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Shinran singled out seven teachers of Pure Land Buddhism in the millenium prior to his own, beginning with the 2-3rd century master Nagarjuna and ending with his own teacher Honen (Genku).
There is an excellent overview of the first 1,000 years of Pure Land Buddhism in the Introduction to the Koso Wasan, hymns by Shinran Shonin (12-13th c. Japan) in honor of the Pure Land Patriarchs (English translation published by Ryokoku Translation Center at Ryukoku University, Kyoto, 1974, Vol. 6 of the Ryokoku Translation Series). The following is a brief excerpting from that introduction.
"Although Shinran's interpretation of Pure Land Buddhism was epoch-making, he often said that his own acceptance of the Pure Land teachings was nothing more than the teachings which were handed down to him by his predecessors, whom he called the Seven Patriarchs. ... For Shinran the teachings of Shakyamuni and the Seven Patriarchs are the manifestation of Amida's Compassionate Vow. ... Shinran's selection of the seven masters is traditionally attributed to the following: 1) Each of the Seven Patriarchs was himself an aspirant for Birth in the Pure Land, 2) Each left writings on the nembutsu teaching, 3) Each of their interpretations is distinguished and essential in the history of the deliverance of the nembutsu."
The Seven Patriarchs eulogized by Shinran in his Koso Wasan are:
1. Nagarjuna (Jap. Ryuju) (ca 2nd-3rd c. AD).
"Nagaruna's work is grounded in the fundamental Buddhist concept of interdependent origination (pratityasamutpada), according to which all beings are seen as existing only in interrelation with all other phenomenal things, and thus to be utterly without permanent characteristics or individual reality. ... The work of Nagarjuna which is most often cited in connection with Pure Land Buddhism is the 'Chapter on Easy Practice' in 'Shastra on the Ten Bodhisattva Stages.' [In] the Easy Path...one calls the names of the Buddhas, practicing a denial of attachment to self through reliance upon the compassion of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and through desire for birth in a realm of purity, where all defiled karma of attachment is transformed into corresponding good through the operation of Emptiness. Included in this path are the Name and the Vow of Amida Buddha."
2. Vasubandhu (Jap. Seshin) (ca. 4th cent. A.D.)
"Vasubandhu was one of the founders of the Yogacara school.... [His] contribution to Pure Land Buddhism lies chiefly in his formulation of a nembutsu (thinking on the Buddha) practice by adopting the methodology of Buddhist contemplation to Pure Land teachings.. In his 'Treatise on the Pure Land,' Vasubandhu professes singlehearted faith in Amida and teaches the Five Comtemplative Gates as a practical method by which one can attain Birth in Amida's Pure Land. The Five Gates are worship of Amida, praise of Amida, aspiration for Birth in the Pure Land, contemplation on the Pure Land, and merit-transference to save all sentient beings."
3. T'an-luan (Jap. Donran) (476-542)
"It is T'an-luan who first gives definition to the fundamental outlook of the popular Pure Land tradition. ... In his commentary on Vasubandhu's 'Treatise on the Pure Land,' T'an-luan reinterprets Vasubandhu's systematization of the Pure Land from the standpoint of Emptiness, pointing out that the source of the twenty-nine features of the Pure Land lies in the dual aspects of Emptiness -- the transcendent truth which negates all characteristics and the potentiality which gives rise to particular forms."
4. Tao-ch'o (Jap. Doshaku) (562-645)
Tao-ch'o, revising Nagarjuna's Difficult and Easy Paths by employing T'an-luan's distinction between self-power and other-power, divides the whole of Buddhist teachings into the Sacred Path and the Pure Land Path. The former leads to attainment in this world by one's own power, and the latter to attainment in the Pure Land through other-power. He states that no one in the age of the Last Dharma can attain enlightenment by means of the Sacred Path and that only the nembutsu of the Pure Land Path is practicable.... Tao-cho's nembutsu involves practices of both contemplation and recitation, for what is central to practice is a pure and undistracted mindfulness of Amida."
5. Shan-tao (Jap. Zendo) (613-681)
"[It] may be that Shan-tao's position in the evolution of practice is of the greatest importance, for he was the first to isolate utterance of the Name as the nembutsu practice prescribed in Amida's Vow..., thus establishing the superiority of vocal nembutsu over other Amida-centered practices, such as contemplation, sutra reading, and ritual worship."
Shan-tao's famous Parable of the White Path has remained a treasured fable explaining, in story fashion, salvation by Amida Buddha in the Pure Land.
Further reading: VISIONS OF SUKHAVATI: SHAN-TAO'S COMMENTARY ON THE KUAN WU-LIANG SHOU-FO CHING [Meditation Sutra] by Julian Pas [SUNY Buddhist Studies Series, 1995; ISBN 0-7914-2520-7.
6. Genshin (Eshin) (942-1017)
"Genshin is most famous for his work, 'Collection on the Essentials for Attaining Birth,' [Jp. Ojo-yo-shu] which exerted great influence on the popular imagination in the Heian period and became one of the first books to be printed in Japan. His descriptions of the terrors of hell and the wonders of the Pure Land, aimed at wakening religious aspiration to nembutsu practice, have great literary force...." Genshin, like many sages of the Japanese Pure Land tradition, began as a Tendai Buddhist and became devoted to the Nembutsu, or the "calling of the Name" of Amida Buddha, as a sole practice (in Tendai Buddhism, the Nembutsu was but one of many practices). Late in life he founded a small retreat on Mt. Hiei (the location of the main Tendai monastery) called Yokawa, where he taught sole reliance upon Amida Buddha through the Nembutsu.
7. Honen (Genku) (1133-1212)
"Within the development of Shin Buddhist teachings, the vital role Honen played centers upon his complete rejection of the possibility of effective self-power practice of any kind and his sole reliance on other-power. ... In Honen, the unfathomable working of the Vow of Compassion were brought to life in Japan."
When Honen was nearing death a follower asked him, "Write me something with your own hand, something which you think will be good for me, in order that I may keep it as a memento." The result, the famous One-Page Testament of Honen, was dictated by him two days before he died.
Last modified: 1 February 2001.