Gyōnen (凝然; 1240–1321) was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Kegon 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. The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admir ...

Temple in the late

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

period. He studied the

history of Buddhism The history of Buddhism can be traced back to the 5th century BCE. Buddhism originated from Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha, and is based on the teachings of the renunciate Siddhartha Gautama, ...

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 Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and 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'' or ''bodhisattva-saṃvāra'', , ; Tibetan: byang chub sems dpa’i sdom pa) are a set of ethical trainings ('' śīla'') used in Mahāyāna Buddhism to advance a practitioner along the path ...

at Mt. Hiei 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 Buddhist clergy of the Kamakura period Sanron Buddhist monks Ehime Prefecture