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Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, born in 1967, is the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Since his grandfather’s passing in 1991, Rabjam Rinpoche has taken the responsibility of transmitting Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s teachings, and is bringing his vision for the preservation of Tibetan Buddhist teaching and culture to fruition.
Rabjam Rinpoche is the seventh in the line of the Rabjam succession. The second Rabjam Rinpoche founded Shechen Monastery in Kham, eastern Tibet. ([https://shechen.org/spiritual-development/teachers/shechen-rabjam-rinpoche/ Source Accessed Feb. 10, 2022])
*'''The Shechen Rabjam Incarnations'''
:[[Shechen Rabjam Tenpé Gyaltsen]] (1650-1704)
:[[Gyurme Kunzang Namgyal]] (1711-1769)
:[[Rigdzin Paljor Gyatso]] (1770-1809)
:[[Garwang Chökyi Gyaltsen]] (1811?-1862?)
:[[Gyurme Pema Thekchok Tenpé Gyaltsen]] (1864-1909)
:[[Gyurme Kunzang Tenpé Nyima]] (aka Nangdzé Drubpé Dorje) (1910-1959)
:[[Jikmé Chökyi Senge]] (b.1967) +
Michael Radich received his doctorate from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University (2007), for a dissertation treating the history of Buddhist ideas about the various embodiments of buddhahood. His first monograph (Tokyo, 2011), treats the history of Buddhist stories about the sins and redemption of the famed patricide King Ajātaśatru, as that story changed across two thousand years of Buddhist history in India, China and Japan. His second monograph (Hamburg, 2015) treats the origins of Tathāgatagarbha thought in the (Mahāyāna) Mahāparinivāņa-mahāsūtra. He has held visiting positions at Kyōto University (2009) and the University of Hamburg (Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, 2013-2014; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow, 2015). From 2005-2017, he taught at Victoria University of Wellington in his native New Zealand, where he was latterly Associate Professor and Programme Director of Religious Studies. As of January 2018, he is Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" at the University of Heidelberg. ([http://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/people/academic-staff/details/persdetail/radich.html Source Accessed July 20, 2018]) +
Fabio Rambelli is an Italian academic, author, and editor. He is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Fabio Rambelli was born in Ravenna, Italy. He earned a BA in Japanese language and culture from the University of Venice. In 1992, he was awarded his PhD in East Asian Studies from University of Venice and the Italian Ministry of Scientific Research. He also studied at the Oriental Institute in Naples and at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
In 2001, Rambelli was a professor of religious studies, cultural studies, and Japanese religions at Sapporo University in Japan. At present, Rambelli holds the International Shinto Foundation Chair in Shinto Studies at UCSB. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Rambelli Source Accessed April 6, 2020]) +
Ratnavajra was originally a Kashmiri brahmana who became a great Buddhist master. Taranatha relates a story of his patronage according to which he was the son of a brahmana named Haribhadra. The story runs as follows: Once a Kashmiri brahmana appeased Mahesvara. Thus, it was predicted that all his descendents would become renowned scholars. The prophecy came through and amongst this twenty-five descendants the last was Brahmana Haribhadra. This brahmana once entered in a debate with Buddhists having staked his own creed. He was defeated in debate, as a result of which he was converted to Buddhism. Having become a Buddhist, he acquired proficiency in the doctrine. Ratnavajra was son of this converted brahmana.
Ratnavajra was an ''upasaka'' (a lay disciple). He studied in Kashmir up to the age of thirty under Gangadhara. He learnt by heart the ''sutras'', the tantras and all the branches of knowledge. After that he went to Vikramasila for further studies. In Vikramasila he received the title of Pandita from the king and became the central pillar of the University. Among his expositions there, noteworthy works include the Tantrayana, the seven treatises on Pramana, the five works of Maitreya, etc. Ratnavajra returned to Kashmir. He converted many ''tirthikas'' to the Buddhist faith and established many centres for the study of Vidyasambhara, Sutralankara, Guhyasamaja etc.
From Kashmir, Ratnavajra proceeded to Udyana (Urgyana). It was perhaps here that he converted a Saivaite Kashmiri brahmana, to whom he gave the name Guhyapragna after ordination.
Ratnavajra went to Tho-lin where he assisted in translation of several works and collaborated with the great Tibetan translator Rin-chen-bzan-po. He further visited Central Tibet where he had a chance to supervise the rebuilding of the circular terrace of Bsam-yas, which was burnt in 986 A.D. Ratnavajra supervised five hundred workers including brick-layers, carpenters, goldsmiths, black-smiths and sculptors for three years.
Ratnavajra is believed to have transmitted the ''Prasannapada'' and the ''Madhyamakavatarabhasya'' to Parahitabhadra. ''Dam-pa Sans-rgyas'' (Paramabuddha), a native of South India, was instructed in Mahamudra under him. As a logician Ratnavajra composed the Yuktiprayoga, signifying application of reasoning. Other works of Ratnavarja which deal with the Mantrayana are:
(a) Cycle of Buddhasamyoga:<br>
1. ''Srisarvabuddhasamyogadakinijalasambaramahatantra-rajanamamandalopayika''.
(b) Cycle of Cakrasamvara:<br>
1. ''Abhisekavidhikrama'',<br>
2. ''Sricakrasamvaramandalamangalagatha'',<br>
3. ''Sricakrasamvaramandaladevaganastotra'', and<br>
4. ''Sri Cakrasamvarastotra''
(c) Cycle of Guhyasamaja<br>
1. ''Aksobhyavajrasadhana''
(d) Cycle of Hevajra: <br>
1. ''Balikarmakrama'',<br>
2. ''Snhevajrastotra'', and <br>
3. ''Sarvapapasuddhanagnipujasamadhi''
(e) Cycle of Mahamaya: <br>
1. ''Mahamayasadhana'',<br>
2. ''Meghalokaganapatisadhana'',<br>
3. ''Srinathacaturmukhastotra'',<br>
4. ''Mantrarajasamayasiddhisadhana'',<br>
5. ''Aryajanbhalastotra'', and <br>
6. ''Sricakrasamvaradvayavlrasadhana''.
He also composed ''Vajravidaraninamadharanimandalagatha-krama-praknya''. There exist several other works which are reported to have either been composed or translated by Ratnavajra. (Source: 'Kundan', T. N. Dhar. ''Saints and Sages of Kashmir''. New Delhi: A.P.H. Publishing, 2004, p. 24–26.)
Andrew Rawlinson was a war baby (b.1943) and lived in 17 different places by the time he was six. He got hit early on: Elvis, Jelly Roll Morton, Samuel Johnson, John Keats, Jack Kerouac, Cezanne, Pollock. And Zeus. He added philosophy and Indian traditions to rock’n’roll, jazz and literature. He was a scholar at Cambridge and did a Ph.D on the ''Lotus Sūtra'' at the University of Lancaster. He taught Buddhism for 20 years and put on a course on Altered States of Consciousness at Berkeley and Santa Barbara. He is the author of ''The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers on Eastern Traditions'' (Open Ciourt, 1997) and ''The Hit: Into the Rock’n’Roll Universe and Beyond'' (99 Press, 2014). ([https://explore.scimednet.org/index.php/events/event/the-hit-derangement-and-revelation/ Source Accessed May 19, 2020]) +
Bill Porter (born October 3, 1943) is an American author and translator of Chinese and Sanskrit works who writes under the name Red Pine (Chi Song). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Porter_(author) Source]
*2018: Porter, 74, a translator of Chinese poetry and author, has been awarded the American Academy of Arts & Letters Thornton Wilder Prize for translation. He writes under the name Red Pine (Chi Song) and has lived in Port Townsend since the late 1980s. ([https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-townsend-translator-of-chinese-poets-wins-national-prize/ Source Accessed May 8, 2020]) +
Jim holds an MA in Tibetan Studies from the University of Hamburg (with minors in Classical Indology and Ethnology) and a PhD from the University of the West of England (taught at Bath Spa University). Next to various postdoctoral research projects at the University of Hamburg, he has taught at the University of Copenhagen and as Acting Professor for Tibetan Studies in Bonn. Jim has been engaged in various interdisciplinary teaching projects and acted as interpreter for Tibetan. His research focuses on Tibetan literary genres, religious history of the Tibetan plateau and Buddhist meditative traditions. Recent publications include ''Tibetan Literary Genres, Texts, and Text Types'' (2015) and the monograph ''The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal'' (2017). ([https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/about/our-people/academic-staff/jim-rheingans.html Source Accessed September 9, 2021])
He recently completed a monograph about ''The Life and Works of Karma 'phrin las pa'' (1456–1539). +
Born in France in 1946, son of philosopher Jean-François Revel and artist Yahne Le
Toumelin, Matthieu Ricard is a Ph.D. in cell genetics turned Buddhist monk who has studied
Buddhism in the Himalayas for the last 50 years under respected masters such as Kangyur
Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He is a humanitarian, an author, a photographer,
and a speaker at various international events.
His books in English include ''The Monk and the Philosopher''; ''The Quantum and the Lotus'';
''Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill''; ''Why Meditate?''; ''Altruism:
The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World'', ''A Plea for the Animals'',
''Enlightened Vagabond'', ''Beyond the Self: A conversation between Neuroscience and
Buddhism'', ''In Search of Wisdom'', ''Freedom for All and Our Animal Neighbours''.
As a translator from Tibetan, in English, his works include,
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel'', Shambhala Publications.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones'', Shambhala Publication.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Excellent Path to Enlightenment'', Snow Lion Publications.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Hundred Verses of Advice'', Shambhala Publications.
:Dilgo Khyentse, ''The Heart of Compassion'', Shambhala Publications.
:Rabjam Rinpoche, ''The Great Medicine that Vanquishes Ego Clinging'', Shambhala Publications.
:''Shabkar, Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin'', SUNY Press, reprinted Snow Lion Publications.
:''On the Path to Enlightenment: Heart Advice from the Great Tibetan Masters''. Shambhala Publications, 2013.
:''The Enlightened Vagabond, The life and teachings of Patrul Rinpoche'', Shambhala Publications.
As a photographer, he has published a number of albums in French, including, in English ''Journey to Enlightenment (Aperture)'', ''Tibet: An Inner Journey'' (Thames and Hudson), ''Motionless Journey: From a Hermitage in the Himalayas'' (Thames and Hudson), ''Bhutan: Land of Serenity''. Henri Cartier Bresson wrote about his photographic work: "Matthieu's camera and his spiritual life are one. From there, spring these images, fleeting yet eternal."
As a scientist and Buddhist monk, under the umbrella of the Mind and Life Institute, he has been an active participant in the scientific research on the effects of meditation on the brain and has co-authored a number of scientific publications.
He presently lives at Shechen monastery in Nepal and devotes all the proceedings of his books and activities to humanitarian projects in India, Nepal and Tibet, through Karuna- Shechen, the organization he founded twenty-one years ago (www.karuna-shechen.org), which benefit over 400,000 people every year. (Source: Matthieu Ricard, personal communication, Oct. 12, 2021.)
www.matthieuricard.com
Richard was born on 10 October 1845 in Ffaldybrenin, Carmarthenshire in south Wales, the son of Timothy and Eleanor Richard, a devout Baptist farming family. Inspired by the Second Evangelical Awakening to become a missionary, Richard left teaching to enter Haverfordwest Theological College in 1865. There he dedicated himself to China, where he had an active role in relief operations during the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879, and was instrumental in promoting anti-foot binding and gender equality in China.<br> Richard applied to the newly formed China Inland Mission, but Hudson Taylor considered that he would be of better service to the denominational Baptist missions. In 1869 the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) accepted Richard's application, and assigned him to Yantai (Chefoo), Shandong Province.<br> In 1897 Richard undertook a journey to India to discover the conditions of the Christian mission there. Travelling with a young missionary, Arthur Gostick Shorrock, they visited Ceylon, Madras, Agra, Benares, Delhi, Calcutta and finally Bombay.<br> Timothy Richard helped the Qing government to deal with the aftermath of the Taiyuan massacre during the Boxer Rebellion. He thought the main cause of the Boxer Rebellion was due to lack of education of the population, so he proposed to Qing court official Li Hongzhang to establish a modern university in Taiyuan with Boxer Indemnity to the Great Britain, and his proposal was approved later. In 1902, Timothy Richard represented the British government to establish Shanxi University, one of the three earliest modern universities in China. Timothy Richard was in charge of the fund to build Shanxi University until ten years later in 1912. During that period, he also served as the head of the College of Western Studies in Shanxi University.<br> Richard's other works include: ''Some Hints for Rising Statesman'' (1905); ''Calendar of the Gods in China'' (1906); ''Conversion by the Million in China: Being Biographies and Articles'', 2 vols. (1907); and ''Forty-Five Years in China'' (1916). ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Richard Source Accessed May 20, 2020])
Tsepak Rigzin received his B.A. and M.A. from Punjab University, B.Ed. from Annamalai University, India, and traditional Buddhist training from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. He is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles on Tibetan Buddhism and he has extensive experience in written and oral translation.
From 1980 to 1993, Rigzin led the Research and Translation Bureau at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India, producing numerous articles and books, and attending international seminars, workshops and conferences. During the ten year period from 1993 to 2003, he held high ranking positions as Rector, Principal and Education Officer with Central Tibetan Schools. For two consecutive years, he served as translator and spokesperson for Mystical Arts of Tibet, touring with the monks throughout North America and Europe.
Rigzin began teaching Tibetan language courses at Emory in August 2009. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at the university, he served as Scholar in Residence and official translator for Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta, where he dedicated his time to outreach programs and also teaching the Tibetan language. ([http://mesas.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/rigzin.html Source Accessed Feb 14, 2020]) +
Geshe Sonam Rinchen was born in 1933 at Dhargyey, in the Trehor Kham region of Eastern Tibet. At the age of thirteen, he decided to become a monk and entered Dhargyey Monastery, where he excelled in his studies and in debate. When he was nineteen, he made the two and a half month journey on foot to Central Tibet in order to enter Sera Je College of Sera Monastery. He became a fully ordained monk and remained there for the next six years until his studies were interrupted by the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, which forced him into exile in India.
For the following nine years, he lived with many other monks under extremely harsh conditions in Buxa Duar, West Bengal, in what had previously been a British internment camp. In 1967, he entered what is now the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath and stayed there until 1976, obtaining the degrees of Shastri and Acharya with honors. In 1980, he took the public examinations for the monastic title of Geshe. He received the highest qualification, that of Geshe Lharampa.
Geshe Sonam Rinchen taught at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharmsala, India for over 30 years. He published ten books in collaboration with his translator Ruth Sonam including Aryadeva’s Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way, The Heart Sutra, The Bodhisattva Vow, the Six Perfections, How Karma Works, and Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. ([https://sravastiabbey.org/advisory-member/geshe-sonam-rinchen/ Source Accessed Sep 29, 2022]) +
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche was born in Kham Lingtsang, in eastern Tibet, and recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa as the incarnation of one of the tulkus of a Kagyüpa monastery in his home province. When asked to introduce himself during an interview with Alexander Berzin's Study Buddhism website, he replied, "My name is Ringu Tulku. Ringu is the name of my monastery, which is in Eastern Tibet. I myself was mainly educated in Sikkim, India. I studied under different khenpos and lamas, but I consider Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche and the 16th Karmapa as my main teachers. I received all my ordinations from them, but I’ve also had the opportunity to receive teachings from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism." (Source: [https://studybuddhism.com/en/essentials/interviews/interview-with-ringu-tulku Study Buddhism])
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist Master of the Kagyu Order. He was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism under many great masters such as HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and HH Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche. He took his formal education at Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok and Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi, India and has served as Professor of Tibetology in Sikkim for 17 years. His doctoral thesis was on the Ecumenical Movement in Tibet.
Since 1990 he has been traveling and teaching Buddhism and meditation at more than 50 Universities, Institutes and Buddhist Centres in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Asia. He also participates in various interfaith dialogues. He authored several books on Buddhism as well as some children’s books both in Tibetan and European languages.
He founded Bodhicharya (www.bodhicharya.org ), an international organization that coordinates the worldwide activities to preserve and transmit Buddhist teachings, to promote inter-cultural dialogues and educational & social projects. He also founded Rigul Trust which supports his projects in his birthplace, Rigul, Tibet (www.rigultrust.org ).
Rinpoche is the Official Representative of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa for Europe and the Founder of Karmapa Foundation Europe (www.karmapafoundation.eu).
(Source: [https://bodhicharya.org/ringu-tulku/ Bodhicharya.org])
<big>'''''Videos:'''''</big>
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/OnlineShedra Bodhicharya Dharma Channel and Shedra]
*[https://vimeo.com/198083193 Ringu Tulku on Kongtrul's Dam ngak Dzö]
*[https://bodhicharya.org/ringu-tulku/lazy-lama-film/ Lazy Lama Film]
A Gelukpa scholar from Chentsa Mani temple in Qinghai. He wrote a commentary on the ''Ultimate Continuum'' following Gyaltsap Je's interpretation. +
Peter Alan Roberts was born in Wales and lives in Hollywood, California. He earned a BA in Sanskrit and Pali and a DPhil in Tibetan Studies from Oxford University (Harris-Manchester College). For more than thirty years he has been working as an interpreter for lamas and as a translator of Tibetan texts. He specializes in the literature of the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions with a focus on tantric practices, and he is the author of The Biographies of Rechungpa and Mahāmudrā and Related Instructions.<br>(Source: See the [https://conference.tsadra.org/session/translating-spiritual-instructions/ Tsadra Foundation Conferences] and the [https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/peter-alan-roberts/ Wisdom Publications Website]) +
George Nicolas de Roerich was a prominent 20th century Tibetologist. His name at birth was Yuri Nikolaevich Rerikh. George's work encompassed many areas of Tibetan studies, but in particular he is known for his contributions to Tibetan dialectology, his monumental translation of the ''Blue Annals'', and his 11-volume Tibetan-Russian-English dictionary (published posthumously). George was the son of the painter and explorer Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Roerich Source Accessed March 4, 2020]) +
Ulrike Roesler received her PhD in Indian Studies from the University of Münster (Germany) with a thesis on the notion of "light" in the Vedas. For more than a decade she has been teaching Indian and Tibetan Studies as well as Buddhist Studies at the universities of Marburg, Freiburg, and Oxford. Her research interests include Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the history of the Tibetan Kadam school, and Tibetan biographical and narrative literature. Her German translation and study of Potowa Rinchen Sal's ''Dharma Exemplified (Dpe chos)'' was published by Reichert Verlag (Weisbaden) in 2011. With Linda Covill and Sarah Shaw, she coedited ''Lives Lived, Lives Imagined: Biography in the Buddhist Traditions'' (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010). (Source: [https://books.google.com/books?id=B68aCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT918&lpg=PT918&dq=Ulrike+Roesler+received+her+PhD+in+Indian+Studies+from+the+University+of+M%C3%BCnster+(Germany)+with+a+thesis+on+the+notion+of+%22light%22+in+the+Vedas.&source=bl&ots=MWXJJre-DW&sig=ACfU3U0oqRUrOgdcIk9dgYb82jAVXyqQdQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSs6jojd3rAhWomeAKHTpUCPkQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Ulrike%20Roesler%20received%20her%20PhD%20in%20Indian%20Studies%20from%20the%20University%20of%20M%C3%BCnster%20(Germany)%20with%20a%20thesis%20on%20the%20notion%20of%20%22light%22%20in%20the%20Vedas.&f=false "About the Contributors," ''Stages of the Buddha's Teachings: Three Key Texts'', Wisdom Publications, 2015]) +
*https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rongzom_Ch%C3%B6kyi_Zangpo
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongzom_Chokyi_Zangpo
+
[https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Topic_of_the_week/Post-21 Please see Ruegg's obituary here].
David Seyfort Ruegg (New York, 1931) was an eminent Buddhologist with a long career, extending from the 1950s to the present. His specialty was Madhyamaka philosophy, a core doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism.
Ruegg graduated from École des Hautes Etudes in 1957 with degrees in historical science and Sanskrit. He published his thesis "Contributions à l'histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne" ("Contributions to the History of Indian Linguistic Philosophy") in 1959. He received a second doctorate in linguistics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where his thesis was "La théorie du tathâgatagarbha et du gotra : études sur la sotériologie et la gnoséologie du bouddhisme" ("The Theory of Gotra and Tathâgatagarbha: A Study of the Soteriology and Gnoseology of Buddhism"), with a second half thesis on Bu Rin chen grub's approach to tathâgatagarbha. In 1964 he joined the faculty of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, where he researched the history, philology and philosophy of India, Tibet and Buddhism.
From 1966-1972 Ruegg occupied the Chair of Languages and Cultures of India and Tibet at Leiden University. His predecessor was [[Jan Willem de Jong]] and his successor was Tilmann Vetter. He has since become associated with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Ruegg was president of the International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS) from 1991 to 1999. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Seyfort_Ruegg Source Accessed Aug 5, 2020]) +
Since 2006, Rulu, a Mahayana Buddhist, has been translating texts selected from the Chinese Buddhist canon into English. A deep believer in making Buddhist teachings available to all, Rulu focuses on creating translations that are clear to readers while staying faithful to the Chinese texts. ([https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/727045-The-Tathagata-Store Source Accessed Aug 20 2021]) +
Ryōgen (良源, 912 – January 31, 985) was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century. He is considered a restorer of the Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism, and credited for reviving Enryaku-ji. His supposed role as a precursor of the sōhei, or "warrior monks," is questionable and seems to be a later invention (see Adolphson 2007).<br> Ryōgen was born in the Omi Province in 912, and he began his practice at Mount Hiei in 923, becoming chief abbot in 966. Over the course of the 10th century, there had been a number of disputes between Enryaku-ji and the other temples and shrines of the Kyoto area, many of which were resolved by force. In 970, Ryōgen formed a small army to defend Enryaku-ji and to serve its interests in these disputes. Records are not fully clear on whether this army consisted of hired mercenaries, or, as would be the case later, trained monks. Most likely, this first temple standing army was a mercenary group, separate from the monks, since Ryōgen forbade monks from carrying weapons. In addition to the prohibition on carrying weapons, Ryōgen's monks were subject to a list of 26 articles released by Ryōgen in 970; they were forbidden from covering their faces, inflicting corporal punishment, violently interrupting prayer services, or leaving Mount Hiei during their twelve-year training. In 981 Ryōgen was appointed general administrator, the most important rank in priesthood. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dgen Source Accessed June 4, 2020]) +
