Shosan Suzuki

Shosan Suzuki

Infobox Buddhist biography
name = Shōsan Suzuki


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birth_date = birth date|1579|2|5
birth_place = Japan
death_date = death date and age|1655|7|28|1579|2|5
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denomination = Zen Buddhism
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title = Samurai
Zen monk
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Shōsan Suzuki (鈴木正三)(February 51579-July 28, 1655), or Suzuki Shōsan, was a Japanese samurai who served under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Shōsan was born in modern-day Aichi Prefecture of Japan. He participated in the Battle of Sekigahara and the Battle of Osaka before renouncing life as a warrior and becoming a Zen Buddhist monk in 1621.

Shōsan traveled throughout Japan seeking out Zen masters and trained in several hermitages and temples, most notably at Myōshin-ji in Kyoto training under Gudō Toshoku (1577-1661). In 1636 Shōsan created a Zen booklet entitled "Fumoto no Kusawake" (or, "Parting the Grasses at the Foot of the Mountain").

Shōsan trained under a Zen master we know little about, Daigu Sochiku, who allowed Shōsan to keep his original name. Shōsan never actually received "inka" but was one of many in the Tokugawa period to claim Jigo jisho or "self-enlightenment without a teacher." He was a Zen Master who amassed a large following. In 1642, Shōsan, along with his brother, built 32 Buddhist temples in Japan. One was a Pure Land Buddhist temple in which he honoured the Shoguns Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Hidetada. Shōsan went on to write several treatises before his death in 1655 at 76 years old.

Works

* "Banmin tokuyo" ("Right Action for All"), 1661
* "Ninin bikuni" ("Two Nuns"), 1664
* "Ha Kirishitan ("Crush Christianity"), 1642
* "Roankyo" ("Donkey Saddle Bridge"), 1648
* "Moanjo" ("A Safe Staff for the Blind"), 1619
* "Ha Kirishitan ("Crush Christianity"), official government printing 1616

Further reading

*"Warrior of Zen: The Diamond-Hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan" by Arthur Braverman


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