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The Tendai Sect

Introduction:

The Japanese Tendai Sect was founded in 805 AD by Dengyo Daishi, bringing back with him the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of the Chinese T'ien-t'ai sect. Dengyo Daishi founded Enryaku-ji prior to his death, but it took years of formal debate through letters exchanged with the teacher Tokuitsu to establish his school as having the right to perform it's own ordinations, and he didn't win his debate until around the same time he died. Dengyo's founding of T'ien-t'ai was a revolutionary development. The teachings of the new "Tendai" school promised to integrate and develop a fully realized Mahayana in Japan. Tendai Buddhism was to be based on the Lotus Sutra and its teaching of "Ichinen Sanzen" or "Three thousand worlds interpolated into a single thought moment." It's teachings and practice incorporated "mind contemplation"/meditation, study of Mahayana precepts and teachings, development of fully realized human beings, and a integrative approach to Buddhism.

Table of Contents and Further Readings:

Topics on this Page:
Self Interest of Buddhism
Kobo Daishi and Esotericism
Disconnect between Shingon and Tendai
Mikkyo/Shingon/Tantra
Jikaku Daishi
Tensions between Esoteric and Exoteric
Nembutsu and Zen
Nichiren and Tendai
Other Websites:
http://www.tientai.net/lit/hksmsg/HKSMSG.htm

Buddhism Self Interest

Buddhism has generally seen itself as a single body. However, to maintain itself as a single body requires common practice elements. With the introduction of Tendai, the praxis of this new version of Buddhism was different from that of the older schools. monks and religious leaders were attracted to Tantra. Thus while Dengyo won all his arguments and won the status of a legal religion and part of the formal order of the state for his new Buddhism. He was unable to fold the older forms into his new order. The new religion was too different from and too critical of the older sects to harmonize them. The practice or "praxis" of T'ien-t'ai Buddhism, as envisioned by Dengyo involved "Mahayana" precepts, and so was incompatible with the older six schools based to the southwest in Nara which had kept older precepts along with their newer teachings. This would prove to be a source for conflict.

Kobo Daishi and Tantra

When Saicho/Dengyo Daishi travelled to China, he was accompanied by another monk named Kukai, or Kobo Daishi. Dengyo was a monk from early life, but Kobo had been a courtier first and became a monk later. Both Kobo and Dengyo brought back "Mikkyo" or Esoteric texts along with the Lotus Sutra teachings. They even promised to spread the Lotus Sutra together when they returned to Japan.

These teachings at first seemed like they might be compatible. And they tried to harmonize these discordant meanings. Dengyo Daishi learned some about Mikkyo while in China, but Kobo had acquired more material and seemed to know more. This led Dengyo to visit Kobo in order to learn the teachings of Tantra more thoroughly. Saicho/Dengyo, himself extolled the utility of the esoteric practices. He thought the "praxis" or practice of the Esoteric teachings could enable people to understand the Lotus Sutra. In 812 he was writing:

Those men and women who desire to grasp the Lotus S�tra must rely on the meditative practice of mantra recitation, the practice of the path of esoteric Bodhisattvas. Guided into the great Matrix Ma�^ala of Great Compassion, they must first purify their karmic obstructions with the �re of homa and receive abhiseka from their master. Then they must receive the master�s instruction in the samaya and study the meditative rituals of shielding themselves [from evil forces] (goshin kekkai DX�ƒ), of invoking deities [at their ritual altars] (geish� kuy� ����), and of transforming themselves through visualization into the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Unless the practitioners perfect [their knowledge] in each of these progressive stages, it will be impossible to swiftly realize samahdhi however much they read and study this king of s�tras. It is therefore essential that, under the master�s supervision, practitioners conclusively master each of the mudras, mantras, and ritual sequences in this manual. Those who prepare the altar for this ritual [for meditation or for instructing students] without [their master�s] authorization are transgressors of the samaya, for whom both instructing and learning this ritual will become the heaviest offense (T 19.594c�95a).

Disconnect between Tantra and Tendai

Tantra relies on visions and meditation, and is really based on religious teachings that are older than Buddhism. It's real roots are in Shamanism and Magic. In India there is Hindu Tantra side by side with vestiges of Buddhist Tantra. The Brahmins used Tantra to try to claim that Buddhism was derivative and thus unnecessary. Tantra implies the idea that enlightenment is not only a target for sentient beings, but gives them special spiritual power over both themselves and their environment. This made it attractive for those laymen and monks who were seeking temporal powers through magic. You see elements of Tantra in Kaballah, Sufiism, and other traditions of esoteric learning. And in each case it is very engrossing, interesting stuff for it's students, but mastering it is not the same thing as reaching enlightenment. Worse folks who practice esotericism are all too often willing to use the skills and it's secrets as a lever to draw income, sustenance and power from. Devadatta supposedly mastered powers that are said to have been tantric, and that mastery did not prevent him from falling into hell. Indeed these masteries may have set him on the way to hell by giving him realizations that encouraged cynicism about enlightenment.

And Kobo Daishi was as ambitious as Dengyo was. While Dengyo may have won the debates. Kobo would initiate anyone who wanted to into Shingon Mikkyo. He won over a number of Dengyo's own disciples, and he initiated the monks of the five older sects from Nara. This allowed them to preach Shingon to monks and adepts, and continue to use their older teachings as introductory teachings, or even as "dumbed down" Buddhism for the masses.

But there was a fundamental difference in approach and purpose between Tantra and Lotus Esotericism. Tantra has the premise that enlightenment requires a special initiation. Lotus Esotericism provides an initiation that ultimately is aimed at everyone. The two teachings were not compatible. And this was soon reflected in relations between Kobo and Dengyo. In the Nanzen Article titled "Saich� and K�kai A Con�ict of Interpretations" by Ryuichi Abe the author details the conflict that arose between these two men on this account. Kobo withheld those teachings making excuses that it would take years for Dengyo to master them (though it had only taken Kobo six months). This and the above philosophical differences led Dengyo Daishi late in life in a work called the "Ebyo Shu" in which he warned that:

�The esoteric Shingon Buddhist, the newcomer, went so far as to deny the validity of transmission through writing (hitsuju �4)� (DZ 3, p. 344). In this comment Saich� is unmistakably denouncing K�kai for his comments in the ultimatum on Saich��s approach to studying Mikky�.(hitsuju �4)� (DZ 3, p. 344).note page 129"

Unfortunately the damage had already been done by the time he penned the Ebyo Shu. Kobo retaliated with works that criticized Tendai, but Dengyo's own disciples had been so entranced with them that they threatened to leave him unless he took them seriously. Among those disciples was one who looked at the Mikkyo, saw those discrepancies, and instead of chosing one way or the other, decided to try to "blend" these teachings.

Thus Tendai started with a heavy load of Esoteric teachings and a fundamental disconnect between those teachings and the teachings whose practice they used to realize those teachings. This disconnect continues to the present day. Esotericism and Tantra allowed "masters" to pick and chose, to withhold or give teachings and knowledge to select students. And it generated a distinct esoteric/exoteric duality to the practice of devotees. It reinforced the monastic tendancies already present in Buddhism and thus seemed to fail to offer any salvation to ordinary folks. Because esotericism teaches through experience as well as through writings, it's teachings needed to be experienced and understood in a controlled manner under the guidance of a teacher who had already passed through them. At the same time, those very tensions led various Tendai Monks to spin off efforts to resolve them through new movements and to help ordinary people reach enlightenment in the process.

Mikkyo/Shingon/Tantra versus Tendai

Thus, Tendai was known as "theoretical Tendai" because from the start it lacked a prescriptive and practical "praxis" or practice that would be attractive to ordinary people lacking time, or engaging to monks who would after a while be prone to boredom. As we have shown already, while the teachings were formally under the influence of the Chinese T'ien-t'ai sect and the Lotus Sutra, it was heavilly influenced by mainland Chinese "Mikkyo"/Shingon or esoteric teachings, also known as "tantra."

This may have initially seemed to be an ideal marriage. Tantra offered exactly the kinds of practice that could engage monks and allow them to explore the innermost realms of their psyche. However there was was and is ideological tension between tantric teachings and those based on the Lotus Sutra.

  1. One Vehicle versus Three Vehicles: Tantra is most comfortable with teachings that emphasize three seperate vehicles. Tantra is based on the premise that enlightenment is for an elect who have the time to master Tantra. By contrast the Lotus Sutra teaches "The Lotus teaches the "One Vehicle", "ekayana"." "Tantric Buddhism is heavily invested in the Three Vehicle analysis of Buddhism. Beginners are given this Three Vehicle view as a basic tool to categorize the teachings. The "One Vehicle" teaching of Chapter is "difficult to integrate into their view."
  2. Exoteric versus Esoteric: The Lotus Sutra explicitly states that it is giving the Buddha's ultimate teaching, and the Buddha does so in an open manner, to huge assemblies of all kinds of living beings. While it is true that some walk out on the teaching, the Buddha does not hide this teaching. Declaring that the ultimate teaching resides in a Sutra runs counter to the view that Tantras are superior to Sutras. This also would be difficult to integrate into their view of the Dharma.
  3. The Lotus Sutra depicts all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as emanations of Shakyamuni. Many of the tantras are given by other Buddhas, such as Mahavairocana, or Hevajra, etc.quote

Jikaku Daishi

This disciple was the third official prelate, Jikaku Daishi also known as "Ennin". That teacher travelled to China to receive transmissions independent of Kobo Daishi and thus help the Tendai School maintain its authority. This "Ebyo Shu" was to figure greatly in the teachings of a 13th century monk named Nichiren Daishonin, who was to criticize the Tendai School on the basis of its embrasure of esotericism and ignorance of the Lotus Sutra

Tendai Tensions

The tensions between these teachings were like trying to blend oil and water. It wasn't long after Jikaku Daishi that the Tendai School split, first into two camps and then into a number of lineages. Each of these lineages vied not only for authority, but often for power. Yet they shared enough in common that all the lineages called themselves "Tendai." The two main lineages, even went to war with one another. One based at Enryaku-ji and the other at the base of the Mount Hiei called "Oon-ji" The story even found itself told in the "Tale of Genji." Warrior monks enforced the rights and perogatives of the contemplative monks, and influential people would donate land, and then expect that their families would contribute the monks who would run the donated temples. The Lotus Sutra teachings offered no help in enforcing such power relationships, but with the influence of Tantra, esoteric and oral lineages could be developed. And further power came from the identification of Buddhist monks with Shinto priests. A Buddhist monk could also administer a Shinto Shrine. The roles could be interchangeable. Mt. Hiei became the center of the "Sanno Cult." It was a source of power for Kyoto in the Hieian era. An influential monk could pass the teachings to the favored child of the Temples "benefactor." A "Kechimyaku of the Law" could be asserted that would legitimize that person as chief priest. Thus the Tendai Sect integrated itself into the "kenmitsu" rule of "powerful interests" that formed the Japanese system. The warrior monks of Mt. Hiei developed fame as professional soldiers not to be played with. In the 13th century, when the Kamakura period began and power shifted from Kyoto to even further East, the monks headed east to share the power of the new rulers. Ferment developed in Buddhism and in it's Shinto cults.

Nembutsu and Zen

At Mt. Hiei they practiced Zen meditation. "Mind contemplation" was an art taught by monks to each other. From Mt. Hiei, monks trained in meditation and Buddhist teachings would fan out to teach people in the countryside. These monks were known as "Hijiri" or holy men. Often they taught a syncretic mix of nativist (Shinto), Confucian and Taoist ideas, and Buddhism. At Mt. Hiei they had access to studies, but not "inner access" unless they were noble or perceived as special in some other way. The Lotus Sutra teachings taught the "integration" of other sutras. The Lotus Sutra was considered supreme because it integrated and made sense out of other teachings. Yet those practicing it had little in the way of practical or interesting practice. Monks tended to turn to Tantra out of boredom. The Tantric teachings on the other hand were for the elite, those who believed and valued them felt that ordinary people should be taught simpler teachings that they could grasp. Thus there was ferment at Mt. Hiei, as students struggled with the contradictions between theory and practice. Out of these conflicts monks turned to even newer teachings as an alternative. A new school "Zen" took the premise of Shingon to it's next logical level. Mudras and mantras, writings and babbling teachings were secondary to acquiring enlightenment directly by practicing "Zen" meditation with a master. One should practice as the Buddha did and awaken within as he did. The Zen monks now could divorce meditation from all the complex theories associated with it. For practical Japanese this was attractive. The warrior class expecially took to Zen with a vengeance.

And on Mt. Hiei another view was brewing. A Tendai Monk named Honen, learned the teachings of the "Amida sutra" wherein Amida Buddha promised to listen to people who called his name. It was now almost "Mappo", Tendai and Shingon teachings were full of difficult theories and mind contemplation, and seemed empty to him. He concluded that they were too difficult for everyone, and expecially for ordinary people. He became a "hijiri" and taught his Nembutsu instead. Throw out the other stuff! Just chant the Nembutsu and Amida will hear your cry and you will be reborn in his paradise within a Lotus Plant floating in a peaceful lake.

Mappo And Nembutsu

Nembutsu and Zen were both predicated on the notion of Mappo. Nembutsu explicitly so. If this was indeed Mappo, then people were of limited capacity. What means was there to engage in mind contemplation and become "sages." Both Honen and Shinran were convinced that since this was the age of Mappo people don't have the capacity for enlightenment -- the best they can do is to make a cause to be born into a pure land. They drew on the teachings of Tendai Prelates and then took them to the next level. The notion of mappo drew its currency from the difficulties of Japan's modern life, when people needed beliefs that would guide them through a time of evil powers, epidemics, hunger and privation. And those exigencies were also aggravated by the concept. If enlightenment is impossible, there is no sense trying. Therefore the worldy abandon themselves in the world and act evil. And the unworldly abandon this world and hide somewhere, thus being negligent towards the worlds ills.They barely had time or capacity to eek out a living. Nembutsu and Zen became popular even as the society seemed to be deteriorating. The shift of power from Kyoto to Kamakura occured aided by horrible disasters. It seemed a "fin-de-cycle" time, a time when the world might end. Otherworldly beliefs seemed a succor for such nasty times. Unfortunately they also made for self-fulfilling prophesies. If the world is corrupt, why make efforts to live as a decent person? If we don't have the capacity for enlightenment, why try?

Nichiren and the Tendai School

On Mt. Hiei, they tried to combat the notion that Tendai and Shingon had both become irrelevent with various ideas. One of those ideas was based on the Lotus Sutra itself. The Lotus Sutra was preached with Mappo in mind, it seemed to hold out the premise that all people could become enlightened. One of the interpretations of that premise is that people are already enlightened, they just need to realize it. This was to be known as "original enlightenment." It also promised to resolve the tension between tantra and Lotus. Waking up to our "original" state could be done through an initiation into tantra or through "Zen" meditation, or mind contemplation. Those who didn't have time for such things would simply have to do with faith. New religions and old religions competed and held an uneasy alliance. Zen monks and Nembutsu monks still attended Tendai Temples or even taught there. There was ferment in Japanese religion, and it was centered at Mt. Hiei.

The Tendai Sect and the Nichiren Hokke Sect, had a love hate relationship going from the beginning. Like the founders of most of the schools of Kamakura Buddhism, Nichiren and his leading disciples were all ordained Tendai Monks. And in one Gosho1 he writes:

Slander can be either minor or serious, however, and sometimes weshould overlook it rather than attack it. The True Word and Tendai schools slander the Lotus Sutra and should be severely rebuked. But without great wisdom it is hard to differentiate correctly between their doctrines and the teachings that Nichiren spreads. Therefore, at times we refrain from attackingthem, just as I did in On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.

Nichiren put most of his criticisms of Tendai into "kuden" (secret letter or oral instruction) form, and planned on trotting them out once he had gotten a "great debate" set up under sponsorship of the Emperor. Unfortunately his disciple Nissho rewrote the Rissho Ankoku Ron to include the Tendai and Shingon, paradoxically his defense against the subsequent death threats was that he was only an Tendai Monk seeking to restore orthodoxy. Thus we see that even from the outset the relationship was complex. And it got more so with time.

Jacqueline Stone quotes a dialogue between the Tendai Priest Enjitsubo Hoin Jikken and one Hongaku Hoin Nichidai (1309-1369) in 12/23/1363 and 1/26/1364. Nichidai recounts that Jikken informed him

"On this mountain [Hiei], there are no longer any learned scholars. I am fourth in line of transmission from Shunpan. This lodging Temple was formerly the site of Shunpan Hoin's Goma Hall. The leadership of the Eshin school rests with me."

Jackie then recounts that Nichidai replied:2

"The great Saint"3 (Daishonin -- note the flavor of the Fuji school even at this early date) "inherited the Tendai Doctrine from Shunpan, I am fourth in the line of those who propagate this sect. Is the Tendai Transmission which the great saint received the same or different from the Tendai transmission that you uphold in this lodging temple where I have encountered you?"

"We exchanged opinions, What a mysterious Karma."

In this day and age Nichiren Shoshu maintains that the Gosho are the product of the Priesthood-Sangha and that works authorized by an "enlightened" high priest are just as worthwhile study material whether they can be documented as such or not. (QA56 of the Questions and Answers of the Sokagakkai Issue). This also leads them to "Secret Transmission" or "Kuden" style interpretations of not just what Shakyamuni or the sages following his advent say but also of what Nichiren himself had to say. It is a "Hongaku Style" interpretation for example that says that Nichiren said that Shakyamuni was the eternal Buddha but that he was actually saying that he was the Original Buddha who transferred the 5 characters to Jogyo Bosatsu, or that interprets various words in his teachings to mean things that aren't in a literalist interpretation of his words. It is a very "Hongaku" Style interpretation that one reads in the lectures on the Sutra by Josei Toda for instance. Thus what is orthodox to everyone else seems heterodox to Nichiren Shoshu believers, and vice versa because of the "teaching" reversals that originally were part of oral traditions designed to help initiates understand the profound meaning of Nichiren's teachings.

Further Readings

Information on history and background of Tendai:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2055.html
Tendai as it sees itself:
http://www.tendai.org/
http://www.tendai-lotus.org/yearly_rituals/yearly_rituals_e.htm
Personal:
http://quietmountain.org/dharmacenters/buddhadendo/view.htm
Syncretism with Shinto:
http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/shinto/sanno.html
Dr. Stones book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0824820266/qid%3D1050605028/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-6003787-7769726
Relation to Zen
http://www.dogensangha.org/downloads/Pdf/Lecture2.PDF
Nichiren and Tendai:
http://www.geocities.com/chris_holte/Buddhism/IssuesInBuddhism/552.pdf

Footnotes

  1. http://www.sgi-usa.org/cgi-bin/pagecontext.cgi?page=625&term=WISDOM&lineid=44601
  2. Daishonin -- note the flavor of the Fuji school even at this early date
  3. Page 315 of her book "Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Tendai Buddhism Jacqueline Stone
  4. I'm going to add to this page later I hope.
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