Rennyo's View of the Salvation of Women:
Overcoming the Five Obstacles and Three Subordinations
by Alfred Bloom, Professor Emeritus,
University
of
Hawai
Introduction
The issue of
women and religion is a pressing one, particularly in western countries
where the women's liberation movement has been highly influential in
arousing consciousness of the gender discrimination that is pervasive in
most societies. All the great religions have emerged from patriarchal and
androcentric cultures. Consequently, the position and role of women in
Buddhism historically is of significance for evaluating the relevance of
Buddhism for modern people. In this essay we will look closely at the life
and teachings of Rennyo Shônin (1415-1499), the eighth abbot or lineal
successor of Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of the Jôdo Shinshû. His
approach to the question of the salvation of women is a barometer of the
potential of Shin Buddhism to relate to contemporary issues in society.
Rennyo is
sometimes called the Restorer of Shinshû or the Second Founder. More than
Shinran himself, Rennyo emphasized the issue of the salvation of women,
placing it at the forefront of his teaching. In comparison to other
religious teachers an unusual awareness of women runs through his letters.
They were a notable element in his personal life and constituency.
According to
Mori Ryukichi, the prominence of the issue of the salvation of women in
Rennyo's letters derived from the fact that at that time women played a
major role in manual labor. With the changing character of the villages
Rennyo saw the loss of their ancient and traditional spiritual role in
religious functions of the home involved with preserving the fire and
making sake. This realization of change led him to make women an important
focus in his mission to revitalize the Honganji.[1]
Under
Rennyo's leadership Shin Buddhism developed into a major religious
institution of medieval
Japan
by promoting the way of salvation for all people through trust in Amida's
unconditional compassion. He claimed that this was a more accessible and
adequate way of salvation for all people, but it was particularly so for
women, in contrast to that provided by other schools of Buddhism. In
numerous letters he stressed the singularity of the unconditional and
universal compassion of Amida Buddha, which does not distinguish male and
female, while also highlighting the negative attitude of general Buddhism
toward the salvation of women.
With his clear
and forthright teaching, Rennyo's popularity grew to such an extent that
great throngs of priests and lay people, men and women, journeyed to
Yoshizaki from the various provinces. Because of the large numbers of
pilgrims, he questioned their motivation and eventually even prohibited
people from coming. Particularly, Rennyo continued to hold a great
attraction for women. In one of his letters he recalls a report about some
"women of distinction" who were drawn to his center at Yoshizaki,
because of its great popularity among priests and lay people. These women
especially desired to hear the teaching because they "suffer the
bodily existence of women, wretched with the burden of deep and heavy evil
karma." They found the teaching "suited to (their) innate
capacity" and declared their trust in Amida (Gobunsho
I-7)[2].
Unlike
Shinran and other scholarly founders or teachers in Buddhism, Rennyo did
not write complex treatises or commentaries. Rather, he addressed his
followers in ordinary language in the form of letters as his major means
of communication and propagation. These letters are our primary source for
understanding his views. Their wide circulation and esteem have
established them as authoritative and sacred in Shin Buddhist tradition.
They are significant, therefore, for the consideration of the salvation of
women in Buddhism.
In order to
put Rennyo's thought into context and perspective, as well as to make
clear his distinctive contribution, this essay will briefly survey
Buddhist tradition and the Pure Land and Shin teaching which lie in the
background of his teaching.
I. The
View of Women in Buddhist Tradition: A Summary Perspective
Opinion has
been divided among students of Buddhism as to whether it teaches the
equality of men and women or whether it honors men and slights women.
There is no unified viewpoint among the vast quantity of Buddhist texts.
While it is said that Gautama Buddha taught the equality of all people and
rejected the idea of a superior class or caste, there are many instances
where it is taught that women are subordinate to men or have impediments
and are viewed as inferior to men.
A. Early
Buddhism
In
early Buddhist texts, it is clear that women could gain nirvâna equally
with men. An early saying states:
Whoever has such a vehicle, whether
a woman or a man,
Shall indeed, by means of that vehicle,
Come to Nirvâna.[3]
However,
when it came to establishing an order of nuns, there are traditions which
indicate that the Buddha at first refused the pleas of his aunt and foster-mother,
Mahâprajâpati, to permit the entry of women into the order, because it
would bring about its eventual decline. However, Gautama finally gave in
to her request. It is to be noted that the issue did not hinge on the
spiritual capacity of the women but on the possibility of corruption of
the order, resulting from the interaction of men and women. Nonetheless,
the historicity of this account has been questioned.
Once women
were admitted, the number of disciplinary rules which women had to follow
were enlarged from about 250 for men to 348 for women, of which, eight,
attributed to the Buddha, maintained male dominance. The historicity of
these eight rules has also been questioned, but their effect was to
subordinate women in later Buddhist history. Possibly the rules were
intended to protect the nuns, as well as subordinate them to the monks.
Evidence for
misogyny can be found in early traditions such as the statement ascribed
to Buddha that "womenfolk are
uncontrollable...envious...greedy...weak in wisdom...A woman's heart is
haunted by stinginess...jealousy...sensuality." (Anguttaranikâya
iv. 8, 10).[4]
Rita Gross suggests that the negative attitudes towards women were
occasioned partly by the exigencies of celibacy, requiring avoidance of
temptation, as well as stereo-typical views of women in ancient Indian
society.[5]
B. Mahâyâna
Buddhism
When Mahâyâna
Buddhism emerged there appears to have been a stronger effort to challenge
the abilities of women, by asserting their inferiority. Further, the
spiritual goal was not just to attain nirvâna as affirmed in the earlier
tradition, but now also to attain enlightenment or Buddhahood. The idea
that a Buddha could only be male came to be widely accepted. As the figure
of the Buddha became more divinized and mythological, the Indian concept
of the 32 major marks of a great man and 80 minor marks were applied to
Buddha. One of these 32 marks was the possession of the male genital
organ, described as recessed as in a horse or hidden in a sheath.
Consequently, to become a Buddha one clearly had to be a male.[6]
In addition,
probably around the first century B.C.E., under the influence of Hindu
culture and its patriarchal orientation, symbolized by the symbol of the
Mahâpurusha, the Great Man, the belief took deep root that women were
spiritually limited and could not attain to the highest spiritual status
because of the nature of their bodies. A woman could not become a Brahmâ
god, Indra,[7]
Chakravartin (Great Wheel-rolling King), King of demons, or a Buddha.
These became known as the five obstacles or limitations that women faced.
Important here
is the fact that according to this formulation, a woman-as-woman could not
attain Buddhahood. In addition, the Indian Laws of Manu
and also traditional Confucianism stipulated that a woman must observe
three subordinations, to father, husband and sons. These relationships are
the mark of women's dependency in society and hence, her inability to act
on her own.
There are
numerous statements throughout Mahâyâna Buddhist literature expressing
negative and misogynistic disapproval of women as impediments to the
practice of monks. Some texts hold that being born female is the result of
bad karma and that they are generally spiritually inferior to men.[8]
The
denigration of women appears in numerous Mahâyâna texts which stress the
danger of women for the spiritual progress of monks. Although the Nirvâna
Sûtra is best known for its assertion that all
beings possess Buddha nature, it also declares that all the passions of
the men in the three thousand worlds altogether are equivalent to the
karmic obstacles [to becoming a Buddha] of one woman. Further, it states
that a woman is the great king of demons, completely devouring all men. In
the present age, they are [like] entangling shackles and in the afterlife
they are vengeful enemies. According to the Shinjikangyô,
even though the eyes of all the Buddhas of the three ages fall and decay
on the great earth, all the women in the dharmadhâtu (cosmos)
eternally have no aspiration to attain Buddhahood. The Yûten-ôkyô
depicts women as one of the most evil difficulties. Binding men, she drags
them into the gates of retribution.
The Hoshaku-kyô
states that if a man looks on a woman once, he loses completely his eye of
virtue. Even though one may look on a great snake, one should not look on
a woman. The Agon-kyô says that if a man
looks on a woman even once, he will be bound by the karma of the three
evil paths eternally; how much more if he violates (the precept of sexual
chastity), he will surely fall into eternal hell. According to the Chido-ron,
though the cool breeze has no color, still one can grasp it. Even though a
pit viper contains poison, one can touch it. One can face an enemy holding
a sword and still win. (However,) it is difficult to prevent a woman
robber from injuring a man. Finally, the Yuishiki-ron
states that a woman is a messenger of hell. She eternally cuts the seed of
Buddhahood. Outwardly, her face resembles a bodhisattva but inwardly her
mind is like a yaksha (a demon).[9]
From these few indications, we can readily see that women were regarded as
threats to the spiritual life of monks. As a result of such negative
attitudes women were to be despised and avoided.
Despite the
widespread currency of the concepts of five obstacles, the three
subordinations and generally negative evaluations of women, some positive
views of women also appear in Mahâyâna sûtras. The earliest expressions
of women attaining Buddhahood are found in the Lotus Sûtra,
the Larger Pure Land Sûtra and the Perfection
of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines, based on the idea of
transformation from female to male. [see discussion below]. The Vimalakîrti
Sûtra depicts a conversation between Sâriputra
and a female deity in which she transforms him to a female, taking his
form. The implication of the story, based on the teaching of emptiness, is
that external, physical forms are part of the world of delusion.
Potentiality for enlightenment is not determined by whether one is
physically male or female. The Queen Srîmâlâ Sûtra
narrates a conversation between the Buddha and the Queen. After she
expounds the Dharma to the Buddha, he indicates his pleasure with her
understanding of the teaching and her profound wisdom and enlightenment.
C. Japanese
Buddhism
In order to
provide an historical background for Pure Land Buddhist teaching on the
salvation of women in the
Pure
Land
thought in
Japan
, we shall summarize the position of women in
Japanese Buddhism prior to the emergence of the
Kamakura
teachers and particularly Hônen, Shinran,
Zonkaku and Rennyo in the
Pure
Land
tradition. Consideration of these developments is
important to deal with the criticism of Kasahara Kazuo by scholars.
Kasahara, in his work, Nyonin-ôjô-shisô-no-keifu[10],
emphasizes the achievements of the
Kamakura
teachers to the neglect of earlier precedents of the mention of salvation
of women, while clarifying the contribution of Rennyo in particular.
In the case of
Japan
, women appear to have been among the first Buddhist clergy,[11]
and early functioned in the official national temples (kokubun-ji,
kokubun-niji) on an equal basis. However, changes in the status of
nuns took place between the 7th and the 9th centuries as their position
declined. According to Taira Masayuki, the discrimination against women
began from the ninth century. He attributes this to the patriarchalism of
the earlier ritsuryô state (centralized government based on legal
codes) which took root among the aristocracy and brought about the decline
in the political status of women. As a result of various changes in
society, there was an increase in superstitious beliefs in evil spirits (goryô)
and magical practices such as exorcism, yin-yang divination,
geomancy, astrology and tantric rites accompanied by an increase in the
consciousness of pollution among the nobility who were centered in the
capital, Heiankyo (
Kyoto
), where corrupt monks and animal slaughterers appeared.[12]
There was a political connection in protecting imperial authority from
disasters and calamities.
The female menstrual cycle and the
physiology of pregnancy stimulated a greater awareness of pollution. These
temporary periods of pollution were defined as defilement and later joined
with the idea that being a woman was the result of evil karma. The
Buddhist expression of discrimination toward women, represented by the
concept of the five obstacles as a symbol of the evil karma of women,
combined with the periods of temporary pollution of women. Consequently,
the existence of woman came to be viewed as a source of pollution and the
basis for their exclusion from sacred precincts such as
Mount
Hiei
, the Shingon monastery on Kôyasan, Kinpusan, Kasagi-dera and Tôdaiji.[13]
The social background of this
development, according to Taira, is to be found in mountain worship and
the urbanization that accompanied the establishment of
Kyoto
. The towns were vulnerable to nature and the spread of epidemics. To try
to mitigate these problems, healers and shamans subjected themselves to
the ferocity of nature on behalf of the townspeople. The shamans and
healers had to be pure and master magical power within the purity of
nature in order to thus protect the community from catastrophe. With the
growth of this concept the maintenance of purity required the exclusion of
women from such important sanctuaries, a practice peculiar to
Japan
.[14]
According to Matsuo Kenji, however,
Kasahara Kazuo in his study of the relationship between the old Buddhism
and Kamakura Buddhism on the issue of the salvation of women overlooked
the deliverance of women taught by monks who retired from the world such
as Myôe (1173-1232) and Neo-shingon Vinaya monks such as Eison (1201-1290).
Eison gave bodhisattva precepts to women for their salvation. For example,
he gave the precepts to the widow of a former official of Settsu, Jô-amidabutsu
who donated a copy of the canon to Saidaiji.
The Neo-shingon Vinaya monks
recognized the rebirth of women and constructed an ordination platform at
Hokkedera which permitted them to become regular nuns. This possibility
was open to all women believers.[15]
In Eison's community, through the ritual of denbô-kanjô (The
Dharma-transmission abhiseka [a type of baptism through sprinkling
water based on the Dainichi Sûtra]), women were
cleansed of the five obstacles and could become recognized as bodhisattvas
and Buddhas on the eight-petal lotus seat, symbolic of Mount Sumeru in
Buddhist mythology. However, those who underwent this process were the
elite among the elite.
The review of
Eison is intended to show that the popular Buddhist teachers such as Hônen,
Shinran, Nichiren and Dôgen were not alone in their concern for the
deliverance of women. Nevertheless, it does appear that the popular
teachers of
Kamakura
are significant in bringing the message of
deliverance to ordinary women who were unable to participate in the
elaborate ceremonies of the monasteries which were redoubts of the
aristocracy generally. In the
Kamakura
period, the teachers presupposed the teaching of
five obstacles and the sinfulness of women. However, women could attain
rebirth in the
Pure
Land
and eventually Buddhahood through transformation
to a male, based on the Lotus or the Pure
Land Sûtras. However, it was not merely a
doctrinal problem for them, but they taught with the aim of saving
ordinary women in society. Something more simple and direct was required.
II. The
Salvation of Women in Pure Land Tradition
According to
Rita Gross, "the most famous and important solution to the problem of
female birth is found in the Sukhâvatîvyûha Sûtra
[Larger Pure Land Sûtra], in connection
with Amitâbha's Pure Land." In the Pure Land Sûtras, however, we
are told that there are no women in the
Pure
Land
which is a natural outcome of the fact that going
to the
Pure
Land
was in order to gain enlightenment and Buddhahood
which women could not attain as women.
Some
scholars suggest that the principle of transformation of women into men as
a prerequisite for birth into the
Pure
Land
was a means to reconcile the views of those who held to the equality of
men and women in gaining enlightenment and those who maintained that there
are only men in the
Pure
Land
. Transformation was viewed as a way to compensate for the idea of the
five obstacles and allow women in some way to become Buddhas. This
solution permeated Buddhism. However, Minamoto Junko calls this attaining
Buddhahood with conditions or conditional Buddhahood and therefore,
discriminatory.[16]
Accordingly,
the Dai-amida-kyô and the 35th Vow of
Amida Buddha in the Larger Pure Land Sûtra
[Daimuryôjukyô]) declares that for a
woman to gain birth in the Pure Land, she must despise her female body and
transform to a male before rebirth in the Pure Land can take place. The
35th Vow of Amida Buddha in the Larger Pure Land Sûtra
reads:
(35) May I
not gain possession of perfect awakening if, once I have attained
buddhahood, any woman in the measureless, inconceivable world systems of
all the buddhas in the ten regions of the universe, hears my name in this
life and single-mindedly, with joy, with confidence and gladness resolves
to attain awakening, and despises her female body, and still, when her
present life comes to an end, she is again reborn as a woman.[17]
In chapter 12
of the Lotus Sûtra,
we find a graphic description of the transformation of the Nâga Princess
as a result of her faith in Sakyamuni's teaching. She immediately became a
Buddha, much to the consternation and opposition of the older monks, by
acquiring male genitalia and going to her Buddha-land. Those monks invoked
the five obstacles as the reason she should not have become a Buddha. A
similar incident occurs in the Perfection of Wisdom Sûtra
concerning the prediction of buddhahood for the Goddess of the
Ganges
, though it not instantaneous as in the case of
the Lotus Sûtra.[18]
Although the
sûtras and the Vow appear to place a low evaluation on the feminine and
femininity, requiring it to be abandoned, later teachers maintained that
women were also embraced within the compassion of the Buddha and could
gain rebirth into the
Pure
Land
.
Among
Pure
Land
teachers who are prominent in Shinran's
Pure
Land
lineage, Vasubandhu in his Jôdoron
indicates that there are no women in the
Pure
Land
.[19]
It is possible to interpret his statement to mean that, within the Mahâyâna
gate, all who enter are ultimately equal, since no distinctions such as
man-woman, etc., are made there and the Land, being the perfection of
Amida Buddha's Vow to save all sentient beings, is therefore one of
"overall and undivided equality." However, the texts state that
only women must despise their female form and be transformed. The natural
reading of the sûtra text and Vasubandhu's statements would seem to
indicate that women cannot enter the
Pure
Land
as women, and therefore their rebirth is
conditional.
It is with
Shan-tao, however, that the Buddhahood of women is clearly engaged in
Pure
Land
tradition. In the Kannenbômon
Shan-tao quotes the 35th Vow and states that women who recite the Buddha's
name, will at the end of their lives transform from female bodies to male.
Taken by the hand by the Buddha and aided by bodhisattvas, they will sit
on jewelled lotuses and be reborn as Buddhas. If women do not depend on
the Vow power of the Buddha's Name, they cannot through countless aeons
attain the transformation of their female bodies. From Shan-tao's
viewpoint, it is wrong to deny that women can attain rebirth in the
Pure
Land
, since the Buddha and his Vows are the highest
promotive condition.[20]
Hônen
generally followed the teaching of Shan-tao, quoting this passage in his
writing Muryôjukyô-shaku, and also
proposed the deliverance of women.[21]
In this text he discusses the five obstacles and the various sacred
precincts in
Japan
which exclude women. He points out that women are
excluded from the five divine realms, described as the five obstacles. How
can women give rise to the thought of the
Pure
Land
of the Recompense Buddha? Women are despised in
all sûtras and treatises, and they are prohibited everywhere. He laments
how sad it is that even though women have two feet and eyes, they cannot
worship in such sacred places as
Mount
Hiei
,
Mount
Kôya
,
Mount
Kimpu
or Tôdaiji. He concludes with Shan-tao's
affirmation that women will be delivered through their recitation of
nembutsu, transformation to male, and reception into the
Pure
Land
by the Buddha.[22]
While the Muryôjukyô-shaku
is the major text of Hônen that addresses the issue of women in any
detail, we find some references in his Words to Zenshôbô[23]
and the Nembutsu-ôjô-yôgi-shû.[24]
To Zenshôbô he writes that if one recites the nembutsu through life,
they will surely be born into the
Pure
Land
as they are. We are what we are in this world
because of past karma. We cannot change that. A woman cannot become a man,
even if she desires it. A wise person is wise; a fool, a fool. Amida made
his Vow for all beings in the universe (jippô-shujô).
This passage suggests that everyone who devotes to the nembutsu are
accepted as they are by Amida without discrimination.
In the Nembutsu-ôjô-yôgi-shû,
Hônen compares Amida's path of salvation with others offered in such text
as the Lotus and Nirvâna Sûtras.
He declares that Amida's Vow is for people of the last age. It does not
consider whether one is a woman or how much passion or evil deeds one has
done. Amida intended it for all beings abandoned by other Buddhas. If
everyone, good or evil, male or female recites nembutsu, all will be born
into the Pure Land, ten out of ten, one hundred out of one hundred. The
Buddha does not distinguish those with the five major sins, or whether one
is a woman or an icchantika (a
person with no potentiality for Buddhahood). He will not reproach a woman
with five obstacles and three subordinations who practices nembutsu. It is
through the power of the nembutsu that the good or evil are saved. With
five thoughts, the five obstacles are erased; with three thoughts, the
three subordinations are abolished and with one thought they are welcomed
by the Buddha (raikô/raigô). This
last statement implies all are equal and that women as women can be born
into the
Pure
Land
. Transformation is not necessary.[25]
We can
observe Hônen's respect for women in his response to a letter from the
wife of Taishi Tarô Sanehide. Hônen explains to her in detail the way of
deliverance through the recitation of Amida's name with faith. According
to him, there is no superior or efficacious way for all people, men or
women, to gain rebirth in the
Pure
Land
. Hônen esteemed and recognized her intelligence by giving such a
thorough exposition of the teaching.
There is also
the legendary account of Hônen's compassionate dealing with a prostitute
whom he encountered on the way to exile. The story reflects the
compassionate attitude of the
Pure
Land
School
toward women entrapped in difficult life
conditions. In the story Hônen advocated that, if possible, the woman
should give up her profession, but if that were not possible, she should
entrust herself to the nembutsu for her ultimate deliverance. The
reference to the deliverance of women nuns in the famous Ichimaikishômon,
written shortly before his death, stresses the simple practice of nembutsu,
using the simple faith of a woman as a model.
Hônen was
clearly influenced by the stipulation of the 35th Vow concerning women and
Shan-tao 's teaching in the Kannenbômon.
He held out the hope that, through devotion to the nembutsu, all people,
men and women, will be met by a host of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who
accompany them to the
Pure
Land
where they inevitably become Buddhas. There is
also the hint that women as women enter the
Pure
Land
.
III. The
View of Women in Shin Buddhist Tradition
Shinran
had a great respect for women, particularly his wife Eshin-ni. This was
implied in his vision-dream where he was told that Kannon, the Bodhisattva
of Compassion, would transform to a woman and be his helpmate in his work
of propagating the teaching of the Primal Vow.
Minamoto Junko
points out that Shinran's view of the salvation of women is not broadly
speaking different from his view of humanity in general. He does not
distinguish men and women in his writings.[26]
Nevertheless, he mentions the five obstacles and the transformation of
women, based on the 35th Vow, noting its meaning in the Jôdo-wasan:
So profound is Amida's great
compassion
that, manifesting inconceivable Buddha-wisdom,
He established the Vow of transformation into men,
Thereby vowing to enable women to attain Buddhahood.[27]
As Minamoto points out,
Shinran tersely indicates that this is the meaning of the Vow. It does not
mean he accepted it in principle, since his notation is similar in
character to those made for the 19th and 20th Vows (verses #61 and #64
respectively) which he considered represented the self-power perspective
in Buddhism. In verse #58 he designated the 18th Vow as the Primal Vow
which was his main principle. Shinran does not specially focus on the
issue of women's rebirth, though he employs the term jôbutsu,
becoming Buddha, rather than simply ôjô,
or rebirth, in connection with the 35th Vow, signifying that women, like
men, become Buddhas.
Shinran
appears to assume the traditional view in his Hymns of the Pure
Land Masters (Kôsô-wasan)
where he states:
If women did not entrust themselves
to Amida's Name and Vow,
They would never become free of the five obstructions,
Even though they passed through myriad of kalpas;
How, then, would their existence as women be transformed?
This verse carries forward Shan-tao's
thought, highlighting the
transformation of the female into male, though making no mention of
despising her body or the meeting with the Buddha who accompanies the
person to the
Pure
Land
, an idea current in
Pure
Land
thought (raikô/raigô)
but set aside by Shinran.[28]
In his Nyûshutsu-nimon-geju[29]
Shinran summarizes Vasubandhu's statements in the Jôdoron
that women, disabled and people of the two vehicles (srâvakas
and pratyekabuddhas) are said not to
receive birth into the Pure Land. However, according to Shinran, they are
not so cast aside. Rather, they are saved through the perfection of the
karmic power of Dharmâkara's great Vow, and embraced by the virtuous
power of the enlightened Dharma-king Amida. The Tathâgata's saintly host
are produced from the blossoms of the true enlightenment of Bodhisattva
Dharmâkara. While all these beings originally have been classified
according to their degrees of virtue, in the
Pure
Land
there is no difference of higher or lower. For
all alike there is no other way than the nembutsu. Like the Tzu and Sheng
rivers (in present day Shan-tung province), they become one taste entering
the sea.
In the Kyôgyôshinshô,
Volume on the Transformed Buddha-land, Shinran quotes a passage from the Sun-Matrix-Sûtra
(Nichizôkyô).[30]
This passage recounts the story of a mâra
(demon) woman who raised aspiration for enlightenment (bodhi
mind) as a result of her past good roots. She
announces to her father that the Tathâgata has opened the way to nirvâna
and she desires to be like the Buddha in liberating all sentient beings
from their sufferings. The story indicates that 500 mâra
women, including her sisters and other relatives, followed her with the
certitude that they would attain supreme enlightenment.
This passage
shows that women, even mâra women,
are equally embraced by the Dharma. Hence, Shinran in such instances
affirms the complete equality of women in attaining liberation.[31]
In the Faith Volume, he quotes at length the Nirvâna Sûtra,
relating the story of the evil king Ajâtasatru. The Buddha declares that
his words are the highest truth and through the various teachings, men and
women, young and old, all alike, gain the highest truth, nirvâna.[32]
These
passages, quoted by Shinran, suggest that there is no discrimination in
the attainment of Buddhahood, and no mention is made of the transformation
to male. Perhaps with these passages in mind, Shinran maintained there is
no distinction between male and female in the great sea of faith:
In
reflecting on the ocean of great shinjin, I realize that there is no
discrimination between noble and humble or black-robed monks and white-clothed
laity, no differentiation between man and woman,
old and young. The amount of evil one has committed is not considered, the
duration of any performance of religious practices is of no concern...It
is simply shinjin that is inconceivable, inexplicable and indescribable.
It is like the medicine that eradicates all poisons. The medicine of the
Tathâgata's Vow destroys the poisons of our wisdom and foolishness.[33]
Fukuhara
Rengetsu points out that Shinran, based on the Nirvâna
Sûtra, refers to the principle that all beings
possess Buddha-nature in the Kyôgyôshinshô:
once in the Practice volume, three times in the Faith volume, and four
times in the True Buddha-land volume. The term Buddha-nature appears some
43 times, signifying that for Shinran the Pure Land tradition, as well as
the Saintly Path tradition viewed women as equal to men. Further, the term
"all beings of the universe" of the 18th Vow and "all
beings" in the Fulfillment text of the Vow imply the equality of men
and women in salvation.[34]
We may
conclude that while Shinran recognized the traditional view of women in
Pure
Land
teaching, he also employed passages which express a broader perspective,
leaving aside the stipulation concerning the transformation of women and
making clear the complete equality and nondiscrimination of women in
deliverance. Despite Shinran's historically conditioned acceptance of the
35th Vow in the
Kamakura
period, Minamoto holds that his essential message was to overcome the
discrimination of women within the feudal society. Shinran recognized the
discrimination as discrimination. However, in the logic of faith, he
transcended it in his effort to fulfill the ideal of universal salvation
intended by
Pure
Land
teaching.
Zonkaku (1290-1373),
the son of the third abbot Kakunyo (1270-1351) of the Honganji, devoted a
short text on the rebirth of women, the Nyonin-ôjô-kikigaki[35]
[Notes on the Rebirth of Women] in which he
discusses the perceived disparity between the 18th Vow of Amida Buddha and
the 35th Vow. According to the 18th Vow, the path of deliverance is all-inclusive,
because it refers to all beings (jippô shujô).
However, the 35th Vow especially declares the deliverance of women. Why
should a special Vow be needed for women who are covered by the 18th Vow?
Zonkaku responds to this issue, indicating that the 18th Vow is all-inclusive
because of the Buddha's boundless compassion. Nevertheless, because women
have many obstacles and are deeply defiled, the 35th Vow was necessary to
make clear their inclusion.
When
questioned about proof for this deep defilement, Zonkaku appeals to
various sutras and treatises which denigrate the character of women. These
references have been summarized above by Prof. Kasahara. If women hear
such criticisms, they would be humbled and lose hope for their
deliverance. Therefore, the 35th Vow was needed. They should loathe their
deep defilements, and even though they do not commit great sins openly,
through their constant thoughts and actions, they produce evil karma. They
are always the cause of evil. He describes how morning and evening they
sit in front of mirrors putting on make up and perfuming their clothing.
Their thoughts are in bondage to desire and they indulge in envy.
Smoothing their hair and adorning themselves, they are agents of
transmigration and the source of samsâra.
If they do not change and practice the Buddha-dharma, how can they escape
evil paths? It is said that wherever there are women, there is hell. How
much more they have the five obstacles and three subordinations!
Zonkaku
relates the meaning of the five obstacles and the three submissions. In
the words of Rakuten: "When born as a human being, do not become a
woman. One's pleasure and suffering depend on other people." Also,
not depending on their own mind, they appear to follow people throughout
their lives. On account of transmigration through the twelve links and
with the three submissions as the condition, they are not born in the
Buddha lands of the 10 directions. Because of (their being) the source of
the 108 passions and with the five obstacles as the cause, they are
despised by the 80,000 sacred teachings.
In order to
support the principle that women can attain rebirth in the
Pure
Land
, despite these criticisms, Zonkaku depends
heavily on Hônen's work in the Daikyô-shaku
(Muryôjukyô-shaku [Interpretation
of the Larger Pure Land Sûtra] which we discussed
above. The compassionate heart of the Buddha in the 35th Vow, however, is
to take away the suffering of women and give them bliss.
Zonkaku then
calls attention to Shinran's wasans which interpret the Vow and declare
that women attain the highest fruition of all-virtuous Buddhahood through
the Vow of transforming their bodies. He narrates an incident in which Hônen
tells the women who came to visit him that they would have great
difficulty in countless aeons to transform their female bodies and become
Buddhas, if they do not go to the Pure Land relying on Amida's Vow. When
they meet the Vow and recite the Name with trust, when their breath ceases
and their eyes close, they will
transform, leaving the defiled world and entering the
Pure
Land
where they instantly attain rebirth in the land
of peace and sustenance and forever receiving infinite bliss. This is the
most joyful among the joyful, and it is said that those who heard him wept
tears of joy.
The Larger
Sûtra establishes the 35th Vow for the salvation
of women; the Sûtra of Contemplation makes
Queen Vaidehî the true object of deliverance and teaches the way to
rebirth through recitation of the nembutsu. The Amida Sûtra
addresses good men and women together as the persons of the nembutsu.
Generally, even though the compassion of the Buddha is conferred on all
sentient beings, he gives priority to women. The multitudes of the ten
directions are the objects (ki) and
conditions (en) of the
Pure
Land
; women are fundamental (hon).
Therefore, in
India
,
China
and in
Japan
, women who think on Amida attain rebirth and
become non-retrogressive Bodhisattvas. According to Zonkaku, there are
untold numbers of biographical records (perhaps referring to the ancient
stories of rebirth, ôjô-den). Therefore,
people, who desire to change their bodies and surely attain the Buddha
way, must earnestly trust in the Vow that transcends the world and recite
the name of Amida.
We can
observe that in order to promote
Pure
Land
teaching Zonkaku employed traditional social stereotypes of women and
their religious discrimination by major Buddhist institutions as a means
to highlight the distinctiveness and primary function of the 35th Vow in
ensuring their deliverance. Though he affirms the principle of
transformation, Zonkaku shows that women have priority in the three Pure
Land Sûtras, each of which affirms their rebirth.0 He ends his text with
a plea that women should rely on the Primal Vow which transcends the world
and singleheartedly recite the name of Amida Buddha. Zonkaku's thought is
heavily dependent on Hônen. However, his conclusion is particularly
important in stressing the primacy of women in the process of deliverance
established by Amida, because it demonstrates the inclusiveness and truth
of
Pure
Land
way of deliverance through nembutsu.
V. Rennyo
and the Deliverance of Women
Rennyo also
followed the lead of Zonkaku. However, Rennyo is distinctive for the
frequency with which he mentions the salvation of women in his letters.
Rennyo had a great many women in his following and he shows great sympathy
for them, perhaps, as a consequence of the loss of his mother, deaths of
four wives and the fact that he had 14 daughters, six of whom died at a
young age.
The Muromachi
period was characterized by a strict status system in society and the
family. Absolute submission to superiors generally was the principle in
the family, leaving women in a particularly subordinate position. However,
the situation gradually changed together as the economy and production
developed, leading to both the husband and the wife doing similar work.
With greater economic independence there was a tendency for women
naturally to participate in religious awakening and to seek to renew their
minds.
This situation is reflected in the kyôgen
story Yome-odoshi-no-kimen (Demon
Mask for Threatening the Daughter-in-law) in which
a bride who was devoted to Rennyo and Shin teaching attended the temple to
receive instruction. However, she was subjected to the jealousy and wrath
of her mother-in-law who tried to prevent the daughter from going to the
temple by putting on a demon mask to frighten her when she went to the
temple. However, the wife, when confronted by the demon who threatened to
devour her, held fast to her faith, without moving and saying nembutsu in
gassho. She countered that the demon should not eat a person of faith. She
represents the ideal woman follower who has personally chosen her faith,
perhaps in face of family opposition, and who overcomes problems through
nembutsu.
However,
when the mother tried later to get the mask off, she could not remove it.
The daughter took her to Rennyo and upon hearing the teaching the mask
dropped off. The play became very popular in Yoshizaki and the
northern provinces
where Shin Buddhism flourished, because it reflected problems in society
and also the Shin ideal that faith transformed the mother's attitudes,
enabling the family to live together harmoniously.[36]
When we come
to consider Rennyo's view of the rebirth of women, we should note that he
refers to women in various contexts in 58 letters out of 212 considered
authentic. In the central collection of eighty letters fifteen letters
take up the issue. Women are referred to in some term in forty three
places. There are nine passages in which he refers to "women with
five obstacles and three subordinations."[37]
It is clear that in comparison to Zonkaku, despite his text devoted to
this issue, and the brief mentions by Shinran, it was of greater interest
and concern for Rennyo. In this section we will discuss the background of
Rennyo's life which might account for his engagement with this issue and
the teaching which he offers.
A. The
Background of Rennyo's Concern for Women
Rennyo's
experiences with poverty and grief gave him a strong sense of connection
with the common people in all walks of life and especially with women who
formed a major element of his following. Here we shall survey important
aspects of his life which undoubtedly shaped his attitudes and views.
According to Ohtani Koichi, almost every turn of Rennyo's life reflects
his memory and love for his mother.[38]
While
Rennyo's father, Zonnyo, was twenty years old and as yet unmarried, Rennyo
was born at the Otani Honganji in
Kyoto
in 1415. His mother was a nameless lowly servant woman. [According to
Otani Koichi, she came from either Bingo or Harima in western
Japan
(now
Okayama
,
Hiroshima
areas)]. When the time finally came for Zonnyo to assume the abbacy, the
family demanded that he marry a legal wife from a family of status.
Consequently, he married Nyoen (d.1460) who was related to the Ebina
family which served the Shogunate.
In what must
have been a sorrowful, though quiet, parting, Rennyo's mother had a
portrait of him drawn, known as the ka-no-ko-no-goei,
as a memento. It is said that Rennyo's later resolve to revitalize the
Honganji was inspired by his mother, who reminded him that he was a
descendant of Shinran as she left. Rennyo was only six years old at the
time. Despite his later efforts to locate her, he was unsuccessful. In his
enduring memory of his mother he designated the twenty-eighth day of the
month as her memorial to mark the day when she departed .
Rennyo's
relationship with his stepmother was difficult because she favored her own
son, Ogen, as the successor to Zonnyo and tried to put Rennyo into foster
care.[39]
Rennyo, however, worked intimately with his father for many years and
accompanied him on his preaching tours, as well as copying texts for
followers. However, Zonnyo apparently did not write a will which specified
Rennyo as his successor. Nyoen strove to have Ogen, her eldest son,
selected. Rennyo finally secured the position through the recommendation
of Zonnyo's younger brother Nyojô who asserted that because Rennyo had
worked closely with Zonnyo in his teaching and copying texts for nineteen
years, Rennyo should succeed him. His argument was successful whereupon
Nyoen and Ogen left the Honganji. According to Ohtani Koichi, the
influence of the memory of Rennyo's mother was an inspiration for his
interest in the salvation of women. He relates an incident that took place
when Rennyo was 35 years old on the seventh day of the seventh month, the
day of the Tanabata festival when, according to legend, the Star Weaver-maiden
(Vega in the Lyra constellation) and Star Herdsman (Altair in the Aquila
constellation) meet once a year. Rennyo's uncle Nyojô suddenly recalled
Rennyo's mother. In response, Rennyo composed a poem:
On the evening
The boy-star meets (his lover),
Alas, tear-soaked sleeves.
(author's rendition)
The poem suggests that while
the two lovers meet once a year, Rennyo is unable to meet his mother. On
that occasion he copied Zonkaku's Nyonin-ôjô-kikigaki
[Notes on the Rebirth of Women]. Further,
the women of low degree that he later met in his travels coincided with
the features of his mother, arousing strong sympathy for them. Perhaps, it
is a reflection of the low status of his mother that Rennyo to cast aside
any aristocratic tendencies that derived from his status as a descendant
of Shinran.
Against the
background of the experience of his mother, it is significant that Rennyo
had five wives in succession, never resorting to a concubine.[40]
However, he outlived four wives, and fathered 27 children of which 13 were
male and 14 were female. Commenting on the death of his third wife Nyoshô
who died soon after the birth of her daughter Myôshô (1477-1500), Rennyo
writes about her devotion to the teaching, her illness and the sorrow of
those who knew her."He closes his tribute to her by saying, 'She was
gentle and patient, and the same with everyone she met.'"[41]
In 1471 his first daughter Nyokei died at the age of 25. The fifth
daughter Myôi, age 11, in the same year (1471). In 1472 his second
daughter Kengyoku died at age 24, and in the same year Ryônin at age six.
His eldest son Junnyo died in 1483 at age 41, the seventh daughter Yûshin
in 1490 at age 33. Sixth daughter Nyokû died at age 30 in 1492.
The death of
Kengyoku, particularly, had a great impact on Rennyo. This daughter was
one of his early children whom he put in foster care because of his
poverty. She initially was sent to a Zen temple during the time of
Rennyo's dependency where, as a child, she served as a katsujiki,
announcing mealtimes. Later she entered the Shôju-an, a Jôdo-shû
temple, in Yoshida where she practiced under her great-aunt Kenshû, a nun
in the Jôke-in tradition, as did her sister Juson, the third daughter.
Before Kengyoku died, however, she returned to the Shin teaching of her
father and attained deep faith. He was overjoyed that she had attained
settled faith in her last days.[42]
Rennyo was
greatly pained by her death but yet rejoiced in her trust in Amida's Vow.
He related in a letter written shortly after her death that one of the
mourners had a dream in which he saw three lotus flowers emerge from the
smoke of cremation and among the flowers was a small golden Buddha from
which light shone. It soon became a butterfly and disappeared. This was
the form of Kengyoku going to Pure Land-Nirvana. The dream ended. It has
been suggested that it was really Rennyo who had the dream.[43]
In the same letter he also describes a mysterious event when she was being
cremated. It rained just before the cremation. At the time, everyone there
saw a five color cloud which moved over the moon and was a good omen that
she had attained rebirth in the
Pure
Land
. Rennyo declares that in her death and rebirth
Kengyoku was a Zenchishiki, a good
teacher, showing that men and women alike will by all means attain
rebirth, when they reach the one moment of settled faith and recite the
nembutsu completely in gratitude for the Buddha's benevolence.
The
loss of his mother, an unsympathetic stepmother, the loss of four wives
and several daughters, as well as the care for his children by others made
necessary by his poverty, would certainly have been a sufficient basis for
Rennyo's reflection and interest in the deliverance of women. Also many
women were among these devotees who travelled to his center at Yoshizaki
in the
northern province
of Echizen.
B. Doctrinal
Foundation of Rennyo's Thought on the Salvation of
Women
Rennyo's
approach to salvation follows the general line of Shinran. Accordingly,
through Amida's supreme Vows all beings are saved equally (Gobunsho
II-8). Amida Buddha, through his Vows, designed to save all beings, those
with the ten evils, five grave sins, dharma-slanderers and the icchantika
who lack the seed of Buddhahood. (III-1) There are no sins surpassing
these (Jôgai-gobunsho, 26).[44]
However, if such people convert, they will all be saved.
In Gobunsho
letter II-4 Rennyo declares that the Vow was made for those people of the
last age of the defiled world who do evil, are not good and whose evils
are deep and weighty. In interpreting settled faith, however, Rennyo
indicates that it does not require learning or wisdom and does not
discriminate between male or female, noble or humble, an equality
reminiscent of Shinran's delineation in the passage on the Great Sea of
Faith in the Kyôgyôshinshô. It requires
only that we recognize that we are "wretched beings of deep evil
karma." (Gobunsho II:13).
Among the
evil, immoral people who are objects of the Vow there are those who are
lost day and night through wretched evil karma whom Rennyo associates with
merchants, public service, and hunters. It is for these people that Amida
made his Vows (Gobunsho I-3). The Vow does
not require that they purify of their blind passions and thoughts. Only
firm faith in Amida's Vows is necessary. In Jôgai-gobunsho
3, Rennyo says that it makes no differences whether a duck's legs are
short or a crane's are long; one is saved in whatever condition of life
one is in.[45]
This accords with Shinran's view in Yuishinshô-mon'i.[46]
These passages recognize the various occupations as objects of Amida's
Vows and differ in characters from other categorizations, perhaps
reflecting the social evaluations of that age. Passages which emphasize
those with deep sins and heavy karma, do not specify what those sins are
as they are in the other formulations. Rather, they are forms of
expression and the content is probably the same. We may say that they
refer to the human condition as a whole. Shinran also uses such
generalized descriptions although Rennyo differs from Shinran at times in
giving more specific, concrete description of the human condition.
Within
the context of the universal salvation pledged by Amida's Vows, Rennyo
specially mentioned women as the object of salvation in response to those
Buddhist institutions which, as we have seen above, excluded women from
participation or even their presence in places certain monasteries.
Rennyo may
also have been influenced by the priority of the salvation of women
indicated in the Anjin-ketsujôshô which
he read and studied intensively. In the closing section of that text a
parable is given in which a village headman buried treasure in a muddy
field in order to protect his only daughter from being robbed of it by the
king and ministers of the country after he died. When they failed to find
the treasure and left, the daughter recovered it and went into business,
becoming richer than she had been previously. The retrieval of the
treasure is likened to practicing the nembutsu and confirmed faith which
enables a person to attain birth in the
Pure
Land
immediately. Wrapping the treasure in garbage and
placing it in the mud refers to defiled common mortals and impure, evil
women who are the true objects of the Buddha's salvation. Here men and
women are seen on the same level.
C. Women
as the Objects of Amida's Vows
Among Rennyo's
numerous mentions of the salvation of women, Gobunsho
letters I:10, II:1, IV:10, V:3, V:7, V:14, V:17, V:20 specifically take up
the issue. Letters in the Jôgai-gobunsho
collection are 88, 90, 102, 103. In his teaching, interest in the
salvation of women is comparatively high in contrast to Shinran who wrote
in a more general vein, referring to all beings or those not blessed in
society. From the standpoint of Buddhism, Shinran was concerned with
people as objects of propagation. Rennyo's interest in the salvation of
women is likewise an outgrowth of Shinran's perspective. However, Rennyo
made them a special object of his attention. Rennyo often refers to women
in his many letters, as well as addressing the wives (naihô)[47]
of the priests resident in Yoshizaki. At times he employs the technical
designation drawn from Buddhist tradition: "women with five obstacles
and three subordinations" together with the phrase "five major
sins and ten evils." As parallel references, the latter phrase
appears to describe men or bombu,
that is, common ordinary people. While Rennyo appears to distinguish
between men and women with specific definitions, Gobunsho
letter II-8 emphasizes the fact that all people, whatever their condition,
are equally saved through Amida's Vow. From the standpoint of deliverance
there is no real distinction to be made between male and female.
Consequently, the phrases are used to depict the profound evilness of both
men and women and perhaps to amplify the deep defilements of women
particularly in view of the traditional understanding of women in
Buddhism.
Rennyo
comments on the story of Dharmâkara Bodhisattva and the Primal Vow in the
Larger Sûtra in his Shôshinge-taii,
stating that "When we speak of Amida as Dharmâkara in the distant
past, he contemplated and revealed the easy dharma and vowed to guide both
those sinners with the ten evils, and five grave sins and women who have
five obstacles and three subordinations, none being left out, bringing
them all to rebirth in the Pure Land."[48]
Despite the great evil of men and women, they are equally the
concern of Amida Buddha. It is only through Other Power faith that they
can be reborn in the
Pure
Land
. (Gobunsho V-15).
Rennyo's
most common designation for women as the object of salvation is the
formula "five obstacles and three subordinations". Together with
those people who commit the ten evils and five major sins, they are people
who do evils or lack good in the last age (mappô)
and are embraced only by Amida's Vow. It is also interesting that women
replace the designations of dharma-slanderers and icchantika
who lack seeds of Buddhahood in alternative passages which list the
objects of Amida's salvation. By traditional Buddhist definition, women as
women, as well as icchantika lack
the potentiality to become Buddha. This substitution suggests that women
possess the deepest sins. Nevertheless, women are in the same position as
men with respect to Amida's Vows.
In his own characterization
of women, Rennyo indicates that women exceed men in their defilement, and
they are liable to fall into eternal hell (Jôgai-gobunsho
27[49];
Gobunsho V-7). He writes: "We must
realize that unbeknownst to others, all women have deep evil karma;
whether of noble or humble birth, they are wretched beings..."(Gobunsho
V-14; Jôgai-gobunsho, 102).[50]
Even though a woman may have a sincere mind, she is full of doubts (Gobunsho
II:1). It is difficult to rid oneself of abominable thoughts.[51]
He calls
particular attention to the worldliness of women who are concerned with
their families to the exclusion of spiritual matters. Women make an excuse
of their children and grandchildren. Being occupied so much only with this
life, they do not give any attention to the fact that they will be drowned
in the evil three paths and eight difficulties, though they know the
uncertainties of youth and old age. It is wretched and foolish to follow
the world, living vainly, according to Rennyo (Gobunsho
II:1).
Rennyo
indicates that women who singleheartedly and earnestly take refuge in
Amida's Vow should give up mixed practices and praying to other gods. They
can only be saved through Amida Buddha (Gobunsho
IV:10). They are to consider themselves as evil persons who trust in the
wondrous Buddha-wisdom of the Primal Vow made for such superficial women,
described in another edition of the letter as people who deeply doubt and
think abominable things and are devoted to children and prosperity.[52]
They are to trust Amida Buddha singleheartedly, reciting the
nembutsu in gratitude. With settled faith, these women are assured of
their rebirth into the
Pure
Land
and their becoming a Buddha.
The Buddhas of
the universe, however, do not have the aim to make women Buddhas and they
have abandoned them. Amida alone has such a purpose (Gobunsho
V:7). The 35th Vow was made expressly for such women (Gobunsho
I:10). Rennyo made it clear that the universality of the 18th Vow included
men and women as the objects of the Vow. However, women are not merely
evil beings, but exceed men in sinfulness. For such women who have no way
of salvation in this latter age, Amida especially made the 35th Vow,
according to Rennyo, with the thought: "If I do not save women, which
of the other buddhas will save them?" (Gobunsho
V:20). Women knowing "that they are evil and worthless
beings...should be deeply moved to turn and enter [the mind of] the Tathâgata.
Then they will realize that their entrusting [of themselves] and their
mindfulness [of Amida] are both brought about through Amida Tathâgata's
compassionate means." (Gobunsho II:1).
Rennyo does not say directly that women are the true object of Amida's Vow
(nyonin-shôki as against akunin-shôki),
but his expression implies it.
Rennyo never
characterizes women in the negative terms of earlier Buddhist texts, which
suggest that women are full of envy or vain and obstacles to men on the
path to enlightenment. Rather, he counsels women, that, despite their
great evils, "they should not be concerned about the depth and weight
of their evil karma," since it is through their faith and Other Power
that they are delivered (Gobunsho
V:15). Clearly, the institution of married clergy in Shin Buddhism where
wives became helpmates rendered such descriptions inappropriate and
useless.
We
might, however, question why Rennyo distinguishes women apart from the
general run of common mortals as beings with five obstacles and three
subordinations, and describes them as exceeding men in sinfulness. Also
why should the given social situation of three subordinations be a mark of
the defilement or evil in women? The answer may be found in the context of
patriarchal society. In such a society it was the general consensus of
Buddhist tradition that birth as a woman was a misfortune and evidence of
evil karma. It would take several lives for women to be reborn as men and
from there to pursue the goal of enlightenment. Hence, women have
additional obstacles to overcome in contrast to men.
Rennyo does
not question these assumptions, but uses them adroitly to highlight the
supremacy of the Primal Vow, without which there would be no hope for men
or women who share equally the evils of existence. His use of traditional
terminology may simply be a means of showing that he understands their
peculiar problem in Buddhism. He believes that all are common ordinary
people (bombu) standing in need of
compassion, though women are the most clear illustration of Amida Buddha's
capacity to save. He stresses that other Buddhas either do not have the
power to save or have abandoned women. Rennyo could appeal to women's
inner sense of fairness that Amida Buddha particularly worked on their
behalf.
Rennyo, as
other previous teachers, assumes the traditional view of the 35th Vow
which was specifically made to relieve the doubts of women concerning
their rebirth, but he only once refers to the idea of transformation from
female to male, which is a major element of that Vow.[53]
That he does not stress this concept could encourage women to
believe that they were to be reborn as they are, and it is more likely,
since Jôdo Shinshû does not hold to the idea of the Buddha coming to
meet believers to welcome them to the Pure Land (raikô/raigô)
which would require the transformation of women before their entry into
the Pure Land. In the Sammonto tradition of Shin Buddhism taught by Nyodô
(1253-1340), it is clearly stated that women enter the
Pure
Land
as women. Nyodô writes:
The layman,
even as a layman, can attain birth in the
Pure
Land
if he chants [the nembutsu]; the woman, even as
woman, will be ushered into the
Pure
Land
(raikô) [sic]
if she chants [the nembutsu]. Since
no distinction whatsoever is made in it as to the purity or impurity of
one's body, it is the practice [to be followed] whenever one is walking,
standing, sitting or lying.[54]
Women who have
attained shinjin
are in the state of the company of the truly assured (shôjôju),
destined for nirvâna, and have the position equal to enlightenment and to
Maitreya. These are all conditions which Shinran declared were signs of
the immediacy of the assurance of deliverance given in this life (later
termed heizei-gôjô, signifying
that the karma for rebirth is completed in this life) in the one moment of
the arising of trust and negating the need for the welcome of the Buddha
or raikô/raigô doctrine prominent
in Pure Land teaching as the means of assuring rebirth in the Pure Land.
The message
related above is essentially what Rennyo gave to all people he met, but
when he takes special note of women, he suggests that he respects them
greatly and particularly wished to encourage them. They are not obstacles,
but objects of Buddha's compassion. He was more interested in offering
hope and assurance than he was in denying women their femininity or
existence as women.
Rennyo's most
striking ideas relate to the relationship of the gods and Buddhas to the
salvation of women. On the one hand, he indicates that in the age of mappô,
the last age in the demise of the Dharma, the gods and Buddhas have no
power to deliver evil men or women, while Amida Buddha's Vows are superior
to them (Gobunsho V:4, V:7 III:5). On the
other hand, he strikingly asserts several times that all the gods and
Buddhas have abandoned women (Gobunsho
I:10, II:8; V:20). Amida Buddha's Vows alone liberate them.
The idea of
abandonment by all the Buddhas is found in Hônen's Nembutsu-ôjô-yôgi-shô.
He states:
Amida Buddha
established his Primal Vow to save us beings of the last days, so we ought
to settle our birth at this time when the benefit of the Vow is at work.
Do not think "I will not be saved because I am a woman", or
"because I am a being filled with evil passions.&qu
