those preserved in the Nara temples. The Tendai tra-
dition that Saichoestablished claimed the LOTUSSU-
TRA(SADDHARMAPUNDARIKA-SUTRA) as its core text;
propounded the doctrines of emptiness, provisional
reality, and the middle way; and developed a complex
monastic program of meditative training and rituals,
influenced in part by Kukai’s esoteric teachings. Sai-
choalso sought to make his monastic community, lo-
cated on Mount Hiei northeast of Kyoto, independent
of the Nara Buddhist organization by developing his
own procedures for ordaining clerics based on MA-
HAYANAprecepts.
Kukai, for his part, advanced the Shingon idea of
the all-pervasive presence of Dainichi (Mahavairo-
cana) Buddha and the actualization of buddhahood
through physical, verbal, and mental acts of ritual. In-
stead of distancing himself from Nara Buddhism,
Kukai introduced Shingon esoteric ritual into Todaiji
and other temples, and at the same time developed his
own Shingon institutions at Toji in Kyoto and on
Mount Koya near Osaka. Tendai and Shingon Bud-
dhism thus took their place alongside Nara Buddhism
as the religious establishment of Japan, and in many
ways superseded it. Both operated in partnership with
the ruling powers, creating a religious and ideological
foundation for governance. Materially, they benefited
from the burgeoning estate system in the Japanese me-
dieval economy, which richly endowed their temples
and monasteries and allowed them to develop elabo-
rate traditions of religious training, ritual, doctrine,
and iconography. Their beliefs, practices, and institu-
tions, especially those found on Mount Hiei, were the
matrix from which Kamakura Buddhism arose.The emergence of Kamakura Buddhism
Kamakura Buddhism is commonly presented as a re-
action to Heian Buddhism, just as Heian is considered
a reaction to Nara Buddhism. By the twelfth century
the burgeoning Tendai and Shingon institutions,
combined with the Nara temples, formed the prevail-
ing religious order of Japan, frequently referred to as
the eight schools (hasshu). The fledgling movements
that eventually grew into the Kamakura schools
emerged out of this milieu and to a certain extent re-
acted against it. Their teachings and practices were in-
spired by the existing traditions, and their founders
received training at established monasteries and tem-
ples, particularly on Mount Hiei. But they approached
mainstream Buddhism selectively, embracing some
teachings and rejecting others. All three forms of Ka-
makura Buddhism—Pure Land, Zen, and Nichiren—
thus developed different orientations from Tendai,
Shingon, and Nara Buddhism, and quickly diverged
from their norm.
PURELANDBUDDHISMwas perhaps the largest and
most pervasive segment of Kamakura Buddhism. The
specific Japanese schools commonly classified in the
Pure Land category are the Jodoshuschool founded by
HONEN(1133–1212), the Jodo Shinshuschool founded
by SHINRAN(1173–1263), and the Jishuschool founded
by IPPENCHISHIN(1239–1289). All three lived during
the Kamakura period, and emphasized devotion to
AMITABHABuddha and rebirth in his Pure Land par-
adise. Pure Land beliefs and practices had already
emerged as prominent elements in Japanese Buddhism,
particularly on Mount Hiei and in aristocratic society.
But the Kamakura founders stressed them even more,
often to the exclusion of other forms of Buddhism.
Honen, who was the most prominent Pure Land mas-
ter of his time, advocated exclusive practice of the nen-
butsu,invoking or chanting the name of the Buddha
Amitabha in the form Namu Amida Butsu.Shinran,KAMAKURABUDDHISM, JAPAN
The Great Buddha of Kamakura, Japan. (Japanese, bronze,
1252.) © Edifice/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.