Jōkei

(1155–1213) was an influential Buddhist scholar-monk and reformer of the East Asian Yogācāra sect in Japan, posthumously known as .

Jōkei was a prolific author, asserting and compiling the Yogācāra doctrine while simultaneously refuting newer movements, particularly the Pure Land Buddhism begun by Hōnen. Like his contemporary Myōe, Jōkei aimed to make Buddhism more accessible to the general public by promoting a range of devotional practices centered on figures such as Shakyamuni, Kannon, Jizō, and Maitreya. His pluralist and eclectic teachings thus offer a contrast to the more exclusive Kamakura schools, who focused on one Buddha (Amitabha) or one practice (nembutsu, etc.). Jōkei held that since sentient beings were diverse and not all the same (on the relative level), one practice focused on one Buddha was not suitable for everyone. The petition singled out the exclusive-nembutsu practice of Hōnen, defending the traditional Mahayana position, while requesting that the government put a stop to the rapidly growing movement and followers who allegedly defamed Buddhism and were guilty of antinomianism.

In 1208, Jōkei retired to a temple named Fudaraku Kannon-ji, later renamed to Kaijūsen-ji. The final five years of Jōkei's life represent a very active time in his life, when he attempted to reach a doctrinal reconciliation between the Hosso and Tendai sects, who had been bitter rivals since the time of Tokuitsu and Tendai founder Saichō. Jōkei additionally led a successful revival movement to restore discipline in the monastic community that had declined in the late Heian period, with emphasis on the traditional monastic code, or Prātimokṣa. Jōkei restored Vinaya lineages to Kofuku-ji, Tōshōdai-ji and other temples by 1210, while he gained several prominent disciples, including Eison, through Jōkei's disciple Kainyo, who went on to found the Shingon Risshu sect, and Ryohen, the so-called "Hosso Restorer".