Before the Great Master Keizan Zenji began recording the transmission of the Way in 1300 in a book entitled The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light, Soto Zen had remained in only a few isolated monasteries in Japan. Because of the Great Master Keizan Zenji’s work in revitalizing the line of the Ancestors in the Zen Tradition, it eventually became the largest Buddhist church in Japan and other Asian countries. Later in the twentieth century when Master Jiyu Kennett came to the task of translating the work into English, she made the difficult decision to release the work from behind monastery walls and allow the general public to read some of Zen Buddhism’s most sacred writings. Shakyamuni Buddha originated the line when he became enlightened and passed the transmission of his own great awakening to Makakoshyo, the First Ancestor.
Keizan Zenji and Reverend Master Abbess Jiyu Kennett
When Shasta Abbey Zen Buddhist Monastery decided to undertake the task of translating The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light recorded by the Great Master Keizan Zenji in the 1300’s, they assumed the average person would not understand it. It was initially intended for members of the Zen Buddhist priesthood engaging in serious and intensive training of the mind. It was understood that some of these Zen Aphorisms would make no sense to a Western born reader. It would require a penetration of sorts into the true core of what Zen is.
Master Keizan Zenji, born in Fukui Prefecture in 1267, would probably have been surprised to find his work administered in many languages to a lay population. The Sankon-Zazen-Setsu, Denkoroku are just two of the great works attributed to the Master Zenji. Most of the religious ceremonies still used today in Soto Zen tradition were penned by him.
The Moment of Enlightenment
The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light has the profound task of keeping for all eternity the records of the moment between Master and Disciple wherein the Master and current ancestor prepares the new disciple to take the torch of the Way to the next generation. Each moment is unique and profound.
Saint Kakurokuna, The Twenty Third Ancestor
“One day Manura observed, ‘Here is the UNSURPASSED TREASURE OF THE GREAT LAW, hearken to IT, accept IT and in the future teach IT.’ Upon hearing this, Kakurokuna realized enlightenment.” The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Kakurokuna’s name meant ‘Flock of Cranes’ and was from the kingdom of Kushana and a Brahman born to two holy parents who had an auspicious dream of his birth. His fathers name was Sensho, meaning ‘A Thousand Victories’ and his mother, Kinko, meaning ‘Golden Light.’ She had been left childless and so had took leave of her husband to pray before a flag which portrayed the seven Buddha’s. In an auspicious dream, she saw a holy child atop Mount Sumeru and awoke to find that she was pregnant. Evidence of his unique birth started when he was only seven years old and had gone into a village to chastise the residents for worshipping a false god.
“A whitened wall breaks through the clouds,
snow on its massive crags;
Perfectly pure and without a blotch,
It stands out against the blue sky.”
Keizan Zenji summarizes the teaching of Kakurokuna
Sources: The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light – Keizan Zenji, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery
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