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Fushidansekkyo-theme Pages
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This is an English rendering (word-for-word translation) of a part of my master's thesis, "Kokan no Shukyosei —Fushidansekkyo nitsuite" ["The Religion of Kokan: On Fushidansekkyo"] which I submitted on finishing my master's course in Study of Religion at Taisho University in Tokyo, Japan in December, 1996 and by which I earned an MA on the 15th of March, 1997. Thesis Adviser and Chief Examiner: Rev. Dr. Masao Fujii (Study of Religion). Thesis Adviser and Second Examiner: Rev. Prof. Daiji Yamanoi (Study of Religion). 
About Me
I will try to translate the whole of my master thesis in the future.
I have never majored in English literature, but I am setting out to have a faithful translation (a literal rendering) of my original Japanese papers with my English dictionaries. I can assert with probability that I may have committed many faults in English grammar. If you are kind enough to point out my grammatical mistakes and other English errors, I shall be most grateful to you.
(a) Hans Mol, Identity and the Sacred: A Sketch for a New Socialscientific Theory of Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 1976), p.1.(3) George Steiner, Tetsuo Kishi and Akio Hachiya trs., The Death of Tragedy (Japan: Chikuma Shobo, 1979), p. 241.
Peter. L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, Setsuo Yamaguchi tr., The Social Construction of Reality (Japan: Shinyo Sha, 1977), p. 170. [Peter. L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality (New York: Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1966), p. 100.]
, vol. 29 ("Ongeishi 
" 7). As this "Ongeishi" is an interesting piece of material in the study of Japanese medieval sermon, I will cite the passages relevant to two subjects, 'Shodo [Propagandism]' and 'Nembutsu,' below.
What we can say from hence is that as long as we treat the point of contact between the ideas and the populace as an issue of reception, to take the point of contact between them will be,(10) Sekiyama, op. cit., p. 74.
1. The reasoning of the ideas is a popular sensibility itself
or
2. Whether or not the ideas became transformed by the popular sensibility
is to come under intense scrutiny.
2 is, no matter its own circumstances, the incidental for 'the true nature of the ideas' [emphatic sidedots by Usui in his original Japanese text]. And there emerges as an historical issue how the ideas in the sense of an individual ideology were, according to the situation at the time, transformed into a collective ideology.
1 is how a folk-mannered collective ideology of the people was ideated. We might to say that these ideas are the ad rem ideas that strike the essence of the people on a portion of the remaining rooted in the people deeply. That portion is, however, that which to be called 'the negative part of the people' [emphatic sidedots by Usui in his original Japanese text], and it is not the total nature of the people. The essence of the ideas is the blind affirmation in a certain realm of popular sensibility that has no other choice than to appear in the form of concealing the acknowledgment of the reality.
If we are to look upon the point of contact between the ideas and the populace in terms of reception, all boil down to taking up the two issues mentioned above.
[True Entrusting] is misinterpreted.
) which Shinran transcribed and handed to his disciple in the Kanto region. In this Ichinen Tanen Moni, Shinran elucidates that one should not lean too much either on Ichinen or on Tanen.
Seikaku inculcates as follows.
(a free translation) Shinjin is to believe in what he says with all your heart and soul. For example, the person, whom you trust straightforwardly and profoundly, had told you about what he saw, saying that there stood a mountain and there ran a river. You had heard what he said and believed it. And then, another person told you that what he had said to you was nonsense, saying that there was neither mountain nor river. But, even though several thousand persons told you so, you would not take their words and would rely upon that which you initially heard, because that was what you heard him say, who is the last person to tell a lie. I call this Shinjin.(16) "Yuishinshomoni" in Ishida nn., op. cit., pp. 259-285.
hymns of Shiran are composed in the form of one work based upon four phrases as a unit and with dozens of works deliver one subject matter. And it is written in a particular alignment with setting its header up from other three phrases about one letter because the opening phrase is the phrase for tuning the voice in the vocal attack. Wasan of Shiran has, in after ages, had a great bearing upon Fushidansekkyo 
which is uniquely Shin Buddhist and which appeals to feelings and makes the most of the rhythm in seven-and-five syllable meter [5-7-5]. Although it is conceivable that the recitation of Shinran's Wasan had been giving early on, yet it was after the publication of the "four fascicles" in Bunmei 5 (1473) by Rennyo 
, which Rennyo added Shoshinge 
[the Hymn of True Faith] to Sanjo Wasan 
[three major collections of wasan], that it became pervasive, and after having entered into the modern age there was a tremendous amount of adopted Wasan in Fushidansekkyo. That Shoshinge Wasan 
(what is compiled as one copy into which the foregoing "four fascicles" were put together) is supplemented with the tune score called "Fushihakase 
." When Wasan is being recited from the score and while it is carefully being intoned, there comes to appear "Jodo Shin Shu Densho On" [Shin denomination's traditional sound]. On that, Seiya Fukunaga fully expounds in his Jodo Shin shu Densho On no Kenkyu —Muromachi jidai Onin Shiryo toshite [The Study on the Traditional Sound of the Jodo Shin denomination: As a Phonological Material of the Muromachi period] (Japan: Kazama Shobo, 1963).
One can argue that Shinran's Mon was Mon to discern the sound which the word encompasses therein. When he read in the sacred writings, he aurally comprehend the sound of the words and the sense of language. In a manner, in hearing the pathos of the word he seems to have had an exceptional ability, but then again, he struggled to perceive it. Accordingly, his Mon was not an intellectual comprehension, he applied it onto himself and listened to its sound ringing in his heart. It was, so to speak, the way of getting the feel of the language, and he was perceiving a sensation of sound in a word from the Hongwan and the scriptures. Although such a way of hearing and reading is, in some cases, regarded as a far-fetched way, yet It would appear that it came as a result of his sensing what had to be read in that manner to him. And this way of reading led up to forming the kernel of Shinran's religion.(21) Sekiyama, op. cit., p. 129.
" ["hearing the Dharma"] or "Mon" of Shinran, there weave diverse theories being in different standpoints.
Shonin Daimon considers various aspects of "Shojikan 
[Sho: Sound and Word, Ji: Language, Kan: Conception or View]" of Shinran, while being conscious of "Shoji Jisso Gi 
[Jisso: Truth (the real aspect, the ultimate reality), Gi: Doctrine]" of Kukai, and is reaching a conclusion that "It is consummated in one thing that is to revere and trust the Name of the supreme virtue. It can be said that the principal image of the Name is that which is the ultimate in Shojikan" ("Shinran no Shojikan" in The Annual Report of Researches of Otani University, no. 35 [1982], Otani Gakkai, Otani University) and therein deduces as follows (pp. 148-149).
[Note: Generally, in Buddhism, it is the accepted view that there is neither word nor language for Truth (the substance of Buddhahood). However, this Kukai's Shoji Jisso Gi, I should say, challenges that accepted notion. In Shoji Jisso Gi it is set out that Dharma Body (True Buddha) shows words and language as his own Workings, and so True Buddha's voice or word in itself expresses Truth.]
The concerns for the sound and word as shown in Shutei of the sutras, Rokuji Shaku[the interpretation of the Six-character Name], Sanshin Shaku [the interpretation of the Three Minds, or the Three Aspects of Faith, namely, a sincere mind (Jp. Shishin) and a serene faith (Jp. Shingyo) and a desire to be born in the Pure Land (Jp. Yokusho)], the other expositions and so forth, the keen senses and the phonological rigidness, all these are revealing a posture of "Thus have I heard" ["Nyo Ze Ga Mon"
] towards the direct teachings of the Two Honored Ones, the Buddha Sakyamuni and Amitabha, through the Name.
We must look up to the Shojikan in which our founding father (Shinran) tried to be commensurate with "the voice which Hachiman Daibosatsu [the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman who was the first Shinto god that was given the title of Daibosatsu, and is also regarded as an incarnation of Amida Buddha] would grant" () in his reading and reciting and to be accorded with Ganshin [the Heart of the Vow, the Tathagata's mind] in his hearing and reflecting through "contemplating matters humbly
," "It is hard to know what [Amida] Buddha has in mind. I will, however, venture to fathom the Absolute."
The Buddha's intention is difficult to fathom. I will, however, venture to surmise his intent. (Kyogyoshinsho: On Teaching, Practice, Faith, And Enlightenment, Chapter III. Revealing the True Faith)
Yoshisuke Oda, fostering the impression that "to experience the ultimate in religion is to realize the ideal of poetry" at that where the poetic world is likened among the phenomena of Japanese literary arts ("Nembutsu to Bungei —Genponteki Bungei no Mondai" in Kokugo Kokubun, vol. 45 no. 3, or no. 499, Japanese Literature Laboratory, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University), pursues a linkage between religion and poetry, and therein argues as follows (p. 5, upper column).
Buddha never ceases to call. The sin and awareness of one's sinfulness themselves were called upon, and it was that which came into existence in one's hearing the calling voice. In that sense, Mon Po is referred to. In Mon Po, the sense of guilt and wickedness are brought into, and the Nembutsu whereat is established is therefore human voice and human word that respond to the calling of Buddha. For it is that which has human consciousness of a ground on which he rests on as the starting point, "Shin [Faith] is the source(26) Muneyoshi Yanagi, Yanagi Muneyoshi Shukyo Senshu Na Mu A Mi Da Butsu, Ippen Shonin [Muneyoshi Yanagi Collected Papers on Religion On Na Mu A Mi Da Butsu, On Ippen], vol. 3 (Japan: Shunju Sha, 1990) p. 23." becomes, as Shinran says, the prerequisite.
Joseph M. Kitagawa, in On Understanding Japanese Religion, p. 268 (New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1987), points out the following.
Japanese Buddhism has a propensity for understanding the meaning of life and the world aesthetically rather than ethically or metaphysically. This understanding was undoubtedly grounded in the pre-Buddhist Japanese emphasis on the artistic and poetic, but it was furthered by the importance that cultural expression of Buddhism held from the time of the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. The aesthetic tendency was reiterated by Kukai and subsequent Buddhist leaders.
who set out the origin that is called Agui ryu propagandism 
and his son Seikaku 
who perfected its school are mentioned whenever the studies touched upon Japanese propagandistic sermon are published, yet it is regarded that there have not still been those which could trace their antecedents in-depth. Father of Choken is Shonagon Michinori Fujiwara 
who was a councilor of state that was known as Shinzei nyudo [bonze] 
as well as a sorcerer at Imperial court in the Heian period (Onmyoke 
) that played a crucial role in Hogen Disturbance (1156) and Heiji Insurrection (1159). Choken was the seventh son of Michinori and had initially been learning Confucian studies as his family science, but he renounced the world and went to Mt. Hiei and learned Tendai Buddhism. Chikurinin was Choken's temple. He was, however, called Hoin of the Agui, it is alleged, because he normally lived in his town vihara Agui. As for the work of Choken, Genji Hyobyakumon, Hometsu no Ki, Shodosho, Choken Sakumonshu, Choken Sakumondaitai and Gonsenshu have been passed on. Seikaku was the third son of Choken and as a preacher he was purported to be no less distinguished than his father.
(767-822) [Dengyo Daishi is the name and title conferred by Japanese Imperial court on Saicho, the founder of Japanese Tendai Buddhism, posthumously] said,
, and so let up only on the members of the Agui family in the extreme as to the problems with women, by the same token, it can safely be conceived that that was the emphasis on the ability to express from such viewpoints.
Their being "backed" is, however, disserted upon by several scholars and researchers from another point of view. That is to say, that the influential Buddhist monks from the family resided in temples is recognized as one of the central causes of their sermon's becoming highly and extensively valued above others.
(32) The entries in Kikki
for June 6, Jisho 5 (1180), "the preaching is not less delicate than that of Pruna, is it?," in Kikki for May 12, Genryaku 2 (1185), "the sermon is not any different from Purana-kasyapa's," in Gyokuyo 
for January 22, Yowa 2 (1182), "the sermon is quite graceful," in Gyokuyo for December 5, Bunji 3 (1187), "the preaching is like gold, indeed, this is the reigning excellence of our time, none of the attainments from among Buddhist clergymen and laymen can bring the preaching of this reverend to shame," etc., the list of entries giving an account of the distinction of sermons of Choken is too many to enumerate. Some examples are given in the main text as well, and additionally speaking, the passage on the twenty-eighth of December in the first year of Juei (1182) is about the sermon of a Buddhist service to commemorate Kokamonin 
[Kokamonin was Kanezane's adoptive mother as well as his half sister] at Kanezane Kujo 
House, and the main purport of Choken's preaching for the occasion was that women were better than men. And the passage on the third of December in the second year of Kenkyu (1191) is about the sermon of Gyakushu [a Buddhist service to commend one's posthumous well-being to Buddha before one's death] for curing Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa's ailment 
, and the entry reads, "Today's sermon everyone dried one's eyes, after having praised the Cloistered Emperor, he set the world to rights with all the fretting and grieving of the people covered," [from which we learn that it was not only sentimental tears that were drawn].
and a certain ama (Buddhist nun). So this term "
amakutari" was wittily said with a double meaning [by those who tried to kid Choken with dry witticisms for the purpose of seeing what behavior he would display and the knack he had for responding], specifically, "to be born from a nun" and "to come down from the the koza 
[dais, pulpit]."
[dais, pulpit] is "fighting with real swords" has treasured every word with pride worthy to be called the "Preacher Spirit" and robust conviction. For every single word serves as salvation. Having a grasp on the heart of the unchanging religious truth, he talks for the people. The expression can vary widely with preacher's personality and his diction emanated from it. But, what sort of expression can be just perfect for the hearts and minds of the people? As well as being adapted to the times, preachers have sustained their inventive approaches to meeting the needs of the people, and those new initiatives have led to developing a lot of side branches which are the outpouring of the energy of the populace living at the bottom of human society where agony prevails.
After the emergence of medieval Pure Land Buddhism in Japan, the performing arts which are conceivable to be variants of the sermons and performing artists (or musicians 
) who appear to be transmutations of the preachers have sprung. The former are heikyoku, shura monogatari 
, sekkyo joruri (sekkyobushi) 
and so forth. The latter are biwa hoshi 
, etoki hoshi 
, monogatari so, Kumano bikuni 
and the like. Welcomed by people with open arms, they were making waves as street performances and public entertainments. There is only a fine line between the sermons given in temples or in Buddhist services and the performing arts which have rise in Japanese Buddhism, such as sekkyo joruri and other popular entertainments. On the koza, however, Fushidansekkyo was seizing the initiative and having a great run. Put simply, preaching was the imperative mainstream in the tradition of the Japanese elocution, which had studied the diction best suited for the Japanese from every angle and established its methods.
[Note: Not a few people, I believe, associate Kumano bikuni (Buddhist priestess) with Etoki. Professor Masahiko Hayashi defines what Etoki is, in his English article "On 'Etoki' in Japan" in his Etoki Mangekyo, as follows:
What we call "Etoki" in Japan is a special form of sermon in which a reciter—speaker, narrator—uses narrative paintings such as "Mandara"—a picture of the Buddhas, "Nehan-zu"—a picture of the death of the Buddhas, "Engi-e"—a picture of the origin of a certain temple or shrine. Adding these paintings, the reciter makes use of picturized legends about virtuous priests and heroes. (The word "etoki" sometimes means the reciter himself.) To define it briefly, the "Etoki" is audiovisual religious education. Listening to what the reciter says, you can enjoy a series of narrative paintings which the reciter holds up before your eyes.
Masahiko Hayashi, Etoki Mangekyo [Etoki Kaleidoscope] (Japan: San-Ichi Shobo, 1993), p. 249.]
Among those which are referred to as Japanese popular performing arts, especially, joruri, kodan and rakugo are, in their generations and developmental processes, very strongly tied with Fushidansekkyo. A boom of joruri inspired by the sermon and the presentation of joruri relating Shinran, which can be recognized as remakes of sermons that had ever been on the koza, and the publication of a number of joruri scripts ("Shinran ki" in six acts [1624-1644]) are a few such examples to learn about its strong link with Fushidansekkyo.
As Japanese popular entertainments which had been developed from Fushidansekkyo and came to consolidate unique performing styles are heikyoku and sekkyo joruri, so the prosodic base of the Japanese people which has been carried on from joruri through rokyoku to today's Japanese popular ballads (enka) consists in Fushidansekkyo. It is not only able to said that the Fushidansekkyo-based current is, as that which becomes very strongly musically marked, still much in evidence in rokyoku. In fact, the melodic part identical to the tune of Fushidansekkyo is ubiquitous, found in joruri and in rokyoku. (a) It will, it is true, get to shomyo [Japanese Buddhist chant with melodious patterns added to the chanting sacred Buddhist words] and the flowing style of reading the sutras, when tracing back. Furthermore, as Matsutaro Kimura, a master of rokyoku, says, "Naniwabushi has grown and been developed as a living entertainment in its own terms which I am given money by the audience and get them to listen to me, (...) and so it is living, having taken this and that or made a good job of combining somewhere along the line," (b) Fushidansekkyo alone cannot suffice as the origin when we delve into the performing arts born of Japanese Buddhism. But it is "the method of Fushidansekkyo, in which, adding the musical tunes of shomyo and sutras to the sermon, a talk becomes a tune (fushi 
) before one is aware, and it is striking the right cord of the Japanese mind with having the feelings beautifully act on it," (c) that had a big effect upon Japanese musical narratives like joruri and rokyoku. And the tune of Fushidansekkyo, which has been long-amassed through the originality and ingenuity of a great number of preachers, hoards a contained indefinable force that invokes the Japanese spirit. It is said that Yamatonojo (Naramaru II) Yoshida of naniwabushi who passed away in 1967 used to tell, "Our father is Choken-san [Agui ryu]."
Although kodan and rakugo made positive advances in recent times, and thrived as vaudevillian shows, they are those performing arts which were arisen in the way Fushidansekkyo established or of which art and form were, it can readily be said, created by the preachers. The form that, upon staging, a performer sits upright on the koza, with a hariogi [a special folding fan for bashing away on a script stand, and thereby toning his narrative] for a koshakushi [Japanese professional storyteller] and a sensu 
[a folding fan] for a hanashika [Japanese sit-down comedy artist], and talks to the audience with his carriage and gestures adheres exactly to the form of the sermon that a preacher talks from the koza with a chukei [a ceremonial folding fan] in his hand. The trainings of acting as a curtain raiser echo those of preachers in attendance upon their masters. Also, it is interesting to reflect that there was an excellent preacher of Pure Land Buddhism, Koun Myoshu (1403-1487), being ancestor to Akamatsu Hoin who is the commonly accepted creator of kodan and that Sakuden of the Anrakuan (1554-1642) who is the widely accepted founder of rakugo was a monk of the Pure Land school and a preacher in the line of "Sekkyo Nembutsu Gi (Sermon Nembutsu Doctrine, Homiletics)" of which father was Seikaku of the Agui.
Nanshu Tanabe, a master of kodan, recounts, "The most important thing in kodan is, what is being said, to read, not to talk. To talk can make a total difference, and we are told, 'should not talk, must read.' Let's just put it this way, a koshakushi put a book in front of himself and had the text listened to by the audience. Having read and given commentary, that was actually to elucidate the meaning of text. As we follow in this tradition, it is never said that we talk, but we do read." (d) From this standpoint, it seems to indicate that kodan is that which originated primarily in the line of the tradition of a pure exposition of Buddhist canonical texts. Left in kodan to the present day as "shuraba yomi 
" that is the highlight of kodan, however, is shuraba sekkyo from among those which were called "rokudo (rikudo) sekkyo 
" or "rokushu sekkyo 
," that is, the preaching in a fierce tone of voice being styled "seriben" 
from old times that was one of the expressive methods which was right up Fushidansekkyo preachers' street. Thus, it is easy to assume that there would have been a strong input from Fushidansekkyo in the process of being elaborated as the art of narrative performance from taiheiki yomi into kodan. Additionally, the presence of those who had been laicized from the priesthood and achieved prominence and the existence of those pieces of kodan which dealt with the same subjects as the sermon treated, like "Shinran Shonin goichidaiki," are matters to be reckoned with in the effort to confirm the relationship between preaching and kodan. By extension, it will stand in to a direct relation between the sermon and the art of oracy, and the trend continues in these modern days, and so we hear it said that Entama Godoken, a master of kodan had become pupil of the Reverend Shonen Sobue in order to study Fushidannsekkyo, and brought in its approach into his kodan and spoke on the life story of Honen and Shinran.
Sakuden of the Anrakuan 
(1554-1642) gave a demonstration of otoshibanashi 
[a short story with the punch line effect] on the koza (e) and left Seisuisho in eight volumes covering various subject matters for posterity. Although all the tales included in these volumes are what came out of his life as a preacher and they are consistently the subjects for the sermon, yet they are replete with funny stories, bespeaking the consciousness of life of the people at the time. Many a story taken from this Seisuisho was handed down into the contemporary rakugo with representative works, such as "Heirin," "Muhitsu no Inu" and "Teresuko," and thereby should be ascertainable a part of the genealogy from the sermon down to rakugo. Accordingly, if Buddhism were removed from the classic rakugo remained today, it would look utterly deserted, and those which are undisputedly collected from the sermon or those which appear to be sermon's own becoming rakugo are too numerous to mention. Especially, those in the line of the Pure Land school are conspicuous in kamigata ragugo [Kyoto and Osaka area's rakugo]. Ninjobanashi 
is nagabanashi [a long rakugo story] which was born of the compelling elocution practiced in Fushidansekkyo and kaidanbanashi 
[a ghost story] is, it can be said, actually an allaxis of the allegorical-causal tale 
[hiyu innen dan] of Fushidansekkyo. Fushidansekkyo has left its mark upon the formation of the art of oracy in Japan, but it is particularly true for its effect upon rakugo, and that in a striking manner.
Fushidansekkyo is the embodiment of preachers having turned every word over and over again with their rigorous trainings through its long history and tradition. Therein lies the factor that allowed the art of oracy of top caliber to be born. No matter how good it is as verbal skill, however, if the hearts and minds of the people do not go with it, it will be what is fleeting. That Fushidansekkyo had predominated from medieval period through early-modern times to the Meiji, Taisho and early-Showa period is ascribable to the fact that the preachers had taken a stand on what they believed in and maintained the attitude, that is, they preach for the people, and with their keen senses, they had evolved the sermon that was directly linked to the popular sensitivity and sentiment and the lives of the populace in various periods in history. Even more than preachers' having a way with words, herein lies the cause of the integration that a preacher and the congregation are identifying with one another for themselves. Fushidansekkyo was fully for the people, or what was their own. The preachers had, it is true, tried to meet the recreational wants of the populace. It was, however, not their pandering to the people, and they have, standing fast on the imperative tradition and adhering firmly to the unwavering "Preacher Spirit," never chipped away at the quintessence of the sermon. These regards are, I should say, the primary agendas for Japanese traditional performing arts as referred to above as well.
(a) Kazuo Sekiyama, Sekkyo to Wagei [The Sermon and the Art of Narrative] (Japan: Seiabo, 1964), p. 262.(36) Sekiyama, op. cit., p.53.
(b) Dentogeijutsu no kai [The Society of Traditional Arts] ed., Wagei —Sonokeifu to Tenkai [The Art of Narrative: Its Genealogy and Development] (Japan: San-ichi Shobo, 1997).
(c) Sekiyama, op. cit., p.8.
(d) Dentogeijutsu no kai ed., op. cit., p. 114.
(e) Kazuo Sekiyama, Shominbunka to Sekkyo [The Popular Culture and the Sermon] (Japan: Okura Shuppan, 1988), p. 203, and Sekiyama, Rakugo Fuzokucho [The Note on Folkways of Japanese Sit-down Comedy] (Japan: Hakusui Sha, 1985), p. 18.
that is for those who attach a high value to Shin 
[Entrusting, Faith] (being saved by Shin) and Gyo Futai 
that is for those who place great value to Gyo 
[Recitaion of the Nembutsu] (being saved by reciting the Nembutsu), are, with a view to dividing into the two main categories, arranged at Shinran's suggestion. [Futai means "non-retrogression" and "Not falling back." Additionally, as Futai represents "Bliss," this Shin Futai or Gyo Futai can be looked on as the question: By which requisite, through Faith or through the Nembutsu, should one be able to have "Blissfulness"?]
(a translation) Now, first, Hoin Daiosho Seikaku, next, Shinku Shonin Horen (Horen bo Shinku [1146-1228]: Honen and Horen were fellow disciples under Eiku) said that they would take the seat of Shin Futai, (...) As our founder Shonin (Shinran) had waited to hear others say their determinations, but they had been silent, and so he wrote his name because time was closing, and a little while later Daishi Shonin (Honen) said that Genku (Honen) would also take the seat of Shin Futai.Although there is no historical evidence that Honen who exhorts, "Single-mindedly do one's way through the Nembutsu" (Ichimai Kishomon), renounced the recitation, yet it is interesting to see that this episode gives us a look at the commitment among Honen, Seikaku and Shinran in Shin Buddhism and the footing of Shin Buddhism that brings Futai no Anjin [Shinjin
is also called Anjin 
in Shin Buddhism] to the people.
and that on the eighteenth of February in the second year of Kenryaku (1212) is about the Buddhist service of the hundredth day for Shunkamonin 
[a daughter of Gishumonin and Imperial princess] and the entry on the sixteenth of April in the third year of Genkyu (1206) is about the Buddhist service for Gishumonin 
[Gishumonin (1173-1238), a daughter of Kanezane Kujo and Emperor Gotoba's legitimate wife (Empress)] and the passage on the ninth of September in the first year of Kenei (1206) is about his sermon when he was asked to preach at the Buddhist memorial service for Yoshimichi, a nephew of Jien 
[Jien (1155-1225), a brother of Kanezane Kujo and priest of Tendai Buddhism]. And things when Seikaku was critically ill finds mention in Meigetsuki 
and Teika Fujiwara (Fujiwara no Teika) bewails Seikaku's [approaching] death at sixty nine years of age, "Purana-kasyapa in this tainted world. His last hours have come. Certainly, it is, thus, ruin for Buddhism, is it?"
, expounding on the difficulty of the contemplation of an immense image of Amida Buddha and His light and the easiness of the recitation of the Nembutsu 
, when Cloistered Emperor Gotoba issued an Imperial document of inquiry as to the meaning of Nembutsu Ojyo to Shoen (Sairinin) 
from Oki 
in Karoku 2 (1226) and that Seikaku gave the sermon of Nembutsue for seven days before a congregation of the clergy and laity who came together for expressing their gratitudes on the sankaiki [the second anniversary] of Honen Shonin's death at Shinnyodo 
in the eastern part of Kyoto on January 25, Kenpo 2 (1214) have been handed down.
:
) and tells that in Nembutsu Ojo [Birth in the Pure Land through the Nembutsu], particularly, one ought to take Single-Minded Recitation to be of overriding importance. Those which were described by Seikaku in expounding throughly upon the antemortem Nembutsu and the usual Nembutsu, the power of the Vow of Amida and the sins committed in a past existence, Five Cardinal Sins and Good from Past Lives and True Entrusting and Utterance of Amida's Name have been long held in high esteem as precious texts in the sermons of after ages. If we look at the scripts for the sermon, it will be shown that they have, even after having entered the modern age, followed the construal writings of Yuishinsho.
(a translation) In an agony of utter joy, even though there is no one who will listen to me, I find myself saying in a loud voice that for the likes of me, Amida Buddha has, when once a Dharmakara Bodhisattva, already defined a way, and expressing my elation with tears shedding down my face.that links directly to Honen's closing in Koshosoku
(a translation) Rejoice, with our eyes raising to heaven and with ourselves flinging down on the ground, in our now encountering Amida's Original Vow. (...) What we cannot lean on too much are the words, "Or even ten times," showing the aim and object in the Eighteenth Vow, what we cannot believe in too much are Shan-Tao's descriptions, "Certainty of Birth," of his own experiences.and so it is said that the devotes of Pure Land Buddhism are to be deeply moved by this part.
[dais, pulpit], is a dear subject to which have been familiar to the congregation.
[being beyond dualistic conflicts and with Three Types of Learning, namely, precepts, meditation and wisdom] and those of Hokke Chohachi 
[the Lotus Sutra and its supremacy in the Eight Teachings system] and those of Shogyo Ojo 
[attaining Birth in the pure Land through Sundry Practices], at times preaching the ideas of Exclusive Nembutsu and those of the Original Vow of Amida and tried to philosophize upon 'Equally to all beings, whether lay or monastic 
' and 'True Entrusting is of underlying importance 
'" (Nagai, op. cit.). And Koen Yamaguchi reasons that the academic culture of Agui is that which specializes in the three fields, namely, debate and sermon and ceremonial code, and it is, from a dogmatic perspective, the Pure Land Faith stood on the Lotus Sutra ("Shinshutsusoanshu to Agui ryu Gakuha" [Bukkyo Bunka Kenkyu [Journal of Buddhist Cultural Studies], no.5, 1956]).
(a brief and free translation) It is no longer a bountiful reservoir of words, and so those who got tired of listening to it are getting out and those who stayed from a sense of social obligation or for courtesy's sake are growing bored and falling asleep.(46) In Honen Shonin Gyojo Gazu
" (Eizen Shutakubon [the copy that Eizen kept at hand], one copy), Kano 2 (1351), transcribed by Eizen at the Shomyo Temple: It is considered to be that which was given to Buddhist monks in Kamakura as the secret method of Agui ryu in response to their inquiries as to the order of a sermon and the decorum, when Dainagon [chief councillor of state] Sozu Kakushu 
, a grandson of Seikaku, was invited and came down to the Kanto region in June, Tokuji 2 (1307), while it is, according to the inscription [usually preceding the colophon] in 'Shikihosoku Yoi jojo', said that it was transcribed by Ninshu 
, a monk, at the Agui, and then it had been handed down to Kokei, Tanei [the third resident priest of Shomyo Temple] and Eizen (
).
" (Kena Shutakubon [the copy that Kena kept at hand], twenty-two fascicles and forty copies remain): It is the most noted one among the collections of Shodosho of Agui ryu. It is composed chiefly of Choken's writings and is believed that it was compiled and written by Seikaku.
" (thirty-five copies remain): It includes Choken's works from Ninpei (1151) to Shoji (1199) and was allegedly compiled and written by Seikaku.
" (Kena Shutakubon, fifteen copies remain): Therein are primarily gathered Choken's works from Eiryaku 2 (1161) until Kennin 2 (1203) in accordance with the dates and the explanatory notes in the extant pieces of hyobyaku ganmon. It is believed that Seikaku had compiled and written it. Its holding catalogue shows that it includes "Gonsenshu" and, if all are now existing, it will be vast amounts, surpassing the mark of eight boxes and seventy-nine bundles and seven hundreds and sixty fascicles.
" (five copies remain): What belongs in Kanazawabunko Museum today is the one specifically for the occasion of lecturing on and praising the Lotus Sutra, but it is probable that it was originally a collection of pieces of shodobun that would cover a wide range of occasions. Although it has no note sentence that allows us to know all the facts concerning the circumstances of its literary production and the history, yet it is accepted that it is Choken and Seikaku's work beyond all dispute.
Kanashi and kanashimu were, as are known by seeing the ancient use of these words in Japanese literature and the examples of these words persisting among Japanese provincial dialects with some attention, originally the words when simply showing oneself to be very expressive of one's emotions, and it was not always true that the expressions were uttered through stimulation by something unhappy, such as "hi [the tragic]" and "ai [the pitiful]," but it is just there were a little more such things in kanashimi of human life than other things. (...) Formerly, any senses that are as strong as borne in upon us in general used to be kanashii, but it is felt that, having separated only the kanashii of sorrows from among them, to came to designate the kanashii the content of our standard language is due to the Buddhist literature and the Buddhist sermon which marketed this kanji of "hi" the most from the medieval ages onward.
After that time, the Reverend Shonen was assigned to Asahikawa Branch Temple as a retsuza [in the priestly hierarchy of Sohan 
]. This Asahikawa Branch Temple had many Buddhist parishioners, and he used to went about and visit them for offering a sutra and talked with their employees and owned people. Among the parishioners' places there were aimaiya (a brothel combined with a eating and drinking place) and takobeya [a lodging of laborers under inhumane and harsh working conditions], and the reverend shared the pain of the people who had to live in such wretched circumstances and shed tears with them over their agonies and bitter experiences. Through these interaction with the people who would fain live at the bottom of human society in the reverend's Asahikawa days, he said, his desire "to be a fine preacher, instead of ending up a mere Buddhist priest" came to surge. Also, that the preachers with various characters visited Asahikawa Branch Temple from Japan's main island and their giving sermons were almost daily spurred his thought processes of "being a fine preacher."
means that a preacher had to fulfill all three requirements, that is, having a fine voice and being with competence in using tunes and with a good figure (character), to be recognized as a select preacher. On the other hand, the requirements of eligibility for being acknowledged as a master that Eko (496-554) of the Liang Dynasty in China laid out in his "Kosoden" are four, namely, "Voice, Tongue, Flair, Erudition" 
. Basically, what must be acquired and done are to have a full and melodious voice and a felicitous command of phrase apt for the situation and to quote from the Buddhist scriptures, historical events and legendas extensively. And according to Bukkyo Howa Daijiten [Encyclopedia of Buddhist Preaching] (Japan: Meicho Shuppan, 1983), clauses in 'Seppo Gishiki hin' 
(in Butsuhongyojitsu kyo [the Chinese Buddhacaritasangraha sutra], vol. 49) stipulate, concerning preacher's qualifications and the selection of a new preacher, that "(1) we must not get that who is dull and slow in his faculties or lacking in them and does not embrace the precepts to preach, (...) we ought to ask that who had performed the superior level of practices and has taken to exquisite practices to preach the Law, and (2) we should choose that who is accordingly with a flair for oratory and a comprehension of the Law, and that with an understanding of the scriptures as old as Aagama 
, and have him preach, and (3) we also ought to get that who acquires an understanding of Matangi 
as well as the Sutra 
to preach."
[dais, pulpit] on ascending it, and no attendant has been allowed to have a chukei in his hand on the dais. An attendant faced an audience before his master's appearance and gave a talk, and that was called "Omaeza." This attendant training was, it is said, conducted for an unspecified period of time in respect that it gave first priority to handing master's spirit on to disciple while learning skills, and consequently, for some it took ten years, for some it took just a few short years to come to stand on their own feet.
These unique didactics and learning method, and the form(III) Peter L. Berger sets forth the comic as a signal of transcendence (Peter L. Berger, Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience [Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1997], pp. 214-215.) as follows.to be aspired after, I should add, an essential factor that makes these effective is thought to be the condition of infiltrating its world. The important thing in the world of Waza
[art, skill] is that no one can get hold of Waza without setting foot in its world. Hence, although to enable one to gain an appreciation of the tournure, in the sense of studying and learning the shape
, with video assisted education seems to be possible, yet, when it comes to the form, it is impossible to acquire it without getting into the world in question. And that ultimately results in these apprenticeship and apprentice system. Put simply, to infiltrate its world, that is, to get close to the life of one's master who is a being that is bringing out Waza, will have one not ending up just imitating the shape. And that shall be the same thing as to steer one into the direction of the acquisition of the form.
The present argument is to the effect that the experience of the comic is one such signal of transcendence, and an important one at that. In Christian terms this means that the comic is one manifestation of a sacramental universe—a universe that, paraphrasing the Book of Common Prayer, contains visible signs of invisible grace. (...) the experience of the comic does not miraculously remove suffering and evil in this world, nor does it provide self-evident proof that God is active in the world and intends to redeem it. However, perceived in faith, the comic becomes a great consolation and a witness to the redemption that is yet come.(59) Sobue, op. cit., an endorsement for the back cover.
Today, however, I came to feel compelled to sense the inevitability of seven-and-five of the Japanese that is lying under a layer of far-gone seven-and-five syllable meter which I should despise (p. 9).
Probably, not that they are carried away by the profound truth of Buddhism, but there is, I should say, an aspect of being enraptured by the rhythm in seven-and-five syllable meter. It soothes their hearts, and liberates their minds from the frets and cares of life for a while. It is the best medicine of all (p. 17).
Why that was so? An impression of eika [hymn, cantlet], the influence of the sermon and a reflection of the time that she lived, all those led her to the world of seven-and-five. In the roll of words, seven, five, seven, five, which monotonously went on and on, she felt Anjin
Seven-and-five syllable meter was indeed a precious style of the art of oracy. It was an important pattern which remained in the hearts of the people of Japan and which ignited a flame in one's mind. For this reason, seven-and-five would be an eternal rhythm. [line feed by Jugaku in her original Japanese text] When, with no other alternative, becoming a mold of an outpouring of vital energies, seven-and-five syllable meter coruscates (pp. 22-23).
When writing the content that we can use hundreds of thousands of words if we give a realistic description, under the categorical imperative that calls us to curb our overwhelming feelings, it is a singular style of writing to be selected like erupting energy processing ... (p. 24).
And Tetsuo Yamaori touches upon seven-and-five syllable meter in relation to Shinran ("Kaerinanza Shinran no Tatazumu Fukei" in "Shinran niokeru 'Shin no Konkyo' wo megutte" ["Centering on the 'Basis of Shin' in Shinran"], Bukkyo, separate volume 1, feature issue: Shinran [Japan: Hozokan, 1988]).
Shinran, I imagine at my own discretion, evidently disrelished the form and lyricism of waka poems. Only there must lie the sole reason why Shinran has not left even a single waka poem. [line feed by Yamaori in his original Japanese text] What Shinran composed with ardor and attended to in the closing stages of his life, were, as is generally known, 'Wasan' hymns. 'Wasan' is that which looks similar to waka at the first glance, but the fact is that it is entirely distinct from it. In terms of form, a Wasan hymn is comprised of forty-eight sounds in seven-and-five syllable meter, while a waka poem consists of thirty-one sounds in five-and-seven syllable meter. In terms of content that is included therein, however, the difference between the two is conclusive. The form of forty-eight sounds in seven-and-five syllable meter keenly defines the content. (...) Here is a manifestation of a strong confession of faith. Having thrown off the lyricism, there is only the simple and clear logic of faith that is surging (p. 53).(V) As was pointed to by Professor Haruo Misumi in the Senso Temple Buddhist Cultural Lecture on March 24, 1997, in contrast with Western music that accurately counts the rhythm within a given meter, for example, in four-four time and three-four time, Japanese music reveals an intricacy that has a temporal vacuum and won't be expressed in the form of keeping time by placing such three or four equal portions of sound in a bar line. In the tradition of Japanese music, of which origin can be traced back to Shomyo of Tendai Buddhism, it is absolutely essential to place subtly different kinds of a temporal vacuum between a sound and a sound or between a movement and a movement, and to stretch or shorten the temporal vacuum. Put simply, "to elongate and contract as one likes" is of importance and an "interspace" is of significance.
