This paper examines the connection between Shitennō-ji and the Pure Land teachings in Nara. During the Insei 院政 era, or the period of rule by the cloistered emperors (1086–1192), the practice of chanting the nenbutsu one million times at Shitennō-ji, primarily at the West Gate, was popular. Around the same time, in the 12th century, the Pure Land teachings, starting with Eikan (永観, 1033–1111), became influential in Nara. Eikan and Chinkai (珍海, 1091–1152) were also both affiliated with the Pure Land teachings at Shitennō-ji, while Eikan’s Ōjō jūin (往生拾因, The Ten Conditions for Attaining Birth in the Pure Land) especially provided a theoretical background for the nenbutsu practice at the West Gate and the rationale for the one-hundred-day nenbutsu practice at Gankō-ji, and encouraged the spread of yūzū nenbutsu 融通念仏, which mobilized numerous people.
In the Pure Land teachings of the Insei era, devotees vowed to be born in the Pure Land and prayed that if they could not, they would be reborn three times until they achieved such rebirth. The essence of this did not lie in the single devoted practice of chanting nenbutsu but rather the idea of birth in the Pure Land by doing good deeds through various practices. In this way, the twentieth of Amida’s vows was emphasized. The Pure Land teachings in Nara and at Shitennō-ji were both practices that placed importance on this vow.
