At the opening ceremony of the European Shin Conference, we were addressed by the Monshu Emeritus (Zenmon) of the Nishi Hongwanji, H.E. Kosho Ohtani, who is one of the leading figures in the development of Jodo Shinshu in Europe. He spoke about Rennyo Shonin, who is known as the second founder of .Jodoshinshu. This is a transcript of the talk.

Fellow Buddhists, ladies and gentlemen

It is deeply meaningful that the combined conferences of the Interna-tional Association of Shin Buddhist Studies and the European branch of the International Association of Buddhist Culture should be held at Ekoji in Dusseldorf, and I offer my warm wishes for their success.

It is a great pleasure to see that Shin Buddhists from the various countries of Europe and also representatives from North America and Japan have come to participate in this joint conference, and I wish to express my esteem for your deep faith and your earnest efforts to spread Shin Buddhism in the world.

As you know, the year after next, 1998, marks the five hundredth memorial of Rennyo Shonin, who contributed greatly to the flourishing of Jodoshinshu. At the Hongwanji, large-scale services will be held to pay tribute to Rennyo Shonin's accomplishments and to affirm our resolution to walk the path towards the greater prosperity of Jodo Shinshu, taking Rennyo Shonin's extraordinary propagation activity as our model as we face the twenty-first century.
Here, tracing Rennyo Shonin's biography, I would like to consider his efforts to spread Jodo Shinshu and also the methods by which he was able to achieve such success in propagation.

Rennyo Shomn was born in 1415 at the Hongwanji, which was then located in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto. His father was the seventh Monshu, Zonnyo Shonin. In that period, the influence of the Hongwanji was weak, and the family of the Monshu lived in economically difficult circumstances. Further, when Rennyo Shonin was five years of age, his mother, for reasons that have not been ascertained, disappeared from the Hongwanji. This was the source of great sadness for Rennyo Shonin, and, as an adult, he made great efforts to search for his mother, but without success.

Shortly after his mother's departure, his father Zonnyo Shonin remar-ried, and Rennyo was thereafter raised by his step-mother Nyoenni. We see, then, that Rennyo Shonin's childhood, and adolescence were filled with hardship, both in his family life and in his economic circumstances, and it is even said that at times he had only the light of the moon to read by. In such circumstances, Rennyo Shonin studied the teaching of the nembutsu through books and deepened his faith in Other Power.

In 1457, when Rennyo Shomn was 42 years old, his father died, and Rennyo became the eighth Monshu. Thereafter, taking on the responsibili-ties of Monshu, he endeavoured with all his powers for the flourishing of Shinshu and the growth of the Hongwanji.

At that time, the influence of the Tendai school was strong in the Hongwanji, and paintings and wooden statues not appropriate for Shinshu appear to have been enshrined in the altar. Rennyo Shonin took the daring step of burning them. This action, however, provoked the hostility of people of the Tendai School, and later the Hongwanji was destroyed by Tendai followers. Further Rennyo Shonin wrote many myogo - the name of Amida Buddha for use in altars - and gave them to the temples of Hongwanji followers, thereby strengthening the Hongwanji organisation.

In addition to transmitting the teaching to Shin Buddhists who gathered at the Hongwanji in Kyoto, he worked to spread the teaching in temples of the neighbouring Shiga Prefecture.
In 1465, however, the Hongwanji at Higashiyama Otani was twice attacked and destroyed by followers of the Tendai temple Enryakuji, forcing Rennyo Shonin to move to Shiga Prefecture. Then near the close Of 1470, his wife died, and perhaps in part to recover from his sorrow, Rennyo Shonin left his temporary dwelling in Shiga Prefecture and move 150 km to the North, to Yoshizaki in the present Fukui Prefecture. There, in July of 1471, he built a temple that might be called a temporary Hongwanji. His activity there was extraordinary. People came from far and near in large numbers, and many shelters for them were built around the temple. Because of this situation, the authorities and the old, established temples felt threatened and began efforts to suppress the movement. Rennyo Shonin, perceiving a danger that his activities at Yoshizaki might lead to unexpected results, decided to withdraw, and after only four years' residence there, in mid-1475, returned home to the Kyoto-Osaka region. He was sixty years old a the time. He remained in the Osaka area for a time, then in 1478, he obtained land in the Yamashina district of Kyoto and began the rebuilding of the Hongwanji. Five years later the temple was complete.

In 1489, Rennyo Shonin passed on the position of Monshu to his son Jitsunyo Shonin and retired. His efforts to spread the teaching did not cease, however, and in 1497 he built a branch temple of the Hongwanji in Osaka, from which he worked for the propagation of the teaching in the Osaka area. About this time, however his health began to fail, and becoming ill in February 1499, he returned from Osaka to the Hongwanji in Kyoto, where he died on March 25th. He was then eighty-four years of age.

Rennyo Shonin held the office of Monshu from the age of forty-two for more than forty years, carrying on strenuous efforts for the flourishing of Jodoshinshu and the prosperity of the Hongwanji, and he achieved great success. Needless to say, this was due to his superlative, innate qualities as a religious leader. We may also note, however, that the family and economic difficulties that he experienced in his boyhood and youth also played a large part in the formation of his character. It is stated in a record of Rennyo Shonin's words and deeds that he instructed his followers who came to visit the Hong~vanji from afar should be served warm sake in winter and chilled sake in summer. This is a minor thing, but it expresses the concern that he showed for his followers, perhaps as a result of his own hardships when young, and such concern attracted followers to him.

The most effective of Rennyo Shonin's activities were his Gobunsho -written propagation of the teaching in the form of letters - and his organisation of Shin followers through the formation of groups called yoriai. Since most ordinary people of the time were illiterate, he explained the teaching of Jodo Shinshu in plain language, in the form of letters which he sent to followers in the different areas. Of course, most of the followers could not read them, but at the small gatherings of Shin Buddhists called yoriai, those who were literate read them aloud for the others. In this way, he taught the essence of Jodo Shinshu to those in the distant regions, whom he otherwise could not meet directly. In the Gobubsho, important teachings such as the understanding of shinjin as the true cause of birth, and saying the nembutsu as the expression of gratitude, the interpretation of Namu-Amida-BUt5U and the concept of the oneness of the nembutsu practicer and Amida's Vow are set forth in easily compre-hensible words, and errors in understanding the teaching that were common at the time are similarly elucidated in simple language. By this means, even the uneducated were able to gain an accurate understanding of the Shin teaching. After Rennyo Shonin's death, these letters were obtained from the regions, and a collection of eighty of them was made. This collection has been transmitted down to us today under the title of Gobunsho, and at Shin temples throughout Japan, including the Hong-wanji in Kyoto, they are read aloud at the morning service. This illustrates how effective Rennyo Shonin's propagation through the written word has been. When we read of hear the letters of the Gobunsho even today we understand them adequately; this is an indication that over the past five centuries the Japanese language has not changed markedly.

Concerning the yoriai, these were small organisations of Shin Buddhists that as a rule met twice a month. At these gatherings, matters of faith were the central topic of discussion, but it appears that, on occasion, some meetings ended up solely devoted to eating together without any religious conversation, and Rennyo Shonin criticises this in his Gobunsho. From such gatherings, leaders naturally emerged, some of whom took on the responsibilities of Shin ministers. Further, some meeting halls developed into temples.

In this way, through Rennyo Shonin's powers as a propagator and religious leader, the Hongwanji organisation developed remarkably. To-day, as we near his five hundredth memorial, we pay tribute to his exceptional character, and at the same time, learning from his vigorous spirit of propagation, we must earnestly ponder how the teaching of the nembutsu of Other Power can be transmitted to people of the contemporaly world, and how Jodo Shinshu can spread in the twenty-first century.