Zonkaku

Zonkaku (存覚, 1290–1373) was a prominent Buddhist priest and scholar of early Jōdo Shinshū during the late Kamakura era and Nanboku-chō period. Zonkaku worked to systematize Shin doctrine and expand the tradition throughout Japan. As the first person to write a commentary on Shinran's Kyōgyōshinshō, Zonkaku played a major role in shaping medieval Shin Buddhist thought and practice. He was the eldest son of Kakunyo, the third caretaker of the influential Hongan-ji temple, a tradition which would become central to the institutional formation of Jōdo Shinshū. Although widely recognized for his scholarship, he was embroiled in disputes with his father over temple authority, succession, and regional administration.

Zonkaku devoted his life to the propagation of Pure Land Buddhism. He traveled widely throughout the Kantō region, Mutsu, Ōmi, and Bingo Provinces, all while copying texts, instructing disciples, debating other Japanese Buddhist schools, and establishing networks of followers connected to both Hongan-ji and Bukkō-ji temples. His proselytizing activity contributed substantially to the spread of Shin Buddhist teachings during the tradition's formative period. His childhood name was Kōshimaro (also read as Kōtōmaru). He was adopted in 1297 by Hino Chikaakira, a former provincial governor, and later again in 1305 by Hino Toshimitsu, at which time he adopted the name Kōgen.

From an early age he undertook a wide-ranging Buddhist education. In 1302, he began his studies under the priest Keikai at the Jōshin-in temple in Nakakawabe, Yamato, which was a betto (a subtemple) of Kōfukuji.

In his Rokuyōshō, the first ever commentary on Shinran's Kyōgyōshinshō, Zonkaku writes that the meaning of "Jōdo Shinshū" is the "Pure Land School". According to Dobbins, this means that Zonkaku did not consider Shin Buddhism to be a Pure Land school that was completely separate from the others as Kakunyo did. Instead, Zonkaku saw it as a part of the entire Pure Land movement founded by Hōnen. In it, Zonkaku defends the Pure Land teaching as one which makes Mahayana Buddhism accessible to all beings, even to the peasants and samurai.

Zonkaku also engaged in extensive debates with the Nichiren school, whose founder Nichiren had extensively criticized Pure Land Buddhism. This led to other apologetic works such as the dialogues Ketchishō and Hokke Mondō. The key points of these works include how the Pure Land teaching is in harmony with the ultimate intent of the Lotus Sutra, and debates on the value of the nembutsu vis a vis the Lotus Sutra. Citing the Lotus Sutra itself which teaches birth in the Pure Land in the chapter of Medicine King Bodhisattva, Zonkaku argues against the idea that the nembutsu is in conflict with the Lotus Sutra 's intent.

This view was influenced by Tendai thought, especially its teaching of the essential gate (本門, honmon) and the trace gate (跡門, shakumon), which also manifested itself as the Honji suijaku theory. This theory saw the fundamental original Buddha (本佛, honbutsu) as the essential ground of all other Buddhist deities and kami. For Zonkaku, all other deities, kami, Buddhas and bodhisattvas were skillful manifestations of the original Buddha Amida.

Zonkaku also classified Japanese deities into two categories: Provisional Shrine deities (gonsha-shin) and Actual Shrine deities (jissha-shin). Provisional Shrines were centered on deities which were considered temporary and provisional manifestations of Buddhas or bodhisattvas, manifestations that happened for sake of guiding sentient beings. The deities of such shrines were considered righteous, compassionate protectors. "Actual Shrines", by contrast, were associated with the spirits of living or deceased humans, or with animal spirits such as dragons, or fox spirits, and were regarded as malevolent or potentially harmful.

In Shoshin Hongeshū, Zonkaku states that the divine spirits of Provisional Shrines reveal the benefits of their original ground, the Buddha Amida, and thus ought to be revered. The deities of Actual Shrines, however, were to be rejected or pacified. This theory attempts to explain and defend Shinran's theory of the attainment of Buddhahood on birth in the Pure Land by drawing on a broader Pure Land context, including on the theories of other Pure Land schools.

Essential Record on the True Meaning of the Pure Land (Jōdo Shin Yōshō 浄土真要鈔) 2 fascicles, c. 1324. A basic overview of Shin teaching. Collection on Various Kami and the Primal Intent (Shoshin Hongai Shū 諸神本懐集) 2 fascicles, c. 1324. This is the basic text that lays out Zonkaku's interpretation of the kami based on honji suijaku. Notes on Holding to the Name (Jimyō Shō 持名鈔) 2 fascicles, c. 1324. An explanation of the nembutsu. Notes on Refuting the Wrong and Revealing the Correct (Haja Kenshō Shō 破邪顕正抄) 2 fascicles, c. 1324. Defends the Pure Land teaching against seventeen criticisms. Record of Teachings on Women’s Birth (Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki 女人往生聞書) 1 fascicle, c. 1324. Discusses how women can equally attain birth in the Pure Land. Notes on Expounding the Name and Form (Benjutsu Myōtai Shō 弁述名体鈔) 1 fascicle, Date Unknown. A description of the three forms of the nembutsu (in 6, 9 and 10 characters). Notes on Revealing the Name (Kenmyō Shō 顕名鈔) 2 fascicles, c. 1337. Explains the deeper meaning of Amida's name. Notes on Knowledge of Determination (Kecchi Shō 決智鈔) 1 fascicle, c. 1338 Notes on Walking and Sailing (Busen Shō 歩船鈔) 2 fascicles, c. 1338, an outline text (kōyō-sho) of the essential doctrines of ten Buddhist schools: Hossō, Sanron, Kegon, Tendai, Shingon, Ritsu, Kusha, Jōjitsu, Busshin, and Jōdo. It is similar to Gyōnen's (1240-1321) Hasshū Kōyō. Record of Repaying Gratitude (Hō'on Ki 報恩記) 1 fascicle, c.1338. Discusses the repaying of gratitude to teachers and parents, and how the best way to do it is to attain birth in the Pure Land. Notes on the Supreme Path Shidō Shō (至道鈔) 1 fascicle, c.1338. A work on filial piety from a Pure Land perspective. Annotated Notes on Selections from the Senjakushū (Senjaku Chūgeshō 選択註解鈔) 5 fascicles, c.1338. A commentary on Hōnen’s Senjakushū. Dharma Words of Zonkaku (Zonkaku Hōgo 存覚法語) 1 fascicle, c. 1356. A vernacular work explaining key passages from the Kyōgyōshinshō. Collection of What Was Seen and Heard of the Pure Land (Jōdo Kenmon Shū 浄土見聞集) 1 fascicle, c. 1356 Writing in Praise of Virtues (Tandoku Mon 嘆徳文) 1 fascicle, c. 1359 (Revised 1366) Record of a Slight Understanding (Saige Ki 纔解記) 1 fascicle, c. 1362 Sleeve Diary of Master Zonkaku (Zonkaku Shōnin Sodenikki 存覚上人袖日記) 1 fascicle – 1334–1371 Record of Zonkaku’s Life (Record of the Life of the Elder, Abbot of Jōraku-ji) The Notes on the Six Essentials (Rokuyō Shō 六要鈔) 10 fascicles, c. 1360