Time school
Time school
[[[時宗]]] ( Jpn Ji-shu)
A school of the Pure Land teaching in Japan founded by Ippen (1239-1289). Its head temple is Shojoko-ji in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. "Time" ( Ji), the name of this school, mirrors its tenet that one should chant the Nembutsu (an invocation of the name of Amida Buddha) with utmost sincerity and with the belief that this moment in time accords with one's last moment. Among the three Pure Land sutras, the school places special emphasis on the Amida Sutra. Ippen traveled throughout the country, distributing talismans with the inscription that the Nembutsu will ensure rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha. He spread the practice of "dancing Nembutsu" (odori-nembutsu), that of chanting the Nembutsu while dancing in the street to drums and bells. His adherents disseminated the Nembutsu in the same way by traveling throughout the country. After Ippen's death, Shinkyo(1237-1319), also called Ta'amida-butsu, became the second patriarch and worked to build temples. He lived at Muryoko-ji temple, which he founded. An increasing number of priests of the school followed suit, living in temples and abandoning the practice of wandering throughout the country. The school enjoyed the patronage of secular authorities and flourished from the early fourteenth century through the sixteenth century, but declined thereafter with the rising popularity of the True Pure Land (Jodo Shin) school.
