Changes

*''Born: [[1173]]''

*''Born: [[1173]]''

*''Died: [[1232]]''

*''Died: [[1232]]''

*''Japanese'': 明恵 ''(Myoue)''

*''Japanese'': 明恵 ''(Myoue)''

Myôe Shônin was a prominent [[Kamakura period]] monk who opposed the radical ideas of [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] founder [[Honen|Hônen]].

Myôe Shônin was a prominent [[Kamakura period]] monk who opposed the radical ideas of [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] founder [[Honen|Hônen]].

Hônen asserted that enlightenment through traditional means was impossible, and that the best anyone could hope for in the age of ''[[mappo|mappô]]'' (Decline of the Law; End of the Law) was to pray for salvation by chanting ''[[nenbutsu]]'' (the name of [[Amida Buddha]]). In his ''Choosing the Original Vow'', Hônen advocated abandoning meditation, celibacy, the creation and worship of idols, and all other standard practices in favor of devotion to the chanting of ''nenbutsu''. Myôe opposed these assertions in his own text, ''Zaijarin'' ("Smashing the Evil Chariot/Wheel"), in which he accused Hônen of betraying the beliefs of the Pure Land sect, even writing that Hônen could no longer be considered a Buddhist. Myôe countered that while there may be call for a simplification of practices, a variety of practices were essential in order for one to earn passage into the Pure Land, i.e. to earn salvation. He advocated reciting a chant that incorporated devotion to the "Three Treasures" (Buddha, [[dharma]], and ''[[sangha]]'' i.e. monasticism), along with engaging in other traditional practices.

He lost both of his parents in separate incidents in [[1180]], when he was eight years old<ref>According to traditional [[age calculation]].</ref>, and the following year went to live with an uncle, the monk Jôgaku Gyôji, at [[Jingo-ji|Jingô-ji]] on [[Mt. Takao]]. He became a monk himself at the age of 16, taking on the name Jôben, and beginning to study [[Kegon]] and [[Shingon]] thought at [[Sonsho-in|Sonshô-in]], a [[tatchu|branch temple]] of [[Todai-ji|Tôdai-ji]]. He then stayed at a hermitage on Mt. Shirakami for three years, beginning in [[1195]], before returning to Takao in [[1198]]. Soon afterwards, he came to live with his uncle [[Yuasa Munemitsu]] in [[Kii province]], and continued to live with various relatives in various parts of Kii through [[1206]]. When he was around thirty, in the winter of [[1202]]-[[1203]], he began to consider traveling to India; Myôe considered a journey to India once more in [[1205]], even going so far as to calculate (or estimate) the distance from [[Chang'an]] to Rajagrha. Drawing upon earlier records, and accounting for the differences in long and short ''ri'' used at different times (the standard length/size of [[Japanese Measurements]] varying widely across the ages), he estimates the distance at 10,000 ''ri'', a journey of roughly one thousand days (less than three years) on foot. Ultimately, Myôe did not ever travel to India, though his desires to do so form the core of the plot of the [[Noh]] play ''[[Kasuga ryujin|Kasuga ryûjin]]'', in which the great dragon god of [[Kasuga Shrine|Kasuga]] rejects his wishes to make the journey, and suggests to Myôe that though the greatest sites in Buddhist history lay in China and India, equivalent sites can be found in Japan. Remaining in Japan, Myôe was commissioned by [[Insei|Retired]] [[Emperor Go-Toba]] to oversee the restoration of [[Kozan-ji|Kôzan-ji]] in [[1206]].

Myôe is also known for his lengthy dream journal, in which he recorded the content of many of his dreams; he also appears in a prominent role in the [[Noh]] play ''[[Kasuga ryujin|Kasuga ryûjin]]'', speaking of his desire to travel to China and India, in order to make pilgrimage to great Buddhist sites.

In [[1212]]-[[1213]], Myôe wrote a pair of texts which remain quite prominent in Buddhist thought today, critiquing some of the chief positions put forth by [[Honen|Hônen]], founder of [[Pure Land Buddhism]] in Japan. Hônen asserted that enlightenment through traditional means was impossible, and that the best anyone could hope for in the age of ''[[mappo|mappô]]'' (Decline of the Law; End of the Law) was to pray for salvation by chanting ''[[nenbutsu]]'' (the name of [[Amida Buddha]]). In his ''Choosing the Original Vow'', Hônen advocated abandoning meditation, celibacy, the creation and worship of idols, and all other standard practices in favor of devotion to the chanting of ''nenbutsu''. Myôe opposed these assertions in his own text, ''Zaijarin'' ("Smashing the Evil Chariot/Wheel", 1212), in which he accused Hônen of betraying the beliefs of the Pure Land sect, even writing that Hônen could no longer be considered a Buddhist. Myôe countered that while there may be call for a simplification of practices, a variety of practices were essential in order for one to earn passage into the Pure Land, i.e. to earn salvation. He advocated reciting a chant that incorporated devotion to the "Three Treasures" (Buddha, [[dharma]], and ''[[sangha]]'' i.e. monasticism), along with engaging in other traditional practices.

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==References==

==References==

*“Amida, The Pure Land, and the Response of the Old Buddhism to the New,” in Wm. Theodore De Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley eds., ''Sources of Japanese Tradition'', Second Edition, Columbia University Press (2001), 214-215.

*“Amida, The Pure Land, and the Response of the Old Buddhism to the New,” in Wm. Theodore De Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley eds., ''Sources of Japanese Tradition'', Second Edition, Columbia University Press (2001), 214-215.

[[Category:Kamakura Period]]

[[Category:Kamakura Period]]

[[Category:Religious Figures]]

[[Category:Religious Figures]]