An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism: The Essentials of Buddhist Spirituality by William Stoddart, Joseph A. Fitzgerald

date
    is traditional y said to have been 552 A.D. The magnificent early Bud-
    dhist works of art in the seventh century monastery of Hōryū-ji, near
    Nara in Japan, are considered to have been produced by Korean sculp-
    tors and craftsmen as well as by their Japanese pupils.
    It is remarkable how rapidly the transmission of Buddhist teach-
    ings over immense distances could take place. For example, the Indian
    master of the Vajrayāna school, Vajrabodhi, arrived in China in 720
    A.D. His chosen disciple was Amoghavajra (Pu-k’ung), and the lat-
    ter’s primary successor was the Japanese Kōbō Daishi (Kūkai), who
    returned to Japan at the beginning of the ninth century, where he
    founded the Shingon sect. All this (from India, via China, to Japan)
    happened within the space of about 80 years.
    The Japanese historical periods are shown on the next page.
    The priest Kōbō Daishi as a child, Japan, 14th century
    Make the practice of Nembutsu[ the invocation of the saving
    Name of the Buddha ] the chief thing in life. Lay aside everything
    that may interfere with it.
    Hōnen

    114
    An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism
    ii. The Japanese Periods
    600 B.C.

    Foundation of the Japanese Empire by

    Jimmu Tennō
    600 B.C.-c. 250 B.C.
    Jōmon Period
    c. 250 B.C.-c. 250 A.D. Yayoi Period
    c. 250 A.D.-c. 552 A.D. Kofun Period

introduction of Buddhism
    552 A.D.-645 A.D.
    Asuka Period
    645 A.D.-794 A.D.
    Nara Period

    645 A.D.-710 A.D. Hakuhō Period

    711 A.D.-794 A.D. Tempyō Period
    794 A.D.-1185 A.D.
    Heian Period

    794 A.D.-897 A.D. Jōgan Period

    898 A.D.-1185 A.D. Fujiwara Period
    1185 A.D.-1333 A.D. Kamakura Period
    1333 A.D.-1392 A.D. Nambokuchō Period
    1392 A.D.-1568 A.D. Muromachi Period
    1568 A.D.-1615 A.D. Momoyama Period
    1615 A.D.-1868 A.D. Edo Period

    1615 A.D.-1688 A.D. Early Edo Period

    1688 A.D.-1764 A.D. Middle Edo Period

    1764 A.D.-1868 A.D. Later Edo Period
    1868 A.D.-present
    Modern Japan

    1868 A.D.-1912 A.D. Meiji era

    1912 A.D.-1926 A.D. Taishō era

    1926 A.D.-present Shōwa era

    Japan
    115
    iii. A Selection of Haiku (Japanese 17-syllable Poems)1
    My ears had found the sermon dull and stale;
    But in the woods outside—the nightingale!
    Masaoka Shiki (1866-1902)
    Without a word of warning, look, alone
    Above the autumn clouds, Mount Fuji’s cone!
    Kamijima Onitsura (1660-1738)
    O timid snail, by nature weak and lowly,
    Crawl up the cone of Fuji slowly, slowly. . . .
    Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)
    Between the washing-bowls at birth and death,
    All that I uttered: what a waste of breath!
    Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)
    I have seen moon and blossoms, now I go
    To view the last and lovliest: the snow.

    Rippo (1600-1669)2
    1 From A Net of Fireflies ,translations by Harold Stewart (Rutland, Vermont, and Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1960).
    2 Written by the poet on his death-bed. Moon and blossoms are forms. The snow is
    pure Substance.

    116
    An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism
    iv. The Sects of Japanese Buddhism
    The Japanese masters Dengyō-Daishi (Saichō) (767-822) and Kōbō
    Daishi (Kūkai) (774-835) were acquainted with each other, but of dif-
    fering perspectives. Both studied in China and both returned to Japan
    at the beginning of the ninth century A.D. Dengyō Daishi founded the
    Tendai sect, the name of which comes from the Chinese Mount Tien-
    t’ai (“Heavenly Terrace”) and Kōbō Daishi founded the Shingon sect,
    the name coming from the Chinese Chen-yen (“True Word”).
    The Tendai school includes a wide variety of spiritual practic-
    es, whereas other schools tend to focus on one or another of them.
    Thus Tendai incorporates liturgical rites (which are characteristic of
    the Shingon school), “sitting meditation” or zazen (on which the Zen
    school lays emphasis), and mantra s such as the nembutsu (of the Jōdo
    or “Pure Land” school).
    Tendai is known as the school of teaching and study (of the
    sūtra s).The Patron of the school is the Bodhisattva known in Japanese
    as