Tendai

Japanese form of the Chinese T'ien T'ai school of Buddhism, introduced to Japan by Japanese monk Saichō (767–822), posthumously known as Dengyō Daishi, in 805. Tendai teaches of the Buddha nature within everyone which can be individually realized through ethical behaviour and discipline.

Saichō founded in 788 the first temple on Mount Hiei, northeast of Kyoto, the Enryaku-ji, where he later officially established the Tendai school. He envisaged Tendai monks as playing an active part in national life, and Enryaku-ji grew into a power base with many branch temples and extensive landholdings. From Mount Hiei, from the 11th century onwards, armed monks would descend on the capital to exact subsidies or intervene in politics. The temples were demolished and the monks killed by the troops of the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) during the civil wars of the 16th century. Subsequently the monasteries were reinstated but their power was broken.

The Lotus Sutra is the central text of Tendai. Nothing is permanent; everything shares in the ultimate emptiness. Enlightenment is possible in this lifetime. Tendai is highly eclectic, includes esoteric elements, and also contributed to the amalgamation of Shinto and Buddhism (Ryōbu Shinto).