Gotō Zuigan (後藤 瑞巌, 1879–1965) was a Buddhist Rinzai Zen master[note 1] the chief abbot of Myōshin-ji and Daitoku-ji temples,[3] and a past president of Hanazono University of Kyoto, also known as "Rinzai University."[4][note 2]
Gotō Zuigan | |
---|---|
Title | Rōshi |
Personal | |
Born | 1879 |
Died | 1965 |
Religion | Buddhism |
School | Rinzai |
Senior posting | |
Based in | Myōshin-ji Daitoku-ji |
Predecessor | Tetsuo Sōkatsu |
Successor | Oda Sessō |
Biography
Zuigan was influential in the development of Buddhism in America in the early 20th century. He was a student of the Zen master Tetsuo Sōkatsu and followed him to California in 1906 with a group of fourteen who went to the US with Tetsuo Sōkatsu in 1906, attempting strawberry farming in Hayward, California, and founding a branch of Ryomo Kyokai on Sutter Street in San Francisco.[5][note 3]
Zuigan returned to Japan in 1910. In 1916 Sōkatsu bestowed upon him the Inka Shōmei.[note 4] He then spent fifteen years as a missionary in Seoul.[3]
Later, he returned to Japan and taught at the temple Daitoku-ji in Kyoto.[3]
Notable students
Among Zuigan's notable students were:
- The American religious scholar Huston Smith who studied with Zuigan for fifteen years.[6]
- Pianist Walter Nowick who studied with Zuigan at Daitoku-ji beginning in 1950 until Zuigan's death in 1965.
- Sōkō Morinaga, Nowick's Dharma brother, who wrote in "Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity", who was also a head of Hanazono University.[7][note 5]
- The Dutch author Janwillem van de Wetering who lived a year and a half in Daitoku-Ji with Nowick under Zuigan's successor Oda Sessō, and described this period of study in the book, "The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery."[9]
Dharma heirs
See also
Notes
- Inka Shomei, or Dharma transmission, qualifies one to train students within the Rinzai sect as a Shike (master).
References
Sources
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