevented him from specifying
how this change was to be implemented.
During the subsequent centuries the precepts were in-
terpreted in a variety of ways based on these sources. For ex-
ample, Questions and Answers on the Rules for Students
(Gakusho ̄shiki mondo ̄), a later text attributed to Saicho ̄,
claimed that the precepts were primarily based on the Lotus
Su ̄tra, a text that actually contained little in the way of explic-
it instructions concerning monastic discipline. Monks could
violate the precepts as long as they adhered to the Lotus
Su ̄tra, a vague requirement. During the late Heian period
and the Kamakura period a number of monks attempted to
introduce stricter interpretations of the precepts. Shunjo ̄
(1166–1227) traveled to China, learned that Tiantai monks
were still ordained with the precepts from the Four-Part
Vinaya, and returned to Japan to introduce the practice to
Tendai. He was criticized by other Tendai monks for deviat-
ing from Saicho ̄’s plan and had to make his headquarters at
Sennyu ̄ ji in Kyo ̄to.
The monks in the Kurodani lineage of Tendai com-
bined the Lotus Su ̄tra with the precepts of the Brahma ̄’s Net
Su ̄tra. Ejin (d. 1289) and Ko ̄en revived monastic discipline
by following Saicho ̄’s instructions for a twelve-year period of
sequestration on Mount Hiei. At the end of that period a
monk received a “consecrated” ordination (kaikanjo ̄), which
was based on hongaku thought. Sitting side by side with his
teacher in a scene reminiscent of the two buddhas that ap-
peared together in the Lotus Su ̄tra, the student was told that
he had realized buddhahood with his current body. The tra-
dition, however, carried the seeds of its own degeneration be-
cause the new “buddha” was told that he could create new
precepts and teachings as needed.
Ninku ̄ , who was active in both the Tendai and Seizan
sect of the Jo ̄do School, relied on a commentary on the
Brahma ̄’s Net Su ̄tra by Zhiyi and detailed sets of temple rules
to restore monastic discipline. A key part of his agenda was
identifying the Brahma ̄’s Net precepts as a Perfect teaching
and thus as profound as the Lotus Su ̄tra. He also argued that
the Brahma ̄’s Net precepts should not be interpreted in terms
of Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land, thereby preserving the
integrity of the precepts. When they had been interpreted in
terms of these other traditions, the argument could be made
that the recitation of the Buddha’s name (nembutsu) or a
magical incantation (dha ̄ran: ̄ı) would vanquish huge
amounts of bad karma.
Finally, as mentioned above, during the Tokugawa peri-
od several monks from the Anrakuritsuin on Mount Hiei at-
tempted to require all Tendai monks to undergo ordinations
based on the Four-Part Vinaya but were eventually defeated.
Thus Saicho ̄’s reform of monastic discipline led to a wide va-
riety of interpretations of the precepts, many of which con-
tributed to the lax observance of monastic rules.Pure Land. The ninety-day constantly walking medita-
tion, one of the four meditations described by Zhiyi, focuses
on the circumambulation of an image of Amida (Amita ̄bha)
accompanied by the recitation of Amida’s name, progresses
to a visualization of the Buddha, and concludes with a con-
templation on emptiness. This meditation provided the ritu-
al basis of Tendai Pure Land but was performed only infre-
quently according to Zhiyi’s directions on Mount Hiei.
Although Saicho ̄ had specified that all four of Zhiyi’s types
of meditation be practiced on Mount Hiei, he did not live
long enough to put the constantly walking meditation into
effect. Ennin brought the first Pure Land practices used on
Mount Hiei when he returned from China, a practice called
the Uninterrupted Recitation of the Buddha’s Name (fudan
nembutsu) from Wutai Shan, China, that was based on ritu-
als instituted by Fazhao (d. 820? CE). These practices consist-
ed of the recitation of the Omituojing (Su ̄ tra on Amita ̄bha)
rather than the much simpler recitation of the Buddha’s
name mentioned in the constantly walking meditation. The
practice generally lasted only seven days, shorter than the
ninety days required by Zhiyi, and became popular in Japan.
It was more concerned with extinguishing the karmic effects
of wrongdoing and being reborn in the Pure Land than with
the discernment of emptiness. Thus from the beginning
Tendai Pure Land ranged over a variety of possible practices
and goals, from meditations that focused on a realization of
emptiness or the Pure Land in this life and world to oral reci-
tations that resulted in rebirth into a paradisiacal Pure Land
when one died. This ambiguity was reflected in the term
nembutsu, which could refer to either a meditation on the
Buddha or the recitation of his name.
Genshin, the most able Tendai exegete of the tenth cen-
tury, systematized Tendai Pure Land thought. Although he
was skilled in doctrinal topics, including Hosso ̄ and logic, he
is primarily remembered for his authorship of the O ̄jo ̄ yo ̄shu ̄
(Essentials of rebirth in the Pure Land), a text that included
many of the ambiguities in practice and goal mentioned
above because the practices could be used by a variety of peo-
ple. The text included vivid descriptions of the hells and Pure
Land that influenced many. Temples such as the Byo ̄do ̄in
reflected efforts to create architectural images of the Pure
Land. Genshin’s text also included discussions of deathbed
rites and doctrinal issues connected with Pure Land. It had
an immediate effect leading to the formation of several orga-
nizations devoted to Pure Land practice, including the As-
sembly for the Advancement of Learning (Kangaku-e) and
the Assembly for the Concentration on the Twenty-five Bo-
dhisattvas (Niju ̄ go zanmai-e), groups that included both layTENDAISHU ̄ 9079