David Quinter is an assistant professor of East Asian religions in the Interdisciplinary Program in Religious Studies and the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta.
This article analyzes the Monju kōshiki (Mañjuśrī ceremonials) written by Jōkei (1155–1213) and Eison (or Eizon; 1201–1290), two leaders of Nara Buddhism in the Kamakura period. These texts are illuminating for the study of medieval Japanese religion, as they combine devotion to Mañjuśrī with Lotus Sutra, Śākyamuni, Maitreya, and Pure Land faith. I argue that the treatment of medieval devotional cults in many previous analyses obscures the shared contexts of “Kamakura New Buddhism” and the exoteric-esoteric (kenmitsu) Buddhism of the Nara schools, understating the fluidity of identities among deities and practitioners so characteristic of the time. Moreover, these texts serve as powerful examples of a literary and ritual genre widely employed by medieval Nara leaders. I thus use the texts and the kōshiki genre to highlight a creativity and plurality among such Nara monks extending well beyond the common framework of Śākyamuni faith and competitive reactions to new Kamakura movements.
