The Tendai Sect Converts to
Esoteric Buddhism

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After Saicho’s death, his heir Gishin diligently carried on in his master’s tradition. However, the Tendai sect’s third chief abbot, Ennin (Jikaku), and the fifth, Enchin (Chisho), were imperial court appointees who adopted esoteric teachings from the Shingon sect and strenuously campaigned to have the Tendai sect convert to esoteric Buddhism. The main reason for this movement was the nobility’s fashion for using esoteric prayers for their own successful and distinguished careers. It is said that the campaign eventually resulted in the formation of the Tendai Esoteric sect by Annen, the chief priest of Genkyoji Temple in Kyoto.

In time, the priests of the Tendai sect became embroiled in disputes over doctrinal interpretation and place of the chief abbot, causing the sect to split into the Ennin and Enchin schools. In 993, tensions became so serious that the Enchin contingent left Mt. Hiei and moved to Onjoji, a branch temple of Enryakuji. Thereafter, both the Ennin and Enchin schools kept warrior monks on their temple grounds.

Bad blood between the Ennin and Enchin schools continued throughout the Heian and Kamakura Periods, and on into the Muromachi Period, lasting nearly five hundred years. Latter Day of the Law Mindset and Kamakura Period Buddhism

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