Saicho

(767–822 CE), Japanese Buddhist monk. Born Mitsu no Obito Hirono in Japan's Omi Province, east of Mount Hiei, Saicho was the son of a devout Buddhist. After following the normal path to ordination as a priest, Saicho took to a small hermitage on Mount Hiei outside Heiankyo (Kyoto), where he meditated on the impermanence of existence and the Tiantai Buddhist doctrines of China, especially the notion that all beings have the potential for Buddhahood.

When the emperor moved the capital to Heiankyo in 794, Saicho was appointed to serve at court. In 804, Saicho set forth on one of the four diplomatic ships sailing to China. There he studied under two of the leading dharma heirs of the Tiantai sect. After spending eight months studying and copying sutras, he received dharma transmission and returned to Japan with 230 Buddhist texts.

In 806, Saicho founded the Tendai school of Buddhism, the Japanese branch of the Chinese Tiantai sect. At the monastery of Enryakuji on Mount Hiei, Saicho commenced lectures concerning such works as the Lotus Sutra. Out of these discussions of Buddhist teachings came a comprehensive school of Buddhist studies. Saicho sought out the younger Kukai and requested instruction in the esoteric texts Kukai had copied while in China. Among other reforms, Saicho advocated an end to government control over ordination, an autonomy that was not granted until after his death.

Kashiwahara Yusen and Koyu Sonoda, eds. (1994) Shapers of Japanese Buddhism. Trans. by Gaynor Sekimori. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing.

Tsunoda, Ryusaku, et al. (1958) Sources of Japanese Tradition. Vol 1. New York: Columbia University Press.

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