Soto Reform Movement

[chicanobudista]

Reading the always good blog, "Monkey Mind", by James Ford, came into one of his latest postings:

http://monkeymindonline.blogspot.com/20 ... dhism.html

People in my circles often think of Brad Warner as a Buddhist radical. Actually beyond his being a bit in your face, and willing to talk about sex and rock and roll (and the occasional monster movie), he's a remarkably conservative advocate of the "shikantaza only" Soto reform movement established by Kodo Sawaki Roshi.

Is there reading material that can give me more historical context to this?

[Jundo]

Re: Soto Reform Movement

Reading the always good blog, "Monkey Mind", by James Ford, came into one of his latest postings:

http://monkeymindonline.blogspot.com/20 ... dhism.html

People in my circles often think of Brad Warner as a Buddhist radical. Actually beyond his being a bit in your face, and willing to talk about sex and rock and roll (and the occasional monster movie), he's a remarkably conservative advocate of the "shikantaza only" Soto reform movement established by Kodo Sawaki Roshi.

Is there reading material that can give me more historical context to this?

Hmmm ... Well, there are many folks in the "Get back to Zazen, Get away from just doing Funerals" wing of Soto-shu (meaning, a return to placing Zazen at the center of Zen practice, and getting away from the fact that most Zen clergy in Japan, Soto or Rinzai, devote most of their time just to performing funeral and memorial services for temple parish members. The vast majority of Zen priests do not even sit much Zazen themselves once they leave the training monastery). Kodo Sawaki Roshi, Uchiyama Roshi, Nishijima Roshi, many many voices in Japan and outside.

This is probably the best book on Sawaki and Uchiyama Roshis, and some of the other folks around Antai-ji (maybe we could call it Anti-ji) 8)

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Dying-Zaze ... 987&sr=8-2

This is also a very good book I mentioned elsewhere today on changes as "Buddhism has come West" ... not just about Soto.

http://atheism.about.com/library/books/ ... anChat.htm

Gassho, J

[will]

Re: Soto Reform Movement

Basically Kodo said this (And I could be absolutely wrong). "We some more Zazen in this place here."


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