Myoho (Buddhist priest) (明法 (僧))
Myoho (1184 - December 4, 1251) was a priest of Jodo Shinshu (the True Pure Land Sect of Buddhism) who lived in the Kamakura period. He was one of the 24 direct disciples of Shinran. His original name was Buzen Sozu or Benen.
He practiced Shugendo (Japanese mountain asceticism-shamanism incorporating Shinto and Buddhist concepts) and became a yamabushi (a mountain priest), and worked as a missionary in Hitachi Province. He envied Shinran who was his contemporary in Hitachi and attempted to murder him, but failed. It is said that after he rushed to the soan (a hermitage built with a simple structure with a thatched roof) in Inada (paddy field) and met Shinran, he immediately repented and became a disciple of Shinran.
According to the description in Mattosho, Shinran was pleased to see that Myoho had achieved Jodo Ojo (Rebirth in the Pure Land).