Rennyo Shonin
(1415-1499)
The Restorer of Jodo-shinshu Buddhism
Rennyo Shonin was a descendant of Shinran
Shonin and the eighth Monshu (head
priest) of the Hongwanji in Kyoto; he was
called Hoteimaru in his childhood and
later named Kenju. When he was six years
of age, his mother, who was a maid serving Zonnyo
(the seventh Monshu), left him to live in
obscurity. At the age of seventeen, he received his ordination from Sonno at the Shoren-in
Temple. While studying the teachings of Jodo
Shinshu from his father, he assisted in
spreading the Dharma in Omi Province (present-day Shiga Prefecture) and
Northern Japan. In 1457, when he was forty-three, he became the Monshu and continued his missionary activity in
the Omi area.
Displeased with the
growing popularity of Rennyo’s movement,
warrior-monks of the Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei attacked and destroyed the Hongwanji in 1456; so then he moved to Kawachi (eastern Osaka Prefecture) and from
there on to Omi Province.
In 1471 he built a
temple, a new center for his activities, in Yoshizaki
in Echizen Province (Fukui Prefecture),
and he succeeded in attracting a large number of followers. He
initiated a unique way of transmitting the Dharma through the use of
letters (see OFUMI, or GOBUNSHO), which were widely read among the
followers and contributed enormously to the dissemination of the
teaching throughout the country, even among the illiterate.
The growth of Shin
Buddhism in Northern Japan, however, often led to conflicts with local
manor lords and governors, culminating in the “ikko-ikki
uprisings” in Echizen, Kaga and Etchu
Provinces. In order to avoid further conflicts, Rennyo
withdrew from Yoshizaki in 1475 and moved
the center of his activities to the Osaka-Kyoto area. At the suggestion
of his disciple, Dosai, he built the
Founder’s Hall (1480) and the Amida Hall
(1481) in Yamashina, east of Kyoto. This became the foundation of the Hongwanji institution.
In 1489, he retired
as the Monshu, leaving this position to
his fifth son, Jitsunyo. With undiminished
missionary spirit, in 1496 he built a temple in Ishiyama,
Osaka – at the site where Osaka Castle now stands – and spent the rest
of his life there. When he became ill in 1498, he returned to
Yamashina, where he passed to the Pure Land the following year at the
age of
eighty-five.
Later in 1882, Rennyo was
awarded the posthumous title, Eto Daishi
(lit. “Master of the Lamp of Wisdom”) by Emperor Meiji.
At the height of his
propagation activities, Rennyo edited and
published the Shoshinge and Jodo Wasan
as the standard service book for everyday use by all people. With the
addition of The Letters, this form of service has been and
continues to be held daily at Jodo Shinshu family homes, sanghas, and temples.
As a guide for
correct understanding of the Shoshinge,
Rennyo wrote Shoshinge-ta’i
(An Outline of the Shoshinge). Rennyo’s Dharma-messages, casual remarks, and
records of his day-to-day pursuits were later compiled into Rennyo Shonin
Goichidaiki-kikigaki (The Sayings Recorded
on the Life of Master Rennyo) in 1580
by Jitsugo, his tenth son.
(adapted from
the Introduction to “Letters of Rennyo” by Hongwanji International
Center- Kyoto 2000)
