Buddhist Materiality: A Cultural History of Objects in Japanese Buddhism

The Tendai scholar Annen, in his Shinjō sōmoku jōbutsu shiki, was the first to quote the Chūingyō sutra as doctrinal support for the idea that plants and trees have kokoro and are therefore able to achieve awakening and Buddhahood.

“The Tendai scholar Annen 安然 (841-895?), in his influential Shinjō sōmoku jōbutsu shiki 斟定草木成仏私 記 (A Personal Collection of Selected Passages on Plants Becoming Buddhas, c. 869-885), was the first to quote the Chūingyō (or Chūinkyō 中陰経 ) sutra as doctrinal support for the idea that plants and trees have kokoro 心 (sentience) and that they are therefore able to achieve awakening ( hos”

The Tendai sect in Japan, following Zhanran, generally took the position that since all beings share the Buddha nature, any being, whether sentient or nonsentient, could become Buddha.

“The Tendai sect (Tendaishū 天台宗 ) in Japan, following the sixth patriarch of the Chinese Tientai sect, Zhanran 湛然 (711-782), generally took the position that since all beings share the Buddha nature (the fundamental, unchanging nature of things), any being, whether sentient or nonsentient could become Buddha (Rambelli 2007: 16-17).”

Fabio Rambelli devotes a full chapter to the historical development of the problem of whether nonsentients can acquire Buddhahood in his 2007 book Buddhist Materiality.

“Especially helpful in this regard has been the full chapter that Fabio Rambelli devotes to the historical development of the problem of whether nonsentients can acquire Buddhahood in his 2007 book, Buddhist Materiality .”

In the Heian period both Annen and Ryōgen attempted to prove that plants are actually sentient and therefore capable of Buddhahood through their own efforts.

“In the Heian period both Annen and Ryōgen attempted to prove that plants are actually sentient and therefore capable of Buddhahood through their own efforts (Rambelli 2007: 36-40).”