Shingon and Tendai Buddhism have been linked to each other quite often. These two forms of Buddhism are known to have quite a few things in common. Both, Shingon and Tendai are known to have Chinese predecessors. They have doctrines that follow the similar lines. And what's more? The history of these two forms of Buddhism also has quite a lot in common. Let us take a closer look at both these forms of Buddhism and how they are similar to each other.
Amidst various other similarities between Shingon and Tendai Buddhism, it is the similarity in their doctrines that is most prominent. The doctrines of both these forms of Buddhism were developed in China and then directly imported to Japan. Besides, their doctrines also promote the same teachings. They emphasize on 'attaining enlightenment in this very body'. Further on, both these traditions also emphasize on monastic life.
The history of these traditions too dwells on the same lines. Both, Shingon and Tendai Buddhism garnered popularity during the same period. They came to influence during the Heian period. This is the period when imperial court enjoyed immense power and popularity. While Shingon was brought to Japan by a monk called Kukai, Tendai Buddhism entered the Japanese territory through a Japanese monk known as Saicho. The centre for Tendai Buddhism was built on Mt Hiei. Thus, both Shingon as well as Tendai did not originate where they were eventually followed.
The imperial clan played a prominent role in spreading the popularity of both Shingon as well as Tendai Buddhism. In 1868, the imperial family adhered to Shingon rites, which made it one of the most powerful sects in the country. The same was the case with Tendai too as the imperial clan promoted it with full force, which led to its unprecedented popularity.
Another thing that is common to both these schools of Buddhism is the symbols that they put to use. Both of these schools of Buddhism make use of symbols that have their roots in India. These symbols are used in art, priestly vestments, architecture, and the like. Tendai makes use of artistic motifs and several other symbols that represents numerous divinities. Shingon, on the other hand, makes use of mandala designs. These mandala designs are native to Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, which is related to both Shingon as well as Tendai Buddhism.
With this it would not be untrue to say, that there are quite a number of similarities between Shingon as well as Tendai. However, despite these numerous similarities, these two schools of Buddhism stand to be completely distinct from one another and have unique traits of their own.
On Becoming The First Tendai Priest of CanadaRay Innen Parchelo, social worker from Canada and the leader of Red Maple Buddhist Sangha of Canada is on the way to become the first Tendai priest of the country. Ennin- The Second Most Important Priest Of Tendai Tendai is one of the numerous Japanese versions of Buddhism which emerged in the Middle Ages. Today, the Tendai school has spread far and wide with its followers present in nearly every country of the world. Tendai Buddhism In The Middle Ages Tendai is one of the premiere sub schools of Mahayana Buddhism. It is named after Mount Tiantai located in the south eastern region of what is now known as the People's Republic of China. Interestingly, whereas the first monastery of this school of Buddhism was established in China, Japan was the place where it gained most followers. Saicho- The Founder Of Tendai Tendai Buddhism is one of the most popular schools of Buddhism. The credit of initiating this school of Buddhism is attributed to Saicho. Saicho was a Japanese Buddhist monk who brought the Tendai school of Buddhism to Japan. He studied the Tiantai tradition in China and brought it to Japan, where it was developed as Tendai Buddhism. Shakyo Practice In Tendai Buddhism Put in simple words shakyo practice is a means of sutra copying. This practice plays a pivotal role in doing the Japanese calligraphy. Shakyo practice is primarily a meditative discipline that emphasizes on copying the Buddhist sutras. This practice aims to deepen one's understanding of the Shodo which is the Art of the Brush. An Overview Of Tendai Buddhism Tendai Buddhism is one of the most popular known schools of Buddhism. As a matter of fact, it is one of the few traditions of Buddhism that enjoy acceptance all across the world. Tendai Buddhism has also been described as a significant development in both- Chinese as well as Japanese Buddhism. In simple words, Tendai Buddhism is the Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism. This form of Buddhism comes from the Lotus Sutra School, also known as the Chinese Tiantai. This form of Buddhism was established by Tiantaichi with a view to universalize Buddhism. It offers a comprehensive religious framework that could suit all cultures.
Tendai school of Buddhism dates back to the 8th century. It was started by a Chinese monk known as Jianzhen. In the initial days, the teachings promoted by Jianzhen were known as the Ritsu school. However, this did not last for long as it did not garner much acceptance. In 805, another Japanese monk, Saicho, brought numerous Tiantai texts from China. He also made a temple on Mt Hiei. The temple served as a centre of study and practice for Japanese Tendai.
The Tendai school of Buddhism as propagated by Saicho was more or less centered on the lines of Tiantai school of Buddhism. However, Tendai Buddhism included elements of Zen, esoteric Mikkyo and Vinaya school. It is this amalgam of different elements that made Tendai more popular.
As Tendai Buddhism progressed over the years, the tendency to include newer elements increased further. In fact, successors of Saicho, namely, Ennin and Enchin took the art of including new elements to another level. However, this finally led to the development of several sub schools within Tendai. There were two distinct groups by this time - Sammon and Jimon. While Sammon was the group who followed Ennin, Jimon referred to the followers of Enchin.
Though Tendai school grew it's own course over the years, it primarily flourished under the imperial family. The nobility in Japan promoted this form of Buddhism in full force. However, it was the Fujiwara clan that promoted Tendai the most. As a result, Tendai became the most dominant form of Buddhism in Japan. Most of the developments in Japanese Buddhism for the following years stemmed from Tendai. In fact, most of the popular non Tendai thinkers in Japan were initially trained as Tendai monks. Some popular examples include Dogen, Honen, Shinran, and Nichiren. With this, the presence and influence of Tendai in Japan can be well understood.
It was the popularity ushered in the by the upper class that made Tendai highly respected. The involvement of the nobility made Tendai, militarily as well as politically powerful. Mt Hiei too became a center of power. No wonder, it overpowered various other schools of Buddhism in no time at all. With the power that the Tendai school held, it was in a position to oppose other rival groups as well.
With all this, it is needless to say that the history of Tendai Buddhism is quite interesting.Tendai Buddhist Institute In Cannan, New York Tendai is gaining acceptance in the western world really fast and one big proof of this is the Tendai Buddhist Institute in Cannan, New York. The institute consist of three primary components. These include the temple known as Jiunzan Tendai-ji, the Karuna Tendai Dharma Center and the Tendai-Shu New York Betsuin. A Look At Some Common Tendai Buddhism Practices Buddhism is one of the most popular religions across the world. This popular religion has several forms, Tendai Buddhism being one of them. Tendai Buddhism is considered to be one of the most popular forms of Buddhism and finds countless followers across the globe. Shingon And Tendai Buddhism Shingon and Tendai Buddhism have been linked to each other quite often. These two forms of Buddhism are known to have quite a few things in common. Both, Shingon and Tendai are known to have Chinese predecessors. They have doctrines that follow the similar lines. And what's more? The history of these two forms of Buddhism also has quite a lot in common. Meditative Practices In Tendai Buddhism Tendai school of Buddhism is well known for an array of meditative practices as formulated by the founders and several propagators. Let's have a look at some of the meditative practices as followed in Tendai Buddhism. History Of Tendai Buddhism In simple words, Tendai Buddhism is the Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism. This form of Buddhism comes from the Lotus Sutra School, also known as the Chinese Tiantai. This form of Buddhism was established by Tiantaichi with a view to universalize Buddhism. It offers a comprehensive religious framework that could suit all cultures.
Tendai is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:
Although Tendai has the reputation of being a major denomination in Japanese history, and the most comprehensive and diversified school of Chinese Buddhism, it is almost unknown in the West. This meagre presence is in marked contrast to the vision of the founder of the movement in China, T'ien-t'ai Chih-i (538-597), who provided a religious framework which seemed suited to adapt to other cultures, to evolve new practices, and to universalize Buddhism. History
The Tiantai teaching was first brought to Japan by the Chinese monk Jianzhen in the middle of the 8th century, in what became the short-lived Ritsu school, but it was not widely accepted. In 805, the Japanese monk Saichō (Dengyō Daishi ) returned from China with new Tiantai texts and made the temple that he had built on Mt. Hiei , Enryakuji , a center for the study and practice of what became Japanese Tendai.
Philosophically, the Tendai school did not deviate substantially from the beliefs that had been created by the Tiantai school in China. However, what Saichō transmitted from China was not exclusively Tiantai, but also included Zen , esoteric Mikkyō , and Vinaya School elements. The tendency to include a range of teachings became more marked in the doctrines of Saichō's successors, such as Ennin and Enchin . However, in later years, this range of teachings began to form sub-schools within Tendai Buddhism. By the time of Ryogen, there were two distinct groups on Mt. Hiei: the Sammon, or Mountain Group who followed Ennin, and the Jimon or River Group who followed Enchin.
The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the imperial family and nobility in Japan, particularly the Fujiwara clan; in 794, the Imperial capital was moved to Kyoto. Tendai Buddhism became the dominant form of main-stream Buddhism in Japan for many years, and gave rise to most of the developments in later Japanese Buddhism. Nichiren, Hōnen, Shinran, and Dogen—all famous thinkers in non-Tendai schools of Japanese Buddhism—were all initially trained as Tendai monks. Japanese Buddhism was dominated by the Tendai school to a much greater degree than Chinese Buddhism was by its forebearer, the Tiantai.
Due to its patronage and growing popularity among the upper classes, the Tendai sect became not only respected, but also politically and even militarily powerful. During the Kamakura Period, the Tendai school used its patronage to try to oppose the growth of rival factions—particularly the Nichiren school, which began to grow in power among the merchant middle class, and the Pure Land school, which eventually came to claim the loyalty of many of the poorer classes. Enryakuji, the temple complex on Mt. Hiei, became a sprawling center of power, attended not only by ascetic monks, but also by brigades of warrior monks (sohei) who fought in the temple's interest. As a result, in 1571 Enryakuji was razed by Oda Nobunaga as part of his campaign to unify Japan. Nobunaga regarded the Mt. Hiei monks as a potential threat or rival, as they could employ religious claims to attempt to rally the populace to their side. The temple complex was later rebuilt, and continues to serve as the head temple of the Tendai school today. Tendai doctrine
Tendai Buddhism has several philosophical insights which allow for the reconciliation of Buddhist doctrine with aspects of Japanese culture such as Shinto and traditional aesthetics. It is rooted in the idea, fundamental to Mahayana Buddhism, that Buddha-hood, the capability to attain enlightenment, is intrinsic in all things. Also central to Mahayana is the notion that the phenomenal world, the world of our experiences, fundamentally is an expression of the Buddhist law (Dharma). This notion poses the problem of how we come to have many differentiated experiences. Tendai Buddhism claims that each and every sense phenomenon just as it is is the expression of Dharma. For Tendai, the ultimate expression of Dharma is the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the fleeting nature of all sense experiences consists in the Buddha's preaching of the doctrine of Lotus Sutra. The existence and experience of all unenlightened beings is fundamentally equivalent and undistinguishable from the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
The Doctrine of Original Enlightenment (Japanese: hongaku shiso)
Stone (2003: p. 3) holds that:
In the early decades of the twentieth century, Buddhologist Shimaji Daito (1875-1927) introduced to the Japanese academic world a new interpretive category, which he called "original enlightenment thought" (Jpn. hongaku shiso). By this term he meant, in general, those strands of Buddhist thought, most prominent in East Asia and especially in Japan, that regard enlightenment or the ideal state as inherent from the outset and as accessible in the present, rather than as the fruit of a long process of cultivation. More specifically, Shimaji used "original enlightenment thought" to designate the intellectual mainstream of medieval Japanese Tendai Buddhism. In this medieval Tendai context, "original enlightenment thought" denotes an array of doctrines and concepts associated with the proposition that all beings are enlightened inherently. Not only human beings, but ants and crickets, mountains and rivers, grasses and trees are all innately Buddhas. The Buddhas who appear in sutras, radiating light and endowed with excellent marks, are merely provisional signs. The "real" Buddha is the ordinary worldling. Indeed, the whole phenomenal world is the primordially enlightened Tathagata. Tendai and Esoteric Buddhism
One of the adaptations by the Tendai school was the introduction of esoteric ritual (Mikkyo) into Tendai Buddhism, which was later named Taimitsu by Ennin. Eventually, according to Tendai Taimitsu doctrine, the esoteric rituals came to be considered of equal importance with the exoteric teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, by chantingMantras, maintaining Mudras, or performing certain meditations, one is able to see that the sense experiences are the teachings of Buddha, have faith that one is inherently an enlightened being, and one can attain enlightnenment within this very body.
The origins of Taimitsu are found in China, similar to the lineage that Kukai encountered in his visit to China during the Tang Dynasty, and Saicho's disciples were encouraged to study under Kukai.[3] As a result, Tendai esoteric ritual bears much in common with the explicitly Vajrayana tradition of Shingon Buddhist ritual, though the underlying doctrines may differ somewhat.
Tendai and Shinto
Tendai doctrine allowed Japanese Buddhists to reconcile Buddhist teachings with the native religion of Japan,Shinto, and with traditional Japanese aesthetics. In the case of Shinto, the difficulty is the reconciliation of the heavenly pantheon of Japanese gods, as well as with the myriad spirits associated with places, shrines or objects, with the Buddhist doctrine that one should not concern oneself with any religious practice save the pursuit of enlightenment. However, priests of the Tendai sect argued that Kami are simply representations of the truth of universal buddha-hood that descend into the world to help and teach mankind. Thus, they are actually equivalent with Buddhas. This doctrine, however, regards Kami as more sacred. While Buddhas represent the possibility of attaining enlightentment through many lifetimes of work and devotion to Dharma, Kami are manifest representations of the universal buddha-hood. Therefore, they exemplify the ultimate truth that all things are inherently enlightened and that it is possible for a person of sufficient religious faculties to attain enlightenment instantly within this very body. Thus are they of more holy nature than Buddhas. Those Kami that Shinto regards as violent or antagonistic to mankind are considered as simply supernatural beings that reject the Buddhist law and have not attained enlightenment. Thus are they violent and evil.
Tendai and Japanese Aesthetics
The Buddha taught a Middle Way between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. In the context of the Four Noble Truthsthis meant ceasing the craving (Tanha) of worldly desire and attachment, thus putting an end to suffering (Dukkha). So in Early Buddhism the emphasis, especially for monks and nuns, was on avoiding activities that might arouse worldly desires. Buddhist art and poetry focused on overtly Buddhist themes. This tendency toward renunciation created a potential conflict with mainstream culture in China and Japan when Buddhism was introduced. Shedding worldly pleasures and attachments might seem to require that such flowers of culture as poetry,literature, and visual arts be given up. However, later Mahayana views developed a different emphasis. By claiming that the phenomenal world is not distinct from Dharma, Tendai doctrine allows for the reconciliation of beauty and aesthetics with Buddhist teachings. Things are to be seen just as they are, as expressions of Dharma. Poetry, instead of being a potential distraction, now in fact can lead to enlightenment. Contemplation of poetry, provided that it is done in the context of Tendai doctrine, is simply contemplation of Dharma. This same thing can be said of other forms of art. Therefore, it is possible to construct an aesthetic that is not in conflict with Buddhism.
Notable Tendai scholars
In the history of Tendai school, a number of notable monks have contributed to Tendai thought and administration of Mt. Hiei:
- Saicho - Founder.
- Ennin - Saicho's successor, the first to try to merge esoteric practices with exoteric Tendai School theories (this merger is now known as "Taimitsu"), as well as promote nembutsu.
- Enchin - Gishin (Saicho's disciple)'s successor, junior to Ennin. The first to successfully assimilate esoteric buddhism to Tendai, and a notable administrator as well.
- Annen - Henjo (Ennin's disciple)'s successor, junior to Enchin. An influential thinker who's known having finalized the assimilation of esoteric and exoteric buddhism within Tendai School.
- Ryogen - Annen's successor, and skilled politician who helped ally the Tendai School with the Fujiwara clan.
