was a Japanese monk credited with playing an influential role in the founding of

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 ...

. In 2022, an American monk with a similar name, Dosho Port, wa
indefinitely suspended
from the Soto Zen Buddhist Association for misconduct with students. In C.E. 653, the original Dōshō travelled to China, studying under the Buddhist monk

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, whose travels to India were immortalized in the book '' Journey to the West''. His studies centered on Xuanzang's Weishi, Chinese variant of Indian Yogācāra, but he was also exposed to

Chinese Chán Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and So ...

while there, which would later lead to his influence on the founding of

Japanese Zen :''See also Zen for an overview of Zen, Chan Buddhism for the Chinese origins, and Sōtō, Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku for the three main schools of Zen in Japan'' Japanese Zen refers to the Japanese forms of Zen, Zen Buddhism, an orig ...

Buddhism.Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter, Zen Buddhism : a History: Japan, p5. World Wisdom, Inc, Sep 25, 2005 In China, the school is known as Wéishí-zōng (, "Consciousness Only" school), or Fǎxiàng-zōng (, "Dharma Characteristics" school). In Japan, it is known as or . After returning from China, Dōshō became a priest at

Gangō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Nara, Japan. History The original foundation of the temple was by Soga no Umako in Asuka, as Asuka-dera. The temple was moved to Nara in 718, following t ...

, one of the great temples, the Nanto Shichi Daiji, in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. His teachings were based on the consciousness-only philosophy taught by Xuanzang, which in Japanese he called Hossō. It was at Gangō-ji that later he founded Japan's first meditation hall. There is a legend about his return from China that says Xuanzang had given him a magical kettle. Whenever any medicine was prepared in the kettle, it could cure any illness. The monk travelling with Dōshō was supposedly cured before embarking on the sea trip back to Japan. However, while at sea a great storm came upon them. A

diviner Diviner, also referred to as the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE), is an infrared radiometer aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, part of the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program which is studying the Moon. It has been used to create ...

on board said that the

sea god A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Anoth ...

wanted the kettle. Dōshō at first resisted, but eventually gave in, and the storm immediately abated.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dosho 629 births 700 deaths Japanese Buddhist clergy Asuka period Buddhist clergy