Sanbo Kyodan Zen: The heritage of Western Zen
I would now like to draw the reader's attention to the subject of Zen as presented
in Tricyle which tends, in my opinion, to reflect Zen's most popular form in America,
namely, "Sanbo Kyodan Zen" (hereafter, SKZ). For the sake of brevity, I will
present a brief historical sketch of SKZ then conclude by making a few comments on
SKZ's relationship with the spirit of traditional Chinese Zen.
Sanbo Kyodan (Three Treasures Association) is a contemporary lay Zen organization which
was formally established by Yasutani Hakuun Roshi (1885-1973) in 1954. Based on the
teachings of Harada Daiun (1871-1961), who, by the way, was Yasutani's teacher,
the SKZ project of Yasutani established a new kind of Japanese Zen which was a synthesis
of Soto and Rinzai Zen, utilizing what he believed to the best elements of each school.
Owing to the dynamic vision and leadership of Yasutani, SKZ sidestepped the elder Japanese
Zen institutions of Soto, Rinzai, and Obaku which in Yasutani's opinion were
degenerate, being little more than religious guilds designed to promote and preserve their
own special interests. As a result of Yasutani's efforts, SKZ became an organization
open to the public in which anyone could participate and straightaway involve themselves
in Zen's mystical pursuit of truth. Indeed, this was a great advance for Zen and
helped to popularize it.
Without the need to perpetuate a "clergy", SKZ directed its attention, instead,
towards the process of gaining kensho (understanding) of one's true nature. Of
especial note, Harada and Yasutani were geniuses in developing the SKZ system in which the
zenic experience of Kensho could be realized rapidly. Subsequently, SKZ proved to be
popular. Its brilliantly conceived pedagogical scheme offered anyone a chance to have an
authentic "insight" into their true nature. During SKZ practice, for example,
practitioners pushed themselves to attain a "first kensho" with the help of SKZ
teachers who were more like coaches. And if they were lucky and kenshoed their status in
SKZ immediately shot up as they were treated differently than the rest of the members who
had not attained kensho. Still, after this initial awakening, there were many more levels
of kensho and much koan work to ponder.
Looking at SKZ broadly, SKZ can be categorized as "New Religion" (J. shin
shukyo) which while not being strictly a "cult" in American terms, is not
traditional either. In this sense, SKZ represents more of a reform, at least a
strategy to popularize Zen. Interestingly, SKZ has no legal affiliation with either
Soto, Rinzai, or Obaku except perhaps a titular one as Yasutani gave up his legal
standing with Soto, having resigned it in protest. Strictly speaking, SKZ is its own
boy, so to speak, and to this day is every bit independent of Soto, Rinzai, and Obaku Zen institutions.
Key to understanding the influence of SKZ in America and Europe is Philip Kapleau's
book, The Three Pillars of Zen, first published in 1965. Not really a book about Japanese
Soto Zen or Rinzai Zen per se, rather it provides a glimpse into the inner workings of
SKZ's principles through which SKZ emerged to become the dominate Zen of the West. It
contains popular themes about Zen which have become the staple of present day Zennists.
Yet, it would be wrong to blindly accept the material contained in The Three Pillars of
Zen as being the heart of Zen, classical Chinese Zen, that is. There is much presented
in Kapleau's book which is more indicative of SKZ revisionism than Zen. For one
thing, SKZ does not handle koans in the traditional Chinese manner or the traditional
manner used in Rinzai Zen today. In The Three Pillars of Zen there is virtually no mention
of the Hua-t'ou exercise of Zen master Ta-hui except an offhand reference to
wato/hua-t'ou on page 336 which is left undefined. (Hua-t'ou means
"antecedent-to-word" and stands for Unborn Mind before the word is spoken.)
Contrasting this with Zen master Hsu Yuns treatment of the kung-an/koan exercise in
Charles Luk's book Ch'an And Zen Teaching (First Series), one quickly gets the
impression that there is a huge gap between the two methods. Ignored, too, in SKZ's
treatment of Zen, is Buddhism, itself, more specifically, Mahayana Buddhism. In The Three
Pillars of Zen Kapleau glosses that since "Zen is a special transmission outside the
scriptures" Sutras merely act "as a spur to full enlightenment" (p. 345)!
Given the fact that Bodhidharma, the First Chinese Patriarch, sealed his student's
kensho with the Lankāvatāra Sutra, it seems rather ironic for SKZ to regard Sutras as a
mere "spur". Without the Sutras, as Zen master Tsung-mi points out, there is no
criterion by which to check to see if ones enlightenment chimes with the
Buddha's. While it is propagandized into the public mind of contemporary Zen to
automatically disrate the Sutras, there can be no question that Sutra study is necessary
towards achieving a full understanding of Zen (see). Nevertheless, this anti-sutric attitude
prevails today and still serves to attact non-Buddhists to SKZ related teachings who
ignore the Buddha's discourses. In fact, under the tenure of Yamada-Roshi who became
Yasutani's successor, a number of Catholic priests and nuns joined SKZ and became
recognized. Yamada felt that kensho transcended religiosity, and to a certain extent
it does. But there is far more to Buddhism than kensho which its Sutras set out to
explain and which other religions cannot explain. Resource: Japanese Journal
of Religious Studies: Sanbokyodan - Zen and the way of New Religion (file in PDF
format) © 1994-1998 Dark Zen and The Zennist All rights reserved. T'ANG CH'AN AND THE MYTH OF BODHIDHARMA
Most tellingly, SKZ has made a huge impact on the American and European psyche. Propagated
by an active retinue of teachers they insure that Zen's hue is Sanbo Kyodan style
Zen. Impressive, the list of SKZ related teachers, most of whom are no longer associated
with the parent organization in Japan, reads like a Who's Who of American Zen
Buddhism. Under the leadership of Yasutani, we recognize such names as Philip Kapleau,
Robert Aitken, Maezumi, Joko Beck, Bernard Glassman, Peter Matthiessen, John Loori, Dennis Merzel, Ross Bolleter,
and John Tarrant. This partial list does not even include their successors!
Understandably, one can conclude from what has been presented thus far that Western Zen is
not balanced, as it is predominately SKZ. And that can lead to certain drawbacks. One in
particular is that the slant of Zen publications may be affected by editors who are
unknowingly sympathetic to SKZ related teachers and their SKZ teachings. Not a sinister
plot, however, intended to control the direction of Zen, nevertheless, there needs to be
some public recognition that Zen is not exclusively Sanbo Kyodan Zen. Nor does American
Zen require quasi-legal Zen Buddhist associations created by SKZ teachers which serve to
determine who is certified and who is not. Zen is quite free to stand on its own two feet
as everyone is free to judge for themselves the Zen they deem valuable. Indeed, this is
what Yasutani Hakuun would have wanted.
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YASUTANI HAKUUN ROSHI
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