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 Shonawashyu, The Third Ancestor
“When Shonawashyu asked Ananda, ‘What kind of thing is the fundamental UNBORN NATURE of all things?’ Ananda pointed to the corner of Shonawashyu’s kesa. Then, when he again asked, ‘What kind of thing is the fundamental NATURE OF THE ENLIGHTENED WISDOM of all the Buddhas?’ Ananda took hold of the corner of Shonawashy’s kesa and gave it a pull. At that moment Shonawashyu had great awakening to his TRUE SELF.” The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Shonawashyu’s name means ‘He of Hempen Clothing’ and was from Mathura. His previous name had an interesting story behind it. His name was Shanaka, meaning ‘He Who Is Naturally Clothed.’ He was called this because he was born ‘fully clad.’ His natural clothing was said to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. At that time that he arose to enter the monastery, his natural clothing spontaneously changed into a kesa.
“From atop an eighty-thousand-foot cliff
the WATER WITHOUT SOURCE,
Piercing through rock, sweeping away clouds,
Comes seething and gushing forth;
Though scattering the snow and flower petals,
making them fly in wild disorder
This CLOTH-LIKE STRIP, pure white as cotton,
Is beyond the drab world of dust.”
Keizan Zenji summarizes the teaching of Shonawashyu
Sources: The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light – Keizan Zenji, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery
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