Читать книгу Traditions. Essays on the Japanese Martial Arts and Ways онлайн

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Exactly when Kegon Buddhism was imported to Japan is a mystery. But by the 16th century, there were several temples there dedicated to it. One of these was in Nara, named the Hozo, after the Japanese pronunciation of Fa-tsang, the Chinese priest who formalized Kegon teachings. For many years, the Hozoin monks lived in simple solitude, making their renowned pickles and contemplating the scriptures of Kegon thought. It wasn’t until about 1620, with the appointment of Kakuzenbo Innei as chief abbot, that things began to change.

Innei had been, like many other clergymen in feudal Japan, the younger son of a large family. Denied by custom any of his family’s estate and faced with a life of poverty, he entered the priesthood while still virtually a child. He applied himself to a study of the canons of Kegon faith, the Sanskrit Gandavyuha sutra and the Chinese Chin-shi-tsu-chang, and was rewarded, while still quite young, with an advancement to the post of abbot. The position meant many new duties, but it also allowed him an opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream, a strange one for a priest. Kakuzenbo Innei immersed himself in the deadly art of swordsmanship. With his temple’s political connections, he was able to become the friend and student of Kitabatake Tomonori, the governor of Ise Province and a master fencer of the Kashima Shinto ryu. Later, he undertook a study of the Katori Shinto ryu, under the teaching of Onishiki Shunken.