Miao-lo
Miao-lo
妙楽 (711–782) (PY Miaole; Jpn Myoraku)
Also known as Chan-jan. The sixth patriarch of the T'ient'ai school in China, in the tradition that counts T'ient'ai as the first patriarch. Another tradition, which regards Nagarjuna as the founder, counts Miao-lo as the ninth patriarch.
He is revered as the restorer of the T'ient'ai school.
He was called the Great Teacher Miao-lo because he lived at Miao-lo-ssu temple, or the Venerable Ching-hsi (also the Great Teacher Ching-hsi) after his birthplace.
Born to a Confucian family, at age twenty Miao-lo studied the doctrine of the T'ient'ai school under its fifth patriarch, Hsüan-lang.
In 748 he entered the priesthood. At that time, the Zen (Ch'an), Flower Garland (Hua-yen), Dharma Characteristics (Fa-hsiang), and other schools were flourishing, and the T'ient'ai school was in a slight decline.
Miao-lo reasserted the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra and wrote commentaries on T'ient'ai's major works, helping clarify and bring about a revival of interest in the school's teachings.
He maintained the superiority of the T'ient'ai teachings over the doctrines of other schools.
In his later years, he lived at Kuo-ch'ing-ssu temple and died at Fo-lung Monastery, both on Mount T'ient'ai.
His commentaries on T'ient'ai's three major works are titled The Annotations on "The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra," The Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra," and The Annotations on "Great Concentration and Insight."
