The Philosophy of Religious Vows Observed in the Jingtu wuhui nianfo songjing guanxingyi 浄土五会念仏誦経観行儀

Abstract

Last year, I published a book, Tōchūki Jōdokyō ni okeru Zendōryū no shosō (唐中期浄土教における善導流の諸相,Phases of the Shandao School of Pure Land Buddhism in the mid-Tang; Hozokan). There I presented the historical development of the philosophy of Jingtu or Pure Land Buddhism from the period after Shandao’s death to Fazhao’s emergence. In the second part, I referred to the missionary approach of the Jingtu sect teachers, who applied the philosophy of Religious Vows. This aspect was first discovered around the time of Daxing大行,who modified the worship of Xinxing 信行 in the Sanjiejiao 三階教 suppression during the Kaiyuan era. Furthermore, even in the time of the Sanjiejiao revival after the An Lushan Rebellion, this philosophical trend formed a powerful means of preaching.

In the period after the An Lushan Rebellion, the teachings of the Jingtu teachers such as Fazhao was suitable; however, as a characteristic trend, there emerged a philosophy of following the patriarchs using the Shandao ritual style. This characteristic is a further development to what has already been observed in the Nianfo jing 念仏鏡,and it is particularly prominent in Fazhao’s Wuhui fashizan 五会法事讃.As Fazhao’s perspectives have greatly influenced later generations, examining this influence is vital. Therefore, this paper examines aspects of ideological development following the Wuhui fashizan.