The Shingon Ritsu school and the Manjusri cult in the Kamakura period: From Eison to Monkan

Although Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren schools have received most of the attention on Kamakura Buddhism, this dissertation demonstrates the importance of Shingon Ritsu, founded by Eison (1201--90). The school is significant for its unique combination of social welfare, precepts propagation, and esoteric rituals. The Manjusri cult was strongly linked to the school's charitable activities, based on conceptions of the "living Manjusri" manifesting as an outcast (hinin) and in ritually empowered icons. Yet the cult also emphasizes memorial rites for mothers and shows connections with imperial and warrior rule. I thus use the cult to illuminate the school's broad social context and innovative synthesis of esoteric and esoteric Buddhism.; Chapter 1 compares Eison's and Ninsho's involvement in social welfare and the Manjusri and Gyoki cults and investigates their historical precedents. Chapter 2 examines Eison's writings on a living Manjusri" statue and demonstrates a neglected continuity in his soteriology for varying social groups. Chapter 3 first explores a "rhetoric of reluctance" on fundraising and patronage for the statue and Eison's other activities, suggesting a need to legitimize his dual status as a Ritsu ( vinaya) monk and Shingon master gaining elite patronage. I then analyze a text attributed to Eison recording an esoteric transmission from Manjusri to Eison to Shinku. I argue that the text suggests a similar legitimization of the Shingon-Ritsu synthesis but which here may reflect developments after Eison's death.; Chapter 4 examines Monkan (1278--1357), known as the systematizer of the Tachikawa lineage, associated with Tantric sexual rituals and black magic. Yet the evidence for the "heretical" character of the lineage then and Monkan's involvement is questionable, while his connections with the Shingon Ritsu Manjusri cult are undeniable. Particularly significant is a Manjusri statue he dedicated supporting Emperor Go-Daigo's actions against the warrior government. I thus clarify the continuities and disjunctures between Monkan's and earlier Shingon Ritsu practices and his biographical construction as orthodox monk and heretical practitioner. I conclude by arguing that the disjunctures highlight a growing divide in the Shingon-Ritsu mix.; Chapter 5 comprises ten annotated translations of classical Chinese and Japanese texts connected to the cult.