IngenIngen Ryūki () (December 7, 1592 – May 19, 1673) was a Chinese poet, calligrapher, and monk of Linji Chan Buddhism from China. He is most known for founding the Ōbaku school of Zen in Japan. Ingen was born on December 7, 1592, in Fuqing, Fujian, during China's Ming dynasty. Ingen's father disappeared when he was five. At age 20, while searching for him, Ingen arrived at Mount Putuo off Zhejiang province, where he served tea to monks. At 28, after the death of his mother, he was ordained as a monk at his family temple - Wanfu Temple, Mount Huangbo, Fujian.
Tenryū-ji, formally known as Tenryū Shiseizen-ji, is the head temple of the Tenryū-ji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddha, and its first chief priest was Musō Soseki. Construction was completed in 1345. As a temple related to both the Ashikaga family and Emperor Go-Daigo, the temple is held in high esteem, and is ranked number one among Kyoto's so-called Five Mountains.
Nīlakaṇṭha DhāraṇīThe , also known as the , or Great Compassion Dhāraṇī / Mantra (Chinese: 大悲咒, Dàbēi zhòu; Japanese: 大悲心陀羅尼, Daihishin darani or 大悲呪, Daihi shu; Vietnamese: Chú đại bi or Đại bi tâm đà la ni; Korean: 신묘장구대다라니 (Hanja: 神妙章句大陀羅尼), Sinmyo janggu daedarani), is a Mahayana Buddhist dhāraṇī associated with the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The dhāraṇī is thought to have originally been a recitation of names and attributes of Harihara (a composite form of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva; Nīlakaṇṭha 'the blue-necked one' is a title of Shiva) said to have been recited by Avalokiteśvara, who was sometimes portrayed as introducing popular non-Buddhist deities (e.
Three teachingsIn Chinese philosophy, the three teachings (; tam giáo, Chữ Hán: 三教) are Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism considered as a harmonious aggregate. Literary references to the "three teachings" by prominent Chinese scholars date back to the 6th century. The term may also refer to a non-religious philosophy built on that aggregation. The phrase also appears as the three teachings harmonious as one (). In common understanding, three teachings harmonious as one simply reflects the long history, mutual influence, and (at times) complementary teachings of the three belief systems.
DōgenDōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism.
UposathaAn Uposatha (Upavasatha) day is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence since the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity.
Eihei-jiEihei-ji is one of two main temples of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, the largest single religious denomination in Japan (by number of temples in a single legal entity). Eihei-ji is located about east of Fukui in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In English, its name means "temple of eternal peace" (in Japanese, 'ei' means "eternal", 'hei' means "peaceful", and 'ji' means "Buddhist temple"). Its founder was Eihei Dōgen who brought Sōtō Zen from China to Japan during the 13th century.
Kennin-jiis a historic Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and head temple of its associated branch of Rinzai Buddhism. It is considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto Gozan or "five most important Zen temples of Kyoto". Kennin-ji was founded in 1202 CE and claims to be the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. The monk Eisai, credited with introducing Zen to Japan, served as Kennin-ji's founding abbot and is buried on the temple grounds. For its first years the temple combined Zen, Tendai, and Shingon practices, but it became a purely Zen institution under the eleventh abbot, Lanxi Daolong (1213–1278).
ZafuA zafu (座蒲, d͡zaɸɯ) or putuan (, pronounced pu2.tuan2) is a round cushion. Although also a utilitarian accessory, it is best known for its use in zazen Zen meditation. Although zafu is often translated as "sewn seat" in American English, the meaning of the Japanese kanji, 座蒲, is different. Za (座) means "seat", and fu (蒲) means reedmace (cattail, Typha spp.). A zafu is a seat stuffed with the fluffy, soft, downy fibres of the disintegrating reedmace seed heads.
Su ShiSu Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of the Song era, at times holding high-level political positions, Su Shi was also an important figure in Song Dynasty politics, aligning himself with Sima Guang and others, against the New Policy party led by Wang Anshi, gaining some level of popular support through his actions, and also sometimes experiencing politically motivated reversals to his government career.
