Saint Sogyanandai
Seventeenth Zen Buddhist Patriarch
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 Sogyanandai, The Seventeenth Ancestor
“One day Ragorata gave instruction to Sogyanandai in verse,
“Because I am already beyond self,
You should see the WE
For, if you take me as your master,
You will know that ‘I’ is not this WE.”
The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Sogyanandai was from the city of Shravasti, born to the King Hosogon whose name meant ‘He Whose Treasures are Magnificent.’ Having spoken from birth, Sogyanandai discoursed constantly on the pastimes of the Buddha. Despising worldly pleasure to such a degree by the world of seven he begged his parents thus:
“I humbly bow to you,
my most compassionate father,
And reverently make gassho to you,
Mother of my blood and bones
I would now leave home
To become a monk
And pray that, from your pity,
You will so permit me.”
The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Because his parents refused his requests, he finally stopped eating. They made an agreement that they would allow him to become a monk, but only if he remained in the palace. It was at this time that he received the name Sogyanandai which means ‘Friend of the Sangha.’
“The mind machine persuasively
calls itself the way mind is
And, as a result, how many times
has the WE come forth
wearing a different face?”
Keizan Zenji summarizes the teaching of Sogyanandai
Sources: The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light – Keizan Zenji, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery
Mount Shaasta
|
Latest Articles