Jambudvīpa One of the four continents situated in the four directions around Mount Sumeru. Jambudvīpa is located to the south and is the place where the Buddhas appear. It is often used in the sense of the entire world.
Jien (1155–1225) A priest of the Tendai school in Japan. Four times he assumed the position of chief priest of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai school located on Mount Hiei.
Jikaku (794–866) Also known as Ennin or the Great Teacher Jikaku. The third chief priest of Enryaku-ji temple. In 838 he journeyed to China, where he studied both T’ien-t’ai’s teachings and esoteric Buddhism. After returning to Japan, he became head of the Tendai school and later introduced esoteric elements into the Tendai doctrines.
Jimmu According to the oldest Japanese chronicles, the legendary first emperor of Japan, who was said to have established the Japanese nation in 660 b.c.e.
Jīvaka A skilled physician and devout Buddhist from the state of Magadha in India who served as minister to King Ajātashatru. He won renown for treating King Bimbisāra and Shakyamuni Buddha. Jīvaka dissuaded Ajātashatru from killing his mother and later persuaded the king to seek out the Buddha’s teachings when the ruler broke out in malignant sores all over his body.
Jōen-bō (n.d.) A priest at Renge-ji temple at Hanabusa in Tōjō Village of Awa during Nichiren Daishonin’s time. Renge-ji is thought to have been a branch temple of Seichō-ji.
Jōgū See Shōtoku.
Jōken-bō (n.d.) See Gijō-bō.
Jōkyū Disturbance A struggle that broke out between the imperial court and the Kamakura shogunate in 1221. The Retired Emperor Gotoba, along with two other retired emperors, attempted to break free of the domination of the regent Hōjō Yoshitoki. But the imperial forces were defeated, and the shogunate deposed the reigning emperor, placed another on the throne, and exiled the retired emperors to distant islands.
Jufuku-ji A Zen temple of the Rinzai school located in Kamakura in Japan. It was built by Hōjō Masako, the widow of Minamoto no Yoritomo, in 1200 and opened by Eisai. It is regarded as one of the five major Rinzai Zen temples of Kamakura and played a remarkable role in the early development of Zen in Japan.