▁ass ur ances ▁to ▁Ej ō ▁to ▁the ▁contrary , ▁he ▁attempted ▁to ▁reform ▁the ▁practices ▁at ▁E ihe i - ji , ▁which ▁were ▁generally ▁seen ▁by ▁the ▁mon ks ▁as ▁an ▁aff ront ▁to ▁D ō gen ' s ▁teach ings . ▁He ▁focused ▁on ▁building ▁projects ▁and ▁expansion ▁of ▁the ▁physical ▁aspects ▁of ▁the ▁school ▁while ▁apparently ▁ign oring ▁D ō gen ' s ▁preference ▁for ▁pover ty . ▁Es pecially ▁un pop ular ▁was ▁his ▁attempt ▁to ▁introduce ▁rit uals ▁from ▁the ▁Sh ing on ▁school ▁which ▁D ō gen ▁had ▁express ly ▁condem ned . ▁R ather ▁than ▁face ▁a ▁popular ▁u pr ising , ▁he ▁decided ▁to ▁step ▁down ▁as ▁ab bot ▁and ▁Ej ō ▁was ▁asked ▁to ▁return ▁in ▁that ▁capacity ▁in ▁ 1 2 7 2 . ▁Ej ō ▁worked ▁to ▁recon cile ▁the ▁compet ing ▁fa ctions ▁in ▁the ▁community . ▁By ▁ 1 2 8 0 ▁he ▁had ▁become ▁ill ▁again ▁and ▁began ▁to ▁prepare ▁for ▁his ▁death . ▁He ▁requested ▁that ▁no ▁pag oda ▁be ▁built ▁for ▁him , ▁but ▁rather ▁that ▁he ▁be ▁buried ▁next ▁to ▁D ō gen ' s ▁pag oda . ▁After ▁he ▁died , ▁confusion ▁surrounded ▁who ▁should ▁next ▁lead ▁the ▁community , ▁cul min ating ▁in ▁the ▁clim ax ▁of ▁the ▁sand ai ▁s ō ron ' ', ▁with ▁several ▁of ▁D ō gen ' s ▁students , ▁especially ▁G ikai ▁and ▁G ien , ▁claim ing ▁the ▁right ▁to ▁the ▁ab bot ship . ▁