| The Five Houses |
| Caodong / Sōtō Linji / Rinzai Fayan / Hōgen Guiyang / Igyō Yunmen / Unmon |
| Doctrine and practice |
| Buddha-nature Dharma transmission Enlightenment Group meditation Kōan practice Samādhi Sitting meditation |
| Principal texts |
| Diamond Sūtra Heart Sūtra Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra Platform Sūtra Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Kōan collections) |
| Mahāyāna Buddhism Outline of Buddhism (Category) |
Shihō (嗣法) refers to a series of ceremonies in Sōtō Zen Buddhism wherein which a priest receives full transmission, inheriting the Dharma from his/her master and becoming empowered to transmit the precepts and lineage to others. A shiho ceremony can last anywhere from one to three weeks, with the final ceremony consisting of two specific segments. The first is transmission of the precepts from master to disciple, known as denkai, where the master confirms that the student is actualizing the precepts in his/her day to day life.[1] In this ceremony the student "...become[s] the blood of the Buddha."[2] The second, denpo, is the Dharma transmission ceremony where the student inherits the Dharma and is empowered to transmit the lineage.[3] In the denpo ceremony, the student becomes an ancestor of the tradition and receives a robe and bowl, among other objects.[2] Also during the denpo ceremony the student receives a Shoshike certificate (which grants the power to perform Jukai) and also the documents known as the "three regalia of transmission": shisho (inheritance certificate), odaiji (a diagram symbolizing the Great Matter) and shoden kechimyaku (bloodline of Dharma transmission). The Sōtō school also confers inka shōmyō (or inshō) upon students—meaning "'[granting] the seal of approval to a realization of enlightenment'"[4]—and the student must undergo a shiho ceremony to receive Dharma transmission.[5] Following completion of these ceremonies the teacher becomes independent.[6][7]
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