Sokei-an
Sokei-an Sasaki | |
|---|---|
Buddhist Society of America | |
| Predecessor | Sokatsu Shaku |
| Successor | None |
Students | |
| Website | www.firstzen.org/ |
 |
| Part of a series on |
| Zen Buddhism |
|---|
 |
| Part of a series on |
Buddha in the Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco |
|---|
Sokei-an Shigetsu Sasaki (佐々木 指月 (曹渓庵); March 10, 1882 – May 17, 1945), born Yeita Sasaki (佐々木 栄多), was a Japanese
Biography
Sokei-an was born in Japan in 1882 as Yeita Sasaki. He was raised by his father, a
Sokei-an then moved to
In 1938 his future wife,
Teaching style
Sokei-an's primary way of teaching
Miscellaneous
Dwight Goddard (author of "A Buddhist Bible") has described Sokei-an as, "being from the autocratic and blunt 'old school' of Zen masters."[10] According to writer Robert Lopez, "Sokei-an lectured on Zen and Buddhism in English. But he communicated the essence of the Buddha’s teaching and in his daily life by his presence alone, in silence, and in a radiance achieved through, as he once said, 'nature’s orders.'"[5] Alan Watts has said of Sokei-an, "I felt that he was basically on the same team as I; that he bridged the spiritual and the earthy, and that he was as humorously earthy as he was spiritually awakened."[11] In his autobiography, Watts had this to say, "When he began to teach Zen he was still, as I understand, more the artist than the priest, but in the course of time he shaved his head and 'sobered up.' Yet not really. For Ruth was often apologizing for him and telling us not to take him too literally or too seriously when, for example, he would say that Zen is to realize that life is simply nonsense, without meaning other than itself or future purpose beyond itself. The trick was to dig the nonsense, for—as Tibetans say—you can tell the true yogi by his laugh."[19] Zen master Dae Gak has said, "Sokei-An has a good understanding of Western culture and this, combined with his enlightened perspective, is a trustworthy bridge from Zen in the East to Zen in the West. He finds that place where "East" and "West" no longer exist and articulates this wisdom brilliantly for all beings. A true bodhisattva."[20]
Notable students
- Alan Watts ("He (Watts) left after two weeks frustrated with the koan work he was doing."[21])
- Mary Farkas
- Ruth Fuller Sasaki
- Samuel L. Lewis
See also
- Buddhism in the United States
- List of Rinzai Buddhists
- Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
References
- ^ "Zen and the Transmission of Spiritual Power".
- ISBN 9780786484249.
- ^ a b c d e f Stirling, 31-35
- ^ a b c d e Ford, 66-67
- ^ a b c d e f g Lopez
- ^ The International [v12 # 2 and 4, 1918] ed. George Sylvester Viereck
- ^ Sasaki, "Excluded Japanese and Exclusionary Americans" in Rediscovering America, p. 75.
- ^ Prebish, 10
- ^ Smith, Novack; 150-151
- ^ a b Stirling, 20
- ^ a b Tweti
- ^ Stirling, 253-254
- ^ Miller, 163
- ^ Lachman, 114
- ^ Skinner Keller, 638
- ^ Watts, 134
- ^ a b Farkas, 1
- ^ "ZEN AND THE TRANSMISSION OF SPIRITUAL POWER – Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia".
- ^ Watts, 135
- ISBN 0-8348-0416-6.
- ^ "Watts, Alan". sweepingzen.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
Bibliography
- Delp, Michael (1997). The Coast of Nowhere: Meditations on Rivers, Lakes, and Streams. Wayne State University Press. OCLC 36942529.
- OCLC 27266361.
- Ford, James Ishmael; James Ishmael Ford (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications. OCLC 70174891.
- Lachman, Gary (2003). Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius. The Disinformation Company. OCLC 52384670.
- Lopez, Robert (Spring 1997). "Zen in the Yawn of a Cat: Sokei-an Shigetsu Sasaki". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
- Miller, Timothy (1995). America's Alternative Religions. State University of New York Press. OCLC 30476551.
- Prebish, Charles S (1999). Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America. ISBN 0-520-21697-0.
- Skinner Keller, Rosemary; Rosemary Radford Ruether; Marie Cantlon (2006). The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Indiana University Press. OCLC 61711172.
- OCLC 57307393.
- Stirling, Isabel (2006). Zen Pioneer: The Life & Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki. Shoemaker & Hoard Publishers. OCLC 65165357.
- Tweti, Mira (August 6, 2007). "The Sensualist". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
- OCLC 84838304.
- Sasaki, Sokei-an Shigetsu (2011). "Excluded Japanese and Exclusionary Americans". In Duus, Peter (ed.). Rediscovering America: Japanese Perspectives on the American Century. University of California Press. pp. 69–76. ISBN 978-0520268432.
Further reading
- OCLC 27266361.
- Farkas, Mary; Sokei-an Shigetsu Sasaki; Robert Lopez (1998). Zen Pivots: Lectures on Buddhism and Zen. New York: Weatherhill. OCLC 38120661.
- Fields, Rick (1981). How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America. Shambhala Publications/Random House. OCLC 7571910.
- Hotz, Michael; Sokei-an Shigetsu Sasaki (2003). Holding the Lotus to the Rock: The Autobiography of Sokei-an, America's First Zen Master. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows. OCLC 51203880.
- Sasaki, Sokei-an Shigetsu (1947). Cat's Yawn: The Thirteen Numbers Published from 1940 to 1941. New York: First Zen Institute of America. OCLC 21917701.
- Sasaki, Sokei-an Shigetsu (1931). The Story of the Giant Disciples of Buddha; Ananda and Maha-Kasyapa. First Zen Institute of America. OCLC 39794012.
- Sasaki, Sokei-an Shigetsu (1931). The Story of the Giant Disciples of Buddha; Ananda and Maha-Kasyapa. First Zen Institute of America. OCLC 39794012.
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
