Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

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凝然

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: firmly

Senses:

  • Steadfastly, quietly, changelessly, motionlessly. [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Nakamura, Yokoi, Iwanami]
  • To concentrate [on something]. [Charles Muller; source(s): Yokoi]
  • Gyōnen (1240–1321). Japanese Kegon 華嚴 monk, a prolific author who wrote important historical summaries of all the major Chinese Buddhist schools. His family name was Fujiwara and he was originally from Iyo 伊豫 prefecture in Shikoku. At fifteen he left home to receive instruction from a master named Enshō 圓照, at Kaidan-in 戒壇院 (a section of Tōdaiji 東大寺) and was ordained at age twenty. He learned the precepts from the monks Shōgen 證玄 and Jōin 淨因, learned the esoteric teachings from Shōshu 聖守. His studies of Buddhism ranged for beyond the field of his own school, as he also delved deeply into Yogâcāra 唯識, Sanlun 三論, Pure Land 淨土, Zen 禪宗, Confucianism 儒教, Daoism 道教 and the philosophers of the (Chinese) warring states period. In 1276 he lectured on the Huayan jing in the great Buddha hall of Tōdaiji. After the death of Enshō, he carried on for him, and based in Kaidan-in, unceasingly lectured on the Kegon sūtras and explicated the rules of the Vinaya 戒律. In 1313 Gyōnen moved to Tōshōdaiji 唐招提寺 (also in Nara), staying there for five years before returning to Kaidan-in. Besides lecturing, he wrote extensively on Kegon 華嚴, Tendai 天台, Shingon 眞言, Madhyamaka 三論, Yogâcāra 法相, Abhidharma 倶舍, Satyasiddhi 成實, Vinaya 律 and Pure Land 淨土 doctrine. He also conducted studies in history, Shintō, and music, altogether writing over an estimated total of 180 monographs, essays, and lectures. He passed away at Kaidan-in at the age of 82. Some of his more famous works include An Outline of Eight Schools 八宗綱要, A Record of the Transmission of the Buddha-dharma through Three Countries 三國佛法傳通緣起, and the Essay on the Origins of Pure Land 淨土源流章.

    References:

    Blum, Mark L. 2002. The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism: A Study and Translation of Gyōnenʼs Jōdo Homon Genrusho. Oxford:  Oxford University Press.

    Gyōnen, . Green, Ronald S.,  Chanju Mun, eds. 2018. Gyōnenʼs Transmission of the Buddha Dharma in Three Countries. Leiden:  Brill.

    [Charles Muller Michael Radich, Rainer Schulzer]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 192

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 228b

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 183

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 187

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 248a

    Fo Guang Dictionary 6207

    Nihon bukkyō jinmei jiten (Saitō and Naruse) 120

    Index to the Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) 166

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)614a,870c,4001c,4970c

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 273-2

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1986-10-01

    Updated: 2020-09-05