Tadashi Chiba

The Interpretation of Thinking as a Mental Act (_??__??__??_) in Raiho's Shinjin Hongen Sho

In his Shinjin Hongen Sho (_??__??__??__??__??_), the 14th Century Shingon Esoteric Buddhism Monk Raiho (_??__??_) debated whether or not the body or the mind is the basis of enlightenment.Therefore, my aim here is to examine in what way the Shinjin Hongen Sho portrayed the Zen School. To date, Raihos views on the Zen sect have not been explored.In this work, Raihho decided that the doctrine of ‘the body as the basis of enlightenment’ is the basic doctrine of the Shingon (_??__??_) sect.Raiho classified the other five schools (the Hosso _??__??_, Sanron _??__??_, Tendai _??__??_, Kegon _??__??_, and Jodo _??__??_) as schools which establish the mind as the basis of enlightenment.Further, Raihos line of thought as a Shingon monk is unique in that he considered not only the Zen School but also the Jodo School.My conclusion is that the Shinjin Hongen Sho judges the Zen sect as having established the mind as the basis for enlightenment.