Paper short abstract:

The combination of indigenous and Buddhist identities in the deity Hachiman is clearly represented in the ceremony of ‘liberating sentient beings’ (hōjō-e). This paper will show how the Buddhist rite of atonement interacts with non-Buddhist elements from earlier religious traditions.

Paper long abstract:

Hachiman, a deity in a cult that combines Shinto and Buddhist elements, is commonly described as a protector of Japan and its sovereign. This martial identity coexists with another aspect as a merciful Bodhisattva, credited with saving life and aiding sentient beings who seek to achieve enlightenment.

According to the Hachiman engi, in 720, after Hachiman’s aid led to victory in a military campaign against the hayato tribe in Kyushu, the deity repented the resulting loss of many lives. To expiate sinful karma, Hachiman invented the ceremony of ‘liberating sentient beings’ hōjō-e. This Buddhist rite both changed the karmic consequences of Hachiman’s deeds as a martial deity and served to help participants enhance their virtuous karma in an age of moral decline (mappō). This idea of atonement through repentance followed by confession is related to an episode in the Nirvana Sutra, the story of King Ajātaśatru’s repentance after he killed his own father. The resulting belief was that killing a sentient being was actually, on the karmic level, an act of mercy: “In the eyes of ordinary people it looks like a murder, but essentially it is saving sentient beings sunk in the ocean of suffering” (Hachiman gudōkun).

Some scholars believe that the Hōjō-e was originally more a ritual for appeasing the malevolent spirits of defeated hayato than a Buddhist rite. In my talk, I will show why the Buddhist rite of atonement—intended to erase the sin of killing sentient beings—contains such non-Buddhist elements as purifying the ritual pollution brought about by the court’s political decision to kill hayato in the process of territorial expansion. Moreover, I will examine the correlation between the Shinto and Buddhist identities of Hachiman, which will shed light on the problem of Shinto-Buddhist amalgamation.