Rinzai Master Dogen?

[Guest]

I ran across something that was surprising to me. I had known for some time that Dogen studied with a Butsuju Myozen, a Rinsai master, but I had always thought that his Dharma Transmission was exclusively through Rujing of the Caodong lineage later to become Soto. I know there are some sources that state that he received transmission from both lineages. My first Soto teacher never said this had happened, so I am a bit surprised. There is an entry in the infamous Wikipedia that says,

Dogen received dharma transmission from his Chinese teacher Rujing, with whom he studied two years, but in medieval Sōtō he was also considered to be a dharma heir of Myōzen, a Rinzai-teacher, with whom he studied eight years

Not sure I ever heard of that before.

What got me on this question recently is my reading of"Meeting the True Dragon" by Daniel Gallagher in which he says,

Dogen studied for many years at Kenninji with his teacher, Butsuju Myozen (1184-1225), from whom he received Rinzai transmission in the Oryu lineage.

It later says that he also received transmission from Rujing which seems to be the more familiar history. This is news to me about supposed Rinzai transmission.

I am wondering if this is a way for the Sanbo-kyodan to give a credible history beyond Harada-Yasutani??
Gassho,

Daiman,

St/lah

[Huichan]

I didn't know this but I don't find it too surprising. Personally, I don't read too much into lineages (even though they are interesting) but recieving transmission in more than one lineage has been quite common in China from what I've read.


Ross
stlah

[Guest]

I didn't know this but I don't find it too surprising. Personally, I don't read too much into lineages (even though they are interesting) but recieving transmission in more than one lineage has been quite common in China from what I've read.


Ross
stlah

Oh yes, it is common as you say. I had just always been under the impression that the transmission to Dogen was in the Caodong sect which is what made it something quite different and unique in Japan. I was never aware that he received transmission in both, unless this is actually not accurate which is what I am trying to figure out.

Gassho,

Daiman
St/lah

[Kokuu]

Dogen received dharma transmission from his Chinese teacher Rujing, with whom he studied two years, but in medieval Sōtō he was also considered to be a dharma heir of Myōzen, a Rinzai-teacher, with whom he studied eight years

That seems to come from an article by William Bodiford so has some substantiality beyond Wikipedia.

If you look at your Kechimyaku 'blood lineage chart' that you get at Jukai, you will note that the lineages branch after the sixth ancestor, and return to Dogen via two routes. I am guessing that one of those is the Rinzai transmission, although quite how historically accurate that is I am not sure.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Jundo]

Hi,

There is some ambiguity on the question, but also some important evidence that Dogen only inherited the Soto Lineage of Rujing. At the very least, he seems not to have placed much importance on any Dharma Transmission from Myozen and the Rinzai Line. Why? Dogen never mentions any Dharma Transmission from Myozen, even once, in all his writings, although he mentions and celebrates his Dharma Transmission from Rujing time and again, heralding Rujing as his only Teacher. That is so especially in the several sections of Shobogenzo celebrating Lineage and Dharma Transmission where Dogen goes into great detail on these things. Dogen turns down Dharma Transmission from several Chinese Rinzai masters before meeting Rujing, and in the passages which describe those events, he never mentions Myozen.

In Bendowa, all Dogen says is [Tanahashi]:

After the aspiration for enlightenment arose, I began to search for dharma, visiting teachers at various places in our country. Then I met priest Myozen, of the Kennin Monastery, with whom I trained for nine years, and thus I learned a little about the teaching of the Rinzai School. Priest Myozen alone, as a senior disciple, authentically received transmission of the unsurpassable buddha dharma from Eisai; no one can be compared with Myozen.

Later I went to Great Song China, visited masters on both sides of the Zhe River, and heard the teachings of the Five Gates. Finally, I became a student of Zen master Rujing of Taibo Peak, and completed my life’s quest of the great matter.

Dogen wrote about Myozen in a little letter he wrote when he brought back Myozen's ashes from China (where he had died during their travels). He never mentions Dharma Transmission, although he greatly honors his friend and mentor Myozen in the following obituary (Tanahashi, in Enlightenment Unfolds):

The late teacher was from Iyo Province. His family name was Soga and his dharma name was Myōzen. ... [... H]e practiced with Zen Master Eisai, the former bishop and founder of the Kennin Monastery. He learned the teachings outside the scriptures and clarified the path underneath words. It was like Mahākāshyapa at Vulture Peak or like Nanyue going to meet Huineng, the Sixth Ancestor. He [Myozen] merged with the correct lineage and he alone received Eisai’s personal transmission of dharma. On the twenty-first day of the second month of the second year of the Teiō Era [1223] he left the Kennin Monastery and went far away to Great Song China. ... Sister Chi of Kyōto was among those ordained by the late teacher. She is a devoted student of Myōzen, loving him deeply. Moved by her sincere request for his remains, I am giving her a portion. I hope that we not only cherish our fortune of meeting Myōzen in this lifetime, but will continue to be committed to his intention of guiding all beings. I have written this brief chronology for future generations.

No clear mention there of Dharma Transmission to Dogen from Myozen.

Now, Keizan, in his Denkoroku biography of Dogen, muddles things a bit. Keizan does not clearly say that Dogen received Dharma Transmission from Myozen, but he come as close as possible to saying so, and does say that there was great respect and a unique relationship between the two men. One reason that Keizan might muddy the situation is this: Keizan, through his own teacher, Gikai, may have inherited the Rinzai Lineage of the old, now banned, Dharma-shu and its Teacher Nonin (the fellow who never went to China himself, but had his students bring back a Rinzai Lineage indirectly from a Master in China). So, Keizan may have wanted to claim some Rinzai inheritance for himself to somehow validate the Nonin claim. Keizan writes this [Tanahashi]:

Thus, at age eighteen, on the twenty-fifth day, the eighth month, the fifth year of the Kampo Era [1217], Dogen joined the assembly of Priest Myozen, Bishop Eisai’s successor at the Kennin Monastery. Earlier, when Bishop Eisai had been teaching, he had allowed students to wear a priest’s robe only after three years of study. However, when Dogen joined, Myozen allowed Dogen to wear a priest’s robe in the ninth month, and then he allowed Dogen to wear a great robe in the eleventh month, regarding him a vessel of dharma. Myozen was the only dharma heir of Eisai, receiving the transmission of the three teachings—Exoteric, Esoteric, and Buddha Heart (Zen) teachings. According to a record in the Kennin Monastery, Eisai said, “I entrust the treasury of dharma to Myozen alone. Those who want to inquire of my dharma should see Myozen. Dogen entered Myozen’s inner chamber and received the bodhi-sattva precepts again, as well as the robe and eating bowl. Earlier, Dogen had mastered the Esoteric rites for one hundred thirty-four deities and the transmission of the fire ceremonies [of the Tani Sect of Esoteric Buddhism]. He had also studied the precepts as well as shamatha and vipashyana. Now he heard the teaching of the Rinzai School for the first time and received an authentic transmission of Exoteric, Esoteric, and Buddha Mind teachings. Thus, Dogen became the sole successor of Myozen (SZTP Version: He alone was the legitimate heir of Myōzen - 獨り明全の嫡嗣たり). Seven years later, at age twenty-four, on the twenty-second day, the second month, the second year of the Teio Era [1223], Dogen bade farewell to Eisai’s tomb at the Kennin Monastery. He went to China and hung his traveling stick at the Tiantong Monastery.

Not 100% clear, but sounds like Dharma Transmission.

Prof. Bodiford's article, which Kokuu mentions, is actually ambiguous on the topic:

Thirty-five years before Dogen traveled to China, a Japanese monk named Nonin (fl. 1189) already was teaching Zen in Japan. Nonin had never been to China, but he had received a mail-order (yofu) dharma transmission from the Chinese teacher Fozhao Deguang (Bussho Tokko; 1121–1203). Nonin then bestowed dharma transmission on Ekan (d. 1251), who in turn bestowed dharma transmission on [Keizan's Teacher] Gikai (1219-1309). Afterward, Ekan and Gikai (along with Ekan’s other disciples) joined Dogen’s community in 1241. According to Gikai’s writings, Dogen told Gikai that his dharma lineage—from Deguang to Nonin to Ekan to Gikai—was a legitimate lineage and that Gikai had been most fortunate to receive dharma transmission. Dogen himself had two Zen teachers. First he studied under Myozen (1184–1225), who had inherited a Zen lineage from Eisai (1141–1215). After Myozen died, then Dogen studied under Rujing (1163–1227). Modern biographies always note that Dogen succeeded to Rujing’s Soto lineage. Biographies written during the medieval period also state that Dogen had inherited a dharma lineage from Myozen. The actual facts of the matter are not clear. Nonetheless, it is certain that at least some members of the early Soto community believed that Dogen had inherited two dharma lineages, one from Myozen and a second one from Rujing.

In sections of Shobogenzo where Dogen could mention this, he does not. For example, in the section entitled "Buddha Ancestors" (Bussho), he only lists the Ancestors through Bodhidharma, Hui-neng, to Rujing, stating:

I saw Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha Tiantong, at the time of summer practice period in the first year of the Baoqing Era [1227] of Great Song, and with a formal bow completed receiving these buddha ancestors. This can only occur between a buddha and a buddha.

Shobogenzo "Buddha Nature" (Bussho) states only (the parenthesis are in Dogen's Japanese original):

[T]he lion roar of our great teacher Shakyamuni turning the wheel of dharma, it is the top of the head and the eyeball of all buddhas and ancestors. It has been practiced for two thousand one hundred nineteen years (up to this day, the second year of the Ninji Era of Japan). It has been maintained by more than fifty generations of authentic heirs (up to Rujing, my late master, Priest Tiantong)—twenty-eight generations in India and twenty-three generations in China. Buddha ancestors of the ten directions have also maintained it. ...

In "Face-to-Face Transmission" ("Menju") Dogen only says:

[The treasury of the true dharma eye] was authentically transmitted through the Seven Original Buddhas to Mahakashyapa. From Mahakashyapa there were twenty-eight transmissions up to and including Bodhidharma. Venerable Bodhidharma himself went to China and gave face-to-face transmission to Huike, Great Master Zhengzong Pujue. There were five transmissions through to Huineng, Great Master Dajian of Mount Caoxi. Then there were seventeen transmissions through Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha Tiantong of the renowned Mount Taibai, Qingyuan Prefecture, Great Song. I first offered incense and bowed formally to Rujing in the abbot’s room —Wondrous Light Terrace—on the first day, the fifth month, of the first year of the Baoqing Era of Great Song [1225]. He also saw me for the first time. Upon this occasion he transmitted dharma to me, finger to finger, face to face, and said, “The dharma gate of face-to-face transmission from buddha to buddha, ancestor to ancestor, is actualized now.”

No mention of Myozen or any other Transmission. There are many other sections like this.

Our Bloodline Chart (Kechimyaku 血脈) at Treeleaf, used for Jukai, Priest Ordinations and Dharma Transmission, shows a double line from Huineng, respectively through Myozen and Jujing, back to Dogen. The Bloodline Chart I received from my Teacher, Nishijima, does the same. However, a separate document, the actual "Dharma Transmission" Document (Shisho 嗣書), which I received from Nishijima, based on my viewing of the document he received from his teacher, Niwa Zenji, Abbot of Eiheiji, and which I pass on to my Dharma Heirs, has only the Jujing Lineage. No mention of Myozen and his Lineage there. So, it is ambiguous even in the documents we receive.

Gassho, Jundo

stlah

[aprapti]

What got me on this question recently is my reading of"Meeting the True Dragon" by Daniel Gallagher in which he says:
"Dogen studied for many years at Kenninji with his teacher, Butsuju Myozen (1184-1225), from whom he received Rinzai transmission in the Oryu lineage."

Gallagher quotes Tanahashi and Loori, in their book of Dogen koan, but they do not give a source for this statement.

aprapti


sat

[Guest]

Gallagher quotes Tanahashi and Loori, in their book of Dogen koan, but they do not give a source for this statement.

aprapti


sat

Ah, thank you for this. I saw the reference, but do not have this particular Tanahashi and Loori book.

Gassho,

Daiman

st/lah

[Guest]

Jundo,

Great summary of this. I appreciate light being shed on this issue.

Gassho,

Daiman
st/lah

[Jundo]

Sorry, I had left a couple of sentences out of the Bendowa quote. So, Dogen talks about his relationship with Myozen, whom he he praises in the highest terms, but in the immediately next sentence, says that he (Dogen) then went to China where he met Rujing, there completed his "life's quest of the great matter," and received Dharma Transmission.

After the aspiration for enlightenment arose, I began to search for dharma, visiting teachers at various places in our country. Then I met priest Myozen, of the Kennin Monastery, with whom I trained for nine years, and thus I learned a little about the teaching of the Rinzai School. Priest Myozen alone, as a senior disciple, authentically received transmission of the unsurpassable buddha dharma from Eisai; no one can be compared with Myozen.

Later I went to Great Song China, visited masters on both sides of the Zhe River, and heard the teachings of the Five Gates. Finally, I became a student of Zen master Rujing of Taibo Peak, and completed my life’s quest of the great matter. (つひに大白峰の淨禪師に參じて、一生參學の大事ここにをはりぬ) Then, at the beginning of Shaoding Era [1228 – 1233 CE] of Great Song, I came back to Japan with the vision of spreading the teaching and saving sentient beings—a heavy burden on my shoulders. ...

The Late, Great Daido Loori Roshi, and many folks from mixed the mixed Rinzai-Soto traditions of the Yasutani-Maezumi-Sambokyodan Lineage, like to emphasize this possible mixed Rinzai-Soto Lineage for Dogen, but there is just little evidence from Dogen's own descriptions. I am not sure what Tanahashi bases any such claim on. It could be based on those biographies of Dogen written after his death.

There is one other reference to Myozen that is interesting, in Zuimonki 5-12. There, Dogen refers to Myozen as "my late teacher"

Dogen instructed, When my late teacher Myozen was about to go to China, his former teacher (in the Tendai school) Myoyu Ajari, who was living on Mt. Hiei, become seriously ill, and was about to die. ...

Again, it is clear that there was a teacher-student relationship between Myozen and Dogen, and that Dogen respected and adored Myozen very much, but no particular mention of formal Dharma Tranmission made by Dogen.

So, it remains a muddle. Does it matter? Not so much. Either one or two Lineages, not one not two.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Guest]

Sorry, I had left a couple of sentences out of the Bendowa quote. So, Dogen talks about his relationship with Myozen, whom he he praises in the highest terms, but in the immediately next sentence, says that he (Dogen) then went to China where he met Rujing, complete his "life's quest of the great matter, and received Dharma Transmission.



The Late, Great Daido Loori Roshi, and many folks from mixed the mixed Rinzai-Soto traditions of the Yasutani-Maezumi-Sambokyodan Lineage, like to emphasize this possible mixed Rinzai-Soto Lineage for Dogen, but there is just little evidence from Dogen's own descriptions. I am not sure what Tanahashi bases any such claim on. It could be based on those biographies of Dogen written after his death.

There is one other reference to Myozen that is interesting, in Zuimonki 5-12. There, Dogen refers to Myozen as "my late teacher"



Again, it is clear that there was a teacher-student relationship between Myozen and Dogen, and that Dogen respected and adored Myozen very much, but no particular mention of formal Dharma Tranmission made by Dogen.

So, it remains a muddle. Does it matter? Not so much. Either one or two Lineages, not one not two.

Gassho, J

stlah

Jundo, This is great. I would never have given it much thought, but when reading Gallagher's book, I was quite surprised to see that since almost everything else I have read concerning Dogen, I never came across it before. Indeed it does not matter one way or the other, but I guess I take some joy in knowing that solving koans and that kind of approach in Rinzai was not complete for Dogen and was able to find it in Shikantaza. My experience is similar. The Korean tradition I had studied in was heavily influenced by the Lin Chi School in China. Many years practicing within that tradition and I found that Skikantaza has been the one thing that resonated most deeply in my practice. Not that both cannot lead to the same place, but at least for me the simple and profound act of Shikantaza seems to hit the bulls eye.

Gassho,

Daiman
St/Lah