,
or Harada Rōshi, is a
Rinzai priest, author, calligrapher, and head abbot of Sōgen-ji — a three-hundred-year-old temple in
Okayama, Japan
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...
. He has become known as a "teacher of teachers",
with masters from various lineages coming to sit
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 ...
with him in Japan or during his trips to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Biography
Shodo Harada was born into 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 ...
temple Aug. 26,1940 in
Nara, Japan
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama ...
.
While still in high school he encountered his teacher,
Mumon Yamada, while running an errand for his father to
Myōshin-ji
is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, and head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The Myōshin-ji school is by far the largest school in Rinzai Zen, approximately as big as the other thirteen branches combined: it contains wit ...
.
He was impressed by how little he knew of Buddhism at this encounter.
After college he entered Shofukuji and began his training in 1962 under
Rinzai Zen master and
Japanese calligrapher Mumon Yamada,
from whom he received
Dharma transmission
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 ...
in 1982.
In 1982 he was sent by Mumon to Sogen-ji to help an elderly abbot tend to the building and training schedules, which is the main of the four pillars where he is still teaching now.
In September 1989, Harada came to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
to provide instruction for students and in 1995 founded Tahoma Sogenji Zen Monastery on
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...
in
Island County, Washington
Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor.
The county's name reflects the fact that it is compose ...
, where the practice mirrors the practices found at Sogen-ji. This is the second pillar.
The third pillar being Indozan Sogenji near the town of Adilabad in Telanaga state, central India. Long time student Bodhidharuma Osho is teaching there and offering training for young boys in residence and sesshins for locals. Harada Roshi leads a sesshin in Indozan once every August.
The fourth pillar is Hokuozan Sogenji in
Asendorf, Germany, being the central place for the many One Drop groups all over Europe. ShoE Roshi is in residence there. Harada Roshi is leading sesshins 3-4 times a year in Hokuozan.
Nearby the Tahoma One Drop Monastery, Harada has opened a
hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...
known as Enso House in 2001.
Among those Western teachers that study with Harada Roshi are Hogen Bays,
Jan Chozen Bays
Jan Chozen Bays (born 1945), is a Zen teacher, author, mindful eating educator, and pediatrician specializing in work with abused children.
Biography
Jan Chozen Bays was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 9, 1945. She grew up in East Greenbush ...
, Mitra Bishop, Alan Hozan Senauke, and
Paul Haller
Ryushin Paul Haller, a Soto Zen roshi, is a former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center—a position he held from 2003 until February 2012.SFZC Lineage Leaving his homeland of Belfast in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, Haller spent time in ...
.
Roshi flew to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
to perform the
Jukai
The Lay Buddhist Ordination (, Japanese: , Korean: ''sugye'' (수계) refers to the public ordination ceremony wherein a lay follower of Zen Buddhism receives certain Buddhist precepts. The particulars of the ceremony differ widely by country a ...
ceremony of
Damien Echols. Echols (a member of the ''
West Memphis Three
The West Memphis Three are three men convicted as teenagers in 1994 of the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life imprisonment plus two 20-year ...
'') was wrongly convicted of the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys in
West Memphis, Arkansas
West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the state's 18th largest city, behind Bella Vista. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is ...
. Whilst in prison, Echols began practicing Buddhism.
[Echols, Damien. ''Life After Death'' (novel), chapter 1, pages 16-20, published in 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2015.]
Bibliography
*
*
*Harada, Shodo; Tim Jundo Williams & Jane Shotaku Lago (eds.); Priscilla Daichi Storandt (translator) (2011). ''Moon by the Window: The Calligraphy and Zen Insights of Shodo Harada''. Wisdom Publications. .
*
See also
*
Buddhism in Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a ...
*
List of Rinzai Buddhists
*
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
External links
Shodo Harada Roshi: A Short BiographyVideo about zen, Teaching of zen, Shodo Harada Roshi in AmericaVideo of a public talk by Harada Roshi
on the Maka Hanya Haramita Sutra
1940s births
Living people
People from Nara Prefecture
Writers from Nara Prefecture
Rinzai Buddhists
Zen Buddhism writers
Zen Buddhist abbots
Japanese Zen Buddhists
Buddhism in Arkansas
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