Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1998 25/1-2 “A Lineage of Dullards” Zen Master Toju Reiso and His Associates

This study concentrates on the relatively unknown Rinzai Mino line to illustrate the liveliness of Rinzai Zen practice in Meiji Japan. Even as struggles over the precepts and politics were being waged within the Zen denominations, some clerics attempted to carry on with their quest for awakening in relative isolation. Through a study of three monks, Toju Reiso, Tairyu Bun % and Seishu Shusetsu, strategies employed to preserve Rinzai Zen ̂ spiritual legacy in the face of the turmoil of Meiji are high lighted. This article illustrates how these monks did their best to continue their eremetic existence and to pick up the pieces left by the widespread destruction of Buddhist temples and monasteries in early Meiji Japan. Among those familiar w ith Japanese Rinzai Zen it is a well-known fact that the lineage of Hakuin Ekaku 白隱慧鶴（1686-1769)—the lineage to which all contemporary Rinzai Zen masters belong—presently con sists of two branches, the Inzan 隠、 山 branch and the Takuju 卓洲 branch. These were founded, respectively, by Inzan Ien 隱山惟琰 (1751-1814) and Takuju Kosen 卓洲胡傳（1760-1833)，two of the fore most disciples of Hakuin，s immediate successor Gasan Jito 峨山慈棹 (1727-1797). Less well known, however, is the subdivision of the Inzan line into two separate currents: that of Torin Somo 呆林宗 侯 (P-1837)1 and Settan Shohaku S 潭紹璞（1801-1873)，2 and that of Taigen Shigen This essay is a translation of Gudon no keifu: Toju Reiso to sono shuhen 愚鈍の系譜一 洞宗令聡とその周辺，published in Meiji no Zensho明治の禅匠，Zenbunka henshubu禅文化編集