Toyo Eicho
Toyo Eicho
1428 – 1504
Toyo Eicho (1428–1504) is recorded in the historiography of the Myōshin-ji / Daitoku-ji line of medieval Rinzai as an abbot in its transmission lineage. The surviving record preserves his lineage placement; little distinctive doctrinal material from his teaching is preserved in modern scholarship[1].
Names
Disciples of Toyo Eicho
Teachers and lineage of Toyo Eicho
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- proverbCompiling the Zen Forest
I gathered capping phrases as a forester gathers cuttings — not because the trees needed gathering, but so that students who could not climb would still hear the wind in the branches.
- proverbOnly the Tree Knows
A capping phrase is a leaf detached from the tree. To know what the leaf says, return it to the tree of your own practice. Only the tree knows where each leaf belongs.
- proverbUse the Anthology Sparingly
Do not memorize the whole anthology and quote it at others; that is parrot work. Carry one phrase in the body for a month, and you have done more than reciting a hundred.
Other masters in Rinzai
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1428-1504
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Toyo Eicho
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Rinzai
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Sekko Soshin