Shuho Myocho
Shuho Myocho
1282 – 1337
Shūhō Myōchō (宗峰妙超, 1282–1337), known posthumously by his imperial titles Daitō Kokushi (大燈國師) and Kōzen Daitō Kokushi, was the Dharma heir of Nanpo Jōmyō (Daiō Kokushi) and the founder of Daitoku-ji in Kyoto[1]. Together with Nanpo above him and his student Kanzan Egen below him, he forms the Daiō-Daitō-Kanzan line through which the entire Ōtōkan ("Daiō-Daitō-Kanzan") current of modern Rinzai Zen — the curriculum used at Daitoku-ji and Myōshin-ji to this day — descends[2].
The traditional account preserved in the *Daitō Kokushi Goroku* and the Tokugen-ji documentation reports that, after receiving Nanpo's seal in 1308, he spent some twenty years in austere hidden practice — including a celebrated period living incognito among beggars at the Gojō Bridge in Kyoto — before being discovered and installed by Emperor Go-Daigo as founding abbot of Daitoku-ji in 1326[3]. His death verse — *Sui sui buppo, choshu sansho* ("I cut through the Buddha and patriarchs; the blown-hair sword is forever bright") — became one of the most-quoted Rinzai compositions and a touchstone for the Ōtōkan emphasis on direct, unmediated transmission[4].
Names
Disciples of Shuho Myocho
Teachers and lineage of Shuho Myocho
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
I have cut off buddhas and patriarchs; the blown hair sword is always burnished. When the wheel of the free activity of truth turns, the empty void gnashes its teeth.
All of you who have come to this mountain monastery—you have come to practice the Way, not to concern yourselves with food and clothing. As long as you have shoulders, you will have something to wear. As long as you have a mouth, you will have something to eat. Devote yourselves wholeheartedly to the great matter of awakening. Even if you sit so long that your cushion rots beneath you, even if you sit until the incense board crumbles to dust, do not give up. Do not spend your days in vain. Impermanence is swift; life and death is the great matter. Do not idle away your time.
- dialogueExchange with Emperor Hanazono
Emperor Hanazono asked Daito, 'What is the fundamental principle of Buddhism?' Daito replied, 'A cloud resting on the mountaintop.' The Emperor asked, 'What is Buddha?' Daito said, 'The cat crouches, waiting for the mouse.' The Emperor said, 'What does this mean?' Daito said, 'Your Majesty will understand when you stop looking for the meaning.'
Other masters in Rinzai
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1282-1337
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Shuho Myocho
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Rinzai
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Nanpu Shaoming