was a prominent Japanese
Sōtō
Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngsh ...
Zen
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 ...
teacher of the 20th century. He is considered to be one of the most significant Zen priests of his time for bringing Zen practice into the lives of
laypeople and popularizing the ancient tradition of sewing the
kesa.
Peter Sloterdijk
Peter Sloterdijk (; ; born 26 June 1947) is a German philosopher and cultural theorist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He co-hosted the German television show ''Im Glashaus: Das P ...
has called him "one of the most striking Zen masters of recent times."
Biography
Sawaki was born in
Tsu, Mie
is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 274,879 in 127,273 households and a population density of 390 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Although the second largest city in the p ...
on June 16, 1880.
He was the sixth child and both his parents died when he was young,
his mother when he was four and his father three years later.
Sawaki was then adopted by an aunt whose husband soon died.
After this, Sawaki was raised by a gambler
and lantern maker named Bunkichi Sawaki.
When he was 16, he ran away from home to become a monk at
Eihei-ji
250px
is one of two main temples of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, the largest single religious denomination in Japan (by number of temples in a single legal entity). Eihei-ji is located about east of Fukui in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In E ...
, one of the two head temples of the
Sōtō Zen
Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān ...
sect, and later traveled to Soshin-ji where he was ordained in 1899 by Koho Sawada.
However, he was drafted to serve in the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
during the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
of 1904–1905 to minister to the wounded.
After being discharged in 1906,
Sawaki became head student at Soshin-ji.
He received
dharma transmission later that year from Zenko Sawada.
He then studied for two years at the priests training school of
Senju-ji Senju-ji (専修寺), also known as Takadayama (高田山), refers to a pair of temples which are the chief Buddhist temples of the Takada branch of Jōdo Shinshū, a Japanese Buddhist sect. The current head temple, Honan Senju-ji, founded in the ...
, a
Jōdo Shinshū
, also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran.
Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.
History
Shinran ( ...
temple in the Takada district of Tsu.
From there, Sawaki traveled to
Hōryū-ji
is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery.
The temple was ...
to study
Yogacara
Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through ...
with Join Saeki.
Sawaki then spent a three-month practice period studying
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 J ...
with
Oka Sotan.
He later became a Zen teacher, and during the 1930s he served as a professor at
Komazawa University
, abbreviated as 駒大 ''Komadai'', is one of the oldest universities in Japan. Its history starts in 1592, when a seminary was established to be a center of learning for the young monks of the Sōtō sect, one of the two main Zen Buddhist tra ...
.
In 1949, he took responsibility for
Antai-ji
is a Buddhist temple that belongs to the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. It is located in the town of Shin'onsen, Mikata District, in northern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, where it sits on about 50 hectares of land in the mountains, close to a ...
, a zen temple in northern
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
.
Because of his regular travels throughout Japan to teach zen, and against tradition his not becoming a conventional abbot of a home temple, he came to be known as "Homeless Kodo"
("homeless" in the Japanese referring more to his lack of a temple than a residence). Sawaki died on December 21, 1965, at Antaiji.
He was succeeded by a senior disciple,
Kosho Uchiyama Kosho may refer to:
*Emperor Kōshō, the fifth imperial ruler of Japan to appear on the traditional list of emperors
* Kōshō, a Japanese era spanning from 1455 to 1457
* Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo, a martial art system of Kenpo
*Koshō, a premodern ...
.
He is known for his rigorous emphasis on zazen, in particular the practice of
shikantaza
is Dogen's Japanese translation of the Chinese phrase ''zhǐguǎn dǎzuò'' (只管打坐 / 祇管 打坐), "just sitting." The phrase was used by his teacher Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddhism, to refer to the meditation-pr ...
, or "just sitting".
He often called Zen "wonderfully useless," discouraging any gaining idea or seeking after special experiences or states of consciousness.
Lineage
Dharma transmission to
Though Sawaki ordained many monks and nuns, only five monks and three nuns received
Dharma Transmission (Shihō) from Sawaki:
* Shūyū Narita (1914–2004): students in Japan and Europe.
*
Kosho Uchiyama Kosho may refer to:
*Emperor Kōshō, the fifth imperial ruler of Japan to appear on the traditional list of emperors
* Kōshō, a Japanese era spanning from 1455 to 1457
* Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo, a martial art system of Kenpo
*Koshō, a premodern ...
(1912–1998): succeeded Sawaki as abbot of
Antai-ji
is a Buddhist temple that belongs to the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. It is located in the town of Shin'onsen, Mikata District, in northern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, where it sits on about 50 hectares of land in the mountains, close to a ...
.
*
Sodō Yokoyama
was a Japanese Sōtō Zen teacher of the 20th century. Also known as the , he was famous for residing in a public park in Komoro in Nagano Prefecture where he practiced zazen and played songs for travelers by whistling on a leaf. He had resided ...
(1907–1980): also called "Kusabue Zenji (Zen master of the grass-flute)".
* Satō Myōshin.
* Kōjun Kishigami
(born 1941): lives in Japan; students in Japan, France and Germany.
* Jōshin Kasai (1920–1985): female, active in kesa sewing.
* Kōbun Okamoto (1925-?): female, active in kesa sewing.
* Baikō Fukuda: female, part time tenzô (cook) in Antaiji.
Influential students
Other influential students of Sawaki who did not receive Dharma transmission from him are:
*
Gudo Wafu Nishijima
Gudo is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Camorino, Claro, Giubiasco, Gnosca, Gorduno, Moleno, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Preonzo, Sa ...
(1919–2014)
*
Taisen Deshimaru
was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist teacher, who founded the ''Association Zen Internationale''.
Biography
Early life
Born in the Saga Prefecture of Kyūshū, Deshimaru was raised by his grandfather, a former Samurai before the Meiji Revolution, ...
(1914–1982): went to France in 1967 and lived there for the rest of his life, establishing the Association Zen Internationale.
*
Kōbun Chino Otogawa
(February 1, 1938 – July 26, 2002) was an American Sōtō Zen priest.
Biography
Otogawa, who preferred to be called by his first name, rather than by either of the Japanese Zen honorifics: ''sensei'' (teacher) or ''roshi'' (master), came ...
(1938-2002): taught many students over the years in the United States and Europe.
Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
Sayings by Kodo SawakiSeven chapters that were not included in the English translation of "The Zen Teaching of 'Homeless Kodo'" (Sayings by Kodo Sawaki with some texts by Kosho Uchiyama)tricycle: 17 frank pieces of life advice from a Zen masterZen teachings by Kodo SawakiLife and spirit of Kōdō SawakiBiographical page at Antai-ji (in Japanese)
A tu, paraules zen plenes de vida (zen teachings of Kõdõ Sawaki), El Bou Blanc Publicacions. www.sotozencatalunya.wordpress.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawaki, Kodo
Zen Buddhist monks
Japanese Zen Buddhists
Komazawa University alumni
1880 births
1965 deaths
Soto Zen Buddhists
People from Mie Prefecture
20th-century Buddhist monks