The Prince and the Monk: Shotoku Worship in Shinran's Buddhism

Conclusion

Conclusion The objective of this study is to demonstrate the importance of Shotoku worship in Shinran’s Buddhism. From his 190 wasans that were dedicated specifically to Shotoku Taishi, there is no question that Shinran profoundly worshiped Shotoku as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Kannon, who compassionately appeared in Japan to guide beings to the Pure Land path just as the world was entering mappo. In one of his hymns, Shinran referred to Shotoku Taishi as guze Kannon. The timing of Shotoku Taishi’s birth also coincided with the timing of mappo, which furthered strengthened Shinran’s belief in Prince Shotoku as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Kannon. Traditional Shin scholars have overlooked Shotoku worship in Shinran’s Pure Land Buddhism because of their concern for maintaining a pure doctrine free from the addition of indigenous elements, and perhaps due to the subjective nature of Eshinni’s account of Shinran’s dream. However, as evidenced from his wasans in praise of Shotoku, the fact remains that Shinran’s conversion experience at Rokkakudo did play an important role in the subsequent development of his innovative teaching, which was propagated to the masses during the Kamakura period and after.This study investigates the relationship between Shinran and Shotoku in order to better understand the unique and complex nature of Shinran’s Buddhism and the context in which it arose. To understand the evolution of Shotoku worship in Japanese history, I traced the provenance and development of Shotoku legends from the ancient period. In an effort to portray the image of Prince Shotoku as the great imperial ancestor who legitimized their claim to the throne, imperial and political authorities in the early period sponsored the compilation of two official historical records, the Nihon shoki and Kojiki. However, when we examine ancient sources that were sanctioned by imperial authorities, the various discrepancies and lack of historical information about the figure of Shotoku Taishi raise serious doubts about whether he truly existed. My investigation into the historical and legendary status of Shotoku Taishi has led me to agree with some scholars, such as William Deal and O – yama 131 Seichi, that Shotoku may have been a fictional character who was invented and promoted for religious and political agendas. In examining the various sources that describe Shotoku Taishi, one cannot help seeing that, for the most part, the compilers of the ancient and medieval sources on Shotoku painstakingly and effectively constructed Shotoku legends that became very real in the minds of the Japanese people. For that reason, the central question should not be whether the existence of Shotoku is true or fictitious, but rather the more significant question of why Shotoku was invented and promoted, and by which individuals or groups. To answer this question, I used a synchronic study model1 in the spirit of Kuroda and Sato to take a closer look at the religious and political culture of the three periods, Nara, Heian, and Kamakura, to better understand the context in which the Shotoku legends were developed. I also traced the evolution of Shotoku legends from the ancient to the medieval period through a close examination of all forms of relevant material from those periods—engis, rituals, practices, paintings, sculptures, embroideries, hymns, Shinran’s writings—that dealt with Shotoku themes. In medieval sources, the attempts to dramatize Shotoku intensified with the development of honji suijaku—the synthesis of the Shinto and Buddhist pantheons. Medieval sources, like Shotoku Taishi denryaku and Jogu Shotoku Taishi den hoketsuki, continued to expand on the legendary qualities of Shotoku’s achievements to further promote Shotoku as a Buddhist divinity. In the Jogu Shotoku Taishi den hoketsuki, for instance, Shotoku is presented as a kind of shamanistic, supernatural being, and then elevated to the status of a Buddhist saint, combined with the attributes of a native guardian kami. A thorough integration of the worship of Shotoku as both kami and incarnation of bodhisattva Kannon is achieved through the proliferation of Shotoku legends in association with Shinto images.The meaning of Taishi shinko (Shotoku cult) was broadened through the notion of Jingi shinko, where Shinto kamis are viewed as the incarnation of bosatsu. People worshiped Shotoku in the image of a child in Buddhist temples and shrines, in accordance with the belief that a child, having unlimited potential, had some closer affinity with the sacred. For instance, Shotoku Taishi denreki records an account of how the young Prince Shotoku miraculously transformed himself into a kami before the enemy’s eyes in...