En no Gyoja

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En-no-Gyôja 役行者 (Jimpen Dai-Bosatsu)
The Founder of Shugendo
En no Ozuno 役小角 "En with the small horn"

quote from
http://www.shugendo.fr/intro.html

All yamabushi regard En-no-gyôja as the founder and as their spiritual ancestor. He was an ascetic-hermit who lived in the 7th century and got along with the bouddhic magic, and others...



This man was called En-No-Ozuno of his true name which means "En (delivery: Japanese èn) "the small horned one" because he was born with a small horn on his forehead. "Devils" was a derogatory nickname the Japanese of the era gave Korean immigrants, and we know now that the Kamo family (En’s family) was of Korean descent. He was also known as En-No-Ubasoku (Upayaka En), by lay practitioners, but he is most commonly known as En the Ascetic (En-No-gyôja).

Emperor Kokaku was so impressed with his practices that he gave him the posthumous name of Jimpen Dai-bôsatsu (Great Bodhisattva of Divine Change). The first document which speaks about him is "Shoku Nihongi" and the book Nihon Ryoki (which was written between 810 and 824, that is to say forty years afterwards), which are the first Japanese books with Konjaku monogatari: "En-No Ozunu lived in the Katsuragi mountains (close to the town of Wakayama, near to the current Osaka) where he converted demons and communed with a Shinto god, practised the asceticism in the Ominé mountains; He could cling to a cloud with 5 colors and fly through the air. He employed the demon spirits to build a bridge which would connect the Katsuragi mountains to that of Kimpusen, a distance several hundreds of kilometers.

He was exiled on the peninsula of Izu, following problems with his cousin and disciple who was jealous of him. The emperor tried to execute him but the blade of the axe broke each time they tried to behead him. It is said that every night, he left his prison and flew away to practise ascetics at the top of the Mount Fuji. He was released thereafter.

It is also written more particularly in Nihon Ryoki, in chapter 28: En-No-Ubasoku came from the Kamo family of the village of Chihara (West of current Nara) in the district of Katsuragi of the plain of Yamato. From birth he was omniscient; and he revered the 3 Buddhist jewels (unusual at the time for a family of that closely followed Shinto beliefs like Kamo and Kusakabe).

He practised the magic sutra of the Queen of the Peacocks" (Kujaku-Myô-kyô). Becoming a spirit himself (according to the taoists), he practised the Buddhist doctrines and every night he clung to a cloud with 5 colors, then flew in space in company of the hosts of the realm of the spirits; diverted himself in the gardens of Eternal Life; slept in the floors of Zuigai; He breathed the air which nourished him fully. As he was 40 years old he lived a cave (the cave of Shô), dressed in linens and bamboo shoots, bathed in the natural sources of water (made taki shugyo), washing away there the stains of the world of desire. He practised the sutra of Kujaku and showed a marvellous capacity. He continued to control the demon spirits, obliging them to work for him for the construction of a gigantic bridge.

With all the data collected from different sources over several centuries, one ends up establishing a biography which has been pieced together little by little. The following has been discovered : the name of his father, his mother, 5 disciples including 2 demons, the transmission of the Secret Law (Mippo) by the Master Nagarjuna in the cave of the Mt. Minô. The traditions of the schools of shugen do not agree as on his end. Some say that he flew away into the sky over Mt. Tenjo-gatake. Others say he disappeared on the sea and that was only re-examined (in Korea) after several centuries, following an official voyage of the monk Dôkô of the Kimpusenji temple of the village of Yoshino.

Over the two centuries following his disappearance a growing number of individuals in Japan imitated his example: The monks Shôbô and Zôyô, as well as the itinerant yamabushi (as Jitsukaga at the time Meiji) continued to take him as a model. On January 25, 1799, the Emperor Kokaku decreed that he receive the posthumous title of Jimpen Dai Bosatsu! This document is always visible within the Shogoin temple in Kyoto.

Curtesy of Shugendo
http://members.shaw.ca/shugendo/intro.html

Read more about
The God of Shugendo: Zaô-gongen (the Avatar Zaô)

The Pantheon of Shugendô Particularly the worship of the Buddha Fudou-Myô


... /shugendo/images/Fudo-myo.jpg

Doctrines of Shugendô


... /shugendo/images/freeclimb.jpg

This is a great resource to learn more about Shugendoo.
.. Shugendo

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. the Demons Zenki 前鬼 and Goki 後鬼 .
- Introduction -

the husband Zenki 前鬼 and his wife Goki 後鬼。

These demons promised En no Gyoja, a Shugendo priest at Mount Ominesan in Nara, to protect the pilgrims of the area. They had five children, whose families in the x-th generation up to this day have five mountain huts where the pilgrims can rest during their walk from Oomine to Kumano.
The family business is going on for more than 1300 years now. Gokijo 後鬼助 san, in the 61 generation, lives in Osaka now and comes back every weekend and holidays to take care of the pilgrims.
There are now many legends about these two and En no Gyoja.
Enjoy my blog!


source : blogs.yahoo.co.jp/teravist


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En no Gyooja (E no Ozunu)
"Der Asket En".

Wandernder Priester, der erstmals im Shoku Nihongi (797) erwähnt wird. Gründer bzw. Ahnfigur der Bergpilger des Shugendoo (Yamabushi). Prototyp eines Magiers.

Um 634 geboren; seit dem 32. Lebensjahr übte er sich mehr als 30 Jahre in esoterischem Buddhismus auf dem Berg Katsuragi, bis er übernatürliche Kräfte erwarb. Er bestieg zum ersten Mal die heiligen Berge Kinpusan (dort erschien ihm die Gottheit Zao Gongen) und Oomine und gilt daher als der Gründer der Bergpilger-Tradition in West-Japan.
699 wurde er nach Izu ins Exil geschickt, aber zwei Jahre später wieder begnadigt. Über die letzten Jahre seines Lebens ist nichts bekannt.

Ikonografie:
Ausgemergelte Gestalt. Geht auf hohen Holzsandalen (geta), begleitet von zwei Dämonen. Mit einem Vogelgewand um die Schultern. Chinesischer Fächer oder Pilgerstab in einer Hand.


.Buddhastatuen ... Who is Who 　　

Ein Wegweiser zur Ikonografie
von japanischen Buddhastatuen
Gabi Greve, 1994

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source :　facebook

carved by 慶俊 Monk Gyoshun
ca. 78 cm high

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En no Gyooja and Shugendo … An Essay

WASHOKU : Maple leaves tempura (momiji tenpura)

もみじ天ぷら/ 紅葉の天ぷら
With their origin related to En no Gyoja !
Minoyama Ryuuan-Ji, Osaka　箕面山瀧安寺


Shugendo The Way of the Mountain Ascets, Yamabushi

Zao Gongen 蔵王権現

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
34 役行者 / 15 小角 / 7 役小角
The legends related to Zenki and Goki have been explored in their own entry.


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. Master Carver Enku 円空 .


source : shigeru.kommy.com/enkuu21

大和郡山松尾寺 Matsuo-Ji
奈良県大和郡山市松尾山 - Yamato District, Nara

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