Rōben

Rōben 良弁
From paintings and manuscripts at Tōdai-ji, Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan
Religion	Buddhism
School	Hossō, later Kegon Buddhism
Personal
Nationality	Japanese
Born	689 Sagami Province, now part of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Died	773 (85 years old) Region around Uda, Nara Prefecture
Religious career
Teacher	Gien (d. 728)

Rōben (良弁、朗弁、良辨、朗辨^?) (689 – 773), also known as Ryōben, was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Kegon sect, and clerical founder of the Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. He is popularly known as the "Golden Bell Practitioner" (金鐘行者, Konshō Gyōja^?). His life spanned the late Asuka period (538 – 710) to the early Nara period (710 – 794), a period associated with the establishment of Buddhism in Japan.

According to tradition, Rōben was born either in either Ōmi Province in present-day Shiga Prefecture or Sagami Province in present-day Kanagawa Prefecture. Sagami is considered the more likely location.

According to legend as a young baby, Rōben was snatched by an eagle and dropped off over a pine tree in front of what is now the Nigatsu-dō Hall. Rōben was raised as a monk, and reunited with his mother 30 years later. In one version of the story, Rōben wore an amulet of Kannon Bodhisattva since he was a baby, which his mother recognized when she came to Nara as a pilgrim. Records with the Ministry of Justice in Nara at the time, do record Rōben as having been raised as a monk since infancy, but do not state anything further as to his origins.