Enni

Enni Ben'en
圓爾辯圓
Painting of Enni by the monk Kichizan Minchō. Kamakura period, 14th century
Personal
Born	1 November 1202 (15th day, 10th month, Kennin 5) Shizuoka, Japan
Died	10 November 1280 (age 78) (17th day, 10th month, Kōan 3) Mount Kōya, Japan
Religion	Buddhism
School	Mahayana Buddhism, Rinzai, Tendai
Senior posting
Teacher	Eisai, Wuzhun Shifan

Enni Ben'en
Traditional Chinese	圓爾辯圓
Simplified Chinese	圆尔辩圆
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yuán'ěr Biànyuán Bopomofo ㄩㄢˊ ㄦˇ ㄅㄧㄢˋ ㄩㄢˊ Wade–Giles Yüan2-êrh3 Pien4-yüan2 IPA [ɥɛ̌n.àɚ pjɛ̂n.ɥɛ̌n]

Enni Ben'en (圓爾辯圓; 1 November 1202 – 10 November 1280) or simply Enni, also known as Shōichi Kokushi, was a Japanese Buddhist monk. He started his Buddhist training as a Tendai monk. While he was studying with Eisai, a vision of Sugawara no Michizane appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to China and study meditation. Following this vision, he met the Rinzai teacher Wuzhun Shifan in China, and studied Mahayana with him. When he returned to Japan, after founding Jōten-ji temple in Hakata (Fukuoka), he founded Tōfuku-ji monastery in Kyoto, and practiced Zen as well as other types of Buddhism. His disciples included Mujū.

It is traditionally believed that Enni was one of the monks who introduced noodles to Japan from China.

Works

Enni Ben'en is the possible author of the Shoichikokushi Kana Hogo (Vernacular Dharma Words of the National Teacher Sacred Unity). The text is also known as the Zazenron (Treatise on Seated Meditation). It is a brief text, composed of 24 questions and answers.

Sources

• Bielefeldt, Carl (1994). "No-Mind and Sudden Awakening: Thoughts on the Soteriology of a Kamakura Zen Text". In Buswell, Robert; Gimello, Robert (eds.). Paths to Liberation: The Mārga and Its Transformations in Buddhist Thought. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 475–505.
• Dumoulin, Heinrich (2005). Zen Buddhism: Japan. Zen Buddhism: A History. Vol. 2. Bloomington, IL: World Wisdom.
• Faure, Bernard (2021), Rage and Ravage: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 3, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824886240