Biography
Kakuban was born in Fujitsu-no-shō (Hizen Province, nowadays part of Kashima City, Saga Prefecture) about three hundred years after Shingon Buddhism was first founded by Kūkai (空海). His given name was Yachitose-maro (弥千歳麿).
The third of four children, his father died at the age of 10, so he renounced the world at age 13 to enter the priesthood and became a pupil of the famous teacher, Kanjo (寛助) in Kyoto, who in turn had founded the Jōju-in (成就院). Kakuban had briefly studied the Kusha and Hossō teachings at Kōfuku-ji in Nara before returning to his master. At that time, he was given the ordination name of Shōgaku-bō Kakuban (正覚房覚鑁). After prolonged training in Buddhism at Tōdai-ji in Nara, the twenty year old received full ordination. Kakuban left for Mount Koya (Kōya-san), then the center of the Shingon sect, to pursue further learning of Shingon Buddhism and its founder under the tutelage of Shōren (青蓮), a devout follower of the Pure Land teachings.
By age 30, he received patronage from the noble families in Kyoto, including Cloistered Emperor Toba's permission to build the Denbō-in (伝法院) on Mt. Koya as a center for studying Buddhism. The following year, he constructed the Daidenbō-in (大伝法院).
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