This thesis analyzes interpretations and uses of the Lotus Sutra in eleventh century Japan. Special attention is given to the treatment of the Lotus Sutra in the Hokke genki (Miraculous Tales of Japan), and the Eiga monogatari (A Tale of Flowering Fortunes). The former is a collection of Buddhist setsuwa (tales) that recount the exemplary lives and miracles of the hokke hijiri, ascetics devoted to the practice of the Lotus Sutra. The latter text is a history (rekishi monogatari) of the spectacular career of Fujiwara no Michinaga, the most prominent of all Heian period (794-1185) aristocrats, whose religious life was heavily influenced by the Lotus Sutra.
These texts posit a religious worldview that centers on the Lotus Sutra teaching that those who receive and uphold, read, recite, expound, and copy this scripture, enjoy the benefits of the Lotus Sutra's salvific action and eventually attain enlightenment.
This thesis treats the ascetics depicted in the Hokke genki, and Michinaga and the aristocrats depicted in the Eiga monogatari, as institutions. By the term "institution" is meant, following Mary Douglas' definition, a "legitimized social grouping." Institutions, it is argued, legitimate their worldviews and the social action they engender, by arguing the fit of their cosmology with the truth of the universe. For both the hokke hijiri and Michinaga, the truth of the universe is manifested in the Lotus Sutra, both in its message of salvation, and in the physical text, which is imbued with sacred power.
Characteristically, an institution offers proof of the legitimacy of their cosmology through the use of analogy, juxtaposing the events of this world with the events that occur in the sacred world. Similarly, the hokke hijiri and Michinaga legitimate themselves as institutions by arguing the fit of their worldviews and lifestyles with personages, events, and concepts culled from the Lotus Sutra. For both the ascetics and Michinaga, these analogies validate the religious worlds they have constructed and the social actions which are in accord with them.
