Dainin Katagiri

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Dainin Katagiri (1928-1990) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher in the Soto lineage and a notable figure involved in the 1960s transmission of Zen from Japan to America. He is best known for being the first abbot of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. Many of his students have gone on to be influential Western Buddhist leaders.

[edit] Biography

Katagiri was born in Osaka, Japan. He trained at Eiheiji monastery for three years under Eko Hashimoto. In 1963, he came to the United States to serve as a priest at the Zenshuji Soto Mission in Los Angeles, and later moved to San Francisco Zen Center, where he helped Shunryu Suzuki.

In 1972, Katagiri became first Abbot of the Minnesota Zen Center. He would also come to oversee the development of Hokyoji, a retreat grounds in southeastern Minnesota. In 1984, following the removal of Suzuki's successor, Richard Baker from the abbacy of the San Francisco Zen Center, Katagiri served as acting abbot. In 1986, Reb Anderson became abbot of SFZC and Katagiri returned to Minnesota, where he remained until his death in 1990.

Rev. Katagiri authored Returning to Silence, published by Shambhala Publications in 1988, which emphasized the need to return to our original, enlightened state of being. He authored a second book entitled You Have to Say Something which was published posthumously by Random House in 1998. This book contained selections from his various talks (edited by Steve Hagen) that focused on how to bring Zen insights to bear in our daily lives.

[edit] Quotes

• "The important point of spiritual practice is not to try to escape your life, but to face it - exactly and completely."

• "Do not use Buddhism for yourself. Offer your body and mind to the Buddha-dharma. Buddha is not divine. Buddha is your daily life."

• "If you study Buddhism thinking that it will help you, that means that you use Buddhism for your ego, for selfishness. No matter how long you do this, it is egocentric practice. If you continue to practice like this you will never be satisfied, because desire is endless."