Junsai
Junsai
遵西 (d. 1207)
Also known as Anraku or Anraku-bo. A disciple of Honen, the founder of the Pure Land (Jodo) school in Japan. Born in Kyoto, Junsai actively propagated the Pure Land, or Nembutsu, teachings (centering on the Nembutsu, or the invocation of Amida Buddha's name), journeying to Kamakura to disseminate them. Honen wrote The Nembutsu Chosen above All in 1198, and as his followers gradually increased in number, criticism from older Buddhist schools intensified. The priests at Kofuku-ji in Nara, Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, and other temples repeatedly petitioned the imperial court to outlaw the Pure Land school. In 1206, when the Retired Emperor Gotoba was away from Kyoto on a pilgrimage to Kumano Shrine, disciples of Honen including Junsai and Juren held a Nembutsu ceremony at Shishigatani in Kyoto. A number of court ladies in the service of Gotoba attended this ceremony and without court consent renounced secular life to become nuns. This incident incurred the anger of the retired emperor, and in the second month of the following year, Honen was sent into exile, while Junsai and Juren were executed along with two other disciples of Honen.
