Gyohyo (行表)

Gyohyo (722 - 797) was a Buddhist priest who lived in the Nara period. He was born in Takamiya-go, Katsuragi no kami no kori (or Katsujo-gun) County, Yamato Province. His father was Choshikuramigaki HINOKUMA. His secular name was Hyakko.

In 741, at Kuninomiya (alternatively read Kunikyo, site of the ancient capital in the Nara period) he studied under the Chinese priest Daoxuan (Japanese transliteration: Dosen) and entered the Buddhist priesthood, taking his vows at Hokuso-in of the Kofuku-ji Temple in 743. At the Kofuku-ji Temple he studied Zen and vijnapti-matra (aka yuishiki or consciousness-only, a theory that all existence is subjective and nothing exists outside of the mind). Subsequently, at Sufuku-ji Temple in Omi Province (Otsu City) he became jishu (director of a temple) and had a large statue of the thousand-armed Goddess of Mercy of about 3.03 meters tall made, and then became daikokushi (greater provincial teacher) of Omi Province. In 778, he taught Saicho and in 780, as shishu (master) he had Saicho take his vows. Later Gyohyo transferred to Daian-ji Temple in Nara.

[Original Japanese]