Information about Annen’s life is sparse. Annen notes of himself that he originally came from the same clan as Saicho. At the age of nineteen, Annen was ordained as a Tendai monk, studying under the Tendai priest Ennin. He did not travel to China for study despite plans to do so, and never became head abbot of Mt. Hiei. There are disputes as to whether he completed the 12-year training at Mt. Hiei. In 884, Annen received the Dharma transmission from Tendai master Henjo. He was appointed abbot of Gankyooji in 890, succeeding Henjo. Aside other teachers such as Tenkei and Enchin, Henjo was especially influential in Annen’s development, since he provided Annen access to all significant Taimitsu doctrinal and ritual teachings. Little is known about Annen’s activities after 889 ; the year in which Annen died is also contested. Scholarship places the date between 887 and 889 Additionally, there are later stories which give an account of Annen’s retreat into a state of infinite meditation in a cave in the year 915. These stories are similar to the accounts given of the monk Kukai. Annen was succeeded by Genjo 玄砰,, Daie, and Son’i.
Writings
Annen was a prolific writer during his time; forty of his works are extant, although in some cases their authorship is dubious. The most important works delineating his doctrine are Shingonshū kyōjigi and the Taizōkongō bodaishingi ryaku mondōshō He also wrote extensively on the precepts and ordination of the Ritsuyo system. His writings have value beyond the school of Taimitsu due to the vast scope of esoteric material included in his scholarship.
Doctrine
Annen’s goal was to unite the various taimitsu doctrines of the contemporary Tendai school into one “true” esotericism that would encompass sectarian divisions and even the totality of the Buddhist experience. He presented a theory known as the “four ones”, in which he stated that the Shingon view of the world consisted of one buddha, one time, one place, and one teaching. He thereby affirmed the suchness of all phenomena, and provided an absolute reading which encompassed all relative theories of Buddhist doctrines. He also reinterpreted the precepts of the Tendai school in light of esoteric teachings. In the Futsu jubosatsukai koshaku, Annen argued for a more lenient attitude towards monks who violated the precepts, arguing for instance that the transgressions should be considered in the context of the person’s whole life, and that the precepts could be violated for certain reasons. Scholarship suggests that Annen’s attitude towards the precepts was due to witnessing his master, Tankei’s violations of laws of sexual conduct, and subsequent defrocking. Additionally, it has been argued that Annen’s treatise contributed considerably to the decline of monastic discipline in the Tendai school.
