The Deathbed －　The Deity and Auspicious Omens

 

Ippen , who staked his own religious life on his itinerant travels around the country , in this way finished his life at the age of fifty-one at the Kannondo hall in Hyogo. Today , Shinkoji temple (in the Hyogo section of Kobe City) stands on the site of Kannondo hall.

At Ippen’s time , the beach was drawing closer to the Kannondo hall. Now , to the left of the main hall is a cemetery with a five-ringed stupa.  At the entrance to the cemetery is a stone pillar with the words “ Place of Ippen Shonin’s Cremains “ , and a miniature shrine also stands there.

 

Ippen completed the process of making the Pure Land teachings that had continued from Honen to Shinran into something more wholly Japanese. He caused Japanese Pure Land teachings to be assimilated with the Japanese understanding of the natural world, and he raised these teachings to new heights.  This means that the merit of Ippen , who achieved great things in the history of Japanese Buddhism and in Japanese culture , should be all the more greatly valued.

( Ippen　　　　　　167～168ページ)

 

 

臨終　――　名号と奇瑞

 

自己の宗教的生命を賭して全国を遊行した一遍は、かくして兵庫観音堂で五一歳の生涯を終える。観音堂は今の真光寺(神戸市兵庫区)である。当時は、海岸の入江が観音堂近くまで迫っていたようである。現在は本堂左手に廟所があり、五輪塔が建てられている。廟所の入口には「一遍上人荼毘所」の石碑と小祀が残っている。

 

一遍は法然から親鸞へと続く浄土教を完全に日本化し、その自然と同化させ日本浄土教の最後を仕上げ、止揚した仏者である。このような意味で、日本仏教史及び日本文化史上に果たした一遍の功績は更に大きく評価されて良いであろう。