ABSTRACT
Japanese philosophical thought is rooted in Japan's spiritual traditions. The native spiritual tradition, Shinto, saw the spiritual and material worlds as deeply interconnected. When Buddhism entered Japan in the seventh century CE by way of Korea and China, Shinto's emphasis on the wonderfully mysterious interpenetration of everything provided a basis for acceptance and accommodation. Of all the Buddhist schools introduced into Japan, it was Tendai that had the most influence. Pure Land, True Pure Land, Rinzai Zen, Soto Zen, and the Nichiren school were all founded by Tendai monks trained and ordained on Hieizan. The Zen Buddhism that Eisai and Dogen brought to Japan had developed in China seven hundred years earlier. Tradition claims that it is originated with Bodhidharma, an Indian Buddhist said to have come to China in the fifth century to transmit the practice of sitting meditation and the teaching of sudden enlightenment.
