Tsūgen Jakurei
Tsūgen Jakurei
1322 – 1391
Tsūgen Jakurei (通幻寂霊, 1322–1391) was one of Gasan Jōseki's five great heirs (the *Gasan-go-tetsu*) and the founder of the Tsūgen-ha sub-line of medieval Sōtō, which became the largest of Gasan's five branches with approximately 8,900 affiliated temples at its eventual peak[1]. He received Dharma transmission from Gasan in 1352 at Sōji-ji, having earlier been ordained by Jōzan Sozen at Daikō-ji (age 17) and trained for some ten years from 1340 under Meihō Sotetsu at Daijō-ji before formally entering Gasan's community[1][2].
Tsūgen served as the 5th abbot of Sōji-ji from 1368 (with later returns in 1382 and 1388) and founded the temples Yōtaku-ji (永澤寺, 1370, under Hosokawa Yoriyuki / Emperor Go-En'yū's edict) and Ryūsen-ji (1386). His own line of ten major heirs (*Tsūgen-jittetsu*, 通幻十哲) — Ryōan Emyō, Sekioku Shinryō, Ikkei Eijū, Fusai Zenkyū, Fuken Myōken, Tentoku Donjō, and others — populated Sōji-ji's rotating abbacy and the regional Sōtō network for the following centuries[1].
Names
Teachers and lineage of Tsūgen Jakurei
Teacher / root master:
Additional teachers:
Teachings
In the Dharma hall, Tsūgen addressed the assembled monks: 'What did Dōgen bring from China? Not Chinese manners. Not Sung dynasty taste. He brought the marrow that Bodhidharma brought from India. He brought seated buddha. If your Zen looks increasingly like a Gozan poetry salon, examine whether Dōgen's marrow is still in it. If it is, the poetry is fine. If it is not, no amount of elegant verse will substitute for it. Our task is not novelty. Our task is fidelity — to what was transmitted before there was a school, before there was a name, before there was a robe. Sit. Sit as if the entire lineage is watching, because it is. Sit as if it is not watching, because it is not. This contradiction is where you live.'
Seventy years — in and out of the monastery gate. Gasan gave me everything; I gave it away. The ten heirs will carry what I could not finish. The gate stands. Walk through.
Other masters in Sōtō
Master Record Sources
- biographyWikipedia - Zen Lineage Charts