On the fourth day of the sixth month of 822, Saichō died. His most influential lay patrons, Minister of the Right (udaijin) Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, Vice Councilor (chūnagon) Yoshimine no Yasuyo, Provisional Vice Councilor (gonchūnagon) Fujiwara no Mimori, and Vice Controller of the Left (sachūben) Ōtomo no Kunimichi, submitted a petition to the Emperor requesting approval of the Shijōshiki (Regulations in Four Articles). Seven days after he died, Saichō’s request was granted. …

Saichō’s death had presented Fuyutsugu and Saichō’s other supporters with a chance to press for approval of the Shijōshiki. In addition, it had presented the court with an opportunity to grant Saichō’s request as a token of its grief at his passing. Thus the court was able to honor Saichō without allowing the Tendai School an undue advantage over the Nara schools. Approval of Saichō’s requests during his lifetime would have been the equivalent of court recognition of Tendai superiority.

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).