Faith in Buddhism Amitābha Buddha. He believed that morality should go hand-in-hand with faith, and was a way to express gratitude to Amitābha. Jōdo Shinshu is still the most popular and largest Buddhist sect in Japan today, surviving as the Nishi Hongwanji and the Higashi Hongwanji traditions. Just like in Jōdo Shinshu, some forms of Zen Buddhism arose as a reaction to Tendai Buddhism. Just like Pure Land Buddhism, faith also played a role here, that is, in Sōtō Zen. This form of Zen, also known as "farmer's Zen" because of its popularity in agrarian society, was developed by Dōgen (1200–53). Apart from
Buddhism in Japan The Kegon school was founded by c. 600 and was introduced to Japan by the Indian monk Bodhisena in 736. The "Avatamsaka Sutra" ("Kegon-kyō" 華厳経) is the central text for the Kegon school. The "Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki" is an early Japanese annotation of this sūtra. 753: Jianzhen () introduces the Risshū (Ritsu or vinaya school) to Japan. Founded by Daoxuan (道宣, Jp. "Dosen"), China, c. 650 First Introduction to Japan: Jianzhen, 753. The Ritsu school specialized in the Vinaya (the monastic rules in the Tripitaka). They used the Dharmagupta version of the vinaya which is known in Japanese as