Chiyono [Mugai Nyodai]

One evening, the nun Chiyono was fetching water in an old pail. The bucket, held together with bamboo which had weakened over time, split as she was carrying it, and the water spilled out. At that moment, she came to awakening. She commemorated the event with these lines:

In this way and that I tried to save the old pail

Since the bamboo strip was weakening and about to break

Until at last the bottom fell out.

No more water in the pail!

No more moon in the water!

Zen Masters of Japan: 77-79

Bukko Kokushi / Mugaku Sogen

Hojo Tokimune, the regent to the Shogun, heard a story about a Chinese Zen master whose temple had been raided by Mongol invaders intent on putting all the monks to death. The master remained calm in the face of the attack and asked the leader of the soldiers to allow him time to compose a poem to mark the occasion of his death. While the soldiers waited with drawn swords, he took up his calligraphy brush and wrote:

In all this world there is no place for me to lay down my staff 

Subject and object are totally empty! How delightful!

The great sword of a famous warrior of the past—

It is as if a spring breeze were split by a bolt of lightning.

Impressed by the equanimity with which the monk faced his impending death, the soldiers retreated without harming any of the members of the community.

The monk was Mugaku Sogen – better known by his posthumous name, Bukko Kokushi – and Hojo Tokimune brought him to Japan from China to be his own teacher.

Zen Masters of Japan: 74-77

The Story of Zen: 178-79

Koun Ejo

Dogen’ successor in Soto Zen came to the practice after involvement with other forms of Buddhism. In 1218, at the age of 20, Koun Ejo received the precepts from Master Enno of the Yokawa Tendai temple on Mount Hiei. He also studied the Shingon tradition. The monks on Mount Hiei lived comfortably and were held in high esteem. There was a hierarchy within which the monks sought to rise, accumulating social status as they did so. Ejo found himself gaining stature in this milieu and did not question it until he was challenged by his mother. She asked him pointedly: “Did you become a monk in order to be able to hobnob with the well-to-do? That’s not why I supported your desire to enter the monastery. You should not pursue these studies for the wealth or status they can bring you. My desire is that you commit yourself sincerely, practicing in poverty, without worldly ambition.”

Ejo realized he had strayed from his original intentions. He left Mount Hiei, sought out Dogen, and took up Zen practice.

Zen Masters of Japan: 54, 63-67

The Story of Zen: 175

Dogen Kigen

When a group of his students asked the aged and venerable Zen master Dogen Kigen to tell them something about his life, he is reputed to have said, “Just one mistake after another.”

Zen Masters of Japan: 45-58, 64, 102

The Story of Zen: 9, 170-78, 184, 185, 188, 267, 269, 273, 274, 279, 341, 386, 412, 416, 417, 442

Ryonen Myozen

Ryonen Myozen had been a student of Tendai Buddhism before he came to work with Myoan Eisai and eventually became one of his heirs. In 1223, Myozen planned to travel to China with several of his own students. Before they left however, Myozen received word that his Tendai teacher was dying and had requested his former student come to see him one last time. Uncertain where his obligation lay, Myozen called his monks together and put the situation to them. Should he proceed to China to deepen his Zen practice or should he honor the debt he owed his teacher and go to his bedside? The majority of Myozen’s students felt that the master’s obligation to his teacher took priority and urged him to delay his trip to China. Only one student dissented, but his argument convinced Myozen to proceed with the trip. Myozen explained that the most efficacious way to discharge his debt to all of his teachers would be to achieve awakening for the benefit of others. He stated, “If I acquire even a trace of enlightenment, it will serve to awaken many people.”

The student whose argument convinced Ryonen to proceed to China and accompanied him there was Dogen Kigen.

Zen Masters of Japan: 42-43

The Story of Zen: 171-73

Myoan Eisai

 

Myoan Eisai brought Rinzai Zen to Japan and established a temple in Kamakura. In contrast to the luxury of other Buddhists temples in the area, Eisai’s was relatively poor. At one point, his monks had nothing to eat for several days. Then a Buddhist devotee came to the temple and asked that the monks chant sutras on his behalf. In payment for this service, he presented Eisai with two rolls of silk. The monks were elated, confident that the silk would be sold and the money used to resupply their larder. However, when a beggar came seeking alms, Eisai gave him the rolls of silk. The monks were disappointed but, seeing that the master was eating no better than they were, kept their anger in check.

Then a second beggar came to the monastery. Because there was nothing else to offer, Eisai had the gold leaf stripped from the Buddha image and presented to the man. This time the monks, already irritable from hunger, protested what they considered an act of sacrilege. Eisai countered by telling them, “You’re familiar with the stories told of the Buddha’s prior lives before being born as Siddhartha Gautama. And you remember how time and again he gave up his life in order to help others. If he was so willing to do that, how can you imagine that he would object to giving up his halo for this man?”

Zen Masters of Japan: 36-42, 47

The Story of Zen: 171, 178-79

Kakua

Kakua was one of the earliest Japanese to travel to China in order to study Zen. When he returned to his homeland, the Emperor ordered him to come to the court and explain what wisdom he had acquired from his study. Standing before the emperor and his retinue, Kakua brought out a flute from the sleeve of his robe, blew a single note on it, then bowed and left the palace.

Zen Masters of Japan: 28

The Story of Zen: 165