Ryōnin
Ryōnin (良忍) | |
|---|---|
| Title | Founder of Yuzu Nembutsu |
| Personal | |
| Born | January 1 (February 10), 1073 |
| Died | February 1 (February 19), 1132 |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Yuzu Nembutsu |
| Lineage | Tendai |
| Posthumous name | Shōō daishi (聖応大師) |
Ryōnin (良忍, 1072–1132) was a Tendai Buddhist monk in the late Heian period and the founder of the Yuzu Nembutsu sect.
Ryōnin was born the son of Tomita no Shō (富田 荘), the feudal lord of Owari Province. When he was young, he was called Yoshihito (良仁). At the age of 12, he left home and began studying Buddhism near Mount Hiei. After his education, he worked in the Jitsuhōbō (実報房) as a temple priest (Nembutsu - choir priest), who continuously practiced nembutsu in the Jōgyō-Sanmaidō Hall (常行三昧堂), where Amida Buddha is the main object of worship.[1]
In later years, Yoshihito retired to Ōhara on the outskirts of Kyoto, called himself Ryōnin, and began a life in which he recited a portion of the Lotus Sutra and the nembutsu 60,000 times a day as a priest and practiced it as a method of incantation in the morning, at noon, and at sunset. According to the illustrated text scroll "Yūzū−Nembutsu Engi Emaki" (融通念仏縁起絵巻), which was produced in 1314 during the Kamakura period, when the idea of the Yūzū−Nembutsu was completed and spread, Ryōnin was immersed in Amida Buddha at the age of 46 and taught Nembutsu to the people. He realized that the Nembutsu led the common people to reach enlightenment more quickly.[2]
At the request of the retired emperor Toba, Ryōnin built the Dainenbutsu-ji temple in 1127. Ryōnin is also known for reciting the "Tendai Shōmyō" (天台声明), the musical tradition of the Tendai school of Buddhism, as a sutra and for reviving and systematizing it as "Ōhara Shōmyō" (大原魚山声明). He died in 1132 in the Ōhararaigō-in temple (大原来迎院) at the age of 61.
In this tradition, from the 14th century onwards, Yūzū-Nembutsu teachings became important, which emphasized the power of the Nembutsu of people and not the power of vows to Amida Buddha. In 1773, Ryōnin was posthumously named Shōō Daishi (聖応大師).
References[edit]
- ^ 三訂版,367日誕生日大事典,世界大百科事典内言及, デジタル大辞泉,精選版 日本国語大辞典,日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),朝日日本歴史人物事典,百科事典マイペディア,改訂新版 世界大百科事典,ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,デジタル版 日本人名大辞典+Plus,旺文社日本史事典. "良忍(リョウニン)とは？ 意味や使い方". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-06-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ S. Noma (ed.): Ryōnin . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1282.
