Who founded Jōdo-shū and when was it established?
Jōdo-shū was founded by the Japanese monk Hōnen, who was born in 1133 and died in 1212. The school is traditionally considered to have been established in 1175.
Questions about Jōdo-shū
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the main practice of Jōdo-shū Buddhism?
The central practice of Jōdo-shū is reciting the nembutsu, the phrase “Namu Amida Butsu” (Homage to Amida Buddha). Adherents believe that sincere recitation of this phrase leads to birth in the Pure Land of Sukhavati.
What are the two main branches of Jōdo-shū today?
The two surviving branches of Jōdo-shū are the Chinzei-ha, founded by Shōkōbō Benchō (1162-1238) and based around Chion-in in Kyoto and Zōjō-ji in Tokyo, and the Seizan-ha, founded by Shōku (1177-1247), which has three sub-branches including one centered at Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji.
Why was Hōnen exiled and what happened to him?
In 1207, Emperor Go-Toba ordered Hōnen defrocked and sent into exile after two of his disciples proselytized to ladies in waiting who then left imperial service to become nuns. Two of those disciples, Jūren and Anraku-bō, were executed. Hōnen was pardoned and returned to Kyoto in 1211 but died in 1212, just two days after dictating his final testament, the One-Sheet Document.
What was the debate between once-calling and many-calling in Jōdo-shū?
The debate concerned how many nembutsu recitations were necessary for birth in the Pure Land. Kōsai (1163-1247) promoted ichinen-gi, or once-calling, holding that a single recitation made with complete faith was sufficient. Ryūkan and Benchō defended tanengi, or many-calling, arguing that continuous lifelong recitation was required. The mainstream Jōdo-shū tradition upholds extensive recitation while not categorically excluding the sufficiency of a single recitation.
How did Tokugawa Ieyasu’s patronage affect Jōdo-shū?
In 1590 Tokugawa Ieyasu officially patronized Jōdo-shū, and throughout the Edo period that followed the school became the largest Buddhist sect in Japan by population and influence. The major temple of Zōjō-ji in Edo was converted to a Jōdo-shū temple and served as the family temple of the Tokugawa clan, where several shoguns are still interred.
When did Jōdo-shū establish its first temples outside Japan?
The first Jōdo-shū temple in Hawaii, the Hāmākua Bukkyo Kaido, was built in 1896 under Reverend Gakuo Okabe. The head temple in Hawaii, the Jodo Mission of Hawaii in Honolulu, was founded in 1907. The first mainland American Jōdo-shū temple, the Jodo Shu North America Buddhist Missions, opened in Los Angeles in 1936.