Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

[ xxi ] Named after the mountain and the sect in Chekiang province, China, T 'ien-t'ai. The priest S aicho introduced Tendai concepts to his monastery Ichijoshikan-in on Mt Hiei, northeast of Kyoto, on his return in 805 [14: 49–58; 21: 55–7, 191–3; 36: 134–48]. His Kenkai-ron was a treatise explaining the M ahayana injunctions leading to initiation. Tendai's philosophical base is the Lotus Sutra ( Hokkekyo ) as used by the Kegon sect ( see N anto rokushu ), and Yakushi Buddha is the chief deity ( see J apanese bud dhas and bodhisattvas ). Saicho built the first Lotus Sutra meditation hall in 812, and the formal adoption of the nembutsu practice in 851 opened the way for major developments in A mida worship. Tendai became distinctly esoteric when E nnin introduced the tantric ( see T antra (2) ) use of mandalas and accompanying rituals about 25 years after Saicho's death. Simple Z en -style meditation was practised. Despite imperial support, the lack of sectarian exclusiveness alienated the Nara clergy ( see J apan , B uddhism in ) and Saicho failed during his lifetime to get a formal name for his temple and to break the grip of the Nara clergy ( see N anto shichidaiji ) on ordinations. Both were later approved, the temple becoming the Enryaku-ji in 823 (era name: 782–806). All of the Kamakura schools of B uddhism owed their origins to monks trained in Tendai: ... log in or subscribe to read full text