Rennyo (蓮如, 1415–1499) was the 8th Monshu (head priest) of the Hongan-ji Temple of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism, and descendant of founder Shinran.
During the conflict and welter of the Ōnin War and the subsequent warfare (Sengoku era) that spread throughout Japan, Rennyo was able to unite most of the disparate factions of the Jodo Shinshu sect under the Hongan-ji, reform existing liturgy and practices, and broaden support among different classes of society.
Rennyo maintained a complex relationship with the Ikkō-ikki peasant revolts, which were frequently by Shinshu followers, restraining them at times while also teaching and attending to their religious needs.
[1] Born as Hoteimaru (布袋丸), later Kenju (兼寿), Rennyo was the son of Zonnyō (存如, 1396–1457, who later became the 7th Abbot or Monshu of the Hongan-ji.
Following his installation as 8th head priest at Hongan-ji in 1457, Rennyo focused his efforts in proselytizing in Ōmi Province, an area dominated by the Bukkō-ji and Kinshoku-ji branches of Shinshū.
[1][2] During his early ministry, Rennyo would frequently distribute religious texts to congregations as well as inscriptions of the nenbutsu (recitation of Amitābha Buddha's name).
"I take refuge in the Tathāgata of Unobstructed Light Suffusing the Ten Directions".Soon Rennyo's influence spread into Mikawa Province, an area traditionally dominated by the Senju-ji branch of Shinshū.
Meanwhile, Rennyo sought to curb some of the more egregious behavior of Shinshu followers in order to improve their standing in the larger Buddhist community.
However, as Rennyo drew more followers, including lower-ranking samurai, he became embroiled in a power-struggle in Kaga Province between two brothers of the Togashi family.
Rennyo had secured such status in the Jōdo Shinshū ranks that he had to begin issuing pastoral letters (or, ofumi) in place of appearances to congregations.
During this time, Rennyo established a new form of liturgy (gongyō), incorporating elements that would eventually become the core of Honganji Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism.
By the time of Rennyo's death three years later (in 1499), the complex had come to be known as the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, and was close to the final shape which would prove to be the greatest fortified temple in Japanese history.
Rennyo believed he was restoring his ancestor Shinran's original teachings, which he summed up in a short creed known as the Ryōgemon (領解文, "Statement of Conviction"):[1][5] We abandon all indiscriminate religious practices and undertakings (zōgyō zasshu) and all mind of self-assertion (jiriki no kokoro), we rely with singleness of heart on the Tathāgata Amida in that matter of utmost importance to us now—to please save us in our next lifetime.
We gratefully acknowledge that for us to hear and understand this truth we are indebted to our founder and master [Shinran] for appearing in the world and to successive generations of religious teachers in our tradition for their profound encouragement.
For example, Rennyo's image is typically venerated in Jodo Shinshu shrines to the left of Amitābha Buddha (while Shinran is usually enshrined to the right).
[4] Rennyo clarified Shinran's teachings, provided a simple code of conduct, and reformed the temple hierarchy and liturgy.
On the one hand, Rennyo gave the disorganized Shinshū movement a coherent structure, translated Shinran's teachings into simpler language, and developed a common liturgy.
On the other hand, the process of institutionalization that Rennyo accelerated arguably departed from Shinshū's original egalitarianism, and led to a disjunction between priest-scholars and lay devotees contrary to Shinran's intentions.
Rennyo also introduced certain doctrinal elements from the rival Seizan Jōdo Shū tradition into the Shinshū, and tolerated Shinto belief in kami to a greater extent than Shinran had.