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 Ungan Donjyo, The Thirty Seventh Ancestor
“Unga first trained, and served under, Hyakujo for twenty years. Later, after Hyakujo’s death, he went to train under Yakusan who asked him, ‘What Teaching did Hyakujo stress?’ Unga replied, ‘Once Hyakujo entered the meditation hall tog ive a lecture. The great assembly were standing there when, brandishing his staff, he all at once sent them scurrying out. He called them back and, as they turned their heads toward him, he said, ‘What is IT?’’ Yakusan responded, ‘Why did you not say this sooner? To-day, thanks to you, I have been able to lay eyes on my elder brother Hyakujo.’ Upon hearing these words, Ungan had a great awakening to his TRUE SELF.” The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light.
Ungan Donjyo’s was of the Kensho clan in Shoryu and had a saying that he used to enlighten people. “All the hundred flavours are complete in themselves.” He would say.
“This solitary boat, without rocking and pitching
advances toward the moon;
If you but look back, behold,
the duckweed that floates beside the old shore
is still not moving!”
Keizan Zenji summarizes the teaching of Ungan Donjyo
Sources: The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light – Keizan Zenji, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery
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