Jōkei (monk)

Jōkei (貞慶) (1155–1213) was an influential Buddhist scholar-monk and reformer of the East Asian Yogācāra sect in Japan, posthumously known as Gedatsu shōnin (解脱上人, "Liberated Master").

Jōkei was a prolific author, asserting and compiling the Yogācāra doctrine while simultaneously refuting newer movements, particularly the Pure Land movement begun by Hōnen. Like his contemporary Myōe, Jōkei sought to make Buddhism more accessible to the public through the promotion various practices which focused on devotion to different figures like Shakyamuni, Kannon, Jizo, and Maitreya. His pluralist and eclectic teachings thus offer a contrast to the more exclusive Kamakura schools who focused on one Buddha (Amitabha) or one practice (nembutsu etc.). Jōkei held that since sentient beings were diverse and not all the same (on the relative level), one practice focused on one Buddha was not suitable for everyone. Jōkei did teach the importance of relying on the "other power" of a Buddha or bodhisattva to attain birth in a pure land, but he stressed the pure land of Maitreya, not Sukhavati. Jōkei also actively promoted devotion to Gautama Buddha, the historical founder, through devotional practices, access to śarīra (relics of the Buddha), and promotion of the traditional monastic code, the Vinaya.