(1201–1290) was a

Japanese Buddhist Buddhism has been practiced in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while exten ...

monk who founded the

Shingon Risshu The is a comparatively small medieval sect of Buddhism in Japan that arose in the Kamakura period as an offshoot of Shingon Buddhism. Its founder was a monk named Eison (叡尊 1201-1290), a disciple of Jōkei, and carried further by Eison's disc ...

sect. Eison entered religious training when he was eleven years old, studying initially at

Daigo-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Its main devotion (''honzon'') is Yakushi. ''Daigo'', literally "ghee", is used figuratively to mean "crème de la crème" and is a metaphor of the most profound part of Buddhist though ...

and later at

Kongōbu-ji is the ecclesiastic head temple of Koyasan, Kōyasan Shingon Buddhism, located on , Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Its name means ''Temple of the Diamond Mountain Peak''. It is part of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Ra ...

. At the age of 34, while at

Saidai-ji or the "Great Western Temple" is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple was first established in AD 765 as a counterpart to Tōdai-ji and it is the main tem ...

, he made the decision to become a fully ordained monk. However, since the process of ordination in

Shingon Buddhism Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. K ...

had been lost by this point in time, Eison decided to self-ordain, and along with three companions performed his own ordination ceremony at

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...

in 1236. After spending some years as a travelling priest, Eison returned to Saidai-ji and founded the

sect. Saidai-ji prospered under his governance, receiving increased donations and revenue despite Eison's vows of poverty. In later years, Eison also accepted donations of land from the Retired Emperor Kameyama. These generous donations may have been the result of Eison's response to the

Mongol invasions of Japan Major military efforts were taken by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty in 1274 and 1281 to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the invasion attempts are of mac ...

, in which he performed esoteric rituals to repel the invaders. In honour of this, his disciples commissioned one of the earliest examples of a ''juzo'' (portrait of a living monk), sculpted in wood. In 1273, 1275 and 1280, despite his advancing years, Eison made pilgrimages to the

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inn ...

, where he presented copies of the '' Daihannya-kyo

Sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

''. After his death in 1290 he was given the posthumous title Kosho Bosatsu (興正菩薩). Eison is known as the founder of the Ōchamori tea rite, an unusual variation of the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

that uses over-sized tea utensils. The story goes that in the year 1281, Eison received an imperial order to conduct prayer rites for Japan's protection against the second attempted Mongolian invasion. Eison responded with rituals inciting

Aizen Myōō Aizen may refer to: * Aizen Myō-ō (愛染明王), a popular deity in Japanese Buddhism. * Sōsuke Aizen is a fictional character from the manga series ''Bleach'' created by Tite Kubo and the main villain of the first half of the series (and th ...

to intervene and disperse the Mongolian invaders to foreign lands. By good fortune, the invading ships capsized and Japan avoided calamity. Following this event, on the final and sixteenth day of the New Year's Mishihō ritual for the protection of emperor and state, Eison proceeded to the

Hachiman In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...

Shrine on the grounds of Saidai-ji to perform a Hōsan rite of thanks for having been protected from potential harm. Just as Eison concluded the ritual, powdery white snow fell from the sky, transforming the scene into one of breathtaking beauty. Seen as an omen, Eison made a tea offering at the front of the shrine as a display of reverence. After the tea was dedicated to the deity, it was offered to the crowd gathered before the shrine. Due to the large numbers, Eison used a huge tea bowl to distribute the tea to all present. This is the origin of Saidai-ji's Ōchamori tea rite.

References

Bibliography

* * *Meeks, Lori (2009)
Vows for the Masses: Eison and the Popular Expansion of Precept-Conferral Ceremonies in Premodern Japan
Numen 56 (1), 1-43 {{Authority control Japanese Buddhist clergy 1201 births 1290 deaths Kamakura period Buddhist clergy

See also

References

Bibliography