Rennyo's View of the Salvation of Women: Overcoming the

Five Obstacles and Three Subordinations

by Dr. Alfred Bloom, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawai

Introduction

The issue of women and religion is a pressing one, particularly in western countries where
the women's liberation movement has been highly influential in arousing consciousness of
the gender discrimination that is pervasive in most societies. All the great religions have
emerged from patriarchal and androcentric cultures. Consequently, the position and role of
women in Buddhism historically is of significance for evaluating the relevance of Buddhism
for modern people. In this essay we will look closely at the life and teachings of Rennyo
Shônin (1415-1499), the eighth abbot or lineal successor of Shinran (1173-1262), the
founder of the Jôdo Shinshû. His approach to the question of the salvation of women is a
barometer of the potential of Shin Buddhism to relate to contemporary issues in society.

Rennyo is sometimes called the Restorer of Shinshû or the Second Founder. More than
Shinran himself, Rennyo emphasized the issue of the salvation of women, placing it at the
forefront of his teaching. In comparison to other religious teachers an unusual awareness of
women runs through his letters. They were a notable element in his personal life and
constituency.

According to Mori Ryukichi, the prominence of the issue of the salvation of women in
Rennyo's letters derived from the fact that at that time women played a major role in
manual labor. With the changing character of the villages Rennyo saw the loss of their
ancient and traditional spiritual role in religious functions of the home involved with
preserving the fire and making sake. This realization of change led him to make women an
important focus in his mission to revitalize the Honganji. [1]

Under Rennyo's leadership Shin Buddhism developed into a major religious institution of
medieval Japan by promoting the way of salvation for all people through trust in Amida's
unconditional compassion. He claimed that this was a more accessible and adequate way of
salvation for all people, but it was particularly so for women, in contrast to that provided by
other schools of Buddhism. In numerous letters he stressed the singularity of the
unconditional and universal compassion of Amida Buddha, which does not distinguish male
and female, while also highlighting the negative attitude of general Buddhism toward the
salvation of women.

With his clear and forthright teaching, Rennyo's popularity grew to such an extent that great
throngs of priests and lay people, men and women, journeyed to Yoshizaki from the various
provinces. Because of the large numbers of pilgrims, he questioned their motivation and
eventually even prohibited people from coming. Particularly, Rennyo continued to hold a
great attraction for women. In one of his letters he recalls a report about some "women of
distinction" who were drawn to his center at Yoshizaki, because of its great popularity
among priests and lay people. These women especially desired to hear the teaching because
they "suffer the bodily existence of women, wretched with the burden of deep and heavy
evil karma." They found the teaching "suited to (their) innate capacity" and declared their
trust in Amida (Gobunsho I-7). [2]

Unlike Shinran and other scholarly founders or teachers in Buddhism, Rennyo did not write
complex treatises or commentaries. Rather, he addressed his followers in ordinary language
in the form of letters as his major means of communication and propagation. These letters
are our primary source for understanding his views. Their wide circulation and esteem have
established them as authoritative and sacred in Shin Buddhist tradition. They are significant,
therefore, for the consideration of the salvation of women in Buddhism.
In order to put Rennyo's thought into context and perspective, as well as to make clear his
distinctive contribution, this essay will briefly survey Buddhist tradition and the Pure Land
and Shin teaching which lie in the background of his teaching.

I. The View of Women in Buddhist Tradition: A Summary Perspective

Opinion has been divided among students of Buddhism as to whether it teaches the equality
of men and women or whether it honors men and slights women. There is no unified
viewpoint among the vast quantity of Buddhist texts. While it is said that Gautama Buddha
taught the equality of all people and rejected the idea of a superior class or caste, there are
many instances where it is taught that women are subordinate to men or have impediments
and are viewed as inferior to men.

A. Early Buddhism

In early Buddhist texts, it is clear that women could gain nirvâna equally with men. An early
saying states:

Whoever has such a vehicle, whether a woman or a man,

Shall indeed, by means of that vehicle,
Come to Nirvâna. [3]

However, when it came to establishing an order of nuns, there are traditions which indicate
that the Buddha at first refused the pleas of his aunt and foster-mother, Mahâprajâpati, to
permit the entry of women into the order, because it would bring about its eventual decline.
However, Gautama finally gave in to her request. It is to be noted that the issue did not
hinge on the spiritual capacity of the women but on the possibility of corruption of the
order, resulting from the interaction of men and women. Nonetheless, the historicity of this
account has been questioned.

Once women were admitted, the number of disciplinary rules which women had to follow
were enlarged from about 250 for men to 348 for women, of which, eight, attributed to the
Buddha, maintained male dominance. The historicity of these eight rules has also been
questioned, but their effect was to subordinate women in later Buddhist history. Possibly the
rules were intended to protect the nuns, as well as subordinate them to the monks.

Evidence for misogyny can be found in early traditions such as the statement ascribed to
Buddha that "womenfolk are uncontrollable...envious...greedy...weak in wisdom...A
woman's heart is haunted by stinginess...jealousy...sensuality." (Anguttaranikâya iv. 8, 10).
[4] Rita Gross suggests that the negative attitudes towards women were occasioned partly
by the exigencies of celibacy, requiring avoidance of temptation, as well as stereo-typical
views of women in ancient Indian society. [5]

B. Mahâyâna Buddhism

When Mahâyâna Buddhism emerged there appears to have been a stronger effort to
challenge the abilities of women, by asserting their inferiority. Further, the spiritual goal
was not just to attain nirvâna as affirmed in the earlier tradition, but now also to attain
enlightenment or Buddhahood. The idea that a Buddha could only be male came to be
widely accepted. As the figure of the Buddha became more divinized and mythological, the
Indian concept of the 32 major marks of a great man and 80 minor marks were applied to
Buddha. One of these 32 marks was the possession of the male genital organ, described as
recessed as in a horse or hidden in a sheath. Consequently, to become a Buddha one clearly
had to be a male. [6]
In addition, probably around the first century B.C.E., under the influence of Hindu culture
and its patriarchal orientation, symbolized by the symbol of the Mahâpurusha, the Great
Man, the belief took deep root that women were spiritually limited and could not attain to
the highest spiritual status because of the nature of their bodies. A woman could not
become a Brahmâ god, Indra, [7] Chakravartin (Great Wheel-rolling King), King of demons,
or a Buddha. These became known as the five obstacles or limitations that women faced.

Important here is the fact that according to this formulation, a woman-as-woman could not
attain Buddhahood. In addition, the Indian Laws of Manu and also traditional Confucianism
stipulated that a woman must observe three subordinations, to father, husband and sons.
These relationships are the mark of women's dependency in society and hence, her inability
to act on her own.

There are numerous statements throughout Mahâyâna Buddhist literature expressing

negative and misogynistic disapproval of women as impediments to the practice of monks.
Some texts hold that being born female is the result of bad karma and that they are
generally spiritually inferior to men. [8]

The denigration of women appears in numerous Mahâyâna texts which stress the danger of
women for the spiritual progress of monks. Although the Nirvâna Sûtra is best known for its
assertion that all beings possess Buddha nature, it also declares that all the passions of the
men in the three thousand worlds altogether are equivalent to the karmic obstacles [to
becoming a Buddha] of one woman. Further, it states that a woman is the great king of
demons, completely devouring all men. In the present age, they are [like] entangling
shackles and in the afterlife they are vengeful enemies. According to the Shinjikangyô, even
though the eyes of all the Buddhas of the three ages fall and decay on the great earth, all
the women in the dharmadhâtu (cosmos) eternally have no aspiration to attain
Buddhahood. The Yûten-ôkyô depicts women as one of the most evil difficulties. Binding
men, she drags them into the gates of retribution.

The Hoshaku-kyô states that if a man looks on a woman once, he loses completely his eye
of virtue. Even though one may look on a great snake, one should not look on a woman.
The Agon-kyô says that if a man looks on a woman even once, he will be bound by the
karma of the three evil paths eternally; how much more if he violates (the precept of sexual
chastity), he will surely fall into eternal hell. According to the Chido-ron, though the cool
breeze has no color, still one can grasp it. Even though a pit viper contains poison, one can
touch it. One can face an enemy holding a sword and still win. (However,) it is difficult to
prevent a woman robber from injuring a man. Finally, the Yuishiki-ron states that a woman
is a messenger of hell. She eternally cuts the seed of Buddhahood. Outwardly, her face
resembles a bodhisattva but inwardly her mind is like a yaksha (a demon). [9] From these
few indications, we can readily see that women were regarded as threats to the spiritual life
of monks. As a result of such negative attitudes women were to be despised and avoided.

Despite the widespread currency of the concepts of five obstacles, the three subordinations
and generally negative evaluations of women, some positive views of women also appear in
Mahâyâna sûtras. The earliest expressions of women attaining Buddhahood are found in the
Lotus Sûtra, the Larger Pure Land Sûtra and the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines, based
on the idea of transformation from female to male. [see discussion below]. The Vimalakîrti
Sûtra depicts a conversation between Sâriputra and a female deity in which she transforms
him to a female, taking his form. The implication of the story, based on the teaching of
emptiness, is that external, physical forms are part of the world of delusion. Potentiality for
enlightenment is not determined by whether one is physically male or female. The Queen
Srîmâlâ Sûtra narrates a conversation between the Buddha and the Queen. After she
expounds the Dharma to the Buddha, he indicates his pleasure with her understanding of
the teaching and her profound wisdom and enlightenment.
C. Japanese Buddhism

In order to provide an historical background for Pure Land Buddhist teaching on the
salvation of women in the Pure Land thought in Japan , we shall summarize the position of
women in Japanese Buddhism prior to the emergence of the Kamakura teachers and
particularly Hônen, Shinran, Zonkaku and Rennyo in the Pure Land tradition. Consideration
of these developments is important to deal with the criticism of Kasahara Kazuo by scholars.
Kasahara, in his work, Nyonin-ôjô-shisô-no-keifu [10], emphasizes the achievements of the
Kamakura teachers to the neglect of earlier precedents of the mention of salvation of
women, while clarifying the contribution of Rennyo in particular.

In the case of Japan , women appear to have been among the first Buddhist clergy, [11]
and early functioned in the official national temples (kokubun-ji, kokubun-niji) on an equal
basis. However, changes in the status of nuns took place between the 7th and the 9th
centuries as their position declined. According to Taira Masayuki, the discrimination against
women began from the ninth century. He attributes this to the patriarchalism of the earlier
ritsuryô state (centralized government based on legal codes) which took root among the
aristocracy and brought about the decline in the political status of women. As a result of
various changes in society, there was an increase in superstitious beliefs in evil spirits
(goryô) and magical practices such as exorcism, yin-yang divination, geomancy, astrology
and tantric rites accompanied by an increase in the consciousness of pollution among the
nobility who were centered in the capital, Heiankyo ( Kyoto ), where corrupt monks and
animal slaughterers appeared. [12] There was a political connection in protecting imperial
authority from disasters and calamities.

The female menstrual cycle and the physiology of pregnancy stimulated a greater
awareness of pollution. These temporary periods of pollution were defined as defilement and
later joined with the idea that being a woman was the result of evil karma. The Buddhist
expression of discrimination toward women, represented by the concept of the five
obstacles as a symbol of the evil karma of women, combined with the periods of temporary
pollution of women. Consequently, the existence of woman came to be viewed as a source
of pollution and the basis for their exclusion from sacred precincts such as Mount Hiei , the
Shingon monastery on Kôyasan, Kinpusan, Kasagi-dera and Tôdaiji. [13]

The social background of this development, according to Taira, is to be found in mountain

worship and the urbanization that accompanied the establishment of Kyoto. The towns were
vulnerable to nature and the spread of epidemics. To try to mitigate these problems,
healers and shamans subjected themselves to the ferocity of nature on behalf of the
townspeople. The shamans and healers had to be pure and master magical power within the
purity of nature in order to thus protect the community from catastrophe. With the growth
of this concept the maintenance of purity required the exclusion of women from such
important sanctuaries, a practice peculiar to Japan. [14]

According to Matsuo Kenji, however, Kasahara Kazuo in his study of the relationship
between the old Buddhism and Kamakura Buddhism on the issue of the salvation of women
overlooked the deliverance of women taught by monks who retired from the world such as
Myôe (1173-1232) and Neo-shingon Vinaya monks such as Eison (1201-1290). Eison gave
bodhisattva precepts to women for their salvation. For example, he gave the precepts to the
widow of a former official of Settsu, Jô-amidabutsu who donated a copy of the canon to
Saidaiji.

The Neo-shingon Vinaya monks recognized the rebirth of women and constructed an
ordination platform at Hokkedera which permitted them to become regular nuns. This
possibility was open to all women believers. [15] In Eison's community, through the ritual of
denbô-kanjô (The Dharma-transmission abhiseka [a type of baptism through sprinkling
water based on the Dainichi Sûtra]), women were cleansed of the five obstacles and could
become recognized as bodhisattvas and Buddhas on the eight-petal lotus seat, symbolic of
Mount Sumeru in Buddhist mythology. However, those who underwent this process were
the elite among the elite.

The review of Eison is intended to show that the popular Buddhist teachers such as Hônen,
Shinran, Nichiren and Dôgen were not alone in their concern for the deliverance of women.
Nevertheless, it does appear that the popular teachers of Kamakura are significant in
bringing the message of deliverance to ordinary women who were unable to participate in
the elaborate ceremonies of the monasteries which were redoubts of the aristocracy
generally. In the Kamakura period, the teachers presupposed the teaching of five obstacles
and the sinfulness of women. However, women could attain rebirth in the Pure Land and
eventually Buddhahood through transformation to a male, based on the Lotus or the Pure
Land Sûtras. However, it was not merely a doctrinal problem for them, but they taught with
the aim of saving ordinary women in society. Something more simple and direct was
required.

II. The Salvation of Women in Pure Land Tradition

According to Rita Gross, "the most famous and important solution to the problem of female
birth is found in the Sukhâvatîvyûha Sûtra [Larger Pure Land Sûtra], in connection with
Amitâbha's Pure Land." In the Pure Land Sûtras, however, we are told that there are no
women in the Pure Land which is a natural outcome of the fact that going to the Pure Land
was in order to gain enlightenment and Buddhahood which women could not attain as
women.

Some scholars suggest that the principle of transformation of women into men as a
prerequisite for birth into the Pure Land was a means to reconcile the views of those who
held to the equality of men and women in gaining enlightenment and those who maintained
that there are only men in the Pure Land. Transformation was viewed as a way to
compensate for the idea of the five obstacles and allow women in some way to become
Buddhas. This solution permeated Buddhism. However, Minamoto Junko calls this attaining
Buddhahood with conditions or conditional Buddhahood and therefore, discriminatory. [16]

Accordingly, the Dai-amida-kyô and the 35th Vow of Amida Buddha in the Larger Pure Land
Sûtra [Daimuryôjukyô]) declares that for a woman to gain birth in the Pure Land, she must
despise her female body and transform to a male before rebirth in the Pure Land can take
place. The 35th Vow of Amida Buddha in the Larger Pure Land Sûtra reads:

(35) May I not gain possession of perfect awakening if, once I have attained
buddhahood, any woman in the measureless, inconceivable world systems of all the
buddhas in the ten regions of the universe, hears my name in this life and single-
mindedly, with joy, with confidence and gladness resolves to attain awakening, and
despises her female body, and still, when her present life comes to an end, she is
again reborn as a woman. [17]

In chapter 12 of the Lotus Sûtra, we find a graphic description of the transformation of the
Nâga Princess as a result of her faith in Sakyamuni's teaching. She immediately became a
Buddha, much to the consternation and opposition of the older monks, by acquiring male
genitalia and going to her Buddha-land. Those monks invoked the five obstacles as the
reason she should not have become a Buddha. A similar incident occurs in the Perfection of
Wisdom Sûtra concerning the prediction of buddhahood for the Goddess of the Ganges ,
though it not instantaneous as in the case of the Lotus Sûtra. [18]

Although the sûtras and the Vow appear to place a low evaluation on the feminine and
femininity, requiring it to be abandoned, later teachers maintained that women were also
embraced within the compassion of the Buddha and could gain rebirth into the Pure Land.
Among Pure Land teachers who are prominent in Shinran's Pure Land lineage, Vasubandhu
in his Jôdoron indicates that there are no women in the Pure Land. [19] It is possible to
interpret his statement to mean that, within the Mahâyâna gate, all who enter are
ultimately equal, since no distinctions such as man-woman, etc., are made there and the
Land, being the perfection of Amida Buddha's Vow to save all sentient beings, is therefore
one of "overall and undivided equality." However, the texts state that only women must
despise their female form and be transformed. The natural reading of the sûtra text and
Vasubandhu's statements would seem to indicate that women cannot enter the Pure Land
as women, and therefore their rebirth is conditional.

It is with Shan-tao, however, that the Buddhahood of women is clearly engaged in Pure
Land tradition. In the Kannenbômon Shan-tao quotes the 35th Vow and states that women
who recite the Buddha's name, will at the end of their lives transform from female bodies to
male. Taken by the hand by the Buddha and aided by bodhisattvas, they will sit on jewelled
lotuses and be reborn as Buddhas. If women do not depend on the Vow power of the
Buddha's Name, they cannot through countless aeons attain the transformation of their
female bodies. From Shan-tao's viewpoint, it is wrong to deny that women can attain rebirth
in the Pure Land , since the Buddha and his Vows are the highest promotive condition. [20]

Hônen generally followed the teaching of Shan-tao, quoting this passage in his writing
Muryôjukyô-shaku, and also proposed the deliverance of women. [21] In this text he
discusses the five obstacles and the various sacred precincts in Japan which exclude
women. He points out that women are excluded from the five divine realms, described as
the five obstacles. How can women give rise to the thought of the Pure Land of the
Recompense Buddha? Women are despised in all sûtras and treatises, and they are
prohibited everywhere. He laments how sad it is that even though women have two feet
and eyes, they cannot worship in such sacred places as Mount Hiei , Mount Kôya , Mount
Kimpu or Tôdaiji. He concludes with Shan-tao's affirmation that women will be delivered
through their recitation of nembutsu, transformation to male, and reception into the Pure
Land by the Buddha. [22]

While the Muryôjukyô-shaku is the major text of Hônen that addresses the issue of women
in any detail, we find some references in his Words to Zenshôbô [23] and the Nembutsu-
ôjô-yôgi-shû. [24] To Zenshôbô he writes that if one recites the nembutsu through life, they
will surely be born into the Pure Land as they are. We are what we are in this world because
of past karma. We cannot change that. A woman cannot become a man, even if she desires
it. A wise person is wise; a fool, a fool. Amida made his Vow for all beings in the universe
(jippô-shujô). This passage suggests that everyone who devotes to the nembutsu are
accepted as they are by Amida without discrimination.

In the Nembutsu-ôjô-yôgi-shû, Hônen compares Amida's path of salvation with others

offered in such text as the Lotus and Nirvâna Sûtras. He declares that Amida's Vow is for
people of the last age. It does not consider whether one is a woman or how much passion
or evil deeds one has done. Amida intended it for all beings abandoned by other Buddhas. If
everyone, good or evil, male or female recites nembutsu, all will be born into the Pure Land,
ten out of ten, one hundred out of one hundred. The Buddha does not distinguish those with
the five major sins, or whether one is a woman or an icchantika (a person with no
potentiality for Buddhahood). He will not reproach a woman with five obstacles and three
subordinations who practices nembutsu. It is through the power of the nembutsu that the
good or evil are saved. With five thoughts, the five obstacles are erased; with three
thoughts, the three subordinations are abolished and with one thought they are welcomed
by the Buddha (raikô/raigô). This last statement implies all are equal and that women as
women can be born into the Pure Land. Transformation is not necessary. [25]

We can observe Hônen's respect for women in his response to a letter from the wife of
Taishi Tarô Sanehide. Hônen explains to her in detail the way of deliverance through the
recitation of Amida's name with faith. According to him, there is no superior or efficacious
way for all people, men or women, to gain rebirth in the Pure Land. Hônen esteemed and
recognized her intelligence by giving such a thorough exposition of the teaching.

There is also the legendary account of Hônen's compassionate dealing with a prostitute
whom he encountered on the way to exile. The story reflects the compassionate attitude of
the Pure Land School toward women entrapped in difficult life conditions. In the story Hônen
advocated that, if possible, the woman should give up her profession, but if that were not
possible, she should entrust herself to the nembutsu for her ultimate deliverance. The
reference to the deliverance of women nuns in the famous Ichimaikishômon, written shortly
before his death, stresses the simple practice of nembutsu, using the simple faith of a
woman as a model.

Hônen was clearly influenced by the stipulation of the 35th Vow concerning women and
Shan-tao 's teaching in the Kannenbômon. He held out the hope that, through devotion to
the nembutsu, all people, men and women, will be met by a host of Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas who accompany them to the Pure Land where they inevitably become
Buddhas. There is also the hint that women as women enter the Pure Land.

III. The View of Women in Shin Buddhist Tradition

Shinran had a great respect for women, particularly his wife Eshin-ni. This was implied in his
vision-dream where he was told that Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, would
transform to a woman and be his helpmate in his work of propagating the teaching of the
Primal Vow.

Minamoto Junko points out that Shinran's view of the salvation of women is not broadly
speaking different from his view of humanity in general. He does not distinguish men and
women in his writings. [26] Nevertheless, he mentions the five obstacles and the
transformation of women, based on the 35th Vow, noting its meaning in the Jôdo-wasan:

So profound is Amida's great compassion

that, manifesting inconceivable Buddha-wisdom,
He established the Vow of transformation into men,
Thereby vowing to enable women to attain Buddhahood. [27]

As Minamoto points out, Shinran tersely indicates that this is the meaning of the Vow. It
does not mean he accepted it in principle, since his notation is similar in character to those
made for the 19th and 20th Vows (verses #61 and #64 respectively) which he considered
represented the self-power perspective in Buddhism. In verse #58 he designated the 18th
Vow as the Primal Vow which was his main principle. Shinran does not specially focus on the
issue of women's rebirth, though he employs the term jôbutsu, becoming Buddha, rather
than simply ôjô, or rebirth, in connection with the 35th Vow, signifying that women, like
men, become Buddhas.

Shinran appears to assume the traditional view in his Hymns of the Pure Land Masters
(Kôsô-wasan) where he states:

If women did not entrust themselves to Amida's Name and Vow,

They would never become free of the five obstructions,
Even though they passed through myriad of kalpas;
How, then, would their existence as women be transformed?

This verse carries forward Shan-tao's thought, highlighting the transformation of the female
into male, though making no mention of despising her body or the meeting with the Buddha
who accompanies the person to the Pure Land , an idea current in Pure Land thought
(raikô/raigô) but set aside by Shinran. [28]
In his Nyûshutsu-nimon-geju [29] Shinran summarizes Vasubandhu's statements in the
Jôdoron that women, disabled and people of the two vehicles (srâvakas and
pratyekabuddhas) are said not to receive birth into the Pure Land. However, according to
Shinran, they are not so cast aside. Rather, they are saved through the perfection of the
karmic power of Dharmâkara's great Vow, and embraced by the virtuous power of the
enlightened Dharma-king Amida. The Tathâgata's saintly host are produced from the
blossoms of the true enlightenment of Bodhisattva Dharmâkara. While all these beings
originally have been classified according to their degrees of virtue, in the Pure Land there is
no difference of higher or lower. For all alike there is no other way than the nembutsu. Like
the Tzu and Sheng rivers (in present day Shan-tung province), they become one taste
entering the sea.

In the Kyôgyôshinshô, Volume on the Transformed Buddha-land, Shinran quotes a passage

from the Sun-Matrix-Sûtra (Nichizôkyô). [30] This passage recounts the story of a mâra
(demon) woman who raised aspiration for enlightenment (bodhi mind) as a result of her
past good roots. She announces to her father that the Tathâgata has opened the way to
nirvâna and she desires to be like the Buddha in liberating all sentient beings from their
sufferings. The story indicates that 500 mâra women, including her sisters and other
relatives, followed her with the certitude that they would attain supreme enlightenment.

This passage shows that women, even mâra women, are equally embraced by the Dharma.
Hence, Shinran in such instances affirms the complete equality of women in attaining
liberation. [31] In the Faith Volume, he quotes at length the Nirvâna Sûtra, relating the
story of the evil king Ajâtasatru. The Buddha declares that his words are the highest truth
and through the various teachings, men and women, young and old, all alike, gain the
highest truth, nirvâna. [32]

These passages, quoted by Shinran, suggest that there is no discrimination in the

attainment of Buddhahood, and no mention is made of the transformation to male. Perhaps
with these passages in mind, Shinran maintained there is no distinction between male and
female in the great sea of faith:

In reflecting on the ocean of great shinjin, I realize that there is no discrimination

between noble and humble or black-robed monks and white-clothed laity, no
differentiation between man and woman, old and young. The amount of evil one has
committed is not considered, the duration of any performance of religious practices is
of no concern...It is simply shinjin that is inconceivable, inexplicable and
indescribable. It is like the medicine that eradicates all poisons. The medicine of the
Tathâgata's Vow destroys the poisons of our wisdom and foolishness. [33]

Fukuhara Rengetsu points out that Shinran, based on the Nirvâna Sûtra, refers to the
principle that all beings possess Buddha-nature in the Kyôgyôshinshô: once in the Practice
volume, three times in the Faith volume, and four times in the True Buddha-land volume.
The term Buddha-nature appears some 43 times, signifying that for Shinran the Pure Land
tradition, as well as the Saintly Path tradition viewed women as equal to men. Further, the
term "all beings of the universe" of the 18th Vow and "all beings" in the Fulfillment text of
the Vow imply the equality of men and women in salvation. [34]

We may conclude that while Shinran recognized the traditional view of women in Pure Land
teaching, he also employed passages which express a broader perspective, leaving aside the
stipulation concerning the transformation of women and making clear the complete equality
and nondiscrimination of women in deliverance. Despite Shinran's historically conditioned
acceptance of the 35th Vow in the Kamakura period, Minamoto holds that his essential
message was to overcome the discrimination of women within the feudal society. Shinran
recognized the discrimination as discrimination. However, in the logic of faith, he
transcended it in his effort to fulfill the ideal of universal salvation intended by Pure Land
teaching.
Zonkaku (1290-1373), the son of the third abbot Kakunyo (1270-1351) of the Honganji,
devoted a short text on the rebirth of women, the Nyonin-ôjô-kikigaki [35] [Notes on the
Rebirth of Women] in which he discusses the perceived disparity between the 18th Vow of
Amida Buddha and the 35th Vow. According to the 18th Vow, the path of deliverance is all-
inclusive, because it refers to all beings (jippô shujô). However, the 35th Vow especially
declares the deliverance of women. Why should a special Vow be needed for women who
are covered by the 18th Vow? Zonkaku responds to this issue, indicating that the 18th Vow
is all-inclusive because of the Buddha's boundless compassion. Nevertheless, because
women have many obstacles and are deeply defiled, the 35th Vow was necessary to make
clear their inclusion.

When questioned about proof for this deep defilement, Zonkaku appeals to various sutras
and treatises which denigrate the character of women. These references have been
summarized above by Prof. Kasahara. If women hear such criticisms, they would be
humbled and lose hope for their deliverance. Therefore, the 35th Vow was needed. They
should loathe their deep defilements, and even though they do not commit great sins
openly, through their constant thoughts and actions, they produce evil karma. They are
always the cause of evil. He describes how morning and evening they sit in front of mirrors
putting on make up and perfuming their clothing. Their thoughts are in bondage to desire
and they indulge in envy. Smoothing their hair and adorning themselves, they are agents of
transmigration and the source of samsâra. If they do not change and practice the Buddha-
dharma, how can they escape evil paths? It is said that wherever there are women, there is
hell. How much more they have the five obstacles and three subordinations!

Zonkaku relates the meaning of the five obstacles and the three submissions. In the words
of Rakuten: "When born as a human being, do not become a woman. One's pleasure and
suffering depend on other people." Also, not depending on their own mind, they appear to
follow people throughout their lives. On account of transmigration through the twelve links
and with the three submissions as the condition, they are not born in the Buddha lands of
the 10 directions. Because of (their being) the source of the 108 passions and with the five
obstacles as the cause, they are despised by the 80,000 sacred teachings.

In order to support the principle that women can attain rebirth in the Pure Land , despite
these criticisms, Zonkaku depends heavily on Hônen's work in the Daikyô-shaku
(Muryôjukyô-shaku [Interpretation of the Larger Pure Land Sûtra] which we discussed
above. The compassionate heart of the Buddha in the 35th Vow, however, is to take away
the suffering of women and give them bliss.

Zonkaku then calls attention to Shinran's wasans which interpret the Vow and declare that
women attain the highest fruition of all-virtuous Buddhahood through the Vow of
transforming their bodies. He narrates an incident in which Hônen tells the women who
came to visit him that they would have great difficulty in countless aeons to transform their
female bodies and become Buddhas, if they do not go to the Pure Land relying on Amida's
Vow. When they meet the Vow and recite the Name with trust, when their breath ceases
and their eyes close, they will transform, leaving the defiled world and entering the Pure
Land where they instantly attain rebirth in the land of peace and sustenance and forever
receiving infinite bliss. This is the most joyful among the joyful, and it is said that those who
heard him wept tears of joy.

The Larger Sûtra establishes the 35th Vow for the salvation of women; the Sûtra of
Contemplation makes Queen Vaidehî the true object of deliverance and teaches the way to
rebirth through recitation of the nembutsu. The Amida Sûtra addresses good men and
women together as the persons of the nembutsu. Generally, even though the compassion of
the Buddha is conferred on all sentient beings, he gives priority to women. The multitudes
of the ten directions are the objects (ki) and conditions (en) of the Pure Land ; women are
fundamental (hon). Therefore, in India , China and in Japan , women who think on Amida
attain rebirth and become non-retrogressive Bodhisattvas. According to Zonkaku, there are
untold numbers of biographical records (perhaps referring to the ancient stories of rebirth,
ôjô-den). Therefore, people, who desire to change their bodies and surely attain the Buddha
way, must earnestly trust in the Vow that transcends the world and recite the name of
Amida.

We can observe that in order to promote Pure Land teaching Zonkaku employed traditional
social stereotypes of women and their religious discrimination by major Buddhist institutions
as a means to highlight the distinctiveness and primary function of the 35th Vow in ensuring
their deliverance. Though he affirms the principle of transformation, Zonkaku shows that
women have priority in the three Pure Land Sûtras, each of which affirms their rebirth.0 He
ends his text with a plea that women should rely on the Primal Vow which transcends the
world and singleheartedly recite the name of Amida Buddha. Zonkaku's thought is heavily
dependent on Hônen. However, his conclusion is particularly important in stressing the
primacy of women in the process of deliverance established by Amida, because it
demonstrates the inclusiveness and truth of Pure Land way of deliverance through
nembutsu.

IV. Rennyo and the Deliverance of Women

Rennyo also followed the lead of Zonkaku. However, Rennyo is distinctive for the frequency
with which he mentions the salvation of women in his letters. Rennyo had a great many
women in his following and he shows great sympathy for them, perhaps, as a consequence
of the loss of his mother, deaths of four wives and the fact that he had 14 daughters, six of
whom died at a young age.

The Muromachi period was characterized by a strict status system in society and the family.
Absolute submission to superiors generally was the principle in the family, leaving women in
a particularly subordinate position. However, the situation gradually changed together as
the economy and production developed, leading to both the husband and the wife doing
similar work. With greater economic independence there was a tendency for women
naturally to participate in religious awakening and to seek to renew their minds.

This situation is reflected in the kyôgen story Yome-odoshi-no-kimen (Demon Mask for
Threatening the Daughter-in-law) in which a bride who was devoted to Rennyo and Shin
teaching attended the temple to receive instruction. However, she was subjected to the
jealousy and wrath of her mother-in-law who tried to prevent the daughter from going to
the temple by putting on a demon mask to frighten her when she went to the temple.
However, the wife, when confronted by the demon who threatened to devour her, held fast
to her faith, without moving and saying nembutsu in gassho. She countered that the demon
should not eat a person of faith. She represents the ideal woman follower who has
personally chosen her faith, perhaps in face of family opposition, and who overcomes
problems through nembutsu.

However, when the mother tried later to get the mask off, she could not remove it. The
daughter took her to Rennyo and upon hearing the teaching the mask dropped off. The play
became very popular in Yoshizaki and the northern provinces where Shin Buddhism
flourished, because it reflected problems in society and also the Shin ideal that faith
transformed the mother's attitudes, enabling the family to live together harmoniously. [36]

When we come to consider Rennyo's view of the rebirth of women, we should note that he
refers to women in various contexts in 58 letters out of 212 considered authentic. In the
central collection of eighty letters fifteen letters take up the issue. Women are referred to in
some term in forty three places. There are nine passages in which he refers to "women with
five obstacles and three subordinations." [37] It is clear that in comparison to Zonkaku,
despite his text devoted to this issue, and the brief mentions by Shinran, it was of greater
interest and concern for Rennyo. In this section we will discuss the background of Rennyo's
life which might account for his engagement with this issue and the teaching which he
offers.

A. The Background of Rennyo's Concern for Women

Rennyo's experiences with poverty and grief gave him a strong sense of connection with the
common people in all walks of life and especially with women who formed a major element
of his following. Here we shall survey important aspects of his life which undoubtedly
shaped his attitudes and views. According to Ohtani Koichi, almost every turn of Rennyo's
life reflects his memory and love for his mother. [38]

While Rennyo's father, Zonnyo, was twenty years old and as yet unmarried, Rennyo was
born at the Otani Honganji in Kyoto in 1415. His mother was a nameless lowly servant
woman. [According to Otani Koichi, she came from either Bingo or Harima in western Japan
(now Okayama , Hiroshima areas)]. When the time finally came for Zonnyo to assume the
abbacy, the family demanded that he marry a legal wife from a family of status.
Consequently, he married Nyoen (d.1460) who was related to the Ebina family which served
the Shogunate.

In what must have been a sorrowful, though quiet, parting, Rennyo's mother had a portrait
of him drawn, known as the ka-no-ko-no-goei, as a memento. It is said that Rennyo's later
resolve to revitalize the Honganji was inspired by his mother, who reminded him that he
was a descendant of Shinran as she left. Rennyo was only six years old at the time. Despite
his later efforts to locate her, he was unsuccessful. In his enduring memory of his mother
he designated the twenty-eighth day of the month as her memorial to mark the day when
she departed.

Rennyo's relationship with his stepmother was difficult because she favored her own son,
Ogen, as the successor to Zonnyo and tried to put Rennyo into foster care. [39] Rennyo,
however, worked intimately with his father for many years and accompanied him on his
preaching tours, as well as copying texts for followers. However, Zonnyo apparently did not
write a will which specified Rennyo as his successor. Nyoen strove to have Ogen, her eldest
son, selected. Rennyo finally secured the position through the recommendation of Zonnyo's
younger brother Nyojô who asserted that because Rennyo had worked closely with Zonnyo
in his teaching and copying texts for nineteen years, Rennyo should succeed him. His
argument was successful whereupon Nyoen and Ogen left the Honganji. According to Ohtani
Koichi, the influence of the memory of Rennyo's mother was an inspiration for his interest in
the salvation of women. He relates an incident that took place when Rennyo was 35 years
old on the seventh day of the seventh month, the day of the Tanabata festival when,
according to legend, the Star Weaver-maiden (Vega in the Lyra constellation) and Star
Herdsman (Altair in the Aquila constellation) meet once a year. Rennyo's uncle Nyojô
suddenly recalled Rennyo's mother. In response, Rennyo composed a poem:

On the evening
The boy-star meets (his lover),
Alas, tear-soaked sleeves. (author's rendition)

The poem suggests that while the two lovers meet once a year, Rennyo is unable to meet
his mother. On that occasion he copied Zonkaku's Nyonin-ôjô-kikigaki [Notes on the Rebirth
of Women]. Further, the women of low degree that he later met in his travels coincided with
the features of his mother, arousing strong sympathy for them. Perhaps, it is a reflection of
the low status of his mother that Rennyo to cast aside any aristocratic tendencies that
derived from his status as a descendant of Shinran.

Against the background of the experience of his mother, it is significant that Rennyo had
five wives in succession, never resorting to a concubine. [40] However, he outlived four
wives, and fathered 27 children of which 13 were male and 14 were female. Commenting on
the death of his third wife Nyoshô who died soon after the birth of her daughter Myôshô
(1477-1500), Rennyo writes about her devotion to the teaching, her illness and the sorrow
of those who knew her."He closes his tribute to her by saying, 'She was gentle and patient,
and the same with everyone she met.'" [41] In 1471 his first daughter Nyokei died at the
age of 25. The fifth daughter Myôi, age 11, in the same year (1471). In 1472 his second
daughter Kengyoku died at age 24, and in the same year Ryônin at age six. His eldest son
Junnyo died in 1483 at age 41, the seventh daughter Yûshin in 1490 at age 33. Sixth
daughter Nyokû died at age 30 in 1492.

The death of Kengyoku, particularly, had a great impact on Rennyo. This daughter was one
of his early children whom he put in foster care because of his poverty. She initially was
sent to a Zen temple during the time of Rennyo's dependency where, as a child, she served
as a katsujiki, announcing mealtimes. Later she entered the Shôju-an, a Jôdo-shû temple,
in Yoshida where she practiced under her great-aunt Kenshû, a nun in the Jôke-in tradition,
as did her sister Juson, the third daughter. Before Kengyoku died, however, she returned to
the Shin teaching of her father and attained deep faith. He was overjoyed that she had
attained settled faith in her last days. [42]

Rennyo was greatly pained by her death but yet rejoiced in her trust in Amida's Vow. He
related in a letter written shortly after her death that one of the mourners had a dream in
which he saw three lotus flowers emerge from the smoke of cremation and among the
flowers was a small golden Buddha from which light shone. It soon became a butterfly and
disappeared. This was the form of Kengyoku going to Pure Land-Nirvana. The dream ended.
It has been suggested that it was really Rennyo who had the dream. [43] In the same letter
he also describes a mysterious event when she was being cremated. It rained just before
the cremation. At the time, everyone there saw a five color cloud which moved over the
moon and was a good omen that she had attained rebirth in the Pure Land. Rennyo declares
that in her death and rebirth Kengyoku was a Zenchishiki, a good teacher, showing that
men and women alike will by all means attain rebirth, when they reach the one moment of
settled faith and recite the nembutsu completely in gratitude for the Buddha's benevolence.

The loss of his mother, an unsympathetic stepmother, the loss of four wives and several
daughters, as well as the care for his children by others made necessary by his poverty,
would certainly have been a sufficient basis for Rennyo's reflection and interest in the
deliverance of women. Also many women were among these devotees who travelled to his
center at Yoshizaki in the northern province of Echizen.

B. Doctrinal Foundation of Rennyo's Thought on the Salvation of Women

Rennyo's approach to salvation follows the general line of Shinran. Accordingly, through
Amida's supreme Vows all beings are saved equally (Gobunsho II-8). Amida Buddha,
through his Vows, designed to save all beings, those with the ten evils, five grave sins,
dharma-slanderers and the icchantika who lack the seed of Buddhahood. (III-1) There are
no sins surpassing these (Jôgai-gobunsho, 26). [44] However, if such people convert, they
will all be saved.

In Gobunsho letter II-4 Rennyo declares that the Vow was made for those people of the last
age of the defiled world who do evil, are not good and whose evils are deep and weighty. In
interpreting settled faith, however, Rennyo indicates that it does not require learning or
wisdom and does not discriminate between male or female, noble or humble, an equality
reminiscent of Shinran's delineation in the passage on the Great Sea of Faith in the
Kyôgyôshinshô. It requires only that we recognize that we are "wretched beings of deep evil
karma." (Gobunsho II:13).

Among the evil, immoral people who are objects of the Vow there are those who are lost
day and night through wretched evil karma whom Rennyo associates with merchants, public
service, and hunters. It is for these people that Amida made his Vows (Gobunsho I-3). The
Vow does not require that they purify of their blind passions and thoughts. Only firm faith in
Amida's Vows is necessary. In Jôgai-gobunsho 3, Rennyo says that it makes no differences
whether a duck's legs are short or a crane's are long; one is saved in whatever condition of
life one is in. [45] This accords with Shinran's view in Yuishinshô-mon'i. [46] These
passages recognize the various occupations as objects of Amida's Vows and differ in
characters from other categorizations, perhaps reflecting the social evaluations of that age.
Passages which emphasize those with deep sins and heavy karma, do not specify what
those sins are as they are in the other formulations. Rather, they are forms of expression
and the content is probably the same. We may say that they refer to the human condition
as a whole. Shinran also uses such generalized descriptions although Rennyo differs from
Shinran at times in giving more specific, concrete description of the human condition.

Within the context of the universal salvation pledged by Amida's Vows, Rennyo specially
mentioned women as the object of salvation in response to those Buddhist institutions
which, as we have seen above, excluded women from participation or even their presence in
places certain monasteries.

Rennyo may also have been influenced by the priority of the salvation of women indicated in
the Anjin-ketsujôshô which he read and studied intensively. In the closing section of that
text a parable is given in which a village headman buried treasure in a muddy field in order
to protect his only daughter from being robbed of it by the king and ministers of the country
after he died. When they failed to find the treasure and left, the daughter recovered it and
went into business, becoming richer than she had been previously. The retrieval of the
treasure is likened to practicing the nembutsu and confirmed faith which enables a person
to attain birth in the Pure Land immediately. Wrapping the treasure in garbage and placing
it in the mud refers to defiled common mortals and impure, evil women who are the true
objects of the Buddha's salvation. Here men and women are seen on the same level.

C. Women as the Objects of Amida's Vows

Among Rennyo's numerous mentions of the salvation of women, Gobunsho letters I:10,
II:1, IV:10, V:3, V:7, V:14, V:17, V:20 specifically take up the issue. Letters in the Jôgai-
gobunsho collection are 88, 90, 102, 103. In his teaching, interest in the salvation of
women is comparatively high in contrast to Shinran who wrote in a more general vein,
referring to all beings or those not blessed in society. From the standpoint of Buddhism,
Shinran was concerned with people as objects of propagation. Rennyo's interest in the
salvation of women is likewise an outgrowth of Shinran's perspective. However, Rennyo
made them a special object of his attention. Rennyo often refers to women in his many
letters, as well as addressing the wives (naihô) [47] of the priests resident in Yoshizaki. At
times he employs the technical designation drawn from Buddhist tradition: "women with five
obstacles and three subordinations" together with the phrase "five major sins and ten evils."
As parallel references, the latter phrase appears to describe men or bombu, that is,
common ordinary people. While Rennyo appears to distinguish between men and women
with specific definitions, Gobunsho letter II-8 emphasizes the fact that all people, whatever
their condition, are equally saved through Amida's Vow. From the standpoint of deliverance
there is no real distinction to be made between male and female. Consequently, the phrases
are used to depict the profound evilness of both men and women and perhaps to amplify
the deep defilements of women particularly in view of the traditional understanding of
women in Buddhism.

Rennyo comments on the story of Dharmâkara Bodhisattva and the Primal Vow in the
Larger Sûtra in his Shôshinge-taii, stating that "When we speak of Amida as Dharmâkara in
the distant past, he contemplated and revealed the easy dharma and vowed to guide both
those sinners with the ten evils, and five grave sins and women who have five obstacles and
three subordinations, none being left out, bringing them all to rebirth in the Pure Land."
[48] Despite the great evil of men and women, they are equally the concern of Amida
Buddha. It is only through Other Power faith that they can be reborn in the Pure Land.
(Gobunsho V-15).

Rennyo's most common designation for women as the object of salvation is the formula
"five obstacles and three subordinations". Together with those people who commit the ten
evils and five major sins, they are people who do evils or lack good in the last age (mappô)
and are embraced only by Amida's Vow. It is also interesting that women replace the
designations of dharma-slanderers and icchantika who lack seeds of Buddhahood in
alternative passages which list the objects of Amida's salvation. By traditional Buddhist
definition, women as women, as well as icchantika lack the potentiality to become Buddha.
This substitution suggests that women possess the deepest sins. Nevertheless, women are
in the same position as men with respect to Amida's Vows.

In his own characterization of women, Rennyo indicates that women exceed men in their
defilement, and they are liable to fall into eternal hell (Jôgai-gobunsho 27 [49]; Gobunsho
V-7). He writes: "We must realize that unbeknownst to others, all women have deep evil
karma; whether of noble or humble birth, they are wretched beings..."(Gobunsho V-14;
Jôgai-gobunsho, 102). [50] Even though a woman may have a sincere mind, she is full of
doubts (Gobunsho II:1). It is difficult to rid oneself of abominable thoughts. [51]

He calls particular attention to the worldliness of women who are concerned with their
families to the exclusion of spiritual matters. Women make an excuse of their children and
grandchildren. Being occupied so much only with this life, they do not give any attention to
the fact that they will be drowned in the evil three paths and eight difficulties, though they
know the uncertainties of youth and old age. It is wretched and foolish to follow the world,
living vainly, according to Rennyo (Gobunsho II:1).

Rennyo indicates that women who singleheartedly and earnestly take refuge in Amida's Vow
should give up mixed practices and praying to other gods. They can only be saved through
Amida Buddha (Gobunsho IV:10). They are to consider themselves as evil persons who
trust in the wondrous Buddha-wisdom of the Primal Vow made for such superficial women,
described in another edition of the letter as people who deeply doubt and think abominable
things and are devoted to children and prosperity. [52] They are to trust Amida Buddha
singleheartedly, reciting the nembutsu in gratitude. With settled faith, these women are
assured of their rebirth into the Pure Land and their becoming a Buddha.

The Buddhas of the universe, however, do not have the aim to make women Buddhas and
they have abandoned them. Amida alone has such a purpose (Gobunsho V:7). The 35th
Vow was made expressly for such women (Gobunsho I:10). Rennyo made it clear that the
universality of the 18th Vow included men and women as the objects of the Vow. However,
women are not merely evil beings, but exceed men in sinfulness. For such women who have
no way of salvation in this latter age, Amida especially made the 35th Vow, according to
Rennyo, with the thought: "If I do not save women, which of the other buddhas will save
them?" (Gobunsho V:20). Women knowing "that they are evil and worthless beings...should
be deeply moved to turn and enter [the mind of] the Tathâgata. Then they will realize that
their entrusting [of themselves] and their mindfulness [of Amida] are both brought about
through Amida Tathâgata's compassionate means." (Gobunsho II:1). Rennyo does not say
directly that women are the true object of Amida's Vow (nyonin-shôki as against akunin-
shôki), but his expression implies it.

Rennyo never characterizes women in the negative terms of earlier Buddhist texts, which
suggest that women are full of envy or vain and obstacles to men on the path to
enlightenment. Rather, he counsels women, that, despite their great evils, "they should not
be concerned about the depth and weight of their evil karma," since it is through their faith
and Other Power that they are delivered (Gobunsho V:15). Clearly, the institution of
married clergy in Shin Buddhism where wives became helpmates rendered such descriptions
inappropriate and useless.
We might, however, question why Rennyo distinguishes women apart from the general run
of common mortals as beings with five obstacles and three subordinations, and describes
them as exceeding men in sinfulness. Also why should the given social situation of three
subordinations be a mark of the defilement or evil in women? The answer may be found in
the context of patriarchal society. In such a society it was the general consensus of
Buddhist tradition that birth as a woman was a misfortune and evidence of evil karma. It
would take several lives for women to be reborn as men and from there to pursue the goal
of enlightenment. Hence, women have additional obstacles to overcome in contrast to men.

Rennyo does not question these assumptions, but uses them adroitly to highlight the
supremacy of the Primal Vow, without which there would be no hope for men or women who
share equally the evils of existence. His use of traditional terminology may simply be a
means of showing that he understands their peculiar problem in Buddhism. He believes that
all are common ordinary people (bombu) standing in need of compassion, though women
are the most clear illustration of Amida Buddha's capacity to save. He stresses that other
Buddhas either do not have the power to save or have abandoned women. Rennyo could
appeal to women's inner sense of fairness that Amida Buddha particularly worked on their
behalf.

Rennyo, as other previous teachers, assumes the traditional view of the 35th Vow which
was specifically made to relieve the doubts of women concerning their rebirth, but he only
once refers to the idea of transformation from female to male, which is a major element of
that Vow. [53] That he does not stress this concept could encourage women to believe that
they were to be reborn as they are, and it is more likely, since Jôdo Shinshû does not hold
to the idea of the Buddha coming to meet believers to welcome them to the Pure Land
(raikô/raigô) which would require the transformation of women before their entry into the
Pure Land. In the Sammonto tradition of Shin Buddhism taught by Nyodô (1253-1340), it is
clearly stated that women enter the Pure Land as women. Nyodô writes:

The layman, even as a layman, can attain birth in the Pure Land if he chants [the
nembutsu]; the woman, even as woman, will be ushered into the Pure Land (raikô)
[sic] if she chants [the nembutsu]. Since no distinction whatsoever is made in it as
to the purity or impurity of one's body, it is the practice [to be followed] whenever
one is walking, standing, sitting or lying. [54]

Women who have attained shinjin are in the state of the company of the truly assured
(shôjôju), destined for nirvâna, and have the position equal to enlightenment and to
Maitreya. These are all conditions which Shinran declared were signs of the immediacy of
the assurance of deliverance given in this life (later termed heizei-gôjô, signifying that the
karma for rebirth is completed in this life) in the one moment of the arising of trust and
negating the need for the welcome of the Buddha or raikô/raigô doctrine prominent in Pure
Land teaching as the means of assuring rebirth in the Pure Land.

The message related above is essentially what Rennyo gave to all people he met, but when
he takes special note of women, he suggests that he respects them greatly and particularly
wished to encourage them. They are not obstacles, but objects of Buddha's compassion. He
was more interested in offering hope and assurance than he was in denying women their
femininity or existence as women.

Rennyo's most striking ideas relate to the relationship of the gods and Buddhas to the
salvation of women. On the one hand, he indicates that in the age of mappô, the last age in
the demise of the Dharma, the gods and Buddhas have no power to deliver evil men or
women, while Amida Buddha's Vows are superior to them (Gobunsho V:4, V:7 III:5). On
the other hand, he strikingly asserts several times that all the gods and Buddhas have
abandoned women (Gobunsho I:10, II:8; V:20). Amida Buddha's Vows alone liberate them.
The idea of abandonment by all the Buddhas is found in Hônen's Nembutsu-ôjô-yôgi-shô.
He states:

Amida Buddha established his Primal Vow to save us beings of the last days, so we
ought to settle our birth at this time when the benefit of the Vow is at work. Do not
think "I will not be saved because I am a woman", or "because I am a being filled
with evil passions." We have met the Vow in which Amida Buddha originally
promised to save us beings who are deeply sinful and whom all the Buddhas in the
three time and ten directions have forsaken. [55]

The idea of forsaking or abandoning stems from the point that the Lotus and Nirvâna Sûtras
were addressed to sravakas and bodhisattvas and not to bombu, the defiled beings of the
last age. This turns around the traditional notion that sûtras such as the Lotus Sûtra were
too difficult for ordinary people of the last age, taking their lack of application to such
people as rejection.

While it is unclear whether Rennyo received the idea directly from Hônen's writings, the
abandonment by all Buddhas (except Amida) was reinforced by Zonkaku's text which he
copied in 1449. In this text Zonkaku made it clear that all the 80,000 sûtras and treatises
despise and reject women. In addition, there is the evidence, also indicated by Hônen, that
women could not enter or participate in the great monastic institutions. Rennyo drew the
conclusion that the Buddhas represented in these texts and by the great monastic
institutions had virtually rejected women from their supernal realms, as well as their earthly
domains. This contrast heightened the primacy and ultimacy of Amida's Vows.

Nevertheless, the idea of such complete abandonment is contradictory to Shinran's

assertions that we are enabled to encounter the Vow through the compassion of the
Buddhas and gods. It is also a firm belief in Shin Buddhism that all the Buddhas of the ten
directions praise Amida Buddha and his Vows (17th Vow). We have already seen that the
Lotus Sûtra, the Prajnâpâramitâ Sûtra, Vimalakîrti and Queen Srimâlâ Sûtras all suggest
that women either have become Buddhas or have the potentiality to attain Buddhahood.

The idea of abandonment also conflicts with another idea which Rennyo mentions when he
notes that all the Buddhas are included within Amida Buddha, the Primal Buddha (kuon-
jitsujô, hombutsu). (Gobunsho II:8). In this passage the primacy of Amida is put in contrast
with the Buddhas who reject women. However, as the fundamental teacher of all Buddhas,
they, the Buddhas, are his disciples who should rejoice when sentient beings attain faith
(Gobunsho II:9). The gods are manifestations of the Buddhas for the purpose of bringing
people to deliverance. They are to be respected, even though not specifically worshipped
(Gobunsho III:10). These Buddhas seek the deliverance of all beings and are entrusted with
the protection of those with confirmed trust. [56] They express the compassion of Amida
and are to be respected, rather than scorned or ridiculed. Both Shinran and Rennyo urged
their followers not to ridicule the gods and Buddhas. [57]

Conclusion

In his own way, we may say that Rennyo enabled women to overcome the limitations and
threats of the five obstacles by clearly and centrally including them within the vision of
Amida's unconditional compassion. In this he gave a stronger expression to what previous
Pure Land teachers had also declared by repeating it more often and more clearly in line
with the character of Shinran's teaching of absolute Other Power.

Nevertheless, with respect to the three subordinations, some scholars point out, that though
Hônen, Shinran and Nichiren taught the attainment of Buddhahood by women, they did not
raise the social status of women. [58] Rennyo would appear to be in a similar situation.
Rather, the continual use of the negative images of women as deeply sinful, even more than
men, tends to reinforce the social stereotypes of women as inferior beings, thereby not
enabling them to surmount their inferior status in society. They remained subordinated to
the androcentric, patriarchal order and limited in leadership roles.

Rennyo did not completely liberate women from the three subordinations. [59] Women were
still dependents. He did not discuss this issue apart from the five obstacles. Because the
three subordinations, rooted in Confucian ethic, pertain to the role of women in this life in
contrast to the hereafter, it would appear that Rennyo did not envision any radical change in
society itself. Rather, he affirmed Confucian values such as humanity, justice, propriety,
wisdom and sincerity or summarized as humanity and justice (jin-gi), as the ethical
foundation of society. (Gobunsho II:6, III:10, III:11). Evidence for this view can also be
seen in Gobunsho II-9 in which Rennyo compares single-hearted and exclusive trust in
Amida's Vow with loyalty to one master in human society. He adds the stipulation that a
faithful woman will not take a second husband. However, Rennyo had five wives and no
such restriction, reflecting the double standard that is common to patriarchal societies.

Buddhism, as history shows, was not immune to conforming to the social order in which it
found itself. This conformity was reinforced in Shin Buddhism by Rennyo's exhortation to his
followers to obey the principles of society in the royal dharma (ôbô), secular law, based in
Confucianism, while nurturing the Buddha-dharma in their hearts in prospect of rebirth in
the Pure Land.

As an issue of religious authority, Rennyo had to assume the validity of the 18th and 35th
Vows, as stated in the scripture. Although the principle of transformation of women to men
is a major feature in the 35th Vow, Rennyo never clarifies this aspect, leaving it open as to
how he may have viewed it. According to Yamasaki Ryumei [60], Rennyo took a broad view
of the 18th and 35th Vows, employing the term nyonin shôki, which indicates the centrality
of the salvation of women, as a short-cut expression. However, according to Yamasaki, the
assertion that Amida made such superior and transcendent Vows in order that women can
become Buddha, is not logically or directly connected with the idea that women as women
enter the Pure Land. The statement of the 35th would make this clear. Further, the 21st
Vow indicates that all Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land also have the 32 marks of a Great Man.
Accordingly, there is room for doubt on this issue.

However, we can view this problem also from the popular perspective, since Shinran and his
successors maintained the belief that we will meet our loved ones in the Pure Land as a nod
to human feeling. Despite the technicalities of doctrine, religious traditions accommodate to
human sentiment and hope. Consequently on the personal level, it is possible to envision
women entering the Pure Land as they are as women.

Rennyo would seem to imply that settled faith, and the assurance of rebirth which attends
it, leads to immediate Buddhahood as-one-is, in accord with Shinran's teaching in the
volume on the True Buddha Land in the Kyôgyôshinshô. This volume teaches that the
faithful attain nirvâna and Buddhahood immediately upon death. If women were saved with
all their obstructions, that should mean that they are saved as women, beyond any
distinction of men and women.

Shinran taught that everyone, man or woman, attains the state of truly settled in this life
with true entrusting (shinjin), and immediate Buddhahood with no mention of
transformation or being met by the Buddha. Further, in Shin Buddhism, the Pure Land is not
a staging area for the eventual and sure attainment of Buddhahood by bodhisattvas who
would then be male. Rather, in Shin Buddhism the rejection of the raikô/raigô teaching,
which requires the transformation of women, means that the moment of death becomes the
immediate attainment of nirvâna and Buddhahood itself with no separation of time. Further,
such a view would also accord with the principle stated in the Shôshinge that we attain
nirvâna without severing blind passion. We may conclude, therefore, that while Rennyo did
not make entirely explicit women's rebirth in the Pure Land as women, it would be
consistent with Shin teaching and human sentiment to understand that death brings
immediate Buddhahood without any special transformation required.

The attraction of women to Rennyo's teaching in such great numbers as history attests may
not have been founded so much on doctrinal subtleties as on the inspiration and hope they
received from his giving major attention to their plight and his clear and simple call to faith
no matter what their condition, spiritually or socially. His affirmations contrast with the
dismal prospect women faced in traditional Buddhism where, following the principle of
karma, it may take aeons of rebirths before a woman would be reborn as a male and more
aeons before the male would be reborn with the capacity to strive for enlightenment as a
monk. Several lives might be required before the monk might attain nirvâna. Pure Land
teaching offered a direct and immediate path for women, even with the principle of
transformation. Rennyo's lack of stress on transformation could even be more engaging for
women.

We should keep in mind that, east or west, there was in those days a more lively belief in
the reality of the afterlife than modern people may have. Despite the fact that Rennyo does
not deal with the three subordinations in this life or establish women as independent
religious personalities, we can say that for the women he addressed, he overcame the
traditional teaching of the limitations on the spiritual attainment of women, represented by
their exclusion from Buddhahood in the concept of five obstacles. Grounded in Shin
teaching, he opened wide the gates of hope and assurance of immediate Buddhahood upon
their birth in the Pure Land for even the lowliest of women.

Addendum

I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for their assistance in this study
to Professor Chiba Joryu, Rev. Kakekashi Jitsuen, Professor Inagaki Hisao, and Professor
Asaeda Zensho, Professor Toshi Arai and Mr. Shimazu Esho in Japan. Also my thanks to
Rev. Toshio Murakami of the Buddhist Study Center in Honolulu and Rev. Ruth Tabrah. All
errors are my own.

ENDNOTES

[1]... Mori Ryukichi, Rennyo. (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1979). p. 158, quoted in Yamasaki
Ryumei. "Rennyo-ni-okeru-shinkô-kôzô no kenkyû 3," Musashino Joshi Daigaku Kiyô, #18,
1983. pp. 111, 11

[2]... References to Rennyo's letters, known as Gobunsho or O-fumi, are based on the
translation by Minor Lee and Ann T. Rogers. Rennyo: The Second Founder of Shin
Buddhism. Berkeley CA : Asian Humanities Press, 1991. There are two collections referred
to as Jônai-gobunsho and Jôgai-gobunsho. The former constitute the collection of 85 letters
arranged in five fascicle, assembled by Rennyo's grandson, Ennyo (1491-1521) which
became the authoritative compilation. He was supervised by his father Abbot Jitsunyo
(1458-1525). The latter group of letters included the remainder of those not in the former,
comprising 139 letters,

[3]... (S.I. 33) quoted in Nancy Schuster Barnes, "Buddhism," in Arvind Sharma, ed.
Women in World Religions (Albany: State University of New York Press. 1987), p. 106. See
Majjhima-nikâya, Mahâ-Vacchagotta-Sutta, (M i, 492) in Lord Chalmers, Further Dialogues
of the Buddha, Delhi , India : Sri Sat-Guru Publications, 1927, 1988), Vol. I, pp. 345-350.
This text indicates that among the lay people following the Buddha there are hundreds of
women who have achieved deliverance.

[4]... Rita Gross, Buddhism after Patriarchy (Albany: State University Press of New York,
1993), p. 42.
[5]... Rita Gross, Buddhism After Patriarchy, pp. 44-45. See also the detailed discussion of
the positive and negative characteristics of women which were influenced by pre-Buddhist
attitudes and which supported androcentrism in Buddhist thought in Rita Kloppenborg and
Wouter J. Hanegraaff. Female Stereotypes in Religious Traditions, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1995).
pp. 151-169.

[6]... Nancy Schuster Barnes, "Buddhism," p. 116. Iwamoto Yutaka, (Bukkyô-to-Jôsei.

(Tokyo: Daisanbummeisha, 1980), Regulus Library. pp. 79-84, 186), discusses the possible
origin of the theory of transformation against the background of the Devadatta order which
held out for strict discipline and devalued women. Because they were influenced by Hindu
custom and Jainism, they did not recognize nuns or the Buddhahood of women as women.
Hence the notion of transformation developed. Without being male, women could not attain
buddhahood.

[7]... Shoyo Taniguchi, A Moral System Founded on Causal Conditionality

(Paticcasamuppâda): Ethics from the Pâli Nikâya Textual Point of View (unpublished Ph.D.
Dissertation, Graduate Theological Union, March 1996) p. 120. She notes that in the Sakka-
panha Suttanta in the Dîgha-Nikâya, a lay woman became Sakka, King of Gods or Indra,
while three monks became lower gods. (D. II 263 ff; Dialogue II, pp. 299 ff.)

[8]... Nancy Schuster Barnes, "Buddhism," p. 118.

[9]... These statements are found in Kasahara Kazuo. Nyonin-ôjô-shisô-no-keifu. (Tokyo:

Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1975), pp. 6-8. His account derives from Zonkaku, Nyonin-ôjô-
kikigaki. Shinshû-shôgyô-zensho, (Kyoto: Kôkyôin, 1957) III, pp. 110-112. Hereafter SSZ

[10]... Kasahara, Kazuo. Nyonin-ôjô-shisô-no-Keifu, (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1975)

[11]... Zenshin and her disciples in the Nihongi account of early Buddhism. W. G. Aston,
trans., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A. D. 697, (Rutland Vermont:
Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1972), p. 73, p. 101. Zenshin and her companions had been sent to
Korea for study, returning in 590 (pp. 113, 118).

[12]... Taira Masayuki, Nihon-chûsei-no-shakai-to-bukkyô. (Tokyo: Kô Shobô, 1992), p.

411. Daigan and Alicia Matsunaga. Foundation of Japanese Buddhism, I. (Los Angeles:
Buddhist Books International, 1974). pp. 209-210. Ienaga Saburo, ed. Nihon Bukkyôshi, I.
(Kyoto: Hozokan, 1967). pp. 241-25

[13]... Zonkaku, Nyonin-ôjô-kikigaki. SSZ, III, pp.114-115.

[14]... Taira Masayuki, Nihon-chûsei-shakai-to-bukkyô, pp. 411-415.

[15]... Matsuo Kenji. Kamakura-shin-bukkyô-no-seiritsu. (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kôbun-kan,

1991, 1988). p. 265.

[16]... Minamoto Junko. "Shinran-no-jôsei-kan," Indogaku Bukkyôgaku Kenkyû, 1976 (25-

1, #49), pp. 146-14

[17]... Luis O Gomez. Land of Bliss : The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Life.
(Honolulu and Kyoto: University of Hawai'i Press, Higashi Honganji Shinshû Otani-ha,
1996). p. 170. [From the Chinese version]. The term "renounce" is the word itou in
Japanese and signifies despising, detest and hating the body. Women must give up their
femininity in order to be reborn. Also Yamasaki Ryumei. "Rennyo-ni-okeru-shinkô-kôzô-no-
kenkyû 3," Musashino-jôshi-daigaku kiyô, #18, 1983. p. 116. He gives various renditions of
the Vow from other versions of the Sutra.
Though some scholars may argue that there are no women in the Pure Land because it
transcends sexual or any other distinction, the second Vow as in the Larger Amida Sûtra
(Dai-amida-kyô) states that there are no wives or women in (Amida's) land and if they wish
to be born there, they, then, become male. [SSZ, I, p.136]. This indicates a specific
transformation.

[18]... Edward Conze, trans. e Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and its Verse
Summary, (Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1973), pp. 219-221.

[19]... David Matsumoto, trans., "Jôdoron: Discourse on the Pure Land." Pure Land. (n.s. 3,
1986): 98-120.

[20]... SSZ, I, pp. 635-637.

[21]... According to Taira Masayuki, Nihon-chûsei-no-shakai-to-bukkyô, pp. 427-428,

indicates that this text is the only authentic text of Hônen that mentions this issue, and that
it is not proper to regard the theory of the salvation of women as a fundamental aspect of
Hônen's thought. It was a residue of the teaching on the salvation of women in the
Kenmitsu Buddhism

[22]... SSZ, IV, pp. 275-279. See Showa-shinshû-hônen-zenshû, (Tokyo: Heirakuji Shoten,
rep. 1992). Sanbukyô-shaku, pp. 160-161. Discusses the obstacles for women and difficulty
for them to become Buddha.

[23]... Ishii Kyodo, ed. Zenshôbô-ni-shimesu-kotoba. Hônen-shônin-zenshû. (Tokyo:

Heirakuji Shoten, rep. 1992). pp.463-464.

[24]... Ishii Kyodo, ed. Hônen-shônin-zenshû. Nembutsu-ôjô-yôgi-shû. pp. 681-688.

[25]... Kagawa Takao, "Bukkyô-no-jôsei-kan," Indogaku-bukkyôgaku-kenkyû, 1975. (XXIII-

2, #46), p. 546.

[26]... Minamoto Junko. "Shinran-no-jôsei-kan,"Indogaku Bukkyôgaku Kenkyû, 1976 (XXV-

1, #49), pp. 146-147.

[27]... Shin Buddhist Translation Series. Hymns of the Pure Land. (Kyoto: Honganji
International Center, 1991). #60, p. 53.

[28]... Shin Buddhism Translation Series. Hymn of the Pure Land Masters: A Translation of
Shinran's Kôsô-wasan, (Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1992), p.51, #64.

[29]...SSZ, II, pp.480-481.

[30]... Shin Buddhism Translation Series. The True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the
Pure Land Way. (Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1990), IV, pp. 559-562.

[31]... This implication of the passage is not drawn by commentators. Yamabe Shugaku,
Akanuma Chizen. Kyôgyôshinshô-kôgi. (Kyoto: Hôzôkan, 1953, rep. 1955). Keshindo-no-
maki, III, pp.1477-1480, emphasize the fact that devotees of Buddha do not need to fear
demons. It also shows that aeons of evil karma can be overcome through the resolve of
bodhi mind and taking refuge in the Buddha. Hoshino Gempo. Kôge-kyôgyôshinshô. (Kyoto:
Hôzôkan, 1995). Keshindo-no-maki, IV, pp. 2025-2037, indicates that this passage relates
to Shinran's idea that those who take refuge in Amida are revered by demons and gods. It
shows how Shinran overcame superstition through nembutsu. The implication that these
women as women gained enlightenment and became Buddha does not seem to be
perceived.
[32]... Shin Buddhism Translation Series. The True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the
Pure Land Way , II, p. 302.

[33]... Shin Buddhism Translation Series, [The True Teaching, Practice and Realization of
the Pure Land Way , II, pp. 249-250.

[34]... Fukuhara Rengetsu. "Gendai-shinshû-ni-okeru-jôsei-no-igi," Ryukoku Kyogaku.

(June 1971, no. 6). p. 82.

[35]... SSZ, III, pp. 109-119.

[36]... Some traditional theory indicates that this event led Rennyo to write Gobunsho V-7,
which deals with the five obstacles and three submission. See Sugi Shiro, Gobunsho-kôwa.
(Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo, 1993. pp. 335-336. In the text Rennyo-shônin-goisshô-ki the
story is associated with the passage in Rennyo's letter where he states that the evil of
women exceeds that of men. (Shinshû- daijiten, III, pp. 1683-1684; See Rogers, Rennyo,
V-7, pp. 247-248) In another version related by Itsuki Hiroshi, "Densho-ni-ikiru- Rennyo,"
NHK series #9, 1993, the mother intended to frighten both husband and wife who usually
went together to Yoshimizu. However, for some reason the woman went ahead of the
husband. The wife was frightened to death and fled home as fast as she could. When the
husband came along, he found his mother struggling to get the mask off and he took his
mother to Yoshizaki, where hearing the teaching of Rennyo, the mask dropped off as she
recited nembutsu in spite of herself.

[37]... Yamasaki Ryumei. "Rennyo-ni-okeru-shinkô-kôzô-no-kenkyû part 3," Musashino-

jôshi-daigaku-kiyô. (Vol 18, 1983). pp. 114-115.

[38]... Ohtani Koichi. "Haha-no-omokage-o-motomete," Shinran-to-Rennyo. (Tokyo: Asahi

Shimbunsha, 1992), pp. 97-99.

[39]... Ohtani Koichi. "Haha-no-omokage-o-motomete," Shinran-to-Rennyo. p. 97.

[40]... Rogers. Rennyo, pp. 49-50, n.17. The wives were "Nyoryô, Renyû (a younger sister
of Nyoryô) (d.1470), Nyoshô (1448-1478), Shûnyo (d. 1486), and Rennô (1465-1518)...

[41]... Minor Rogers. Rennyo, p. 107, n. 9. Rennyo-shônin-ibun (hereafter RSI), Inaba

Masamaru, ed. (Kyoto: Hôzôkan, 1972), #102, Bummei 10 (1478): 9,17, pp. 300-302.

[42]... See RSI, #16, pp. 82-86. Rogers, Rennyo, pp. 76-77, n. 19. Otani Chojun, Namu-
amida-butsu-wa-ningen-o-kaerareru ka. (Tokyo: Hama no Shuppan, 1988), p. 80.

[43]... RSI, Letter #16, pp. 82-85.

[44]... SSZ. V, p.46.

[45]... SSZ, V, p. 289.

[46]... Shin Buddhism Translation Series. Notes on "Essentials of Faith Alone" (Kyoto:
Honganji International Center, 1979), p.40; Tannishô, 13.

[47]... Rogers. Rennyo, pp. 160-161. RSI, #28, Bummei V:9, 11, pp. 111-114; #40,
Bummei V:12, 8, pp. 135-141.

[48]... SSZ, III, p. 387.

[49]... SSZ. IV, pp. 334-334. For Gobunsho see Rogers. Rennyo, pp. 247-248, RSI, #175,
n.d. pp. 474-475.
[50]... Rogers. Rennyo, p. 253. RSI, #143. (Meiô 7:3-), pp. 419-420. RSI, #43, pp. 150-
153; For Jôgai-gobunsho, SSZ, V, pp. 449-450.

[51]... RSI. p. 136 #40.

[52]... RSI. p.139. #40, Bummei 5:12,8.

[53]... RSI, #17, 5:8, 28, pp. 86-87. See Kagawa Takao, "Bukkyô-no-jôsei-kan," Indogaku-
bukkyôgaku-kenkyû, 1975. (XXIII-2, #46), p. 546-547. He notes that Nichiren and Dôgen
also taught the rebirth of women directly without transformation.

[54]... James C. Dobbins. Jôdo Shinshû: Shin Buddhism in the Medieval Period.
(Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989). p. 127.

[55]... Showa-shinshû-hônen-zenshû, p. 682. Also SSZ. IV, p. 590.

[56]... RSI, #54, Bummei 6:2,17, pp. 177-181.

[57]... Shin Buddhism Translation Series I, Letters of Shinran: A translation of Mattôshô,

(Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1978), #2, p. 25; SSZ, II, pp. 700-703. Shinran-
shônin-goshôsoku-shû IV. Kosho Yamamoto, The Private Letters of Shinran Shonin, (Tokyo:
Okazakiya Shoten, 1956), pp. 63-64.

[58]... Taira Masayuki. Nihon-chûsei-no-shakai-to-bukkyô. p. 392.

[59]... Yamasaki Ryumei. "Rennyo-ni-okeru-shinkô-kôzô-no-kenkyû 3," p. 117. He indicates

that it needs more inquiry to resolve the question whether Rennyo liberated women. Rather,
Rennyo declared as a matter of fact that women especially should rely firmly on Amida
Buddha for rebirth in the afterlife. We must recognize that Rennyo was concerned for the
eternal world and not this transitory world.

[60]... Yamasaki, Ryumei. "Rennyo-ni-okeru-shinkô-kôzô-no-kenkyû 3, p. 118.