Suzuki Shosan

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Suzuki Shosan (鈴木正三, 1579 - 1655) was a Japanese bushi who served under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Shosan was born in modern day Aichi Prefecture of Japan. He participated in the Battle of Sekigahara and the Battle of Osaka when, in 1621, he renounced life as a warrior and became a Zen Buddhist monk.

Shosan travelled throughout Japan seeking out Zen masters and trained in several hermitages and temples, most notably at Myoshin-ji in Kyoto training under Gudou Tosyoku (1577-1661). In 1636 Shosan created a Zen booklet entitled Fumoto no Kusawake (or, Parting the Grasses at the Foot of the Mountain).

Shosan trained under a Zen master we know little about, Daigu Sochiku, whom allowed Shosan to keep his original name. It is unclear who gave Shosan inka, but it is widely accepted that he was a Zen Master that amassed a large following. In 1642, Shosan along with his brother, built 32 Buddhist temples in Japan. One was a Pure Land Buddhist temple in which he honored the shoguns Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Hidetada. Shosan went on to write several other treatises before his death in 1655 at 76 years old.

[edit] Works

• Banmin tokuyo ("Right Action for All"), 1661
• Ninin bikuni ("Two Nuns"), 1664
• Roankyo ("Donkey Saddle Bridge"), 1648
• Moanjo ("A Safe Staff for the Blind"), 1619

[edit] Further reading

• Warrior of Zen: The Diamond-Hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan by Arthur Braverman