 bodhisena (sanskrit à¤¬à¥à¤§à¤¿à¤¸à¥à¤¨ chinese and japanese è©æåé£) (704â760) was an indian buddhist scholar and monk, known for traveling to japan and establishing the kegon school, the japanese transmission of the huayan school of chinese buddhism. his stay has been noted in the official history records called the shoku nihongi, where he is referred to as bodai-senna. ==early years== bodhisena got mystical inspiration from manjusri bodhisattva. he initially went to china, having heard that he could meet the incarnation of manjusri at mount wutai. however, on reaching mount wutai, he was told the incarnation was in japan. he also became acquainted with the tenth japanese ambassador to china, tajihi no mabito hironari.ambassadors from the islands of immortals: china-japan relations in the han-tang period by zhenping wang, page 167 he also met the japanese monk rikyo. == voyage to japan== on the invitation of emperor shÅmu, he visited japan to spread the use of sanskrit and establish huayan buddhism in the country. he traveled with the japanese delegation of tajihi no hironari,music from the tang court by laurence picken, laurence ernest rowland picken, r. f. wolpert, page 31 via cambodia and champa in vietnam. on the same ship were other important historical figures. they included the traveling companions genbÅ and kibi no makibi. genbo was a monk and was returning from china with the over 5,000 fascicles that made up the chinese buddhist canon. kibi brought with him the arts of embroidery, playing the lyre, and the game of go. kibi is also said to have invented katakana, whose sanskrit influence is attributed to bodhisena. the man'yÅshÅ« contains a poem by kibi about a crow that fed on rice grown by a brahmin. the famous chinese buddhist monk dÅsen (éç¿, chinese daoxuan, 702â760) greeted him upon arrival. accompanying bodhisena was a cambodian priest and musician called fo-t'ieh in chinese (also known as buttetsu and fat-triet). he later resided at daian-ji with bodhisena, and wrote a work on the sanskrit alphabet. he also composed religious dances representing subjects taken from indian mythology, which came to be known as rin'yu-gaku or champa dances. these dances were still extant in the early 20th century.japanese buddhism by charles eliot, page 225 == life in japan== the party arrived at naniwa (osaka) in august 736 and was met by the monk gyoki. according to a number of sources, gyoki and bodhisena recognised each other from a past life. according to the shui wakashu, quoting from the tÅdaiji yÅroku, gyoki stated that they were together at vulture peak when the buddha preached the lotus sutra. bodhisena, called the "baramon sojo" (brahmin priest), additionally refers to them being toget
704_births 760_deaths Buddhist_philosophers IndiaaJapan_relations Japanese_people_of_Indian_descent