Jìngtǔ sānjīng wǎngshēng wénlèi 淨土三經往生文類
Topical Anthology of Passages on Rebirth [as Treated in] the Three Pure-Land Sūtras by 親鸞 Shinran (撰)
About the work
A single-fascicle topical anthology by 親鸞 Shinran addressing the doctrine of rebirth (ōjō 往生) as set forth across the Three Pure-Land Sūtras — the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha (大經 Dai-kyō), the Contemplation Sūtra (觀經 Kan-gyō), and the Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha (小經 Shōkyō). The text is a doctrinal-exegetical essay rather than a monrui (anthology) in the strict sense, treating the three sūtras’ differing rebirth-doctrines and showing how they are doctrinally hierarchized in Shinshū. The Taishō presents the work as part of a paired set with KR6t0362 (a variant recension under the same title).
Abstract
The opening categorizes the three sūtras’ rebirth-doctrines:
- Dai-kyō ōjō 大經往生 (rebirth as taught in the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha): “This means: Amitābha’s Senchaku-hongan (selected-original-vow) — the inconceivable…” (大經往生トイフハ。如來選擇ノ本願･不可 …) — the true rebirth-doctrine, that of senchaku-hongan-nenbutsu and muga-tariki.
- Kan-gyō ōjō 觀經往生 (rebirth as taught in the Contemplation Sūtra): the rebirth doctrine of jōzen-sanzen (disciplined-good and dispersed-good practices) and the Three Minds in their pre-Shinran reading; classified as upāyic (expedient) by Shinran, since it presents the jiriki (self-power) practitioner’s quest for rebirth, which Shinran treats as a preparatory stage for the recognition of true tariki faith.
- Shōkyō ōjō 小經往生 (rebirth as taught in the Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha): the simplified rebirth-doctrine for less-developed practitioners, in which holding-the-name from one to seven days is the central practice; also classified as upāyic.
The doctrinal payoff: only the Dai-kyō ōjō is the true rebirth — the rebirth of unconditional-grace shinjin. The Kan-gyō and Shōkyō rebirths are upāyic — pedagogical preparations for the practitioner’s eventual recognition that all rebirths are in fact Buddha-bestowed gifts, not practitioner-attained achievements.
This three-tier hierarchization of the Three Pure-Land Sūtras is one of Shinran’s most distinctive doctrinal moves and corresponds to his classification of true Buddha-land (報佛土 hōbutsudo) versus transformation-body land (化身土 keshindo) in chapters 5 and 6 of the KR6t0352 Kyōgyōshinshō. Where Hōnen and the Chinzei/Seizan traditions treat all three sūtras as canonical-equally, Shinran subordinates the Kan-gyō and Shōkyō to the Dai-kyō.
Date. Shinran’s late-Kyoto period, c. 1255–1257; no internal precise date.
Translations and research
English translation: Hongwanji Translation Series, The Collected Works of Shinran (1997); Inagaki Hisao (trans.), Passages on the Pure Land Way (Numata Center, 2003). Treated in: James C. Dobbins, Jōdo Shinshū (Indiana UP, 1989); Mark L. Blum, The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism (Oxford UP, 2002); critical text in Shinran Shōnin zenshū 親鸞聖人全集 (Hongan-ji, 1985).
Links
- CBETA online
- Variant recension: KR6t0362 (Ōsōekō gensōekō monrui)
- Companion: KR6t0352 (Shinran, Kyōgyōshinshō) — the larger doctrinal frame