Shoju Rojin

Shoju Rojin, whose formal name was Dokyo Etan, was Hakuin Ekaku's most important teacher and the master responsible for deepening Hakuin's initial awakening into the mature realization that would transform the Rinzai school. He was known as "the old man of Shoju" after the hermitage where he lived and taught a small number of students with extraordinary rigor.

When the young Hakuin arrived at Shoju's hermitage, already confident in his initial kensho experience, Shoju tested him relentlessly and found his understanding shallow. The confrontation between Hakuin's premature confidence and Shoju's merciless probing drove Hakuin to a much deeper realization. Shoju's refusal to accept anything less than thorough awakening shaped Hakuin's own approach to teaching and his insistence on the progressive deepening of insight through koan practice.