Virtual Fushimi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Shonen-ji Temple

     Shonen-ji Temple was founded by Priest Teian (1539-1615) in 1587.  Teian is known for participating in the debate held by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) in Jogon-in Temple, in the Azuchi castle town, Omi Province.  Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582).  Mitsuhide was Killed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598).  Hideyoshi gave 2 temples to Teian to have him pray for the comfort of Nobunaga in the other world; one in Kyoto and the other in Fushimi.

Shonen-ji Temple is known for its 3 deities: the Statue of Emma, a Great King of the Buddhist Hades, Jizo Statue, and that of Arya Tara.

     In the Tale of Heike Volume 6 Chapter 9, Priest Sonei was working for Seicho-ji Temple in Settsu Province.  On December 25, 1172, Sonei visited the Buddhist Hades to participate in the Buddhist rally hosted by the Great King, Emma.  On 26, he came back to life and returned to this world with a wooden statue of Emma in his hand, which had been carved out of pine wood by Emma himself.  Unlike other statues of Emma, it looks very merciful.  Mercy and pity might be Emma’s true intentions.  If you believed it or not, the adventure of the priest is narrated in minute detail in the Tale of Heike.

     Later, Sonei visited Ise Shrine, and died at Ueno, Iga Province, on his way back.  Before his death, he put the Emma statue at the Ten-King Temple there and recited sutras in front of it.  Ten-King temples enshrine 10 kings in hades: King Shinko, King Shoko, King Sotei, King Gokan, King Emma, King Henjo, King Taizen, King Byodo, King Toshi, and King Godotenrin.

     Centuries later, when Oda Nobunaga held falconry in Ueno, Iga Province, he found the statue and brought it back.  According to the Chronicle of Oda Nobunaga, compiled in Edo period based on records by Ota Gyuichi, a warrior who followed Nobunaga, Nobunaga’s army suppressed Iga Province on September 11,1581, and Nobunaga himself visited the province on October 9-12.

     Priest Teian was born on March 7, 1539, in Kuronuma Village, Miura County, Sagami Province, as a son of Oe Masatoki.  His mother, Nowaki, died when he was 4 years old, and his father was killed in battle next year.  He was raised by Nowaki’s sister for a while, but sent to Dairen-ji Temple in Odawara at the age of 7.  He shaved his head at the age of 11.  He studied under Priest Gyoshin.  When Gyoshin moved to Gugyo-ji Temple in Hitachi Province, he followed the priest.  In 1573, he became the head priest of the temple.  He happened to visit Saiko-ji Temple in Nanao, Noto Province, when Uesugi Kenshin started invading Noto Province.  Taian fled to Tae-Kongo-ji Temple in Iba, Omi Province in 1576.  Meanwhile, Gugyo-ji Temple was burnt down in the other flames of war in 1577.  In 1579, he took part in the Azuchi Religious Debate, which was hosted by Oda Nobunaga, the ruler of Japan at the time, as one of the 4 members of one side.  His team won in a spectacular fashion, and he won the trust of Nobunaga.  He was given an estate in Azuchi, and established another Saiko-ji Temple there.  On one of those days, Nobunaga gave Teian the Emma statue.

     Nobunaga was, however, killed in 1582.  In 1583, he moved to Kyoto.  Somehow or other, he was invited by Emperor Ogimachi (1517-1593) in 1585 to lecture on the Senchaku Hongan Nembutsushu, which is the magnum opus of Hōnen (1133-1212).  Honen was the founder of the Jodo-shu Sect of Japanese Pure Land.  He preached a sermon in the Imperial Palace next year.  In 1587, the emperor  gave the palace where Nobunaga’s eldest son, Nobutada (1557-1582), had committed hara-kiri suicide in 1582 to establish Daiun-in Temple.  Teian also founded Shonen-ji Temple at the foot of Fushimi Castle, from where Toyotomi Hideyoshi was going to rule Japan.

     In 1615, Teian died, when the Tokugawa Clan wiped out the Toyotomi Clan.  How many times did Teian virtually stand by the gate of the hades,?  How many times did he almost see Emma?  Did Emma look as merciful and pitiful as the statue he had?

     Migawari Kamashiki Jizo Statue, namely Substitute Pot-Mat Jizo Statue, is the guardian of those suffering from being boiled in the pots of hades.  The Buddhist Hades have 8 strata.  In the 4th stratum, people are boiled in a big pot.  Kamashiki Jizo substitutes for them, gets into the pot for them, and heals them of their torment.    

     Arya Tara, or Tara Bosatsu in Japanese, was born from the tears of Avalokiteshvara.  "Myriad beings were undergoing the agonies of boiling, burning, hunger, thirst, yet they never perished, sending forth hideous cries of anguish all the while. When Avalokiteshvara saw this, tears sprang to his eyes. A teardrop from his right eye fell to the plain and became" White Tara, and "A teardrop from his left eye fell upon the plain and became" Green Tara.  The gilt copper statue in Shonen-ji Temple is said to be Green Tara, which belongs to Tibetan Buddhism, and which might have been made somewhere in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent.  In Tibet,  Green Tara is believed to have manifested herself as the Nepalese Princess, Bhrikuti.  Was the statue molded in Nepal?  It could have been shipped to Sakai.  And somehow or other, Nobunaga got it.  He gave the statue to Priest Teian.  In Japan, there used to be a prejudice against women that women couldn't rest in peace as women even in the next world.  This type of feminine Buddhist statue gave great relief to discriminated female Buddhists.