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Hakuun Yasutani, Roshi

Yatsutani Roshi

1885-1973

Yatsutani Roshi was ordained at age five and trained as a Soto Zen priest. At thirty he married, had a family of five children and worked as an elementary school teacher and principal. At age forty he resumed his vocation as a Buddhist priest. Deeply dissatisfied with his own understanding of the dharma, he began training under the Rinzai master Daiun Sogaku Harada Roshi, from whom he received Dharma transmission eighteen years later at age 58. For thirty more years he taught tirelessly, always emphasizing the importance of kensho, seeing directly into one's own true nature. His many students included Robert Aitken Roshi and Philip Kapleau Roshi. Two of his Dharma successors were Yamada Roshi and Maezumi Roshi. Read more...

©2006 Zen Community of Oregon
Updated: January 11, 2007
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Chozen and Hogen Bays Shodo Harada Roshi January 11, 2007