En no Ozunu/Ozuno/Otsuno (役 小角,b. 634, in Katsuragi (modernNara Prefecture);d. c. 700–707) was a Japaneseascetic andmystic, traditionally held to be the founder ofShugendō, the path of ascetic training practiced by thegyōja oryamabushi.
He was banished by the Imperial Court toIzu Ōshima on June 26, 699, but folk tales at least as old as theNihon Ryōiki (c. 800) recount his supernatural powers and exploits.
He is also referred to by the nameEn no Gyōja (役 行者,Japanese pronunciation:[ennoɡʲoꜜː.(d)ʑa,eꜜnnoɡʲoː.(d)ʑa],[1][2]lit. 'En the ascetic'), En noUbasoku (役優婆塞,"En the Layman") , or also under the full name En no Kimi Ozunu, where Kimi (君) is hiskabane or titular name.
Even historical accounts of his life are intermixed with legends and folklore. According to the chronicleShoku Nihongi (797 AD), En no Ozunu was banished to the island ofIzu Ōshima on June 26, 699:
Onhinoto-ushi (sexagenary "fire ox") day[a] [24th day of the 5th month,Mommu 3 (June 26, 699 AD)], En no Kimi Ozunu was banished toIzu no Shima. Ozunu had first lived inMount Katsuragi and been acclaimed for his sorcery and was the teacher of Outer Junior 5th Rank Lower GradeKarakuni no Muraji Hirotari [ja]. Later, [a person (or Hirotari?)] envied his power and accused him of trickery with his weird magic. [The Imperial Court] banished him far [from the Capital]. Rumor says, "Ozunu was able to manipulate demonic spirits, making them draw water and gather firewood. When they disobeyed, he bound them using sorcery."[3]
In spite of this incident, it seems that the Court continued to highly evaluate the herbal knowledge of Ozunu's school, since Vol. 11 of the book also tells that on October 5,Tenpyō 4 (October 28, 732 AD), his student Karakuni no Hirotari was elected as the Head Apothecary (典薬頭,Ten'yaku no Kami), the highest position inAgency for Apothecary [ja] (典薬寮,Ten'yaku-ryō).[4]
In folk religion, En no Ozunu is traditionally held to be the founder ofShugendō,[5] asyncretic religion incorporating aspects ofTaoism,Shinto,esoteric Buddhism (especiallyShingon Mikkyō and theTendai sect) and traditional Japaneseshamanism.[6]
En no Gyōja was conferred the posthumous title Jinben Daibosatsu (Great Bodhisattva Jinben, 神変大菩薩) at a ceremony held in 1799 to commemorate the one-thousandth year of his passing. Authorship of the non-canonicalSutra on the Unlimited Life of the Threefold Body is attributed to En no Gyōja. Due to hismythical status as a mountain saint, he was believed to possess manysupernatural powers.[7]
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丁丑。役君小角流于伊豆島。初小角住於葛木山。以咒術稱。外從五位下韓國連廣足師焉。後害其能。讒以妖惑。故配遠處。世相傳云。小角能役使鬼神。汲水採薪。若不用命。即以咒縛之。
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