On What a Temple Is For

Text

When asked what he hoped Nyoi-an would become, Jippō said: 'A place where monks forget what century it is. The Muromachi, the Kamakura — these are names we give to our confusions. The dharma does not observe our calendar. If Nyoi-an can produce one person who sits as Dōgen sat, it will have done enough. If it produces none, no number of roofbeams will compensate.'

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Jippō Ryōshū

Lineage: Sōtō

By Jippō Ryōshū

• What Gasan Gavedialogue

From Sōji-ji Historical Records

• What Gasan Gave

Sources

• contentSōtō Zen in Medieval Japan

  William M. Bodiford

  Cf. Bodiford, Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan, pp. 100–103; Sōji-ji historical records

  Sōji-ji Historical Records: On What a Temple Is For