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Nōnin
(fl. 1190s) was a Japanese Buddhist monk who started the first Zen school in Japan. Biography While a monk with the Tendai school, he came across texts about Zen which had been brought from China. In 1189, he dispatched two of his disciples to China to meet with Zhuóān Déguāng (拙庵德光, 1121–1203), himself a student of the Rinzai master Dahui Zonggao. The disciples presented a letter Nonin had written describing his realization from practicing Zen on his own. Deguang apparently approved and sent a letter certifying Nonin’s enlightenment. Nonin then started his own school, which he called the Darumashū, or "Bodhidharma school". Daruma-school The Daruma-school depended on two sources for their teachings: early Chán as "transmitted on Hiei-zan within the Tendai tradition", with clear elements of teachings from the Northern School, and the Chinese Rinzai-school. The Chán-teaching of 'inherent awakening', or hongaku, influenced the Tendai-teachings. It expla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharma Transmission
In Chan Buddhism, Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken Lineage (Buddhism), lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Gautama Buddha, Buddha himself."Haskel, 2 The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family". In Rinzai school, Rinzai-Zen, ''inka shōmei'' is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation", but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (''shike'') of the training halls. There are only about fifty to eighty of such ''inka shōmei''-bearers in Japan. In Sōtō, Sōtō-Zen, dharma transmission is referred to as ''shiho'', and further training is required to become an oshō. History The notion and practice of Dharma Transmission developed ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koun Ejō
(1198-1280) was the second patriarch of the Japanese Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism who lived during the Kamakura period. He was initially a disciple of the short-lived Darumashū sect of Japanese Zen founded by Nōnin, but later studied and received dharma transmission under the Sōtō schools founder Dōgen. Today Ejō is considered Dōgen's spiritual successor by all existing branches of the Sōtō school. He is remembered today primarily as the author of the ''Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki'', a collection of informal talks by Dōgen which Ejō recorded throughout his discipleship. He is also featured prominently in the ''Denkōroku'', the first major piece of scripture produced in the Sōtō school after Dōgen, with his transmission story serving as the final koan. After Dōgen's death, Ejō struggled to maintain leadership of the new Eihei-ji monastery, due in part to his lack of training in China that prevented him from completing the temple as a Chinese-style meditation hall, as we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mushi Dokugo
, sometimes called , is a Japanese term used in Zen Buddhism which expresses the phenomenon known as "awakening alone, without a master".Faure, 48 Etymology ''Mushi-dokugo'' (無師独悟) is a Japanese term composed of four Chinese characters, or kanji, meaning "independent realization without a master." The character ''mu'' (無) means "without" or "no", ''shi'' (師) means "master" or "teacher", ''doku'' (独) means "independent" or "alone", and ''go'' (悟) means "realization" or "understanding" (satoru), also translated as "enlightenment" (satori). When strung together, the characters literally read, "no (無) master (師) independent (独) understanding (悟)." The equivalent Chinese pronunciation is ''wúshī dúwù.'' Examples Nōnin (died 1196) is an example of mushi-dokugo: During the Edo period in Japan, there were a great many priests who proclaimed to be "self-enlightened." These included "such notables as the Myōshin-ji masters Daigu, Ungo, Isshi and the Sōtō ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dōgen
Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism. He remained there for four years, finally training under Tiantong Rujing, an eminent teacher of the Caodong lineage of Chinese Chan. Upon his return to Japan, he began promoting the practice of zazen (sitting meditation) through literary works such as '' Fukanzazengi'' and ''Bendōwa''. He eventually broke relations completely with the powerful Tendai School, and, after several years of likely friction between himself and the establishment, left Ky ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tettsū Gikai
is the third spiritual leader of the Sōtō Zen school of Buddhism in Japan. He began his Buddhist life as a student of the Darumashū's Ekan, but later both became students of Eihei Dōgen's newly established Sōtō school. Gikai received dharma transmission from Koun Ejō, Dōgen's successor, and later became the third abbot of the school's head temple, Eihei-ji. Shortly thereafter, he became embroiled in a leadership crisis known as the '' sandai sōron''. Other monks contended that other students, namely Jakuen, Gien or Giin, had stronger claims to the abbacy. The controversy remained unresolved at the time of his death. His abbacy was unpopular with some monks because he introduced innovative practices aimed at making Sōtō more palatable with the Japanese laity, which some claimed Dōgen would have frowned upon. However, he also had many followers, and eventually his innovations became the standard form of Sōtō Zen. His leadership marked the first geographical exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Dumoulin
Heinrich Dumoulin, S.J. (31 May 1905 – 21 July 1995) was a Jesuit theologian, a widely published author on Zen, and a professor of philosophy and history at Sophia University in Tokyo, where he was Professor Emeritus. He was the founder of its Institute for Oriental Religions, as well as the first Director of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture. He was born in Rhineland, Germany, and ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1933. In 1935, he was sent to Japan on missions under the guidance of Fr. Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle, where he became fluent in the Shinto religion and Buddhism. He died in 1995 at the age of 90. Bibliography *''The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch in the Light of the Mumonkan'' (1953, First Zen Institute of America) *''A History of Zen Buddhism'' (1963, Pantheon Books) *''Christianity Meets Buddhism'' (1974, Open Court Publishing) *''Buddhism in the Modern World'' (1976, Macmillan Publishing) *''Zen Enlightenment: Origins and Meaning' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Buddhist Clergy
Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspora, Japanese emigrants and their descendants around the world * Japanese citizens, nationals of Japan under Japanese nationality law ** Foreign-born Japanese, naturalized citizens of Japan * Japanese writing system, consisting of kanji and kana * Japanese cuisine, the food and food culture of Japan See also * List of Japanese people * * Japonica (other) * Japonicum * Japonicus * Japanese studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese ... {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zen Buddhist Monks
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen. The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (''chán''), an abbreviation of 禪那 (''chánnà''), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ध्यान ''dhyāna'' ("meditation"). Zen emphasizes rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice and the subsequent insight into nature of mind (見性, Ch. ''jiànxìng,'' Jp. '' kensho,'' "perceiving the true nature") and nature of things (without arrogance or egotism), and the personal expression of this insight in daily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ōnin War
The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bunmei era. A dispute between a high official, Hosokawa Katsumoto, and a regional lord, Yamana Sōzen, escalated into a nationwide civil war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of ''daimyō'' in many regions of Japan. The war initiated the Sengoku period, "the Warring States period". This period was a long, drawn-out struggle for domination by individual ''daimyō'', resulting in a mass power-struggle between the various houses to dominate the whole of Japan. Origin The ''Ōnin'' conflict began as a controversy over who would succeed ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshimasa. In 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir. He persuaded his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, to abandon the life of a monk, and named him heir. In 1465, the unanticipated birth of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eisai
was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with founding the Rinzai school, the Japanese line of the Linji school of Zen Buddhism. In 1191, he introduced this Zen approach to Japan, following his trip to China from 1187 to 1191, during which he was initiated into the Linji school by the master Hsü an. It is also said that he popularized green tea in Japan, following this same trip. He was also the founding abbot of Japan's first Zen temple Shōfuku-ji and Kennin-ji. He is often known simply as Eisai/Yōsai Zenji (栄西禅師), literally "Zen master Eisai". Biography Born in Bitchū Province (modern-day Okayama, Okayama), Eisai was ordained as a monk in the Tendai sect. Dissatisfied with the state of Buddhism at the time, in 1168 he set off on his first trip to Mount Tiantai in China, the origin of the sect, where he learned of the primacy of the Chan (later known in Japan as Zen) school in Chinese Buddhism of the time. He spent only six months in China on this first trip, bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saichō
was a Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Tendai school of Buddhism based on the Chinese Tiantai school he was exposed to during his trip to Tang China beginning in 804. He founded the temple and headquarters of Tendai at Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei near Kyoto. He is also said to have been the first to bring tea to Japan. After his death, he was awarded the posthumous title of Dengyō Daishi (伝教大師). Life Early life Saichō was born in the year 767 in the city of Ōmi, in present Shiga Prefecture, with the given name of Hirono. According to family tradition, Saichō's ancestors were descendants of emperors of Eastern Han China; however, no positive evidence exists for this claim. The region where Saichō was born did have a large Chinese immigrant population, so Saichō likely did have Chinese ancestry. During Saichō's time, the Buddhist temples in Japan were officially organized into a national network known as the provincial temple system, and at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuquan Shenxiu
Yuquan Shenxiu (, 606?–706) was one of the most influential Chan masters of his day, a Patriarch of the East Mountain Teaching of Chan Buddhism. Shenxiu was Dharma heir of Daman Hongren (601–674), honoured by Wu Zetian (r. 690–705) of the Tang dynasty, and the putative author of the ''Guan Xin Lun'' (Treatise on the Contemplation of the Mind, written between 675 and 700), a text once attributed to Bodhidharma. Biography Shenxiu was born in Weishi County, suburb of Luoyang, Henan, then secondary capital of China. His family name was Li. His family was aristocratic and may have been related to the Tang dynasty imperial family He was educated in the Chinese classics and Taoism and became a Buddhist at the age of thirteen when he went to the government granaries at Kaifeng during a famine to plead the release of grain to the starving population. There he met an unnamed Buddhist and was inspired to take up Buddhism. After some seven years of a homeless life visiting the famou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
