Kimura Shōshū has argued that Gyōgi provided Saichō with a model of the ideal Tendai practitioner, the bosatsusō or bodhisattva monk. Saichō planned to train Tendai monks so that they would be able to both preach to the populace and supervise construction projects which would help the common people. These were the same types of activities in which Gyōgi and his followers engaged. Gyōgi was often called a bodhisattva during his lifetime; after his death people believed he was a manifestation of Mañjuśrī. Since Saichō had proposed that Mañjuśrī be installed as elder (jōza) in the dining hall on Mount Hiei, Saichō might have regarded Gyōgi as a model of the ideal monk as manifested by Mañjuśrī. Saichō’s proposal that his monks be called ‘bodhisattva monks’ might have reflected the influence of figures such as as Gyōgi who had been called bodhisattvas by the populace. In the Nihon ryōiki, Gyōgi was described in the following way: “On the outside he had the form of a monk, but within were hidden the deeds of a bodhisattva.” This description was derived from the Lotus Sūtra. Saichō cited the same passage from the Lotus Sūtra in his last instructions to his disciples.