Yamada Koun
Encyclopedia
, or Koun Yamada, was the former leader of the Sanbo Kyodan
lineage of Zen Buddhism, the Dharma heir of his teacher Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko. Yamada was appointed the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1967, 1970 or 1973 and continued to differentiate the lineage from other Japan
ese Zen traditions by deemphasizing the separation between laypeople
and the ordained—just as his teacher Yasutani had done. Yamada was also instrumental in bringing Christian
s to the practice of Zen that “by the end of Yamada’s teaching career approximately one quarter of the participants at his sesshin
s were Christians”.
of Japan
in 1907. He attended school with Soen Nakagawa
at Dai-Ichi High School located in Tokyo, Japan, and also went to university with him. In 1941 Yamada began working for the Manchurian Mining Company as a labor supervisor—a company known for poor working conditions and exploiting its slave labor forces composed of Chinese
peasant
s, POWs and criminals. By 1945 he had become deputy director of the General Affairs Department for the company. While working as supervisor for the company his old friend Soen Nakagawa
came to Manchuria
on behalf of his master, Gempo Yamamoto
, in an effort to encourage workers to double their output for Japan
's war effort
s. According to the foreword in the book The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans, "In Manchuria at age thirty-eight Yamada began Zen training. Three years later he returned to Japan
and settled in Kamakura
with his wife and three children. Once set on his course in Zen, Yamada pursued his goal relentlessly. Although he was a managing director of a large Tokyo firm, he went twice a day to dokusan with Asahina Sōgen Roshi. After his first kensho
was approved, he engaged in koan study for three years and then continued his studies with Hanamoto Kanzui."
In 1953 Yamada invited Haku'un Yasutani
to Kamakura
and founded the Kamakura Haku-un-kai. Then, according to Stephen Batchelor, "On 26 November 1953, Koun Yamada, a Japanese business executive in Kamakura, was returning home with his wife on a suburban train. He came across a passage in a Zen text in which the author declared: 'I came to realise clearly that Mind is no other than mountains and rivers and the great wide earth, the sun and the moon and the stars.' He broke into tears with the realization that after eight years of zazen he had finally grasped what this statement meant." Later that night he awoke abruptly from sleep and saw the same passage flash in his mind, which was followed by a kensho
experience. The next day Yasutani confirmed that what Yamada had experienced was a kensho.
Yamada continued to study under Yasutani for seven years following this experience, and in 1961 he became the successor to Haku'un Yasutani
—one year after completing some six hundred koans under him. There is some confusion over the date on which Yamada became the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan
. According to Daizen Victoria in Zen War Stories, "In 1967 Yamada succeeded to the leadership of the Sanbō-Kyōdan (Three Treasures Association), an independent, lay-oriented Zen sect that Yasutani had created in Kamakura in 1953." According to the book The Sound of Liberating Truth, "In 1970 Yamada Kōun became the successor of Yasutani Roshi as head (kanchō) of the Sanbōkyōdan." Finally, according to Michelle Spuler in the book Developments in Australian Buddhism, "Yasutani's successor, Yamada Koun Zenshin (1907-1989), was appointed as the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1973." The date is most likely 1973, however, as Charles S. Prebish writes in his book Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America, "With the blessing of both Nakagawa Sōen Rōshi and Yasutani Rōshi, Koun Yamada Rōshi was invited to lead the Diamond Sangha, and he moved to Hawaii
in 1971." It is likely the date is not 1967 or 1970 because Yamada would not need anyone's blessing to go to Hawaii were he already the head of the school, not to mention 1973 was the year of Haku'un Yasutani
's death.
What is clear is that Yamada made Robert Baker Aitken
either a sensei
or roshi
in 1974. Even this date comes with some confusion, as author Richard Seager says he received Dharma transmission
in 1974. However, the author David W. Chappell states in the book Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace, "...in 1974 [Aitken] was appointed sensei (teacher) by Kamakura-based Zen master Yamada Koun Roshi. In 1985, Yamada Roshi gave Aitken transmission as an independent roshi." In 1988 Ruben L.F. Habito, a former Jesuit priest who had also studied under Yasutani, received Dharma transmission from Yamada.http://www.mkzc.org/barthashius.htm additionally, Yamada left behind many other Dharma heirs which are listed in the next section of this article.
Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan is a Zen sect derived from both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Japanese Zen.-History:...
lineage of Zen Buddhism, the Dharma heir of his teacher Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko. Yamada was appointed the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1967, 1970 or 1973 and continued to differentiate the lineage from other Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Zen traditions by deemphasizing the separation between laypeople
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
and the ordained—just as his teacher Yasutani had done. Yamada was also instrumental in bringing Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s to the practice of Zen that “by the end of Yamada’s teaching career approximately one quarter of the participants at his sesshin
Sesshin
A sesshin , literally "touching the heart-mind" , is a period of intensive meditation in a Zen monastery....
s were Christians”.
Biography
Yamada Koun was born in Nihonmatsu in Fukushima prefectureFukushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Fukushima.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Fukushima prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1907. He attended school with Soen Nakagawa
Soen Nakagawa
Soen Nakagawa was a Taiwanese-born Japanese rōshi and Zen Buddhist master in the Rinzai tradition...
at Dai-Ichi High School located in Tokyo, Japan, and also went to university with him. In 1941 Yamada began working for the Manchurian Mining Company as a labor supervisor—a company known for poor working conditions and exploiting its slave labor forces composed of Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s, POWs and criminals. By 1945 he had become deputy director of the General Affairs Department for the company. While working as supervisor for the company his old friend Soen Nakagawa
Soen Nakagawa
Soen Nakagawa was a Taiwanese-born Japanese rōshi and Zen Buddhist master in the Rinzai tradition...
came to Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
on behalf of his master, Gempo Yamamoto
Gempo Yamamoto
Gempo Yamamoto was the abbot of both Ryutakuji and Shoin-ji in Japan—also serving temporarily as the head of the Myoshin-ji branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. A renowned Japanese calligrapher, Yamamoto was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest whom followed in the footsteps of the famous Master Hakuin Ekaku...
, in an effort to encourage workers to double their output for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
s. According to the foreword in the book The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans, "In Manchuria at age thirty-eight Yamada began Zen training. Three years later he returned to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and settled in Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
with his wife and three children. Once set on his course in Zen, Yamada pursued his goal relentlessly. Although he was a managing director of a large Tokyo firm, he went twice a day to dokusan with Asahina Sōgen Roshi. After his first kensho
Kensho
Kenshō is a Japanese term for enlightenment experiences. It is most commonly referred to in Zen Buddhism.Literally it means "seeing one's nature" or "true self." It generally "refers to the realization of nonduality of subject and object." Frequently used in juxtaposition with satori , there is...
was approved, he engaged in koan study for three years and then continued his studies with Hanamoto Kanzui."
In 1953 Yamada invited Haku'un Yasutani
Haku'un Yasutani
was a Sōtō Rōshi and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan Zen Buddhist organization.-Biography:Ryōkō Yasutani was born in Japan in Shizuoka Prefecture....
to Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
and founded the Kamakura Haku-un-kai. Then, according to Stephen Batchelor, "On 26 November 1953, Koun Yamada, a Japanese business executive in Kamakura, was returning home with his wife on a suburban train. He came across a passage in a Zen text in which the author declared: 'I came to realise clearly that Mind is no other than mountains and rivers and the great wide earth, the sun and the moon and the stars.' He broke into tears with the realization that after eight years of zazen he had finally grasped what this statement meant." Later that night he awoke abruptly from sleep and saw the same passage flash in his mind, which was followed by a kensho
Kensho
Kenshō is a Japanese term for enlightenment experiences. It is most commonly referred to in Zen Buddhism.Literally it means "seeing one's nature" or "true self." It generally "refers to the realization of nonduality of subject and object." Frequently used in juxtaposition with satori , there is...
experience. The next day Yasutani confirmed that what Yamada had experienced was a kensho.
Yamada continued to study under Yasutani for seven years following this experience, and in 1961 he became the successor to Haku'un Yasutani
Haku'un Yasutani
was a Sōtō Rōshi and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan Zen Buddhist organization.-Biography:Ryōkō Yasutani was born in Japan in Shizuoka Prefecture....
—one year after completing some six hundred koans under him. There is some confusion over the date on which Yamada became the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan is a Zen sect derived from both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Japanese Zen.-History:...
. According to Daizen Victoria in Zen War Stories, "In 1967 Yamada succeeded to the leadership of the Sanbō-Kyōdan (Three Treasures Association), an independent, lay-oriented Zen sect that Yasutani had created in Kamakura in 1953." According to the book The Sound of Liberating Truth, "In 1970 Yamada Kōun became the successor of Yasutani Roshi as head (kanchō) of the Sanbōkyōdan." Finally, according to Michelle Spuler in the book Developments in Australian Buddhism, "Yasutani's successor, Yamada Koun Zenshin (1907-1989), was appointed as the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1973." The date is most likely 1973, however, as Charles S. Prebish writes in his book Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America, "With the blessing of both Nakagawa Sōen Rōshi and Yasutani Rōshi, Koun Yamada Rōshi was invited to lead the Diamond Sangha, and he moved to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in 1971." It is likely the date is not 1967 or 1970 because Yamada would not need anyone's blessing to go to Hawaii were he already the head of the school, not to mention 1973 was the year of Haku'un Yasutani
Haku'un Yasutani
was a Sōtō Rōshi and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan Zen Buddhist organization.-Biography:Ryōkō Yasutani was born in Japan in Shizuoka Prefecture....
's death.
What is clear is that Yamada made Robert Baker Aitken
Robert Baker Aitken
Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Roshi was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959...
either a sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
or roshi
Roshi
is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...
in 1974. Even this date comes with some confusion, as author Richard Seager says he received Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...
in 1974. However, the author David W. Chappell states in the book Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace, "...in 1974 [Aitken] was appointed sensei (teacher) by Kamakura-based Zen master Yamada Koun Roshi. In 1985, Yamada Roshi gave Aitken transmission as an independent roshi." In 1988 Ruben L.F. Habito, a former Jesuit priest who had also studied under Yasutani, received Dharma transmission from Yamada.http://www.mkzc.org/barthashius.htm additionally, Yamada left behind many other Dharma heirs which are listed in the next section of this article.
Dharma heirs
- Yukiyoshi Zuiun-ken Adachi
- Reiko Houn-an Adachi
- Robert Chotan Gyoun Aitken
- Osamu Shoun-ken Ashida
- Fr. Niklaus Goun-ken BrantschenNiklaus BrantschenNiklaus Brantschen is a Swiss Jesuit, Zen master of the White Plum Sangha line and founder of the Lassalle-Institute within the Lassalle-House in Bad Schönbrunn/Zug, Canton of Zug...
, SJSociety of JesusThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a... - Brigitte D'OrtschyBrigitte D'OrtschyBrigitte D’Ortschy , or Koun-An Doru Chiko, was an architect, journalist, translator, author, and the first Zen master from Germany in the Sanbo Kyodan school of Japan.-Biography:Brigitte D”Ortschy grew up in Berlin...
- Uta Ryuun-an Dreisbach
- Sr. Ludwigis Koun-an Fabian, OSBOrder of Saint BenedictThe Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
- Lourdes Mila Gyokuun-an Golez
- Ruben Keiun-ken Habito
- Bruce Soun-ken Harris
- Kodo Nyoun-ken Hasegawa
- Tetsuo Taiun-ken Hiyama
- Fr. Willigis Koun-ken JaegerWilligis JägerWilligis Jäger is considered a controversial German Benedictine monk, Zen master in Sanbo Kyodan tradition and mystic.-Books:*Contemplation: A Christian Path...
, OSBOrder of Saint BenedictThe Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests... - Akira Ji'un-ken Kubota
- Heidi Heki-un an Kern
- Johannes Houn-ken Kopp
- Victor Yuun-ken Loew
- Peter Choun-ken Lengsfeld
- David Tetsuun-ken Loy
- Sr. Elaine Koun-an MacInnes
- Gundula Zuiun-an Meyer
- Carmen Baika-an Monske
- Teizo Kaku'un-ken Nakamura
- Tsuneo Go'un-ken Oda
- Akira Soun-ken Onda
- Silvia Rin'un-an Ostertag
- Sonia Shuni-an Punzalan
- Kathleen Seiun-an Reiley
- Joan Jo-un Rieck
- Ama Genun-ken Samy
- Ana Maria Kiun-an Schlüter Rodes
- Shitetsu Shoun-ken Sendo
- Paul Choun-ken Shepherd
- Roselyn Seiun-an Stone
- Toshio Hekiun-ken Tonoike
- Shue Reiunken Usami
- Masamichi Ryoun-ken Yamada (son of Yamada Koun and current leader of the Sanbo KyodanSanbo KyodanSanbo Kyodan is a Zen sect derived from both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Japanese Zen.-History:...
)
See also
- Buddhism in JapanBuddhism in JapanThe history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian period and the post-Heian period . Each period saw the introduction of new doctrines and upheavals in existing schools...
- Buddhism in the United StatesBuddhism in the United StatesBuddhism is one of the largest religions in the United States behind Christianity, Judaism and Nonreligious, and approximate with Islam and Hinduism. American Buddhists include many Asian Americans, as well as a large number of converts of other ethnicities, and now their children and even...
- Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesTimeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesBelow is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.-Early history:* 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago...
External links
- Short history page of the Sanbō Kyōdan
- Mountain Moon Sangha of Roselyn Stone, Sei'un An Roshi