Sanbo-Zen

Zen

Sanbo-Zen

Top-level school branch

Sanbo-Zen (三宝禅, formerly Sanbo Kyodan, 'Three Treasures Association') is a modern Zen school founded by Yasutani Hakuun (1885–1973) that integrates Soto Zen's emphasis on shikantaza with the Rinzai tradition's systematic koan curriculum. Yasutani's teacher, Harada Daiun Sogaku, had pioneered this synthesis by combining his Soto training with extensive Rinzai koan study under several masters. The Sanbo-Zen approach offers practitioners both objectless sitting and a structured koan path, beginning with the Mu koan and progressing through the traditional Rinzai curriculum. Under the leadership of Yamada Koun (1907–1989), the school became one of the most important vehicles for transmitting Zen to the West. Yamada's radical openness—he trained Catholic priests and nuns, Protestant ministers, and practitioners of other faiths alongside traditional Buddhist students—transformed Zen from a Japanese cultural phenomenon into a genuinely international contemplative practice. Robert Aitken (Diamond Sangha, Hawaii) and Ruben Habito (Maria Kannon Zen Center, Dallas) are among the school's notable Western-based teachers. The school is headquartered in Kamakura, Japan.