Ōjōyōshū

The Ōjōyōshū (往生要集, The Essentials of Rebirth in the Pure Land) was an influential medieval Buddhist text composed in 985 by the Japanese Buddhist monk Genshin. The text is a comprehensive analysis of Buddhist practices related to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, drawing upon earlier Buddhist texts from China, and sutras such as the Contemplation Sutra. Genshin advocated a collection of mutually supportive practices, such as sutra recitation, centered around visual meditation of Amitabha Buddha where later Pure Land sects favored an approach that relied on exclusive recitation of the verbal nembutsu. The text is also well known for its graphic descriptions of the Hell realms, and sufferings one might endure for harmful acts committed in this life. Its influence can be seen in Japanese Buddhist paintings and other, later, texts. The founder of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, Shinran, wrote an influential commentary on the Ōjōyōshū titled, "Notes on Essentials of Rebirth", while Hōnen first encountered Pure Land teachings after studying Genshin's writings.

In 986, a copy was sent to China at Genshin's request and was reportedly deposited at Guoqingsi Temple on Mount Tiantai some time before 990.

Contents

The Ōjōyōshū is written in eighty thousand Chinese characters, in kanbun prose, and is divided into ten chapters in three volumes (chapter names translated by professors Robert Rhodes and Richard Payne):

1. Loathing the Defiled Realm – a lengthy exploration of traditional states of existence in the cycle of rebirth and why these were undesirable.
2. Seeking the Pure Land – why the Pure Land of Amitabha differs from these undesirable states of rebirth.
3. Proofs for the Land of Supreme Bliss
4. Proper Practice of the Nembutsu – a careful and detailed analysis of various nembutsu practices that range from complex visualization practices to simple recitation of the namu amida butsu. Here, Genshin reasserts the traditional Tendai Buddhist view of nembutsu meaning mindfulness (e.g. contemplation) of the Buddha. This chapter also explores why the nembutsu was effective, including an exploration of Amitabha Buddha's power to rescue sentient beings, etc.
5. Aids to the Nembutsu – this chapter explores other auxiliary practices to make one's nembutsu practice more effective. Here, Genshin writes It is impossible to catch a fowl using a net consisting of one mesh. (Likewise, it is only by) employing myriad techniques to aid the contemplative mindfulness that the great matter of birth (in the Pure Land) is accomplished.
6. Nembutsu for Special Occasions – this chapter covered extraordinary forms of nembutsu practices for special occasions or retreats.
7. Benefits of the Nembutsu – this chapters explores benefits of practicing the nembutsu including nullifying evil karma, obtaining protection from the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and so on.
8. Proofs for the Nembutsu
9. Various Practices for Birth [in the Pure Land]
10. Discussion of Doctrinal Problems

Thus, the Ōjōyōshū was intended as a comprehensive guide toward rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha in what Genshin believed was the declining age of the Dharma where the efficacy of the traditional Buddhist path toward buddhahood was no longer feasible. By gaining birth in the Pure Land, one could thus more readily undertake practices there.

Each chapter starts with a short general introduction and then turns its attention towards details by quoting from Buddhist scriptures which are then commented on by Genshin. He uses 654 quotations and draws these from 160 different works. These quotations are used to resolve difficulties or enlarge upon certain subjects. In this endeavour, Genshin creates a coherent system of Pure Land belief and practice and indicates directions that later Pure Land movements concerned themselves with.

Described Practices　

Nenbutsu veneration

In this description, Genshin sets out to define the correct and orthodox nenbutsu. He instructs those who want to practice Pure Land salvation to:

Take Refuge in Him single-mindedly. Throw yourself, knees, arms and forehead, to the ground and venerate Amida Buddha far off in the West. Consider not the more or less of your practice; just be of sincere heart.

In the second step, the nenbutsu-praise, Genshin urges the practioner to sing hymns of Amida and praising the attributes of Amida. Next he instructs to "arouse the thought of bodhi". This means to perceive one’s possibility of enlightenment and Buddhahood. It marks the moment of true conversion for a Buddhist. Converting the Buddhist realises the potential the possibility of all sentient being’s rebirth in the Pure Land.

Intention

Through his work Genshin intended to show a way of salvation within the time of declining dharma (mappō 末法) for all. He is concerned with Pure Land salvation exclusively which is within the capabilities of all beings. The most effective practice being nenbutsu.

See also

• Ōjō

Further reading

• Horton, Sarah (2004). The Influence of the Ōjōyōshū in Late Tenth- and Early Eleventh-Century Japan, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31 (1), 29–54
• Ishida, Mizumaro (1970). Nihon Shisō Taikei 6: Genshin (in Japanese). Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4000700065.
• Kubota, Jun (2007). Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten [Iwanami dictionary of Japanese classical literature] (in Japanese). Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6.
• Rhodes, Robert F. (2007). Ōjōyōshū, Nihon Ōjō Gokuraku-ki, and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 34 (2), 249–270

External links

• "The Influence of Genshin's Ojoyoshu on Honen"