Saichō’s admonitions are important in understanding his use of the Fan wang precepts. Since the Fan wang precepts traditionally had been conferred on monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen, Saichō could have been expected to be tolerant of women. In fact, by barring women from Mount Hiei and forbidding his monks from leaving the mountain temple’s precincts for twelve years, he imposed much stricter rules than were found in either the Ssu fen lü or the Fan wang Ching. In restricting his followers to Mount Hiei for twelve years, Saichō was making a clear distinction between the lay and monastic worlds even though the bodhisattva precepts applied to both. Far from loosening the restrictions imposed by the precepts, Saichō was reforming them by adopting a shorter and more relevant set, and then supplementing it with his own directives and rules. The exemption from the rules for monks who traveled and preached did not permit such monks to drink or consort with women. Rather it relaxed the austerities which the monks underwent on Mount Hiei in order to allow them to be more effective in their preaching to the populace.

After Saichō submitted his works [to the emperor], the accuracy of his quotations from other texts was verified by the assistant director of the Bureau of Books and Drawings, Tamazukuri. Finding them correct, he forwarded them to the Sōgō (Offce of Monastic Affairs). The Eizan Daishiden reports that the Sōgō was completely overwhelmed by Saichō’s arguments and unable to reply. In fact, Gomyō had already decided to fight Saichō’s proposals through the normal channels, challenging them in the Sōgō and Genbaryō, rather than engaging in a public debate.

[In Saichō’s On Submitting the Kenkairon, (Jōkenkaironhyō) he writes]

I believe that the five schools which receive yearly ordinands should be the guardians of the nation and a resource for the people. They should (serve as) boats to cross the oceans of birth and death, and as steps leading to the other shore. Thus when the schools practice and work together, they should blend as harmoniously as salt and plums. When the monks preach or teach together, their voices should be like the golden speech of the Buddha. How then can monks support only their own school and suppress other schools? The monastic leaders in Nara respect only what enters the ears and (immediately) comes out of the mouth. They do not try to cultivate their minds at all.

If no one practices purely and selflessly, then how can we prevent calamities from occurring? We are currently debating about which of the Buddha’s teachings are Perfect and which are provisional. This is the time for the (true) way to arise; it is the day to choose the correct practice. Now, the Hinayāna precepts are for those who follow Hinayāna or Common teachings. The threefold Fan wang precepts are for those who follow the Unique or Perfect teachings.

Now, when novices of the Perfect School are compelled to take the Hinayāna precepts, they forget about the Perfect threefold precepts and vie for fame and profit. Thus they all backslide in their practice. From the second year of the Daido era to the eleventh year of the Konin era, a total of fourteen years, we have had 28 monks in our two courses. But for a variety of reasons, they have scattered and gone to different places. Not even 10 remain on Mount Hiei. Because the Perfect precepts have not yet been put into effect, the foundation for proper meditation does not exist. When we see the mistakes of our predecessors, we should correct them in order to benefit those yet to come.

[In Saichō’s On Submitting the Kenkairon, (Jōkenkaironhyō) he writes]

The Lotus School was established for the benefit of the nation by the late Emperor Kanmu. Its two (yearly) ordinands are to be Mahāyāna monks of the Lotus School. Its Sudden and Perfect students do not seek the three vehicles outside the gate. Of what use would the rules on dignity for the sheep vehicle be to them? They do not desire the castle in the middle of the road. How much less would they be likely to take a round-about detour? Tomorrow when they are given riches, they will know their father and know that they are his sons. What need is there to be a stranger (in their own house)? Or to sweep up dung? On the night when (the king) extolls (his troops’) deeds, he undoes his topknot and gives them his pearl. Why should one wish for a mansion? Why should one search for a castle? I know that there is nothing in the past or present to compare with this teaching in which the late Emperor believed. It protects the nation and benefits sentient beings. How pale (Hinayāna practices) which require many kalpas (are when compared to the ultimate teaching).

[In Saichō’s “Petition Asking For Permission To Use The Mahāyāna Precepts” he states:]

Saichō has heard that the Buddha’s precepts vary according to the faculties of the person who follows them. The aims of people differ according to whether they are Hinayāna or Mahāyāna practitioners. The place of honor (jōza) differs according to whether it is occupied by Mañjuśrī or Piṇḍola. The ordination ceremony differs according to whether one or ten teachers participate.

The late Sagely Emperor Kanmu supported the Lotus School and established it anew here. The [virtue] of His Majesty, the Sagely, Literary and Martial Konin Emperor, pervades heaven and earth. His brightness is equal to the sun and moon. His literary genius surpasses the old. His calligraphy is fresh. He gladdens the hearts of the myriad nations and converts the barbarians. He rules the nation and regulates propriety.

Now, at this time, I sincerely request that the monks of both courses turn away from Hinayāna rules and firmly adhere to Mahāyāna rules, and that in accordance with the Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna rules not be mixed with the Hinayāna ones. In the third month of every year, on the anniversary of the late emperor’s death, we shall initiate those who have been pure in their practice as bodhisattva novices on Mount Hiei. We shall also confer the full bodhisattva precepts and ordain them as bodhisattva monks. Then they shall live and practice on the mountain for twelve years. They shall be guards for the nation and shall benefit the people. They shall be the nation’s treasure and shall benefit the nation as is specified in the School’s regulations.

[Submitted in 819]

[In Saichō’s Shijōshiki (Regulations in Four Articles) submitted in 819, he writes:]

I have pondered upon how the Lotus Sūtra calls the bodhisattva the nation’s treasure and how the Mahāyāna sūtras preach the Mahāyāna practice of benefiting others. If we do not employ Mahāyāna sūtras to prevent the seven calamities which affect the world, then what shall we use? If the great disasters to come are not vanquished by the bodhisattva monks, then how will they be forestalled? The virtue of benefiting others and the power of great compassion is that which the Buddhas extol and that in which gods and men rejoice. The hundred monks (who chant the) Jen wang ching draw upon the power of wisdom (hannya). The eight worthies who practice The Sūtra Used in Asking for Rain (Ch’ing yü Ching) follow the Mahāyāna precepts. If the bodhisattva is not the treasure of the nation or the benefactor of the nation, then who is? In Buddhism he is called a bodhisattva; in the secular world he is called a gentleman. These precepts are broad and extensive; they have the same import for layman and monk (shinzoku ikkan).

Two types of bodhisattva are mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra. The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and the bodhisattva Maitreya are both bodhisattva monks. Bhadrapāla and the five hundred bodhisattvas are lay bodhisattvas. The Lotus Sūtra fully presents both types of men but considers them to be one group. It distinguishes them from Hinayāna monks and considers them to be Mahāyāna practitioners. However, this type of bodhisattva has not yet appeared in Japan. I humbly ask His Majesty to establish this Great Way and transmit the Mahāyāna precepts beginning from this year in the Konin era and continuing forever, and thus benefit (the people and the nation).

During the week after Saichō submitted the Rokujōshiki, he wrote two more memorials, adding details about the training program for those who aspired to be yearly ordinands. He proposed a rigorous training course for candidates (called intermediate students or tokugō gakushō) for the examinations which would qualify them to become government-sponsored yearly ordinands. Saichō was thus both providing his school with able candidates for ordination and responding to the court’s attempts to improve the quality of yearly ordinands.

Regulations For Intermediate Students
Of The Tendai-Lotus Hall On Mount Hiei
(Heizan Tendai Hokkein tokugō gakushōshiki)

How difficult it is to reside in conditioned existence, in the cycles of life and death. Without wisdom, how can we wake from the slumber that is ignorance? (I hear) the faint sound of spring thunder; it is time to be resolute. (I see) the glimmer of summer lightning; time is short. The roots of great compassion may begin to grow this morning. The aspiration to attain enlightenment may arise this very day.

Thus we must permanently establish regulations for our halls which are in this dream-like world. By forever establishing these regulations, we shall open the sources of the Dharma. Above, we shall serve all the generations of emperors. In the middle, we shall protect all the people of the world. Below, we shall save all sentient beings. Thus we would like to install nine intermediate shikangō (Meditation Course) students who will lecture and turn the Lotus Sūtra, Chin kuang ming Ching, Jen wang Ching and other sūtras daily. They will not miss even one day. We would also like to install nine intermediate Esoteric Course students who will turn and meditate on the (Ta p’i lu) che na(ching), (Fo mu ta) k’ung ch’iao (ming wang Ching), Shou hu (kuo chieh chu t’o lo ni ching) and other sūtras everyday.

Youths who are fifteen years or older, and believers who are twenty-five years or younger should take their identification documents to be verified. Next they should have their names added to the register, be assigned positions, and thus become intermediate students. Those who are able to read three works will form the highest rank. Those who are able to read two will form the middle rank. And those who are able to read only one will form the lowest rank. The top rank shall consist of those with minds of the Middle Way. Among the students, they are the resolute ones, excelling in both ability and achievements.

The students will be tested after nine years and all those who fail the test will be expelled (from the monastery). Those who pass shall reside on Mount Hiei continuously in both body and mind for twelve years. They shall follow the monastery’s rules and advance in their studies. (By becoming a) treasure of the nation, a teacher of the nation, or an asset of the nation, they will benefit both themselves and others. They will rapidly advance through the six stages (roku soku) and long reside in the three virtues.

From now on, those who reside in my halls shall purge themselves forever of the three poisons. They shall follow the rules of the Lotus Sūtra and not rely on the sheep or elephant vehicles; rather, they shall board the latter three vehicles.

The fifteenth day of the fifth month of the ninth year of the Konin era (818).

Written by Saichō, Head of the Tendai School.

The ten good precepts (jūzenkai) were one of the earliest formulations of bodhisattva precepts; they were granted to both laymen and monks. They originated from a list of ten actions which produced good karma.

1. Abstention from killing living things
2. Abstention from stealing
3. Abstention from unchastity
4. Abstention from lying
5. Abstention from malicious speech
6. Abstention from harsh speech
7. Abstention from indistinct prattling
8. Abstention from covetousness
9. Abstention from anger
10. Abstention from wrong views

[I]n the fifth month of 818, Saichō authored the first of a series of petitions to the court, the Rokujōshiki (Regulations in Six Articles):

Regulations For Tendai-Hokke Annually Allotted Students

What is the treasure of the nation? It is our religious nature. Thus those who have this religious nature are the treasures of the nation. Long ago a man said, “Ten large pearls do not constitute the nation’s treasure, but he who sheds his light over a corner of the country is the nation’s treasure.” A philosopher of old said, “He who can speak but not act is a teacher to the nation. He who can act but not speak is an asset to the nation. He who can both act and speak is a treasure to the nation. Aside from these three, he who can neither speak nor act is a traitor to the nation.”

Buddhists with religious minds are called bodhisattvas in the West, and gentlemen (chün tzu) in the East. They take the bad upon themselves in order to benefit others. This is the height of compassion.³⁴

Two types of Buddhist monks exist, the Hinayāna and the Mahāyāna. Buddhists with a religious nature are of the latter type. Today in Japan only Hinayāna monks are found ; Mahāyāna monks have not yet appeared. Mahāyāna teachings have not yet spread (in Japan); thus it is difficult for Mahāyāna practitioners to arise. I sincerely ask that in accordance with the late emperor’s wish, Tendai yearly ordinands be forever designated Mahāyāna practitioners and bodhisattva monks. Thus the nine (bad) monkeys of King Kṛki’s dream shall be chased away. Of the five vehicles specified by Mañjuśrī, (the numbers of) those who follow the latter three (the Mahāyāna ones) will increase. With this attitude and desire we shall strive to benefit those who live now and those who come after us throughout the endless eons.

Note 34: This phrase can be found in the seventh major precept of the Fan wang Ching which concerns praising oneself and slandering others or teaching another person to do so. ‘Taking the bad upon himself and turning the good towards others’ is the positive side of the precept. It describes the bodhisattva way.

According to the Eizan Daishiden, Saichō had decided to abandon the Ssufen lü precepts by 818. In late spring of that year Saichō assembled the teachers and students on Mount Hiei and declared:

I have researched the origins of the Perfect School of the Lotus Sūtra. (The Dharma) was preached, studied, and understood in the mountains: first on Vulture’s Peak, next on Ta-su, and finally on T’ien-t’ai. Students of my (Tendai) school should, therefore, practice and study in the mountains during the first part of their studies. They should do this for the sake of the nation and its people, in order to benefit sentient beings, and so that the Buddha’s teaching will flourish. By living in the mountains they shall escape from the criticisms of the mundane world, and the Buddha’s teaching will surely grow and prosper.

From now on we will not follow Śrāvaka ways. We will turn away forever from Hinayāna (strictures on maintaining) dignity. I vow that I will henceforth abandon the two-hundred fifty (Hinayāna) precepts.

The great teachers of Nan-yüeh and T’ien-t’ai both heard the Lotus Sūtra preached and received the three-fold bodhisattva precepts on Vulture’s Peak. Since then, these precepts have been transmitted from teacher to teacher. Chih-i conferred them on Kuan-ting. Kuan-ting conferred them on Chih-wei. Chih-wei conferred them on Hsüan-lang. Hsüan-lang conferred them on Chan-jan. Chan-jan conferred them on Tao-sui. Tao-sui conferred them on Saichō and then on Gishin.

I have read the Buddha’s teachings. I know that there are (strictures on) dignity for both the bosatsusō (bodhisattva monk) and the bosatsu (the lay bodhisattva), and that there are pure Mahāyāna and pure Hinayāna (teachings). Now, the students of my school shall study Mahāyāna precepts, meditation, and wisdom. They shall abandon inferior Hinayāna practices forever.