Kodo Sawaki
| Kodo Sawaki | |
|---|---|
| School | Sōtō |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Born | June 16, 1880 Tsu, Mie, Japan |
| Died | December 21, 1965 (aged 85) |
| Senior posting | |
| Title | Rōshi |
| Successor | Kosho Uchiyama |
Kodo Sawaki (沢木 興道 Sawaki Kōdō, June 16, 1880-December 21, 1965) was a Japanese Soto Zen teacher of the 20th century.
Contents |
Biography[edit]
Sawaki's parents died early,[1] and he was adopted by an uncle who then died.[1] After his uncle's death, Sawaki was raised by a gambler.[1] When he was 16, he ran away from home to become a monk at Eihei-ji, one of the two head temples of the Sōtō Zen sect, and was ordained in 1899.[1][2] However, he was drafted to serve in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 to minister to the wounded. He later became a Zen teacher, and during the 1930s he served as a professor at Komazawa University.[1][2] In 1949, he took responsibility for Antai-ji, a zen temple in northern Kyoto.[1] 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"[1] ("homeless" in the Japanese referring more to his lack of a temple than a residence). Sawaki died on December 21, 1965, at Antaiji.[2] He was succeeded by a senior disciple, Kosho Uchiyama.
He is known for his rigorous emphasis on zazen, in particular the practice of shikantaza, or "just sitting".[1] He often called Zen "wonderfully useless," discouraging any gaining idea or seeking after special experiences or states of consciousness.
Lineage[edit]
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) who also had a few students in Europe,
- Kosho Uchiyama (1912-1998), who followed in his footsteps as abbot of Antai-ji,
- Sodō Yokoyama, also known as "kusabue zenji (Zen master with the grassflute)",
- Satō Myōshin, active in Japan,
- Kōjun Kishigami[3] (born 1941), lives in Japan, has got students in Japan, France and Germany,
- Jōshin Kasai, died 1984 in Antai-ji,
- Kōbun Okamoto, alive in Ichi-no-miya, Japan, where she teaches kesa sewing,
- Baikō Fukuda.
Influential students:
Other influential students of Sawaki are:
- Gudo Wafu Nishijima (born 1919), teacher of Brad Warner[4] and Jundo Cohen[5]
- Genkō Kawase (died. 1989), had her own temple Myōgen-ji in Nagoya,
- Sakai Tokugen, the teacher of Fumon Nakagawa, who teaches in Germany
- Kōun Enmyō (died 1980),
- Taisen Deshimaru[6] (1914-1982), went to France in 1967, and established the Association Zen Internationale.
Bibliography[edit]
- The Zen Teaching of 'Homeless Kodo' (1990) by Uchiyama Kōshō
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications. pp. 138–139. ISBN 0-86171-509-8.
- ^ a b c "Our Lineage". Sanshin Zen Community. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
- ^ Sangha Sans Demeure, Kojun Kishigami Osho
- ^ "Sex, Sin & Zen: Brad Warner and the Lust for Enlightenment". The Huffington Post.
- ^ "Lineage: a continuing history...". Treeleaf Zendo. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
- ^ Sangha Sans Demeure
External links[edit]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kodo Sawaki |
- Sayings by Kodo Sawaki
- Seven 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)
- Zen teachings by Kodo Sawaki
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