Saichō

PersonType	Category:Classical Japanese Authors Category:Ordained (Monks and Nuns)
MainNamePhon	Saichō
YearBirth	767
YearDeath	822
BornIn	Ōmi province, east of Hieizan
ReligiousAffiliation	Tendai
StudentOf	Gyōhyō  ·  Daosui  ·  Xingman  ·  Shunxiao
TeacherOf	Gishin
IsInGyatsa	No
BnwShortPersonBio	In Japanese, “Most Pure”; the monk traditionally recognized as the founder of the Tendaishū in Japan; also known as Dengyō Daishi (Great Master Transmission of the Teachings). Although the exact dates and place of Saichö’s birth remain a matter of debate, he is said to have been born to an immigrant Chinese family in Ömi province east of H ieizan in 767. At age eleven, Saichö entered the local Kokubunji and studied under the monk Gyöhyö (722-797), a disciple of the émigré Chinese monk Daoxuan (702—766). In 785, Saichö received the full monastic precepts at the monastery of T ö d aiji in Nara, after which he began a solitary retreat in a hermitage on Mt. Hiei. In 788, he built a permanent temple on the summit of Mt. Hiei. After Emperor Kanmu (r. 781-806) moved the capital to Kyöto in 794, the political significance of the Mt. Hiei community and thus Saichö seem to have attracted the attention of the emperor. In 797, Saichö was appointed a court priest (naigubu), and in 802 he was invited to the monastery of Takaosanji to participate in a lecture retreat, where he discussed the writings of the eminent Chinese monk T ia n ta i Zhiyi on the Sad d h arm ap u n d arik asü tra. Saichö and his disciple G ishin received permission to travel to China in order to acquire Tiantai texts. In 804, they went to the monastery or Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai and studied under Daosui (d.u.) and Xingman (d.u.), disciples of the eminent Chinese Tiantai monk Jin g q i Z h an ran . Later, they are also known to have received BO DHiSArrvA precepts (bosatsukai) from Daosui at Longxingsi. He is also said to have received tantric initiation into the KONGŌKAI and TAizöKAi (ryöbu) m aņ dalas from Shunxiao (d.U.). After nine and a half months in China, Saichö returned to Japan the next year with numerous texts, which he catalogued in his Esshüroku. Emperor Kanmu, who had been ill, asked Saichö to perform the esoteric rituals that he had brought back from China as a therapeutic measure. Saichö received permission to establish the Tendai sect and successfully petitioned for two Tendai monks to be ordained each year, one for doctrinal study and one to perform esoteric rituals. After the death of Kanmu in 806, little is known of Saichö’s activities. In 810, he delivered a series of lectures at Mt. Hiei on the Saddharmapundarikasütra, the Su varn ap rab h äsotta m a sü tra , and the R enw ang jin g (“Scripture for Humane Kings”). In 812, Saichö also constructed a meditation hall known as the Hokkezanmaidö. Later, Saichö is also said to have received kongökai initiation from Kükai at the latter’s temple Takaosanji, but their relations soured after a close disciple of Saichö’s left Saichö for Kükai. Their already tenuous relationship was sundered completely when Saichö requested a tantric initiation from Kükai, who replied that Saichö would need to study for three years with Kükai first. Saichö then engaged the eminent Hossöshü (Faxlan g zo n g ) monk Tokuitsu (d.u.) in a prolonged debate concerning the buddha-nature (see b u d d h ad h ätu , fo x in g ) and Tendai doctrines, such as original enlightenment (see h on gak u ). In response to Tokuitsu’s treatises Busshōshō and Chühengikyö, Saichö composed his Shōgonjikkyō, Hokke kowaku, and Shugo kokkaishö. Also at this time, Saichö began a prolonged campaign to have an independent M ah äyän a ordination platform established at Mt. Hiei. He argued that the bodhisattva precepts as set forth in the Fan w an g jin g, traditionally seen as complementary to monastic ordination, should instead replace them. He argued that the Japanese were spiritually mature and therefore could dispense entirely with the hInayäna monastic precepts and only take the Mahäyäna bodhisattva precepts. His petitions were repeatedly denied, but permission to establish the Mahäyäna ordination platform at Mt. Hiei was granted a week after his death. Before his death Saichö also composed the Hokke shüku and appointed Gishin as his successor.
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The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases.