Sanbō Zen三宝禅
- Origin
- Sōtō
- Founded
- 1954
- Founders
- Yasutani HakuunPhilip KapleauRobert Aitken
- Practice
- Koan study and shikantaza, for lay practitioners.
A lay-oriented Zen organisation founded by Yasutani Hakuun in 1954, independent of the Sōtō institution. It combines Sōtō shikantaza with Rinzai-style koan study. By 1989, 21 non-Japanese disciples had finished its formal course.
In time
Edo Japan
Modern
Sanbō Zen
Yasutani Hakuun1885–1973
Yamada Kōun1907–1989
Philip Kapleau1912–2004
Robert Aitken1917–2010
People counted in Sanbō Zen, by lifespan. A dot: only the year of death is known.
Ancestors
Key texts
The Three Pillars of Zen
Compiled and edited by Philip Kapleau and first published by Weatherhill in Tokyo in 1965. It presents the teaching of Yasutani Hakuun, eight accounts of kenshō, and Kapleau’s own account of his training under Harada and Yasutani.
Zen: The Authentic Gate
A book by Yamada Kōun, published in English by Wisdom Publications in 2015, after his death in 1989.
Teachers today
Living teachers are not yet listed. See Teachers for the criteria.
Sources
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