Egoku Dōmyō

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Egoku Dōmyō ( Japanese 慧 極 道 明 ; * 1632 in the Japanese province of Nagato ; † 1721 ) was a monk and an early Japanese convert to Ōbaku-shū of Japanese Zen Buddhism, who helped to build up the young organization.

Life path

Egoku Dōmyō was born the fifth son of the Oda family, vassals of the daimyō of the Chōshū - han . His mother died when he was young, which is why he was raised by an uncle. When he was nine years old, he was placed in a small temple belonging to the Rinzai-shu . There he took the tonsure at the age of 17.

When he learned in 1650 that Yeh-lan , a Dharma descendant of the Chinese Zen master Yin-Yüan , wanted to come to Japan, he set off with Jikuin on the way to Nagasaki . On the way they met Tao-che ( 道 者 ; Japanese Dōsha Chōgen ) in a rest house . Egoku followed this to his temple Sofuku-ji . After three years he left the temple to go hiking. The reason was that he had heard a patron ( danochi ) say that the monks were effeminate because, true to Chinese practice, they ate a third - "medicinal" - meal in the afternoon. From 1658 he went to the seclusion of a hermitage for six years.

Tao-che requested on his deathbed in 1662 that his disciples go to Yin-yüan for instruction. Egoku and 20 others paid their respects to the teacher who has meanwhile been established in Mampuku-ji . Egoku was ordained again in 1665 in the Ōbaku style and stayed for several years in their main temple, where he was also taught by Chi-fei .

From Mu-an he received inka ( 印 可 ) in 1671 . He used him in 1674 as his second Dharma successor, after Tetsugyū Dōki . He dedicated himself for years to the establishment or restoration of temples, a total of 12 lead him as the founder, including his main temple, the Daihō-san Hōun-ji ( 大 宝山 法 雲 寺 ) in the Kawachi province . He was then from 1687 abbot of Zuishō-ji . He held the largest ordination ceremony to date ( sandan kaie ) in 1691 , when around 2000 people took the various vows.

The 42 Dharma heirs appointed by him and their successors formed the Shōrige line within the Ōbaku.

Literature and Sources

  • Helen Baroni: Obaku Zen. The Emergence of the Third Sect of Zen in Tokugawa Japan . University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu 2000, ISBN 0-8248-2195-5
  • Masafumi Rinoie: Ōbaku sanketsu Egoku Dōmyō Zenji den . Tokyo 1981

Remarks

  1. ↑ Such was then a reproach often voiced by dogmatists of the Rinzai. the practitioners of Ōbaku.
  2. ↑ according to Obakushū matujichō shūsei
personal data
SURNAME Egoku, Dōmyō
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 慧 極 道 明 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Zen monk and early Japanese convert to Ōbaku-shū
DATE OF BIRTH 1632
PLACE OF BIRTH Nagato Province , Japan
DATE OF DEATH 1721