Virtual North Kawachi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Honsen-ji Temple

 

     Honsen-ji Temple was founded in 1468 by Juntetsu Daitoku, which sounds like a posthumous name.

     In 1467, the Onin War broke out.  The Muromachi Shogunate power was divided into 2; the East Force and the West Force.  The East Force was commanded by Hosokawa Katsumoto (1467-1477), and the West Force was led by Ouchi Masahiro (1446-1495).  The war lasted for a decade and the northern half of Kyoto was burned to the ground.  Manorialism collapsed and the aristocrats fell into financial hardship.  Daitoku had a good enough reason to rely on Buddhism.  It is unknown which Buddhism sect or school the temple originally belonged to.

     Ryonin (1072–1132), a Tiantai monk, wrote a commentary on rituals and hymns in practice at the time, and founded the school in 1117.  After Ryochin, the 6th head priest of Dainenbutsu-ji Temple, died in 1182, there was no suitable successor and the tradition of Yuzunenbutsu was interrupted for 139 years until 1321.  It was restored by the 7th priest, Homyo.  Homyo is said to have received back the sect's treasures that had been entrusted to Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu Shrine and established the Rokubetsuji System.

     The Rokubetsuji temples are Shimobetsuji temples centered on Homyo-ji Temple in Wakae Village, Wakae County, Kawachi Province; Yaobetsuji centered on Ryomyo-ji Temple (which was abolished after 1689) in Hirano Manor, Sumiyoshi County, Settsu Province (today's Hirano Baba, Hirano Ward, Osaka, 547-0048; Ten-Village-betsuji centered on Raigoji Temple in Tannan Village, Tannan County, Kawachi Province; Nishigoribetsuji centered on Gokuraku-ji Temple in Furuno Village, Nishigori County, Kawachi Province; Ishikawabetsuji centered on Dainen-ji Temple in Daigatsuka Village, Ishikawa County, Kawachi Province; and Takayasubetsuji centered on Takayasu-dera Temple (which was abolished after 1677) in Takayasu County, Kawachi Province. The head priest of Dainenbutsu-ji Temple is selected by drawing lots based on these Rokubetsuji Temples.

     Takayasu-dera Temple was founded by Homyo in 1325.  It followed the "hikiji" system.  A layperson would take on a Buddhist name and become the head priest, and his home would be the temple's address.  The address would change every time the head priest was replaced.  The head priest was decided by lot.  As of 1677, Takayasubetsuji had 19 households as its members and was located in Mizukoshi Village, Takayasu County, Kawachi Province, somewhere around today's Mizukoshi, Yao, Osaka 581-0856.

     In 1649, when Seiun was the 41st head priest of Dainenbutsu-ji Temple, Yaobetsuji, Ishikawabetsuji, and Takayasubetsuji conspired with Ohara-Nan-bo Temple, a branch of Jorenge-in Temple, which itself was a branch of Raigo-in Temple in Ohara, Kyoto, claiming that Dainenbutsu-ji Temple was a branch of Ohara-Nan-bo Temple.  Seiun died soon when he was busy dealing with the trouble.  Then, Shimobetsuji, Ten-Village-betsuji, and Nishigoribetsuji chose Sugon as the 42nd head priest of Dainenbutsu-ji Temple, ignoring other betsuji who formed the Ohara-Nan-bo faction, and the faction took away the sacred treasures and exiled Sugon.

     Sugon filed a lawsuit against Ohara-Nan-bo Temple to the shogunate's Magistrate of Temples and Shrines in 1653.

     On August 6th, 1661, the magistrate ruled that the Yuzunembutsu School was separate from the Tiantai Sect, and that Dainembutsu-ji Temple was not a branch of Ohara-Nan-bo Temple.

     Yaobetsuji and Takayasubetsuji could have left Yuzunenbutsu School after the trouble.

     The temple's main deity, the images of Eleven Heavenly Buddhas, was given in 1773 by Priest Gyokai, the 49th priest of Dainenbutsu-ji Temple, which is the head temple of Yuzu Nembutsu School of Pure Land Buddhism. 

     As the influence or power of the school shrank in the 17th century, the headquarters tried to take better care of their branches by presenting the images of Eleven Heavenly Buddhas.

Address: 2 Chome-11-22 Nasuzukuri, Hirakata, Osaka 573-0071

Phone: 072-854-1131

Dainenbutsu-ji Temple

Address: 1 Chome-7-26 Hirano Uemachi, Hirano Ward, Osaka, 547-0045

Phone: 06-6791-0026

Homyo-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-16-28 Fukaeminami, Higashinari Ward, Osaka, 537-0002

Phone: 06-6971-0523

Raigo-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-1-22 Tannan, Matsubara, Osaka 580-0013

Phone: 072-332-8971

Gokuraku-ji Temple

Address: 12-1 Furunocho, Kawachinagano, Osaka 586-0017

Phone: 0721-52-2119

Dainen-ji Temple

Address: 296 Daigatsuka, Kanan, Minamikawachi District, Osaka 585-0003

Phone: 0721-93-2314

Jorenge-in Temple

Address: 407 Ohararaikoincho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, 601-1242

Phone: 075-744-2408

Raigo-in Temple

Address: 537 Ohararaikoincho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, 601-1242

Phone: 075-744-2161