Yamada Koun
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Biography
Early career
Yamada Koun was born Yamada Kiozo in Nihonmatsu in Fukushima prefecture of Japan in 1907.[3] He attended school with Soen Nakagawa at Dai-Ichi High School located in Tokyo, Japan, and also went to university with him.[4] In 1941 Yamada began working as a labor supervisor for the Manchurian Mining Company—a company known for poor working conditions and exploiting its slave labor forces composed of Chinese peasants, POWs and criminals. By 1945 he had become deputy director of the General Affairs Department for the company.[5]
While working as supervisor for the company his old friend Soen Nakagawa came to the Mining Company's headquarters in Xinjing (modern-day Changchun, Jilin) on behalf of his master, Gempo Yamamoto, in an effort to encourage workers to double their output for Japan's war efforts.[5]
Zen training
According to the foreword in the book The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans, Template:Quote
In 1953 Yamada invited Haku'un Yasutani to Kamakura and founded the Kamakura Haku-un-kai.[4] Then, according to Stephen Batchelor, Template:Quote
Later that night he awoke abruptly from sleep and saw the same passage flash in his mind, which was followed by a kensho experience. The next day Yasutani confirmed that what Yamada had experienced was a kensho.[6]
Sanbo Kyodan succession
Yamada continued to study under Yasutani for seven years following this experience, and in 1961 he became the successor to Haku'un Yasutani—one year after completing some six hundred koans under him.[5][6] There is some confusion over the date on which Yamada became the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan:
- According to Daizen Victoria in Zen War Stories, "In 1967 Yamada succeeded to the leadership of the Sanbō-Kyōdan (Three Treasures Association), an independent, lay-oriented Zen sect that Yasutani had created in Kamakura in 1953."[5]
- According to the book The Sound of Liberating Truth, "In 1970 Yamada Kōun became the successor of Yasutani Roshi as head (kanchō) of the Sanbōkyōdan."[7]
- Finally, according to Michelle Spuler in the book Developments in Australian Buddhism, "Yasutani's successor, Yamada Koun Zenshin (1907-1989), was appointed as the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1973."[1]
The date is most likely 1973, however, as Charles S. Prebish writes in his book Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America, Template:Quote
It is likely the date is not 1967 or 1970 because Yamada would not need anyone's blessing to go to Hawaii were he already the head of the school, not to mention 1973 was the year of Haku'un Yasutani's death.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
List of Dharma heirs
- Robert Chotan Gyoun AitkenTemplate:Refn
- Niklaus Brantschen[8]
- Ruben Keiun-ken Habito[9][8]
- Willigis Jäger[10]
- Johannes Kopp[11]
- Akira Kubota[12]
- Victor Löw[8]
- Elaine MacInnes[12]
- Gundula Meyer[11]
- Ama Samy[11]
- Ana Maria Schlüter[11]
- Roselyn Stone[8]
- Masamichi Ryoun-ken Yamada[12]
Bibliography
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See also
- Buddhism in Japan
- Buddhism in the United States
- Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
- Hakuun Yasutani Lineage Chart
Notes
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References
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- ↑ a b Spuler, 9-10
- ↑ Habito (1990), pp. 235-236
- ↑ Aitken 1990, p. 152
- ↑ a b Koun, 296
- ↑ a b c d Victoria, 96-97
- ↑ a b Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ King, 17
- ↑ a b c d Kyosho no. 232 (1991), Newsletter of the Religious Foundation Sanbokyodan, edited by Sanbokoryukai.
- ↑ Barthashius, Ruben Keiun-ken Habito
- ↑ Kyosho no. 233 (1992), Newsletter of the Religious Foundation Sanbokyodan, edited by Sanbokoryukai.
- ↑ a b c d Kyosho no. 231 (1991), Newsletter of the Religious Foundation Sanbokyodan, edited by Sanbokoryukai.
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Sources
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- Aitken, Robert (1990). Remembering Yamada Kōun Rōshi, The Eastern Buddhist, New Series 23 (1), 152-154
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- Habito, Ruben L. F. (1990). In Memoriam: Yamada Kōun Rōshi (1907-1989, Buddhist-Christian Studies 10, 231-237
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External links
- Short history page of the Sanbō Kyōdan
- Mountain Moon Sangha of Roselyn Stone, Sei'un An Roshi