Roben

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Robes or Ryoben ( Jap. 良弁 * 689 in the province Ōmi ; † 773 ; posthumously: Konshō Gyoja ) a Buddhist monk scholar (僧学者was sōgakusha ) Japanese Nara period . He is considered the second patriarch of the Kegon-shū and the driving force behind the construction of the Tōdai-ji . He led the eye opening ceremony of the local Vairocana Buddha statue and was the first ruler of this important temple.

Life

Rōben is originally from the Ōmi province. Tradition has it that when he was two years old, he was seized by a golden eagle, which then deposited him in front of the Kasuga shrine in Nara . He is said to have been saved by Gien (義 淵; † 728), who instructed him in the teachings of the Hosso school .

According to legend, he was recognized by his parents ( Uji : Tadatoki), who had been desperately looking for him, when they visited the Tōdai-ji by showing them a small Shukongō-jin Shōzō figure (which he had on his body) .

The Daibutsu in Tōdai-ji

In 733 (? 728) the Shōmu- tennō founded the Konsu -ji (金鐘 寺) for him , which was later expanded to the Tōdai-ji (東大寺).

The teachings of the Chinese Huayan zong had already been brought to Japan in 736 by the Chinese Vinaya master Dao Xuan (702-760; Japanese doses ), but had not yet received any appreciable reception there. The Kegon-shū, based on the Huayan zong, only came into being after Rōben had succeeded in persuading the Shōmu-tennō in 740 to arrive at the Korean monk Simsang ( Chinese  審 祥 , Pinyin Shěnxiáng , Japanese Shinshō ) to invite the imperial court to give a lecture on the Kegon Sutra . Three years later, by decree of the Shōmu-tennō, the Daibutsu Mahāvairocana was built in Tōdai-ji, at the same time the Kegon Sutra was determined as a supreme sutra of the country, which commonly marks the beginning of the Kegon-shū through its recognition by the Tennō .

In Konsu-ji , the fourth day of the 12th lunar month of 744 was the first time the sacrifice of the “ten thousand lamps” took place under Rōben's leadership.

On imperial orders, he founded the Ishiyama-dera (now part of the Shingon) in his home province of mi in 749 , which was famous for its Nehan-e, which was held regularly from 804 and was mostly held by monks of the Hossō or Sanron schools .

Rōben was appointed by the Shōmu-tennō as the first head of the Tōdai-ji in 752 and was given the newly created title of Bettō (head of a large temple). In 760 he was appointed Sōjō (chief priest). In the Kaizan- do (開山 堂) of the temple is still his statue today.

Rōben was thus the successor to Shinjō and thus the second patriarch of the Kegon-shū. Their interpretation of the Kegon Sutra was taught by the Korean monk Shinjo . He also had a great influence on the Shomū-tennō , along with Gyoji .

Furthermore, after he returned to his homeland Ōmi at the age of 48 after the consecration of Vairocana, he is said to have found a statue of Fudō Myō-ō on a mountain . After three years of withdrawn meditation, he established the Ukosan Daisan-ji in memory of this miraculous event .

The Afuri-jinsha on Mount Ōyama ( Kanagawa Prefecture ) also traces its founding - as Ōyama-dera - back to him. In fact, the shrine was probably created later. A picture scroll from 1532 is kept there, which retells the kidnapping legend.

swell

Much of the given biographical data is legendary and difficult to verify historically. They can be found scattered in the Japanese imperial stories and classical historical works z. B .:

  • Kōen; ( 皇 圓 ;? 1119-69); Fusō ryakki ( 扶桑 略 記 ); Date of origin: 1094–1189 [no German translation]
  • Kangon ( 觀 嚴 , 1151-1236); Todai-ji-yōroku ( 東大寺 要 緑 ); History of Todai-ji verm. 1134.

Modern text edition (Japanese) Mizuno Tadanaka (Ed.); Todai-ji-yōroku; Tōkyō 1988 (Ōzorasha); ISBN 4-7568-02656

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Roben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 良 弁 (Japanese); Ryobe; Konshō gyōja (posthumous)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese Buddhist monk scholar
DATE OF BIRTH 689
PLACE OF BIRTH Ōmi Province , Japan
DATE OF DEATH 773