Yamada Koun
Yamada Koun
1907 – 1989
Yamada Koun Roshi was one of the most influential Zen masters of the twentieth century, a lay teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan school who opened the Japanese Rinzai koan curriculum to students of all religious backgrounds, including Catholic and Protestant priests and nuns. Born in 1907 and dying in 1989, he was a student of Nakagawa Soen and Harada Daiun Sogaku, and he became the second teacher of the Sanbo Kyodan school.
Yamada's genius was his recognition that the experience of kensho, the initial glimpse of one's true nature, and the subsequent deepening through koan practice, were not the exclusive property of any religious tradition but were available to any sincere practitioner regardless of faith background. He trained many Western teachers—including Catholic priests who then brought koan practice into Christian contemplative communities—and helped transform Zen from a Japanese cultural phenomenon into a genuinely international practice. His commentaries on the Gateless Barrier and the Blue Cliff Record remain among the clearest and most accessible in the English-language Zen literature.
Teachings
- proverbThe Fact of Experience
Zen is not a philosophy. It is not a religion in the usual sense. Zen is the practice of coming to the fact of experience, before thought divides it.
- proverbMu Is Everything
When you become Mu, you swallow the whole universe. The whole universe becomes you.
- sayingOn Kensho Being Available to All Faiths
I have come to the conclusion that Zen is not a religion in the sense that the term is popularly understood. It has no special doctrine or philosophy, no creeds or dogmas, no ritual or liturgy, and no prescribed form of worship. Kensho—seeing into one's own nature—is available to people of all faiths. A Christian can practice Zen and deepen their Christianity. A Buddhist can practice Zen and deepen their Buddhism. Zen is the practice of coming to the experience that lies at the root of all religions.
- sermonThe Gateless Barrier of Mu
Mu is the gateless barrier of Zen. When you sit with Mu, you must become one with it—not thinking about Mu, not analyzing Mu, but becoming Mu itself with your entire body and mind. Mu is not a concept to be understood intellectually. It is not 'nothing' as opposed to 'something.' It is not negative and not positive. When you truly become Mu, the gate that seemed to block your way is revealed to have been open from the very beginning. The barrier was never there. This is why we call it the gateless barrier.
- sayingZen Is Experience, Not Philosophy
Zen is not a philosophy. It is not a system of thought. It is the experience of living reality, here and now. You cannot capture it in concepts, though concepts may point toward it. You cannot find it in books, though books may inspire you to look. The experience of kensho is as definite and unmistakable as the experience of tasting water—you know immediately whether it is warm or cold. No one can tell you what water tastes like; you must drink it yourself.
Master Record Sources
1907-1989
Yamada Koun
Sanbo-Zen
Yasutani Hakuun