Shakyamuni Buddha was the originator and Master in the line of 52 Ancestors or Patriarchs - as they have been called - in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition. Each successive ancestor represents a generation of the teaching of the UNBORN and how it was passed down to each successive Master in the line of the transmission. Although not much is known about the lives of many of these great Patriarchs, the moment of transmission was preserved due to the diligent efforts of the Master Keizan Zenji when in 1300 he began writing The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light to record each moment of enlightenment for future generations of monks.
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 Koun Ejyo, The Fifty Second Ancestor
“Ejyo trained under Dogen. One day, whilst receiving instruction, he heard Dogen use the expression, ‘A single hair pierces through a multidue of holes’ and was immediately awakened to his TRUE SELF. That night, after having made bows, he asked Dogen, ‘Apart from the single hair, what are the multitude of holes?’ Dogen grinned and said, ‘Completely pierced.’ Ejyo bowed respectfully.” Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Koun Ejyo’s name means ‘The Great Hearted One.’ A fourth-generation descendant of the Imperial Minister of State, Fujiawara Tamemichi, he renounced the world and joined a monastery on Mount Hiei when he turned eighteen. Koun Ejyo was the final, 52nd ancestor in the Soto Zen Line which began with the glorious Shakyamuni Buddha.
“The spacious VOID, from the first,
does not let even a needle pierce IT;
Vast and still IT is, dependent on nothing,
So who, pray, is there to dispute IT?
Do not speak of IT as ‘the SINGLE HAIR
Piercing a multitude of holes’;
IT is a REALM naked and without blemish,
Beyond any trace of anything.”
Keizan Zenji summarizes the teaching of Koun Ejyo
Sources: The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light – Keizan Zenji, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery
 |
