1234/9–1289 was a Japanese Buddhist itinerant preacher (hijiri) whose movement, the became one of the major currents of medieval Japanese Pure Land Buddhism.Foard, J. H. (2020). "Ippen and Pure Land Buddhist Wayfarers in Medieval Japan". In Critical Readings on Pure Land Buddhism in Japan (Volume 2). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004401518_022
Born in what is now Ehime Prefecture, he studied at the Seizan branch of Jōdo-shū before meeting many Shingon- and Tendai-associated hijiri, and then became a hijiri himself. During a Kumano pilgrimage, Ippen had an experience that inspired him to spread the Pure Land faith throughout Japan. Accompanied by bands of followers, he traveled throughout Japan teaching that salvation lay in the single-minded invocation of Amida's Name and that the very moment of recitation unites the reciter with the timeless enlightenment of the Buddha. Ippen traveled over fifteen hundred miles, visiting every major population center and devotional center in Japan, such as Kumano, Zenkō-ji, Taima-dera, and Mount Kōya.
In his itinerant ministry, Ippen combined the devotional recitation of the nembutsu with ecstatic dancing, and the distribution of ofuda (talismans) inscribed with the name of Amitābha, which he handed to people as symbols of faith and rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati. His teachings blended the Pure Land ideal of other power with Zen non-dualism and the folk religious practices of wandering ascetics. Rejecting all self-powered efforts and sectarian distinctions, Ippen held that the simple recitation of even a single nembutsu invariably linked one with Amitābha's enlightenment, assuring rebirth in Sukhavati. Ippen's radical vision of faith and his insistence that the heart can attain birth in the Pure Land while the body remains in this world gave rise to a popular movement that appealed to all social classes. His life is outlined in the Ippen Hijiri-e, a series of emakimono (narrative painted scrolls) that serve as the main historical source for his life and activities.
Biography
Early life Ippen was born to the Kōno clan who ruled the Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture) on the island of Shikoku. After the decline of the Kōno clan, his father, Michihiro, became a monk at Hōgonji temple, which is where Ippen was born.Soda, Ippen, pp. 24-32. Ippen's secular name may have been Kawano Tokiuji (河野時氏), Tsūshū (通秀), or Tsūshō (通尚). As a monk, he was given the Dharma names Zuien and . Ippen means one (一) yet all pervading (遍). He is respectfully referred to as "Ippen Shōnin," where "Shōnin" (上人) signifies a holy person.
Following his mother's death and on his father's command,Soda, Ippen, p. 38. Ippen became a Buddhist monk at an early age and resided at Keigyōji temple as early as 1245. In 1251, he traveled to Dazaifu to study under a Tendai monk called Shōtatsu who was devoted to Amida Buddha and who urged Ippen to "learn to read the sūtras and commentaries of the Pure Land school."Soda, Ippen, p. 41. Ippen was also sent to study the Pure Land sutras in Hizen under a monk named Kedai, who changed Ippen's name from Zuien to Chishin, because Zuien refers to "various good karmic conditions," which sounded like a self-power oriented name. After studying with Kedai, he returned to study with Shōtatus for twelve years. Both Shōtatsu and Kedai were disciples of the Pure Land teacher Shōkū (1177–1247), who was the founder of the Seizan branch of Jōdoshū.
When his father died, the 25-year old Ippen returned to secular life and assumed family responsibilities at his home province of Iyo. He got married and became head of the household. Eventually, in 1271, he eventually felt called to renounce a second time, which, according to different accounts, was for one of four different reasons:Soda, Ippen, 45–48.
He had a philosophical insight about karma while watching a spinning top (Ippen Hijiri'e). He was fleeing a relative trying to kill him in an inheritance dispute (Ippen Shōnin Ekotobaden). He saw the hair of two of his napping wives turning into snakes, making him fearful of jealousy (Ippen Shōnin Nenpuryaku). He had inheritance problems with his two jealous wives. (Hōjō Kudaiki).
Thereupon, during the national crisis of the Mongol invasions, Ippen took a pilgrimage to Zenkōji, drawn by legends of its "living" Amida statueSoda, Ippen, 49–50. and the influence of the Zenkōji hijiri (wandering sages) who he had previously met at Dazaifu.Soda, Ippen, 50. Hijiri were itinerant mendicants and preachers who were not ordained as Buddhist monks but could still become influential religious figures and fundraisers for temples and shrines. Ippen was influenced by such people, especially by Kūya, a popular tenth century nembutsu hijiri. At Zenkōji, he was influenced by the temple's beliefs in saving beings from hell, as well as the temple's enshrinement of the image of Shandao's analogy of the "Two Rivers and the White Path," which he copied and revered.Soda, Ippen, p. 54.
He then returned to Iyo and entered ascetic retreat in a place called Iwaya at Sugō, at a temple called Kubodera.Soda, Ippen, p. 58. At this temple, he hung the image of the "Two Rivers and the White Path" on his wall, and began a life of exclusive Nembutsu practice. After three years, he composed his central teaching, the verse on the "non-duality of ten and one."Soda, Ippen, 61–64.
In 1273, Ippen secluded himself in Iwayaji temple on the Kumano Kodō, a site associated with Kukai. He found resonance in his doctrine of the "non-duality of ten and one" with Kukai's teaching of "attaining Buddhahood in this very body," which led him to seek out esoteric teachings.Soda, Ippen, p. 65. He engaged in Shugendō (mountain asceticism) and became devoted to Fudō Myōō, thereupon receiving divine dreams.Soda, Ippen, 66. These experiences solidified his resolve and belief that that kami supported the Nembutsu.Soda, Ippen, p. 67.
In 1274, Ippen visited Shitennōji and then Mt. Kōya, which was a major site for a large old community of nembutsu hijiri who practiced Pure Land influenced by Shingon esotericism (as found in Kakuban's teachings). Ippen's practice of distributing nembutsu ofuda may have been influenced by the practices of these hijiri. At this point, Ippen seems to have become committed to a life of ascetic wandering.Hirota (1997), p. xxviii
Ippen then continued his pilgrimage following the Kii Peninsula south until he reached three major Shinto shrines at Kumano which were important sites for yamabushi mountain ascetics. From a Buddhist perspective (honji suijaku), the local kami Hongū had come to be known as a manifestation of Hōjō bosatsu (Dharmodgata, Truth Revealing Bodhisattva) as well as a manifestation of Amida Buddha. Ippen had a religious experience at this shrine that transformed his spiritual practice. After offering some ofuda talismans to a reluctant priest who felt that his faith was not true enough to accept the talismans, Ippen then prayed to the gongen Hongū at the hall of witness (Shojoden) in the main shrine at Kumano. According to the Ippen Hijiri-e: When he had closed his eyes but not yet fallen asleep, the doors of the sacred hall were pushed open and a yamabushi with white hair and a long hood emerged. On the verandah three hundred other yamabushi touched their heads down in obeisance. At that moment Ippen realized that it was surely the Manifestation [gongen] himself and entrusted himself completely. Then the yamabushi stepped before Ippen and said, "Hijiri spreading the nembutsu of interpenetration [yuzu nembutsu], why do you go about it mistakenly? It is not through your propagation that sentient beings come to attain birth. In Amida Buddha's perfect enlightenment ten kalpas ago the birth of all sentient beings was decisively settled as Namu-amida-butsu. Distribute your fuda regardless of whether people have faith or not, and without discriminating between the pure and the impure."Hirota (1997), p. xxxv This statement confirmed Ippen's nembutsu recitation practice along with his fuda distribution to all people as consistent with his non-dual Pure Land beliefs. This meant that the saying of a single nembutsu and the reception of a nembutsu talisman could act as the one nembutsu (ichinen) which marked someone's liberation in the Pure Land, an attainment which was already assured by Amida ten kalpas ago. Furthermore, there was no need for practitioners to make an effort to attain a specific state of faith or concentration. Ippen saw this teaching as being based on this direct revelation as well as on the sutras. He would go on to state "My teaching is the oral transmission bestowed in dream by the Kumano Manifestation".Hirota (1997), p. xxxvi
After this encounter, Ippen devoted himself to nembutsu practice exclusively and to distributing the nembutsu fuda as a way to lead people to the Pure Land. He saw himself as a follower of the hijiri Kūya. Ippen soon sent a female companion back to Iyo with an ofuda print block for his half-brother Shōkai along with a poem which states:
The six character name is the one law; The karmic beings of the ten realms are one body. Abandoning the myriad practices and relying on the one nembutsu, One rises among humans as a beautiful lotus.
Forming a new hijiri order
Ippen then spent the next three years as a solitary hijiri before gaining his first and foremost disciple, Taa Amidabutsu. By the time he returned to Iyo in 1278 he may have had a few other followers as well. Ippen's activities were varied, and included chanting sessions (of nembutsu and sutra), practicing an ecstatic form of dancing nembutsu, handing out nembutsu ofuda (お札) and keeping a register of the converted.Ippen, Jaanus
His activities drew a wide following from all social classes. The dancing nembutsu practice began as early as 1279, and may have been derived from traditional funerary practiced tied with placating the spirits of the dead. In Ippen's teaching though, dancing nembutsu was seen as a spontaneous ecstatic expression of Ippen's joyful faith in the nembutsu. The idea that one's faith can lead to such ecstatic joy is also found in the Pure Land Sutras. The dancing nembutsu practice became quite popular throughout Japan and it was spread by many different groups not just Ippen's sect.
Ippen continued to travel throughout Japan, gathering a band of followers and proselytizing a unique version of Pure Land Buddhism.Moriarty, Elisabeth (1976). Nembutsu Odori, Asian Folklore Studies 35 (1), 7-16 During Ippen's time, hijiri were often affiliated with specific temples and promoted specific geographical sites (especially mountains like Mount Kōya). However, Ippen created an independent group of hijiri not based on any single temple or site. Instead, his teaching was based on the immanent presence of Amida in all places. Nevertheless, this new universal movement also embraced all the popular devotions and local deities of Japan, since they were all considered to be manifestations of Amida Buddha's power. This universality and inclusiveness allowed Ippen's movement to absorb many hijiri groups, including those of Zenkōji and sections of Mt. Kōya's hijiri community. According to Foard, Ippen's movement soon emerged as "the leading order of medieval mendicancy, and perhaps the major source of Pure Land propagation for over a century and a half."