ZEN BUDDHISM

(Skt.) dhyāna "meditation"  → (Ch.) ch'an-na 禪 那 → ch'an 禪 →  (J.) zen

Traditional Patriarchal (Ancestral) Lineage
      [Chart] (186 kb, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Sakyamuni BuddhaMaha-Kasyapa → → →

           → Bodhidharma (5th-6th c.) / Daruma:  28th Indian and 1st Chinese Patriarch

           → Hung-jen (600-674): Fifth Patriarch

                      Shen-hsiu (d. 706): Leader of “Northern School;” opposed by Shen-hui (670-762)

           → Hui-neng (J. Enō) 慧能(638-713): Sixth Patriarch (according to Shen-hui and Platform Sutra [c. 780])



Verse Attributed to Bodhidharma

A special transmission outside the teaching, 教 外 別 傳 Kyōge betsuden
Not based on the written word; 不 立 文 字 Furyu monji
Directly pointing to the human mind, 直 指 人 心 Jikishi nin'shin
Achieving Buddhahood by seeing one's nature. 見 性 成 佛 Kenshō jōbutsu


Major Schools

Lin-chi / Rinzai  臨 濟

  •  Founder: Lin-chi I-hsüan (J. Rinzai Gigen) 臨 濟 義 玄 (d. 866)
  •  Distinctive practice:  kōan  公 案  "public case" (in conjunction with zazen)
  •  Called kanna zen  看 話 禪  "introspecting the kōan Zen"
  •  Brought to Japan in 1191 by Myōan Eisai 明 庵 榮 西 (1141-1215)
  •  Revitalized and systematized by Hakuin Ekaku  白 隱 慧 翵 (1686-1769)
  •  Major temples: Daitokuji, Nanzenji, Tōfukuji (all in Kyoto); Engakuji (in Kamakura)

Ts'ao-Tung / Sōtō 曹 洞

  •  Founders: Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi (J. Sōzan Honjaku) 曹 山 本 寂 (840-901)
                 and Tung-shan Liang-chieh (J. Tōzan Ryōkai) 洞 山 良 价 (807-869)
  •  Distinctive method of practice: zazen 坐 禪  "sitting meditation"
  •  Called mokushō zen 默 照 禪  "silent illumination Zen"
  •  Brought to Japan in 1227 by Dōgen Kigen 道 元 希 玄  (1200-1253)
           Redefines "silent illumination" as shikan-taza  祗 管 打 坐 : "just sitting"
  •   Major temples: Eiheiji (near Fukui; founded by Dōgen); Sōjīji (Yokohama)

Other Terms

  • rōshi  老 師 : master, teacher
  • satori  悟り : enlightenment
  • kenshō 見 性 : “seeing the nature;” first stage of enlightenment
  • sanzen  參 禪 (or dokusan  獨 參 ) : private interview with master
  • sesshin  接 心 : intensive meditation retreat

Back to "Major Schools of Japanese Buddhism"