Background
Onko Jiun was born in 1718. He used such literary names as Hyakufuchi Doji and Katsuragi Sannin, and was commonly referred to as Jiun Sonja.
Onko Jiun was born in 1718. He used such literary names as Hyakufuchi Doji and Katsuragi Sannin, and was commonly referred to as Jiun Sonja.
For three years beginning in 1733 he studied Confucianism in Kyoto under I to Togai, and for another three years beginning in 1741, he studied Zen under Daimai Zenji in Shinano Province. In 1744 he took up residence in Choei-ji, a temple in Takaida in Kawachi near Osaka.
In 1758 he built a retreat on Mt. Ikoma called Soryu-an and took up the study of Sanskrit in order to gain a better knowledge of early Buddhism. The results of his studies are contained in a work in one thousand chapters entitled Bongaku shinryo.
In 1730 he became a disciple of Ninko Tciki and entered the priesthood.
In 1749 he compiled the Kompon sosei, a system of religious life and practice based upon the rules for monastic discipline laid down in the time of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. The expounding of this system was a passion that dominated his activities for the remainder of his life.
In 1771 he moved to Amida-ji in Kyoto and devoted himself to religious teaching. He expounded what he called Jüzenkai, or Ten Rules of Discipline, that he believed should be observed by Buddhists, and wrote a work entitled Jüzen hogo explaining them. In his late years, he moved to Kôki-ji, a temple on Mt. Katsuragi in Kawachi, where he developed and advocated his own type of Shinto known as Jiun Shinto.
He is also famous for his calligraphy.