Kakuun
Kakuun
[覚運] (953–1007)
The founder of the Danna school, a branch of the Tendai school in Japan. He was popularly called the Supervisor of Priests Danna and the Administrator of Priests Danna, because he lived in Danna-in temple on Mount Hiei. After renouncing secular life, he studied under Ryogen, the eighteenth chief priest of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai school. Later he studied Tendai Esotericism under Joshin and Kokei. In 1004 he was appointed the supervisor of priests by the emperor Ichijo. He and Genshin (also known as Eshin, later the founder of the Eshin school, another branch of the Tendai school) were regarded as the two leading Tendai scholars of the day. After his death, the imperial court gave Kakuun the title administrator of priests. His lineage, which later became known as the Danna school, was regarded as one of the two major branches of the Tendai school, the other being the Eshin school. His works include The Treatise on the Enlightenment of Plants.
