Benen;

views updated

Ben'en; also Enni Ben'en (also known as Shoichi Kokushi; 1202–80). Japanese Zen master of the Rinzai Yogi school. In 1242, he became abbot of the Tōfuku-ji (monastery) in Kyōto. Enni was thus a man of wide education, but while he was prepared to take part in Tendai and Shingon rituals, he believed that Zen was the true way to the goal. In Jisshūyōdōki (Essentials of the Way of the Ten Schools), he claimed that Zen was not simply ‘a school among schools’, but that it was the ‘bowl which carries the Buddha mind’ through history.

About this article

Benen;

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article