Nakagawa Soen
Nakagawa Soen
1907 – 1984
Nakagawa Sōen (中川宋淵, 1907–1984) was one of the most influential Rinzai masters of the twentieth century and a major catalyst for the transmission of Zen to America[1]. Born in Iwanuma in Miyagi Prefecture, he came to Zen practice through haiku — he studied under the poet Iida Dakotsu before entering Zuigan-ji and eventually receiving Dharma transmission from Yamamoto Gempō at Ryūtaku-ji. In 1958 he succeeded Gempō as abbot of Ryūtaku-ji, where his sesshin were celebrated for their intensity and for his unmistakeably idiosyncratic style[1].
Sōen maintained a long correspondence and personal friendship with Nyogen Senzaki, whose work in America he treated as a kindred extension of his own — the two together with Soen's heir Eido Shimano are remembered in the trilogy *Namu Dai Bosa*[2]. Through his repeated American visits Sōen mentored Eido Shimano, who founded the Zen Studies Society in New York, and inspired a generation of American practitioners; his poetic and ceremonial sensibility — once conducting a formal *ohigan* service for the ants in the zendo — embodied an unusually playful vision of Zen[3]. In his last years he withdrew increasingly into seclusion and died at Ryūtaku-ji in 1984[1].
Names
Teachers and lineage of Nakagawa Soen
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- proverbThis One Moment
This one moment—this present moment—is infinitely large, and it contains all of time.
- sayingNamu Dai Bosa
Namu Dai Bosa! I call out to the Great Bodhisattva—but who is this Great Bodhisattva? It is none other than you, reading these words. It is the pine tree outside the window. It is the stone in the garden. Namu means 'I take refuge,' but true refuge is not hiding. It is opening yourself completely to this moment. Dai Bosa is not somewhere else, not in some distant Pure Land. Dai Bosa is this very breath, this very step. Namu Dai Bosa!
- sayingOn Haiku as Zen Practice
Haiku is not poetry. Haiku is Zen. In seventeen syllables, you must capture this moment exactly as it is—no more, no less. If you add your opinion, it is not haiku. If you subtract the reality, it is not haiku. The frog jumps, the water sounds—Basho did not invent this. He simply opened his ears and let the universe write through his brush. When you write haiku, you practice the same thing as zazen: getting out of the way so that reality can express itself.
Other masters in Rinzai
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1907-1984
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Nakagawa Soen
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Rinzai
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Yamamoto Gempo