The , abbreviated to ''Senchakushū'', is the

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

Hōnen , also known as Genkū, was the founding figure of the , the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. Hōnen became a Tendai initiate at an early age, but grew disaffected and sought an approach to Buddhism that all people of all ...

, founder of the

Jōdo-shū Jōdo-shū (浄土宗, "The Pure Land School"), is a Japanese branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Kamakura era monk Hōnen (1133–1212). The school is traditionally considered as having been established in 1175 and i ...

school of Japanese

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism or the Pure Land School ( zh, c=淨土宗, p=Jìngtǔzōng) is a broad branch of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Pure land, Pure Land. It is one of the most widely practiced traditions of East Asi ...

. The title means "Collection of Selections on Nenbutsu and the Original Vow" and draws upon past Pure Land Buddhist sources, sutras and especially from the writings of Chinese Pure Land Buddhists

Shandao Shandao (; ; 613–681) was a Chinese Buddhist scholar monk and an influential figure of East Asian Pure Land Buddhism.Jones (2019), pp. 20-21 Shandao was one of the first Pure Land authors to argue that all Pṛthagjana, ordinary people, and e ...

and

Tan-luan Tánluán (, 476–554) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who wrote on Pure Land Buddhism.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), p. 151 Tanluan was the first Asian Buddhist to stress the importance of the Buddha's Other Power as a liberating force. He held that ...

to bolster Hōnen's doctrine of relying upon the sole recitation of

Amitābha Amitābha (, "Measureless" or "Limitless" Light), also known as Amituofo in Chinese language, Chinese, Amida in Japanese language, Japanese and Öpakmé in Tibetan script, Tibetan, is one of the main Buddhahood, Buddhas of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddh ...

Buddha's name for rebirth in the

Pure Land Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...

. Hōnen also asserts for the first time that he is establishing a new school of Buddhism. Originally the ''Senchakushū'' had been composed at the behest of Hōnen's patron and disciple, Lord Kūjō Kanezane, in 1198, but Hōnen was hesitant to show the Senchakushū to a wider audience during his lifetime due to fears of criticism. Instead, he showed the text to his closest disciples only including Benchō,

Shinran ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaiʻi Press 1998, . was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent clos ...

Shōkū , sometimes called , was a disciple of Hōnen, founder of the Jōdo-shū Buddhist sect. Shōkū later succeeded Jōhen, a Shingon monk with an affinity for Pure Land Buddhism, as the head Eikandō (itself a former Shingon temple). Shōkū then e ...

among others. Hōnen stated that his disciples could do what they wanted with the text after his death, and in time the Senchakushū was distributed among Buddhist circles. Jōkei, Hōnen's strongest critic, analyzed the Senchakushū as part of his refutation of Hōnen's Pure Land doctrine, as did

Myōe (February 21, 1173 – February 11, 1232) was a Japanese bhikkhu, Buddhist monk active during the Kamakura period who also went by the name Kōben (, Chinese: 高辨, Gāo Biàn). He was a contemporary of Jōkei (monk), Jōkei and Hōnen. Bio ...

Format

The ''Senchakushū'' consists of sixteen chapters and each chapter begins with a heading explaining the content of the chapter and then presents quotations from the Pure Land sutras and the works of major Pure Land scholars, followed by Hōnen's comments and explanations interspersed between and after the various quotes. The Chapter format is as follows: # Classification of the Buddhist Teachings # The Practices of Pure Land Buddhism # Amida's Choice of the Nembutsu in His Original Vow # The Nembutsu and the Miscellaneous Practices # The Benefits of the Nembutsu # The Eternal Endurance of the Nembutsu # The Light of Amida Buddha # The Faith of Nembutsu Practitioners # The Practitioners' Religious Life # Amida Buddha's Transformation Body # Shakyamuni Buddha's Praise of Nembutsu Practitioners # Shakyamuni Buddha's Entrusting of the Nembutsu # The Many Good Acts of the Nembutsu # The Testimony of the Many Buddhas of the Six Directions # The Protection of the Nembutsu Practitioner by the Many Buddhas of the Six Directions # The Entrusting of Amida Buddha's Name

References

Bibliography

* Hōnen; Senchakushū English Translation Project (1998), Hōnen's Senchakushū: Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow (Senchaku Hongan Nembutsushū), Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. * Augustine, Morris J., Kondō, Tesshō, trans. (1997).
Senchaku Hongan Nembutsushū": A Collection of Passages on the Nembutsu Chosen in the Original Vow compiled by Genkū (Hōnen)
Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. .

External links

by the Jodo Shu Research Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Senchakushu Jōdo-shū Shinran Hōnen Kamakura-period books about Buddhism