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Sōtō Zen (Ch. Caodong), or the Sōtō school (曹洞宗 Sōtō-shū) is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.
The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century. Dōgen is remembered today as the co-patriarch of Sōtō Zen in Japan along with Keizan Jōkin.[1][2] One of the signature features of this school is found in its practice of shikantaza, a particular approach to zazen which is sometimes referred to as "just sitting" or "silent illumination".[3] Historically speaking, Sōtō Zen was often given the derogatory term "farmer Zen" because of its mass appeal, though some teachers of Zen would say that the reason why it was called "farmer Zen" was because of its down-to-earth approach, while the Rinzai school was often called "samurai Zen" because of the larger samurai following.[4][5] The latter term for the Rinzai can be somewhat misleading, however, as the Sōtō school also had samurai among its rosters.[6]
The two head temples or honzan (本山) of the Sōtō sect are Eihei-ji and Sōji-ji. While Eihei-ji owes its existence to Dōgen, throughout history this head temple has had significantly fewer sub-temple affiliates than the Sōji-ji. During the Tokugawa period, Eiheiji had approximately 1,300 affiliate temples compared to Sōji-ji's 16,200. Furthermore, out of the more than 14,000 temples of the Sōtō sect today, 13,850 of those identify themselves as affiliates of Sōji-ji. Additionally, most of the some 148 temples that are affiliates of Eiheiji today are only minor temples located in Hokkaido—founded during a period of colonization during the Meiji period. Therefore, it is often said that Eiheiji is a head temple only in the sense that it is "head of all Sōtō dharma lineages."[1]
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The early beginnings of the Sōtō sect in Japan are traced back to 1227, the date in which Dōgen returned to Japan after studying Ch'an in China and settled at Kennin-ji in Kyoto. In China Dōgen had received Dharma transmission from Tiantong Rujing at the same monastery that Hongzhi Zhengjue was once abbot—Hongzhi being an individual whose own writings on "silent illumination" had greatly influenced Dōgen's own conception of shikantaza.[7] The Eihei kōroku claims that, unlike many of the other Japanese monks who had also traveled to China during this period, Dōgen returned to Japan with no artifacts or texts from his journey. Instead, he came only with his own realization and physical body. This is untrue, however, as he did return with various koan anthologies and other papers; thus, Dōgen did contribute to the transmission of the koan tradition to Japan.[8] John Whitney Hall writes, "In the first works he wrote after his return to Japan, the Fukan zazengi (Principles for the universal promotion of zazen) and Bendōwa (Distinguishing the Way), he advocated zazen (seated meditation) as the supreme Buddhist practice for both monks and laypersons. This assertion of the primacy of Zen aroused the anger of the Enryaku-ji monks, who succeeded in driving Dōgen from the Kennin-ji where he had settled after his return to the capital."[9] Next, according to Philip B. Yampolsky, "Finding the atmosphere of Kyoto not conducive to his aims, Dōgen transferred his activities to the remote area of Fukui where he established a monastery in 1243. Here he devoted himself to the strict instruction of his disciples. But with the premature death of Dōgen the group lost its focus and internal conflicts led to a split. Dōgen's followers soon introduced such esoteric elements as prayers and incantations into the teaching. By the time of the Fourth Patriarch, Keizan Jōkin (1286—1325), Sōtō Zen was no longer centered in Fukai, but had begun to spread throughout the country."[10] The monastery in Fukui which Dōgen founded in 1243 (to which Yampolsky refers) is Eihei-ji, one of the two head temples of Sōtō-shū today.
Dōgen was succeeded in death by his disciple Koun Ejō, who like Dōgen believed in the primacy of Zen Buddhism and resisted efforts from outside to water down the tradition with other beliefs. The split which Yampolsky refers to occurred following the death of Ejō, a controversy called the sandai sōron, wherein the monk that would eventually be called Ejō's successor, Gikai, was actually exiled to Kaga province, Dajō-ji (in Ishikawa prefecture). The second most important figure in Sōtō, Keizan, belonged not to the Eihei-ji branch but to this dissident branch.[11] Keizan went on to found Yōko-ji in Ishikawa prefecture in 1312, and thereafter opened Sōji-ji. In another passage Bernard Faure writes, "According to tradition, in 1322 a decree from Emperor Go-Daigo, who had received from Keizan the Bodhisattva Precepts, made Sōji-ji into an officially recognized monastery. Two years later Keizan passed the direction of this monastery on to his disciple Gasan Jōseki while he himself went back to Yōkoji to spend his remaining days, according to the wish he had expressed in in the Record of Tōkoku."[12] Yōko-ji was Keizan's main temple, and, "despite Keizan's high hopes for Yōko-ji, it was another of his foundations, Sōji-ji, that would prosper after his death, thanks to Gasan Jōseki and his disciples. In spite of efforts at restoration undertaken at the end of the last century (efforts that still continue), Yōko-ji remains a barren spot."[13]
Even though Dōgen is today considered an original patriarch of the Sōtō sect, according to Charles S. Prebish and Steven Heine, "...for long periods he was regarded as no more important than several other ancestors, particularly fourth patriarch Keizan and Guin, the fifth patriarch of Dōgen's temple Eihei-ji, which often competed with the main temple founded by Keizan, Sōji-ji, originally situated in the Noto peninsula but relocated to Yokohama in 1898."[14] While Keizan is considered today to be an original patriarch (some sources say fourth patriarch) of the Sōtō sect along with Dōgen, in 1877 the heads of the Sōtō community acknowledged him for a brief period as the overall founder of the Sōtō sect. According to William M. Bodiford, "In 1877 the Sōtō hierarchy announced new dates based on the solar calendar for yearly rituals. The true significance of that announcement, however, went beyond the abandonment of the lunar calendar. For the first time memorial services for Keizan were included among the annual events observed at all Sōtō temples. Today that proclamation is said to mark the date when Keizan gained official recognition as the patriarch of the entire Japanese Sōtō school. Previously, the only Japanese patriarch common to all Sōtō factions had been Dōgen. Keizan, by contrast, was known not as a source of religious authority but as the founder of Sōji-ji, the head temple of the largest Sōtō faction."[15] According to an essay by Hisao Inagika, Dōgen had, "involved himself in what we may refer to as a lay movement in the early days of his missionary career in Kyōto, after his retreat to the Eiheiji Monastery in Fukui (and particularly in his later years at the Monastery), he seemingly preferred monastic discipline. It is precisely for this reason that today the Japanese Sōtō Zen cites two patriarchs, viz., Dōgen, who is referred to as the "kōso," and Keizan, who is referred to as the "taiso." Both terms mean the original patriarch, that is, the founder of Japanese Sōtō Zen tradition."[2]
Funerals continue to play an important role as a point of contact between the monks and the laity. Statistics published by the Sōtō school state that 80 percent of Sōtō laymen visit their temple only for reasons having to do with funerals and death, while only 17 percent visit for spiritual reasons and a mere 3 percent visit a Zen priest at a time of personal trouble or crisis.[16]
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The larger majority of North American Sōtō priests, although including Japanese nationals, mainly those of American and specifically European descent, joined together in 1996 to form the Soto Zen Buddhist Association. While institutionally independent of the Japanese Sōtōshū, the Sōtō Zen Buddhist Association works closely with what most members see as their parent organization. With about one hundred fully transmitted priests, the Sōtō Zen Buddhist Association now represents nearly all Japanese-derived Sōtō Zen lineages in North America.
Sōtō Zen, like all of Zen, relies on the Prajnaparamita Sutras, as well as general Mahayana Buddhist sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, the Brahma Net Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra. Zen is influenced in large part by the Yogacara school of philosophy as well as the Huayan school.
Shih-t'ou Hsi-ch'ien's (Shitou Xiqien, Sekito Kisen, 700–790) poem "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness" is an important early expression of Zen Buddhism and is chanted in Sōtō temples to this day. One of the poems of Tung-shan Liang-chieh, the founder of Sōtō, "The Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness" is also chanted in Sōtō temples. Another set of his poems on the Five Positions (Five Ranks) of Absolute and Relative is important as a set of koans in the Rinzai school. Other texts typically chanted in Sōtō Zen temples include the Heart Sutra (Hannyashingyō), and Dōgen's Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen). Dōgen's teaching is characterized by the identification of practice as enlightenment itself. This is to be found in the Shōbōgenzō.