Gyōnen (凝然; 1240–1321) was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the

Kegon The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primar ...

school who resided 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 ...

Temple in the late

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

period. He studied the

history of Buddhism The history of Buddhism spans from the 5th century BCE to the present. Buddhism arose in Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based on the teachings of the ascetic Siddhārtha Gautama. The religion evolved as it sp ...

in India, China, and Japan, compiling documents on this subject in pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of Japanese Buddhism.

Biography

Gyōnen, also known as Jikan, was born in Iyokuni (present-day

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

). He received the

Bodhisattva Precepts The Bodhisattva Precepts ( Skt. ''bodhisattva-śīla'', , ja, bosatsukai) are a set of ethical trainings ('' śīla'') used in Mahāyāna Buddhism to advance a practitioner along the path to becoming a bodhisattva. Traditionally, monastics obse ...

Mt. Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

in 1255. At the age of 18, he received the novice precepts and was fully ordained by Enshō (1220–1277) at Tōdaiji Temple when he was 20. He studied the teachings of a number of traditions of Buddhism including Sanron and Hossō under various masters around Japan before setting into Tōdaiji, where he remained for most of his life.

Works in English translation

* ''The essentials of the Vinaya tradition.: the collected teachings of the Tendai Lotus School'', translated by Leo M Pruden (1995). * ''The essentials of the eight traditions''. Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. OCLC 988575765. * ''Gyōnen's transmission of the Buddha Dharma in three countries''. Green, Ronald S.; Mun, Chanju (2018). translated by Ronald S. Green and Chunju Mun. * The Risshū-kōyō: an annotated translation, translated by Leo M Pruden, Ph. D. thesis, Harvard University 1969. * ''The origins and development of Pure Land Buddhism: a study and translation of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō'', translated by Mark Laurence Blum (2004).

References

{{Authority control 13th-century Buddhist monks Kamakura period Buddhist clergy Sanron Buddhist monks Ehime Prefecture