| Harada Daiun Sogaku | |
|---|---|
| Religion | Zen Buddhism |
| School | Sōtō |
| Personal | |
| Born | October 13, 1871 Obama, Japan |
| Died | December 12, 1961 (aged 90) |
| Senior posting | |
| Title | Rōshi |
| Successor | Hakuun Yasutani |
Daiun Sogaku Harada Rōshi (October 13, 1871 - December 12, 1961) was a Sōtō Zen monk who trained under both Soto and Rinzai teachers and became known for his teaching combining methods from both schools.
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Born in an area known today as Obama, Fukui Prefecture, he entered a Sōtō temple as a novice at age 7 and continued training in temples during his primary and high school years. At age 20 he entered Shogen-ji, a well-known Rinzai monastery; it is reported that he experienced kensho after two and one-half years there. In 1901 he graduated from Komazawa University (then Sōtō-shu Daigakurin), the Sōtō university. He eventually studied under various Sōtō and Rinzai masters such as Harada Sodo Kakusho,[1] Oka Sotan, Akino Kodo, Adachi Tatsujun, Hoshimi Tenkai, Unmuken Taigi Sogon, and Kogenshitsu Dokutan Sosan. From the years of 1911 to 1923, Harada held a professor position at Soto-shu Daigakurin. A very strict disciplinarian, he served as abbot at various Sōtō temples throughout Japan: Hosshin-ji, Chisai-in , Ankoku-ji, Hoonji, and Chigenji. Until almost age 90, he conducted week-long sesshin at Hosshin-ji 6 times a year; he also held sesshin elsewhere.
Harada Roshi's teaching uniquely integrated Rinzai methods, namely the use of Kōan. He also departed from the Sōtō conventions of his day by training lay persons with monks rather than separately. His best-known heir was Hakuun Yasutani Rōshi, a Sōtō monk who he also trained in koan study. This led ultimately to the spread of combined Sōtō and Rinzai methods by the Sanbo Kyodan, a new Zen sect founded by Yasutani which became very influential in the West. Harada himself, however, remained within the Sōtō sect. Though it is often claimed in the West that he received Rinzai dharma transmission (inka shomei) from Dokutan Rōshi (and so passed on to his heirs a combined Sōtō/Rinzai lineage), this innaccuracy has been refuted by Taizan Maezumi Rōshi and others. Rather, Harada Rōshi may be viewed as an eclectically talented Sōtō teacher who did not abide by sectarian boundaries in regard to practice method.
Harada is among those in the Zen establishment who has been accused in recent works of abetting Japanese militarism during World War II. He is reported to have said in 1939, "[If ordered to] march: tramp tramp, or shoot: bang, bang. This is the manifestation of the highest Wisdom. The unity of Zen and war of which I speak extends to the farthest reaches of the holy war [the Japanese invasion of China]".[2]
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