Sōtō
Sign in to saveSōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dongshan Liangjie. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.
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Encyclopedic overview
37 sectionsContents
- History
- Chinese origins
- Kamakura (1185–1333)
- Dōgen
- Ejō
- Gikai
- Keizan
- Sōtō centers
- Muromachi (or Ashikaga) (1336–1573)
- Gasan and Sotetsu
- Azuchi-Momoyama (1573–1600) and Edo (or Tokugawa) (1600–1868)
- Meiji Restoration (1868–1912) and Imperial expansionism
- Lay interests
- Monastic training
- Spread in the western world
- Shunryū Suzuki
- Sanbo Kyodan
- Antai-ji
- Soto Zen Buddhist Association
- Practice
- Shikantaza
- Sōtō versus Rinzai
- Texts
- Sutras
- Sōtō Zen texts
- Dōgen
- Organisation
- Head and parliament
- Temples
- Legal status
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Book references
- Web-references
- Sources
- External links
Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dongshan Liangjie. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.
The Japanese brand of the sect was imported in the 13th century by Dōgen Zenji, who studied Caodong Buddhism () abroad in China. Dōgen is remembered today as the ancestor of Sōtō Zen in Japan along with Keizan Jōkin.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sōtō” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.