Pedestrian - Gyonin

It means a person who practices asceticism, and is the same as a monk, but whereas a monk uses the spiritual power resulting from his asceticism to perform rituals and prayers for people, a monk serves the gods and Buddhas through his asceticism itself. There were such monks in the mountains of Shugendo, who offered flowers to temples and shrines, as well as offerings of aka (water) and incense. The monks of Mount Koya were a prime example, and eventually they also gained military power. The monks of Mount Hiei were called Geshu (flower monks) or Doshu, and performed kaihogyo, but from the end of the Heian period they became warrior monks and overwhelmed the students (scholars). In other words, the monks forgot their role of serving the gods and Buddhas by eradicating sin and impurity through asceticism, and became violent. However, without such ascetics, the temple would not be able to protect the mountain from foreign enemies and samurai invasions, so the temple allowed them this freedom and entrusted them with the management of the estate. The jinin (shrine priests) of Hiyoshi Shrine on Mount Hiei are also ascetics. Special ascetics include the ascetics of the Dewa Sanzan mountains, also known as Isse ascetics, who vowed to attain sokushinjobutsu (immediate enlightenment) after 1,000 or 2,000 days of ascetic practice, by fasting and abstaining from water. And one example of someone who actually became a sokushinjobutsu was a ascetic at Mount Yudono.

[Gorai Shigeru]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

苦行をする人の意で、行者と同じであるが、行者が苦行の結果の霊力で人のために加持祈祷(かじきとう)するのに対し、行人は苦行そのものによって神や仏に奉仕する。修験道(しゅげんどう)の山にはこのような行人がいて、堂舎に花を献じ、閼伽(あか)（水）と香を供えた。高野山(こうやさん)の行人はその代表的なものであり、やがて武力も蓄えるようになった。比叡山(ひえいざん)の行人は夏衆(げしゅ)（花衆）とか堂衆(どうしゅ)とかよばれて回峰行(かいほうぎょう)を行ったが、平安末期から僧兵化して学生(がくしょう)（学侶(がくりょ)）を圧倒した。すなわち、行人は苦行によって罪穢(つみけがれ)を滅ぼして、神仏に仕えるという職能を忘れて、暴力化したのである。しかし、このような行人がなければ、外敵や武士の侵略から一山を守ることができないので、寺はその自由を許し、荘園(しょうえん)の経営を任せた。比叡山の日吉(ひえ)社の神人(じにん)も行人である。特殊な行人に出羽(でわ)三山の行人があり、一世(いっせ)行人ともよばれて、1000日、2000日の苦行ののち、断食(だんじき)断水によって即身成仏(そくしんじょうぶつ)する誓願をたてた。そして実際に即身仏となった例が湯殿山(ゆどのさん)の行人から出た。

［五来　重］

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