An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism: The Essentials of Buddhist Spirituality (35 page)

centuries

Yuzu Membutsu

Jōdo

Jōdo Shin

(Shoo Daishi)

(Hōnen)

(Shinran)

“Lotus sects”

thirteenth century

Hokke-Shū

(Nichiren)

Jōdo
= Pure Land
Shin
= true
Hokke
= lotus
Shū
= school 1 See E. Steinilber and Kuni Matsuo,
Les Sectes Bouddhiques Japonaises
(Paris: Crès,

1930).

Zen rock garden, Nanzenji Temple, Japan

Zen monk in sitting meditation

Zen
koan
calligraphy

Amida Buddha rising from behind the

mountains like a Sun of Compassion,

Konkaikomyo-ji, Kyoto, Japan, 13th century

Amida Buddha, hanging scroll, gold on silk,

Japan, 19th century

120

An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism

Bodhisattva Kwannon,

lacquered and gilt wood, Japan, 14th century

Even though, through the days and years of your life, you have

piled up much merit by the practice of the
Nembutsu
, if at the

time of death you come under the spell of some evil, give way to

an evil heart, lose faith in and cease practicing the
Nembutsu
,

you will lose birth into the Pure Land immediately after death

. . . . This is a most terrible thing to contemplate and one which

no words can describe.

Hōnen