Ippen

Ippen Shōnin (一遍上人, 1234–1289^?, also known as Zuien) was a Japanese Buddhist itinerant preacher (hijiri) who founded the Ji-shū (時宗 time sect) branch of Pure Land Buddhism.

Ippen was born at Hōgon-ji, a temple in Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture) on the island of Shikoku. He was originally called Chishin (智真). He first studied Tendai Buddhism at Mount Hiei, Kyoto, and then Jōdo-shū at Dazaifu, Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu.

During a pilgrimage to the Kumano Shrines, the kami enshrined there revealed to Ippen that enlightenment was determined by Amitābha and that Ippen should devote himself to preaching the importance of reciting his name, a practice called nembutsu. Ippen and a band of followers then travelled throughout the country proselytizing with their ecstatic nembutsu dance, and won a wide following among common people. Other practices associated with the Ji-shu include scheduled sessions of chanting (hence the name time-sect), the handing out of slips of paper with the nembutsu written on them, and keeping a register of the converted.

Ippen's insistence on constant travelling and giving up of family and possessions led to his nicknames: "Traveling Saint" (Yugyō Shōnin 遊行上人) and "Holy Man of Renunciation" (Sute hijiri 捨聖).

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