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Zen Ranks And Hierarchy
Zen institutions have an elaborate system of ranks and hierarchy, which determine one's position in the institution. Within this system, novices train to become a Zen priest, or a Zen master, trainer of new novices. Sōtō From its beginnings, Sōtō, Sōtō Zen has placed a strong emphasis on lineage and dharma transmission. In time, dharma transmission became synonymous with the transmission of temple ownership. This was changed by Manzan Dohaku (1636–1714), a Sōtō reformer, who... Sōtō-Zen has two ranking systems, ''hōkai'' (four dharma ranks) and ''sōkai'' (eight priest ranks). Hōkai The dharma ranks (法階) point to the stages in the training to become an Oshō, priest or "technologist of the spirit". To become a dai-Oshō, priest of a Zen-temple, one has to follow the training in an officially recognized training centre, ''sōdō-ango'' (僧堂安居). Jōza (上座) Becoming a Sōtō-Zen priest starts with ''shukke tokudo'' (出家得度). In this ceremony, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanazono University
is a private university in Kyoto, Japan that belongs to the Rinzai sect (specifically the Myōshin-ji temple complex, which it is next to). The university and the neighborhood are named for Emperor Hanazono, whose donated his palace to make Myōshin-ji. It is a major competitor of the Sōtō college in Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ... known as Komazawa University. Despite the university's sectarian affiliation, the school accepts Soto students.Smyers, 223 The school operates two research centers important in Zen academia, i.e. the Institute for Zen Studies and the International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism. Founded in 1872 as a seminary for those interested in the priesthood, the university carries on that tradition while offering an education to tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sensei
The term "先生", read in Chinese, in Japanese, in Korean, and in Vietnamese, is an honorific used in the Sinosphere. In Japanese, the term literally means "person born before another" or "one who comes before". It is generally used after a person's name and means "teacher". The word is also used as a title to refer to or address other professionals or people of authority, such as clergy, accountants, lawyers, physicians and politicians, or to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, e.g., accomplished novelists, musicians, artists and martial artists. Etymology The two characters that make up the term can be directly translated as "first born" and imply one who teaches based on wisdom from age and experience. The word prefaced by the adjective 大, pronounced "dai" (or "ō"), which means "great" or "large", is often translated " grand master". This compound term, "dai-sensei" (大先生), is sometime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a loose (hence asangha) "organization of peers whose members are leaders of Zen Communities in the lineage of Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi," created by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors. Characterization A diverse organization spread across the United States and with a small presence in Europe, the White Plum Asanga Conceived of informally in 1979 by Maezumi and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, the White Plum Asanga was named after Maezumi's father Baian Hakujun Dai-osho and then later incorporated in 1995 following Maezumi's death. Tetsugen Bernard Glassman was the White Plum Asanga's first President and his successor was Dennis Genpo Merzel. Following Merzel's term, in May 2007, Gerry Shishin Wick served as elected President of White Plum, until 2013 wheAnne Seisen Saundersbecame the current president. Notable members * Jan Chozen Bays * M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denkoroku
is a kōan collection written in 1300 by Keizan Jokin Zenji, the Great Patriarch of Sōtō Zen Buddhism, based on approximately a year of his Dharma talks. The book includes 53 enlightenment stories covering 1600 or more years based on the traditional legendary accounts of Dharma transmission in the Sōtō lineage. Successive masters and disciples in the book are Shakyamuni Buddha circa 360 to 440 BCE in India, to Zen master Ejō in about 1230 or 1240 in Japan. While other translations are available as of 2012, this article was developed for the most part from the introduction and translator's note by Francis Dojun Cook. Synopsis Contents Dharma transmissions covered 28 ancestors from India and 23 from China, followed by Dōgen and Ejō in Japan. Out of modesty and his sense of propriety, Keizan, the 54th ancestor, omitted himself and Tettsu Gikai, one of his teachers who was a student of Ejō and was still alive in 1300. Each chapter is a few pages, except in a couple ca ... [...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 expansion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandai Sōron
The ''sandai sōron'' (三代相論), or third-generation differentiation, was a putative dispute over the orthodoxy and succession of Sōtō Zen Buddhism. The major figures involved were Jakuen, Gikai, Gien, and Giin, all of whom claimed the right to serve as abbot of Eihei-ji. The story of the ''sandai sōron'' does not appear until 150 years after it supposedly occurred, suggesting its authenticity is dubious. It seems to have been used as a just-so story to explain how Jakuen's line eventually wound up in control of Eihei-ji. The obscure term ''sōron'' (相論, a translation of the Sanskrit ''laksana'') may have been a euphemism for a third-generation schism. Historical context Sōtō's founder Dōgen named Koun Ejō as his successor, but Ejō did not name a definite successor. The four monks who received dharma transmission from Ejō all made claims of friendship with Dōgen and Ejō, with various levels of honesty, and adherence to the principles of Sōtō, which were inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keizan
Keizan Jōkin (, 1268–1325), also known as Taiso Jōsai Daishi, is considered to be the second great founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. While Dōgen, as founder of Japanese Sōtō, is known as , Keizan is often referred to as . Keizan and his disciples are credited with beginning the spread of Sōtō Zen throughout Japan, away from the cloistered monastic practice characteristic of Dōgen's Eihei-ji and towards a more popular religion that appealed to all levels of Japanese society. Keizan founded several temples during his lifetime, most notably Yōkō-ji and Daihonzan Sōji-ji (founded on the Noto Peninsula and moved to Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama in 1911). Today Sōji-ji and Eihei-ji stand together as the two principal Sōtō Zen training centers in Japan. Biography Youth and Zen-training Keizan spent the first eight years growing up under the care of his grandmother, Myōchi (明智), who was one of Great Master Dōgen's first supporters on his return from China. Ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Initiation Ritual
The Lay Buddhist Ordination () 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 and by school of Buddhism. China In China, the ritual, is called ''shòu jiè'' (受戒). The character 受 means "receive," while 戒 means "precepts." Taken together, the characters translate as "initiated" or "ordained." Many people believe in Buddhism but do not go through any initiation ceremonies. Such Buddhists make up the overwhelming majority. Only a small part of Buddhists have gone through the ceremony which makes the recipient an upasaka or upasika and accepted the five commandments. They are formal Buddhists. Lewis Hodous, in his 1920 book ''Buddhism and Buddhists in China'' remarks on the Chinese ceremony as well, after recording an initiation ceremony for both those entering monastic life and the laity: "Less private was the initiation of the lay brethren and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodhisattva Precepts
The Bodhisattva Precepts ( Skt. ''bodhisattva-śīla'' or ''bodhisattva-saṃvāra'', , ; Tibetan: byang chub sems dpa’i sdom pa) are a set of ethical trainings ('' śīla'') used in Mahāyāna Buddhism to advance a practitioner along the path to becoming a bodhisattva.Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 136. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013. These sets of "restrains" (''saṃvāra'') are the main ethical code in Mahāyāna Buddhism and as thus also sometimes called "Mahāyāna precepts" (Ch: 大乘戒). Traditionally, monastics observed the basic moral code in Buddhism, the monastic prātimokṣa or five precepts for laypersons, but in the Mahāyāna tradition, Buddhist monastics and laypersons commonly observe the Bodhisattva Precepts as well. The Bodhisattva Precepts are associated with the bodhisattva vow to save all beings and with bodhicitta. Overview Early Buddhism made use of basic moral codes called '' Prātimok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taizan Maezumi
Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi ( Maezumi Hakuyū, February 24, 1931 – May 15, 1995) was a Japanese people, Japanese Sōtō Zen, Zen Buddhist priest who substantially contributed to development of Zen in the United States. In 1956 he was sent to the United States to serve as a priest for a Japanese-American congregation in Los Angeles. After taking English classes, Maezumi began holding zazen for Western students early in the 1960s, founding the Zen Center of Los Angeles in 1967. After studying koans with Hakuun Yasutani and lay-teacher Koryū Osaka, in his teachings and practice Maezumi combined Sōtō-style ''shikantaza'' with Harada Daiun Sogaku's ''kōan''-curriculum, which uses both Rinzai and Soto ''kōan''-collections. In 1979 Maezumi and his first dharma-heir Bernie Glassman informally conceived the White Plum Asanga, a "community of peers" of dharma-heirs of Maezumi and their successors, "represent[ing] the vision of Maezumi Roshi." Maezumi publicly admitted he was an alcoholic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
