Sawaki Kodo
| Kodo Sawaki | |
|---|---|
| School | Sōtō |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Born |
June 16, 1880 Tsu, Mie, Japan |
| Died | December 21, 1965 (aged 85) Antai-ji, Kyoto |
| Senior posting | |
| Title | Rōshi |
| Successor | Kosho Uchiyama |
Kodo Sawaki (沢木 興道 Sawaki Kōdō?, June 16, 1880 - December 21, 1965) was a prominent Japanese Sōtō Zen teacher of the 20th century. He is considered to be one of the most significant Zen priests of his time for bringing Zen practice into the lives of laypeople and popularizing the ancient tradition of sewing the kesa. Peter Sloterdijk has called him "one of the most striking Zen masters of recent times."
Sawaki was born in Tsu, Mie on June 16, 1880. He was the sixth child and both his parents died when he was young, his mother when he was four and his father three years later. Sawaki was then was adopted by an aunt whose husband soon died. After this, Sawaki was raised by a gambler and lantern maker named Bunkichi Sawaki.
When he was 16, he ran away from home to become a monk at Eihei-ji, one of the two head temples of the Sōtō Zen sect, and later traveled to Soshin-ji where he was ordained in 1899 by Koho Sawada. However, he was drafted to serve in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 to minister to the wounded.
After being discharged in 1906, Sawaki became head student at Soshin-ji. He received dharma transmission later that year from Zenko Sawada. He then studied Shin Buddhism in Takada for two years. From there, Sawaki traveled to Hōryū-ji to study Yogacara with Join Saeki. At this point, Sawaki began studying Dogen and practicing zazen. Sawaki spent a three-month practice period studying Dogen with Oka Sotan.
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