Robert F. Rhodes
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824872489
- eISBN:
- 9780824875701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824872489.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This and the following two chapters focus on the teachings of the Ōjōyōshū. This chapter takes up the first two chapters of the Ōjōyōshū, which describes the suffering inherent in the six realms of ...
More
This and the following two chapters focus on the teachings of the Ōjōyōshū. This chapter takes up the first two chapters of the Ōjōyōshū, which describes the suffering inherent in the six realms of transmigration and the bliss that awaits all who are born in the Pure Land. The section on the six realms of transmigration includes the most famous section of the Ōjōyōshū: a graphic description of the suffering that await people who are reborn, as the result of their evil deeds, in the eight hells of the Buddhist cosmology.Less
This and the following two chapters focus on the teachings of the Ōjōyōshū. This chapter takes up the first two chapters of the Ōjōyōshū, which describes the suffering inherent in the six realms of transmigration and the bliss that awaits all who are born in the Pure Land. The section on the six realms of transmigration includes the most famous section of the Ōjōyōshū: a graphic description of the suffering that await people who are reborn, as the result of their evil deeds, in the eight hells of the Buddhist cosmology.
Robert F. Rhodes
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824872489
- eISBN:
- 9780824875701
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824872489.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
The Ōjōyōshū, written by the Heian period Tendai monk Genshin (942-1017), played a pivotal role in establishing Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. This book is a study of the central teachings of the ...
More
The Ōjōyōshū, written by the Heian period Tendai monk Genshin (942-1017), played a pivotal role in establishing Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. This book is a study of the central teachings of the Ōjōyōshū. Furthermore, in order to situate this text in its historical background, a substantial portion of the volume is taken up with discussions of the development of Pure Land Buddhism before Genshin’s time and to Genshin’s event-filled life. Part One provides a brief survey of Pure Land Buddhism in India and China and then treats how it developed in Japan before Genshin’s time. Part Two focuses on the main events of Genshin’s life. Part Three turns to two main issues taken up in the Ōjōyōshū: its Pure Land cosmology and its nenbutsu teaching. In his description of the Pure Land cosmology, Genshin describes, in often graphic detail, the suffering inherent in the six realms of transmigration, including hell, and urges his readers to seek birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land, a realm beyond suffering. Furthermore, in the central portion of the Ōjōyōshū, Genshin presents a systematic analysis of the nenbutsu, or the practice of focusing one’s mind on Amida, which is the central practice for attaining birth in the Pure Land.Less
The Ōjōyōshū, written by the Heian period Tendai monk Genshin (942-1017), played a pivotal role in establishing Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. This book is a study of the central teachings of the Ōjōyōshū. Furthermore, in order to situate this text in its historical background, a substantial portion of the volume is taken up with discussions of the development of Pure Land Buddhism before Genshin’s time and to Genshin’s event-filled life. Part One provides a brief survey of Pure Land Buddhism in India and China and then treats how it developed in Japan before Genshin’s time. Part Two focuses on the main events of Genshin’s life. Part Three turns to two main issues taken up in the Ōjōyōshū: its Pure Land cosmology and its nenbutsu teaching. In his description of the Pure Land cosmology, Genshin describes, in often graphic detail, the suffering inherent in the six realms of transmigration, including hell, and urges his readers to seek birth in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land, a realm beyond suffering. Furthermore, in the central portion of the Ōjōyōshū, Genshin presents a systematic analysis of the nenbutsu, or the practice of focusing one’s mind on Amida, which is the central practice for attaining birth in the Pure Land.
