Oppression of Pure Land Groups by Monasteries in the Kamakura Period
During the transition from the Heian to the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the warrior elite took over political rule from the court nobility. The shogunate established its government in Kamakura (close to present-day Tokyo).
Violent conflicts between different Buddhist schools and monastic institutions also continued during this time. When the new Pure Land groups of Honen and his disciple Shinran (1173-1263) emerged, Enryaku-ji and Kofuku-ji began to suppress them. Established religious institutions viewed a newly founded group as a competitor. There was yet another reason: Honen taught that faith in Amida Buddha and the calling of his name (nenbutsu) would be sufficient for religious liberation. This implied that offering donations to monasteries or entering celibacy would not produce religious merits. Because these two important Buddhist practices constituted the basis of Buddhist monasteries, Honen and his followers came in for harsh criticism. Subsequently, Enryaku-ji and Kofuku-ji succeeded in convincing state authorities to punish the new group. In the end, Honen, Shinran and followers were sent into exile in 1207 and two of Honen's students were executed.[748] In his work Rissho ankoku-ron (Treatise on Establishing the Proper [Teaching] for the Safety of the Country) Nichiren (1222-82), for example, complained about the devastating economic and social consequences of Honen's doctrine:The rulers of the nation contributed counties or villages so that the [dharma] lamps might continue to burn bright before the images, while the stewards of the great estates offered their fields and gardens (to provide for the upkeep of the temples). But because of this book by Honen, this Senchaku Shu, the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni is forgotten and all honour is paid to Amida, the Buddha of the Western Land... If temples are not dedicated to Amida, then people no longer have any desire to support them or pay honour to the Buddhas enshrined there; if monks do not chant the Nembutsu, then people quickly forget all about giving these monks alms.
As a result, the halls of the Buddha fall into ruin, scarcely a wisp of smoke rises above their mossy tiles; and the monks' quarters stand empty and dilapidated, the dew deep on the grasses in their courtyards.[749]This and other cases suggest that the reason for intra-Buddhist violence was not so much a new or a heretical doctrine. The hongaku homon teaching could be called heretical because it eliminated practice and transformation, but its representatives were not persecuted because they supported the economic and social functioning of the monasteries. The reason for the violent oppression of the nenbutsu movement was that it endangered the economic support and decreased the monastic membership.[750] In this respect, Honen's teaching and practice had a similar impact to those of Luther. In my view, the Roman Catholic church's violent reaction aimed not so much at eliminating a heretical ‘new faith', but at preventing the socioeconomic damage caused by his teachings.