The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light, written by the Master Keizan Zenji, is considered to be highly intuitive according to his contemporaries and counterparts. In about the year 1300, Zenji realized that the stories of Soto Zen Buddhist transmission from Patriarch to Patriarch would be lost if it were not set to writing. It was then that he set his pen to record as much as could be recovered from the lives, and more importantly, the actually moment of Zen Transmission from Master to disciple. These disciples were to become the Masters of the following generations, and would, too, need to find a deserving pupil to transmit the Way before their own death was to occur.
Origination of Soto Zen Ceremonies
Most of the religious ceremonies used in the Soto Zen Tradition were written by the Master Keizan Zenji who was author of many works including the Sankon-Zazen-Setsu and Denkoroku.
Becoming Chief Abbot of Shogakuji Monastery in 1321, he’d lived a life of great devotion to reach this great pinnacle. In 1267, he was born in the Fukui Prefecture. Entering a monastery in Eiheiji, he learned from Koun Ejyo and Tettsu Gikai. He became one of the greatest of the Soto Zen Ancestors with his greatest work having been to document the line of the transmission of the Way all the way back to Shakyamuni Buddha. The Shogakuji Monastery was later made one of the two primary temples in Japan for the Soto Zen Church.
Transmission of the Way
Recording the actual moment in which the Way was transmitted from one successive generation of Masters to the next The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light shows the continuum of Zen Transmission for 52 generations. Every story contains the exact narrative on record as to the exact manner in which each of the great ancestors and patriarchs received the TEACHING and understood the UNBORN.
Saint Hannyatara, The Twenty Seventh Ancestor
“One day Funyomitta asked Hannyatara, ‘Do you recall any events from your past lives?’ whereupon Hannyatara answered, ‘I remember living in the same place as you during a distant aeon; you were expounding on ‘The Scripture of Great Wisdom’ as I was reciting from that most profound of Scriptures. To-day’s events undoubtedly tally with that ancient karmic cause.” The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Hannyatara’s was from Eastern India. Because he had lost his parents as an infant, when he was a child he didn’t even know his given name so had named himself Yoraku which means ‘Necklace. He would rush around the countryside begging alms as a child and was known as ‘The Necklace Child.’ Because of his hurried ways, people would ask him why he was in such a hurry to which he would reply, ‘Why are you going to slowly?’
Funyomitta recognized ‘The Necklace Child’ one day while riding in a carriage with a king. He told the king that this child was the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta and explained that he would be the next in the line of ancestors. Naming him ‘Hannyatara’ which meant ‘Pearl of Wisdom,’ he TRANSMITTED THE HOLY SEAL to the child.
“The light of the moon, reflected in the depths of the pool,
is bright in the sky;
The appearance of the water, as it flows toward the horizon,
Is thoroughly clear and pure;
Even though you trawl through IT again and again,
Knowing full well that IT does exist,
IT is so spacious and empty, yet discoverable everywhere,
That any attempt to grasp IT is completely futile.”
Keizan Zenji summarizes the teaching of Hannyatara
Sources: The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light – Keizan Zenji, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery
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