Saicho: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School

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University of Hawaii Press, Sep 1, 2000 - Religion - 360 pages
Saicho (767-822), the founder of the Tendai School, is one of the great masters of Japanese Buddhism. This edition, which includes a new preface by the author, makes available again a classic work on this important figure’s life and accomplishments. Groner’s study focuses on Saicho’s founding of the great monastic center on Mount Hiei, the leading religious institution of medieval Japan, and his radical move to adopt for purposes of ordination the Mahayana bodhisattva precepts--a decision that had far-reaching consequences for the future of Japanese Buddhist ethical thought, monastic training and organization, lay-clerical relations, philosophical developments, and Buddhism-state relations.
 

Contents

List of Charts
5
Buddhism During the Late Nara Period 3
xx
Early Years
17
The Years on Mount Hiei
27
Voyage to China
38
Return to Japan
65
Relations with Kūkai
77
The Propagation and Defense of the Tendai School
88
The Provisional Hīnayāna Ordination
198
Saichōs Textual Sources for the Perfect Precepts
206
The Major Influences on Saichōs View of the Precepts
213
The Integration of the Teachings of Japanese Tendai
247
Administrative Reforms
267
Saichōs Disciples and the Precepts
286
Conclusion
304
Index
319

The Controversy Over the Bodhisattva Precepts
107
The Role of the Precepts in Saichōs Thought
169

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About the author (2000)

Paul Groner is professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

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