Background
Shōbō was born in 832 in the province of Yamato
Shōbō was born in 832 in the province of Yamato
He went to Nara around the age of twenty to study the doctrines of the Sanron, Hosso, and Kegon sects of Buddhism.
He founded a subtemple in Tôdai-ji known as Tônan-in, which served as a training center in Sanron Buddhism and in later times became the main instrument for the transmission of Sanron teachings.
In 874 he founded a temple called Daigo-ji at Daigo Kasatoriyama southeast of Kyoto. In his later years he served as head of Todai-ji and of To-ji.
In later times he was revered as the restorer of Shugendo Buddhism, which had been founded two centuries earlier by En no Ozunu. He is thus an unusual figure in Japanese Buddhism, combining a knowledge of the Nara sects of Buddhism with Shingon teachings and the practices associated with Shugendo.
He studied Shingon, or Esoteric Buddhism, under Shinga and Shinnen and received kanjo, the ceremony in Esoteric Buddhism indicating the attainment of Buddhahood, from Shinga’s disciple Gennin at Tô-ji in Kyoto.
His teaching line was carried on and developed by his disciple Kanken and later became the basis for the Ono branch of Shingon Buddhism. He also took a great interest in Shugendo, a system of Buddhist practices and ceremonies carried out in the mountains, and erected an image of Nyoirin Kannon on Mt. Kimbu at Yoshino.
His abilities were recognized by Kukai’s disciple Shinga (801-879).