Sokei-an Shigetsu Sasaki (佐々木 指月 (曹渓庵); March 10, 1882 – May 17, 1945), born Yeita Sasaki (佐々木 栄多), was a Japanese
Rinzai
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
who founded the
Buddhist Society of America
The First Zen Institute of America is a Rinzai institution for laypeople established by Sokei-an in New York, New York in 1930 as the Buddhist Society of America (changing its name after World War II). The emphasis on lay practice has its roots ...
(now the First Zen Institute of America) in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1930. Influential in the growth of
Zen Buddhism
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), an ...
in the United States, Sokei-an was one of the first Japanese masters to live and teach in America. In 1944 he married American
Ruth Fuller Everett. He died in May 1945 without leaving behind a
Dharma heir
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha himse ...
. One of his better known students was
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
, who studied under him briefly. Watts was a student of Sokei-an in the late 1930s.
Biography
Sokei-an was born in Japan in 1882 as Yeita Sasaki. He was raised by his father, a
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
priest, and his father's wife, though his
birth mother was his father's
concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive.
Concubi ...
. Beginning at age four, his father taught him
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and soon had him reading
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
texts.
[Stirling, 31-35] Following the death of his father when he was fifteen, he became an apprentice
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
and came to study under Japan's renowned
Koun Takamura at the Imperial Academy of Art in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
.
[Ford, 66-67] While in school he began his study of
Rinzai
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan ...
Zen under
Sokatsu Shaku, (a
Dharma heir
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha himse ...
of
Soyen Shaku
Soyen Shaku (, January 10, 1860 – October 29, 1919; written in modern Japanese ''Shaku Sōen'' or ''Kōgaku Shaku Sōen'') was the first Zen Buddhist master to teach in the United States. He was a rōshi of the Rinzai school and was abbot of bo ...
), graduating from the academy in 1905.
Following graduation he was
drafted by the
Japanese Imperial 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 ...
and served briefly 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 ...
on the border of
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
. Sasaki was discharged when the war ended shortly after in 1906, and soon married his first wife, Tomé, a fellow student of Sokatsu.
[Lopez] The newlyweds followed Sokatsu to
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
that year as part of a delegation of fourteen. The couple soon had their first child, Shintaro. In California with the hope of establishing a
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 ...
community, the group farmed
strawberries in
Hayward, California with little success. Sasaki then studied painting under Richard Partington
at the California Institute of Art, where he met
Nyogen Senzaki
Nyogen Senzaki (千崎 如幻, 1876–1958) was a Rinzai Zen monk who was one of the 20th century's leading proponents of Zen Buddhism in the United States.
Early life
Details of Senzaki's early life are unclear. Town records in Fukaura, Aom ...
.
By 1910 the delegation's Zen community had proven unsuccessful. All members of the original fourteen, with the exception of Sasaki, made return trips back to Japan.
Sokei-an then moved to
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
without Tomé and Shintaro to work for a short while, being rejoined by them in
Seattle Washington (where his wife gave birth to their second child, Seiko,
a girl). In Seattle, Sasaki worked as a
picture frame maker and wrote various articles and essays for
Japanese
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 diaspor ...
publications such as ''
Chuo Koron'' and ''Hokubei Shinpo''. He traveled the
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
countrysides selling subscriptions to ''Hokubei Shinpo''.
His wife, who had become pregnant again, moved back to Japan in 1913 to raise their children. Over the next few years he made a living doing various jobs, when in 1916 he moved to
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
in
Manhattan, New York
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, where he encountered the poet and magus
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
. Sometime during this period he was interviewed by the US Army but not drafted due to lingering allegiances to Japan. In New York he worked both as a
janitor
A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...
and a
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
for
Maxwell Bodenheim. He also began to write
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
during his free time.
He returned to Japan in 1920 to continue his
koan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.
Etymology
The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...
studies, first under
Soyen Shaku
Soyen Shaku (, January 10, 1860 – October 29, 1919; written in modern Japanese ''Shaku Sōen'' or ''Kōgaku Shaku Sōen'') was the first Zen Buddhist master to teach in the United States. He was a rōshi of the Rinzai school and was abbot of bo ...
and then with Sokatsu.
In 1922 he returned to the United States and in 1924 or 1925 began giving talks on
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
at the Orientalia Bookstore on E. 58th Street in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, having received
lay teaching credentials from Sokats
In 1928 he received
Dharma transmission, inka from Sokatsu in Japan, the "final seal" of approval in the
Rinzai school.
Then, on May 11, 1930, Sokei-an and some American students founded the
Buddhist Society of America
The First Zen Institute of America is a Rinzai institution for laypeople established by Sokei-an in New York, New York in 1930 as the Buddhist Society of America (changing its name after World War II). The emphasis on lay practice has its roots ...
, subsequently incorporated in 1931, at 63 West 70th Street (originally with just four members). Here he offered
sanzen
, aka , means going to a Zen master for instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as ''dokusan'', which is specifically a private interview between student and master,Fischer-Schreiber 1989, pg. 306 often centering on the student' ...
interviews and gave
Dharma talks
A Dharma talk (Sanskrit) or Dhamma talk (Pali) or Dharma sermon (''Japanese'': , ''Chinese'': ) is a public discourse on Buddhism by a Buddhist teacher.
In Theravāda Buddhism, the study of Buddhist texts and listening to Dhamma talks by monks o ...
, also working on various translations of important Buddhist texts.
He made part of his living by sculpting Buddhist images and repairing art for
Tiffany's
Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...
.
[Stirling, 20]
In 1938 his future wife,
Ruth Fuller Everett, began studying under him and received her
Buddhist name (Eryu); her daughter, Eleanor, was then the wife of
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
(who also studied under Sokei-an that same year).
[Tweti] In 1941 Ruth purchased an apartment at 124 E. 65th Street in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, which also served as living quarters for Sokei-an and became the new home for the
Buddhist Society of America
The First Zen Institute of America is a Rinzai institution for laypeople established by Sokei-an in New York, New York in 1930 as the Buddhist Society of America (changing its name after World War II). The emphasis on lay practice has its roots ...
(opened on December 6). Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, Sokei-an was arrested by the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
as an "
enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
"
taken to
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
on June 15 and then
interned
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
at a camp in
Fort Meade, Maryland on October 2, 1942 (where he suffered from
high blood pressure and several
strokes
He was released from the
internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
on August 17, 1943, following the pleas of his students and returned to the Buddhist Society of America in New York City. In 1944 he divorced his wife in
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
, with whom he had been separated for several years. Soon after, on July 10, 1944, Sokei-an married
Ruth Fuller Everett in
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...
. Sokei-an died on May 17, 1945, after years of bad health.
His ashes are
interred
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
at
Woodlawn Cemetery in
Bronx, New York.
[Stirling, 253-254] The Buddhist Society of America underwent a name change following his death in 1945, becoming the First Zen Institute of America.
[Miller, 163]
Teaching style
Sokei-an's primary way of teaching
Zen Buddhism
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), an ...
was by means of
sanzen
, aka , means going to a Zen master for instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as ''dokusan'', which is specifically a private interview between student and master,Fischer-Schreiber 1989, pg. 306 often centering on the student' ...
, "an interview during which the teacher would set the student a
koan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.
Etymology
The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...
"—and his
Dharma talks
A Dharma talk (Sanskrit) or Dhamma talk (Pali) or Dharma sermon (''Japanese'': , ''Chinese'': ) is a public discourse on Buddhism by a Buddhist teacher.
In Theravāda Buddhism, the study of Buddhist texts and listening to Dhamma talks by monks o ...
were often delivered in the form of a
teisho. Sokei-an did not provide instruction in
zazen
''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.
However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...
or hold
sesshin
A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery.
While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, d ...
s at the Buddhist Society of America. His primary focus was on
koans
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.
Etymology
The Japanese term is the Sino-Ja ...
and
sanzen
, aka , means going to a Zen master for instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as ''dokusan'', which is specifically a private interview between student and master,Fischer-Schreiber 1989, pg. 306 often centering on the student' ...
, relying on the
Hakuin
was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, focusing on rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice.
Biograp ...
system. According to
Mary Farkas, "Sokei-an had no interest in reproducing the features of Japanese Zen monasticism, the strict and regimented training that aims at making people 'forget self.' In these establishments, individuality is stamped out, novices move together like a school of fish, their cross-legged position corrected with an ever-ready stick."
Miscellaneous
Dwight Goddard (author of "A Buddhist Bible") has described Sokei-an as, "being from the autocratic and blunt 'old school' of Zen masters."
According to writer Robert Lopez, "Sokei-an lectured on Zen and Buddhism in English. But he communicated the essence of the Buddha’s teaching and in his daily life by his presence alone, in silence, and in a radiance achieved through, as he once said, 'nature’s orders.'"
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
has said of Sokei-an, "I felt that he was basically on the same team as I; that he bridged the spiritual and the earthy, and that he was as humorously earthy as he was spiritually awakened."
In his autobiography, Watts had this to say, "When he began to teach Zen he was still, as I understand, more the artist than the priest, but in the course of time he shaved his head and 'sobered up.' Yet not really. For Ruth was often apologizing for him and telling us not to take him too literally or too seriously when, for example, he would say that Zen is to realize that life is simply nonsense, without meaning other than itself or future purpose beyond itself. The trick was to dig the nonsense, for—as Tibetans say—you can tell the true yogi by his laugh."
[Watts, 135] Zen master
Dae Gak
Dae Gak (born 1947), born Robert Genthner, is a Zen master and the guiding teacher of Furnace Mountain in Clay City, Kentucky, a Korean Buddhist temple and retreat center co-founded in 1986 with Seung Sahn. He received Dharma transmission from ...
has said, "Sokei-An has a good understanding of Western culture and this, combined with his enlightened perspective, is a trustworthy bridge from Zen in the East to Zen in the West. He finds that place where "East" and "West" no longer exist and articulates this wisdom brilliantly for all beings. A true bodhisattva."
Notable students
*
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
("He (Watts) left after two weeks frustrated with the koan work he was doing."
)
*
Mary Farkas
*
Ruth Fuller Sasaki
Ruth Fuller Sasaki (October 31, 1892 – October 24, 1967), born Ruth Fuller, was an American writer and Buddhist teacher. She was important figure in the development of Buddhism in the United States. As Ruth Fuller Everett (during her first ...
*
Samuel L. Lewis
See also
*
Buddhism in the United States
*
List of Rinzai Buddhists {{short description, None
Founder
*Linji Yixuan
A
*Ankokuji Ekei
* Sōgen Asahina
*Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
B
* Bassui Tokushō
* George Bowman
C
* Sherry Chayat
* Chō Tsuratatsu
* Chūgan Engetsu
*Leonard Cohen
D
* Watazumi Doso
* Ji Gong
* Ogin ...
*
Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.
Events
Early history
* 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
First Zen Institute of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sokei-An
Rinzai Buddhists
Zen Buddhism writers
Zen Buddhist monks
1882 births
1945 deaths
People from Hayward, California
Japanese Zen Buddhists
Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers
20th-century Buddhist monks