Kodo Sawaki (nicknamed “Kodo the Homeless”) – is regarded by many as the greatest Zen Master of the twentieth-century.
Kodo Sawaki Roshi (1880-1965 CE), also known as Homeless Kodo, was a prominent Japanese Soto Zen teacher and is considered to be one of the most significant Zen priests of his time. In this case, the teacher he was referring to was Sawaki Kodo Roshi – he was a really great teacher. But Uchiyama Roshi practiced very closely with Sawaki Roshi for twenty-five years, until his death, so he knew Sawaki Roshi was not a special person, but an ordinary human being. 825 likes 60 talking about this. 'Yadonashi Kōdō Hokkusan' ('The Dharma of Homeless Kodo'), published in 1972 - a collection of Dharma words by Sawaki Kodo with commentaries by Uchiyama Kosho. This book was translated by Ichida Koshi into English and published together with 'On Sawaki Kodo Roshi's Zazen' (translated by Okumura Shohaku) as 'The Zen Teaching of 'Homeless' Kodo' (Tokyo: Sotoshu Shumucho, 1996). “”The life and writings of Kodo Sawaki receive a thorough introduction and translation from scholar Braverman in this collection. Braverman’s sharp, modern translations make Sawaki’s wisdom largely accessible for the first time to English–language readers. This is an essential resource for those interested in Zen meditation.”.
Kodo Sawaki was born in 1880 in Tsu, in the Mie prefecture. Orphaned at the age of ten, he was adopted by his lazy, gambling-addict uncle and his ex-prostitute wife. At the age of thirteen, he started working in the gambling district as a watchman for the Yakuza to survive.
In 1896, without real support from family or friends, the poor sixteen-year-old Kodo Sawaki traveled on foot to Eihei-Ji Temple (the main Soto Zen temple founded in 1244 by Dogen). He wanted to become a monk but instead got a place in the temple as a servant. However, his position as a servant allowed him to learn and practice Zazen. Sawaki remained at Eiheiji for some years.
He was ordained as a Zen monk in 1897 at Daiji-Ji Temple by Sawada Koho, the head monk. After receiving his ordination, he spent many years living in an abandoned hermitage devoting himself to the practice of Zazen.
When the Russo-Japanese war broke out in 1904, Sawaki was sent to the front, where he spent close to four years as an infantryman. One day during battle, he was shot and left for dead and was thrown into a gigantic grave. He was discovered several days later under dozens of decaying bodies and was sent back to Japan as one of the war wounded.
Having returned to Japan in 1908, Sawaki started practicing Zazen rigorously and intensively studied Master Dogen’s “Shobogenzo”. In 1935, Kodo Sawaki started teaching Zazen at Kanazawa University, and he later temporarily became the head monk at Soji-Ji Temple, Soto Zen’s second-largest temple.
(…) he spent many years living in an abandoned hermitage devoting himself to the practice of Zazen.
In 1936, Taisen Deshimaru, who would become one of Zen’s most influential figures, became one of Kodo Sawaki’s disciples. Deshimaru was a steadfast disciple, and he was by Sawaki’s side until his Master’s death.
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After the Second World War, Kodo Sawaki spread his teaching all over Japan, from big cities to remote villages, and from universities to prisons. He became famous throughout Japan for the sesshin (intensive meditation retreat) that he gave to people from all walks of life, without making any personal distinction or discrimination.
Unlike most Zen Masters, Kodo Sawaki refused to take charge of the monasteries that were offered him during his lifetime. He never even permanently settled in a Temple or Dojo. Kodo Sawaki called his monastery a “moving monastery”. He gave Zen a new life and “brought fresh air to the decaying Zen” by staying away from the formalism of temples where religious rituals were, unfortunately, more important than true Zen.
His tendency to travel alone and his refusal to settle down at any monastery in the classical sense earned him the nickname, “Homeless Kodo”. Basel fc 1920 kitsempty spaces the blog.
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In 1965, just before his death, Kodo Sawaki ordained Taisen Deshimaru as a monk, gave him his kesa (monk’s robe), and asked him to continue his teaching by spreading Zen in Europe.
Kodo Sawaki To You Pdf
Kodo Sawaki was respected and admired throughout Japan for his simple, free, and wise approach to life.