Buddhism2

Asian History Japan

ENNIN'S SEARCH OF THE LAW

Early dian Buddhism continued to seek inspiration from religious teachings and practices of China, and many worthies went to China to seek the Law. One of such notables was Ennin (794-864), who went to China with the Japanese embassy in 838. The following year, his plan to return to Japan was thwarted when the ship he boarded at Tengchow, Shantung, drifted back to the same port. He remained in China for nine additional years, and made pilgrimages to Wu-tai and the capital city of Chang-an where he met learned priests who instructed him in the doctrines of Tendai, Shingon and Zen. On his return to Japan in 847, he brought back more than five hundred volumes of Sutras and Shastras and many other sacred objects. In 854, he was appointed the chief abbot of Enryakuji in Aft. Hiei. He made the administration of the sacrament of kanjo, or sprinkling of water upon the head, part of the established rituals for the stale (849), which was previously privately administered by Saicho. Through Ennin's influence, the Tendai teachings became increasingly eclectic in nature, combining the practices of the Shingon sect. Esoteric Shingon practices, such as praying for rain or clear sky, for quick recovery or health, or for suppression of enemies became in vogue in Heian Buddhism, at least due in part to Mt. Hiei's and Ennin's acquiesence to such practices. The prevalence of esoteric practices eventually would lead Heian Buddhism to the path of corruption and to the nadir of its influence, and Buddhism would have to await its revival through Genshin (942-1017) and other reformers (see Chapter V).

In the following selections, observe closely the difficulties that Ennin had to face in China, and the joy he experienced when he discovered that he was treading the same path that his master Saicho trod once before. That in essence was 1he spirit of those who sought the Law.

3 Ennin's Diary of His Pilgrimage to China" The Japanese monks in search of the Law inform this monastery: A document in which the monk Ennin, his attendant monks Isho and Igyo, and his servant Tei Yuman request the monastery to write the prefecture and subprefecture to give them official credentials to wander and beg as their destiny permits.

We monks, having in mind merely our longing for the Buddhist teachings, have come from afar to this benevolent land with our hearts set on sacred places and our spirits rejoicing in the pilgrimage. It is said that Mt. Wu-tai and some other places are the source of the teaching and the places where the great saints have manifested themselves. Eminent monks from India have visited them, crossing their precipitous slopes, and famous patriarchs of China have there attained enlightenment. We monks have admired these glorious places and, having chanced to meet with this happy destiny, have by good fortunes come to this holy land. Now we wish to go to these places to fulfill our long-cherished hopes, but we fear that on the road others will not honor our reasons for traveling. We have heard that the Learned Doctor Prajna petitioned for official credentials on behalf of some mendicant monks, and that they were allowed by Imperial edict to practice their mendicancy. Thus, this started of old and has continued until recent times.

We humbly hope that this monastery, in accordance with the laws and precedents of the land, will address the prefecture and the subprefecture, asking for official credentials. If it does so, the ... glorious fame of the Monastery Administrators will stir foreign lands afar, their encouraging magnanimity will gloriously manifest the sunlike Buddha, and we shall be more indebted to you.

The full statement is as above. The statement of the matter is as given above. Respectfully written. The twenty-sixth day of the ninth moon of the fourth year of Kaicheng [839].The Japanese monks in search of the Law from the Enryakuji. Third moon, twenty-fifth day, [840].... From Wen-teng-hsien in Teng-chou to Ching-chou there have been plagues of locusts for the past three or four years which have eaten up the five grains so that the officials and commoners alike have gone hungry. In the Teng-chou region they have been using only acorns for food. It is difficult for traveling monks passing through this rugged area to obtain provisions. Millet costs eighty cash per tou and non-glutinous rice one hundred cash per tou. We are without provisions to eat,and so I prepared a statement and sent it to the Assistant Regional Commander,the auxiliary official Chang, asking for provisions.

The Japanese monk in search of the Law, Ennin, asks to be given provisions for his meals. The said Ennin and others left their homeland far away in order to search for Buddhist teachings, but, because he is asking for official credentials, he has not yet moved on. He makes his home anywhere and finds his hunger beyond endurance, but, because he speaks a different tongue, he is unable to beg for food himself. He humbly hopes that in your compassion you will give the surplus of your food to the poor monk from abroad. You have already given him a certain amount, and he is extremely embarrassed to be troubling you now again. He humbly sends his disciple Isho to inform you. Respectfully stated....

The auxiliary official gave us three tou of non-glutinous rice, three tou of flour, and three tou of millet, so I prepared a letter to thank him. Fifth moon, Sixteenth day, [840]. Early in the morning we left the Chulinssu and, following a valley, went ten li east and ten li toward the northeast to the Tahuayenssu and entered the Living Quarters Cloister and lodged there. After the forenoon meal we were sent to the Nirvana Cloister and saw Abbot Fa-chien lecturing on the Makashikan'?in a fairly high two-storied hall. More than forty monks seated in rows were listening to him lecture. We then saw the Tendai Abbot Chih-yiian Ho-shang in the lecture congregation listening to the Shikan. It was impressive and beautiful in the hall beyond description.

When the Abbot said, "I have completed lecturing on the fourth scroll, we waited until he had come down from the lecture seat and then went to the room of Chih-yuan Ho-shang to pay him reverence. The Priest inquired after us and was courteous. Abbot Fa-chien, who has recently come from the Western Capital (Chang-an), and Abbot Wen-chien, who has long been at this mountain, and the more than forty auditors at the lecture are all of the Tendai Sect. Meeting together, we inquired after one another and rejoiced over meeting at the place of lecture. Chih-yuan Ho-shang of his own accord said, "The Learned Doctor Saicho of Japan went to Tien-tai in the twentieth year of Chen-yuan [804] in search of the Law. Lord Lu, the Prefect of Tai-chou, himself provided him with paper and scribes, and they copied several hundred scrolls which he gaveto the Learned Doctor Saicho. The Learned Doctor, on obtaining the entaries, returned to his native land." They asked him about their osperityof the Tendai Sect in Japan, and I related in brief how Nan-yo Ta-shih was reborn in Japan. The congregation rejoiced greatly, and the Abbot Chih-yuan, on hearing me tell of the rebirth of Nan-yo Taehih in Japan and the spread of Buddhism there, was extremely happy.