Daichi Sokei
Daichi Sokei
1290 – 1366
Daichi Sokei (大智祖継, 1290–1366) was a fourteenth-century Japanese Sōtō priest in the Meihō-ha sub-lineage. He was ordained at age seven by Kangan Giin at Daiji-ji (Higo), practiced for seven years under Keizan Jōkin, then travelled to Yuan-dynasty China (1314–1324) where he studied with Gulin Qingmao among others, before returning to receive formal Dharma transmission from Meihō Sotetsu — the second of Keizan's six "abbot heirs" — making the canonical robe lineage Dōgen → Ejō → Gikai → Keizan → Meihō → Daichi[1].
He founded Kida-ji (Kaga), Hōgizan Shōgo-ji (Higo / Ryūmon Village, under Kikuchi-clan patronage), Kōfuku-ji (Higo), and Entsū-ji (Hizen, 1353). His Higo-province Meihō-ha line proved short-lived after also losing its lay-patron support — a common pattern with the Meihō branch that did not survive into the modern Sōtō network the way Gasan's branch did[1].
Names
Teachers and lineage of Daichi Sokei
Teacher / root master:
Formal Dharma transmission (shihō):
Teachings
- dialogueOn Refusing the Abbacy
When the Kikuchi clan invited Daichi to accept the permanent abbacy of Shōgo-ji with generous patronage, Daichi replied: 'An abbot's seat is an excellent thing — for the one who can sit still in it. I have never been still for long. The mountains call. If I accept your kind seat, in six months you will find it empty and I will be halfway up some ridge in the rain. Better to let a steadier man have it. Give me a hut and a bowl, and let me go where the practice needs me.'
- verseIn the Mountain Hut
Pine needles cover the old roof. The valley stream asks nothing of me. I went to China to find the great teaching — I found it here, on the way down from the mountain. Buddha-nature does not require a hall. The rain knows this already. Sit in the rain, then. Sit until the rain agrees.
Other masters in Sōtō
Master Record Sources
- biographyWikipedia - Zen Lineage Charts