The Zen Record

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
1965Englishintroduction

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
published 2015Englishintroduction

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

  • Sanbôzen 三宝禅, Short History of the SANBÔZEN · link
  • Sanbōzen 三宝禅, Sanbōzen ryakureki 三宝禅略歴 (Short history of Sanbō Zen) · link
  • Robert H. Sharf, Sanbōkyōdan: Zen and the Way of the New Religions (1995) · link

Checked. Report an error.