Barring Entry to Practice Halls?

• WDF

  26 Jul 06, 23:16

  In Tannisho, Shinran is reported to have said,
  
  

  These days, however, one finds people making a show of themselves as "seekers for the afterlife," posting notices at nembutsu practice halls saying that those who have committed such and such acts may not enter, as though only good persons should say the nembutsu. Are not people who do this indeed "outwardly expressing signs of wisdom, goodness, or diligence, while inwardly embracing falsity"?
  

  Yet we see in Rennyo's Chapter On The Guardian Dieties And The Three Articles,
  
  

  1. Do not slander any of the doctrines of the other religious sects.
  2. Do not disparage any of the guardian deities, Buddhas or Bodhisattvas.
  3. Receive Faith and realize rebirth in the Land of Recompense.
  
  This temple should be closed to those who do not stand by the aims of these three articles. Also, it should be closed to those who do not place the essence of these aims deep within their hearts and who do not hold them as guiding principles in their lives.
  

  Is there a contradiction here?
  
  Gassho
• sanath

  27 Jul 06, 09:51

  Hi,
  actually we have to see the context and historical basis on which those two statements were made.
  
  Shinran Shonin's statement was based on the fact that there were practice halls that "excluded" people from the practice of the Nembutsu, which was contrary to the spirit of the inclusiveness that EVERYONE could practice the Nembutsu.
  
  However, we see a slightly different context in Rennyo Shonin's period. Especially during the years of the Yoshizaki Honganji, many people started gathering and if we read some portions of the Gobunsho, Rennyo Shonin points out that there were literally some who gathered for the wrong reason, and he was right, as there were some who gathered just for fame or flattery. And as time grew, over-zealous members started to disparage and criticise the teachings of other sects, and it became a matter of "life-and-death" for the Honganji, because other sects might have attacked the Honganji, and with the onslaught of civil wars, it was better to have the temple "closed off" to such people to avoid much more worser consequences. There was a time Rennyo Shonin literally had to ban people from gathering at Yoshizaki because things were getting a little too out-of-hand for him to handle, and that is why he later had to leave Yoshizaki and go back to the Ki-nai region.
  
  Of course, nowadays, no one is barred entry into any of the Jodo Shinshu Practice Halls or Temples.
  Gassho
• sanath

  27 Jul 06, 09:51

  (Repeated message)
• WDF

  27 Jul 06, 21:15

  Thanks for the answers! I knew it had something to do with the historical circumstances, because Rennyo was dealing with a lot of pressure from within the Honganji, and from without, and so at times he had to delve into conventional matters in a very practical way. At times I enjoy his pragmatism, but at other times Rennyo is a little heavy-handed for me. Looking at the context surrounding his words, however, always helps me understand that he HAD to be heavy-handed just to deal with the chaos around him. He was a master at it, or so it seems, as the Hongaji grew considerably during Rennyo's time.
  
  Gassho