Soto Zen
by Greg Schneider

In attempting to understand the Soto (pronounced "Soh-toh") school of Zen Buddhism, we must first depict the history of this famous sect. Zen Buddhism began during the seventh-century of the Common Era in China where it is known under the Chinese name of Ch’an. In the centuries that folowed, Japanese Buddhist monks made pilgrimages to the mainland of China to study with the great Buddhist masters of the times and during these periods, some monks came into contact with Ch’an and returned to Japan to spread its word. However, it did not initially catch hold. As time went by, Buddhism in China became almost exclusively Ch’an and thus when Japanese monks matriculated there, Ch’an was their medium. There were two monks to whom the introduction of Zen Buddhism in Japan is accredited. The first, Myoan Eisai (1141-1215), brought to Japan the ideas of Rinzai Zen (Tsunoda 230). Dogen Kigen (1200-1253) was the second traveler and he returned with and initiated the Soto Zen School, with which this paper is concerned (231-33).

In tracing the history of Soto Zen Buddhism, we can simply trace the story of its founder, Dogen. Dogen introduced the Soto School of Zen after the Heian period and during the Kamakura period in Japanese history. This period lasted from 1185 to 1336 BCE. Dogen first studied Tendai Buddhism at a young age on Mount Hiei. Unhappy with the knowledge that he acquired there, Dogen went to China in 1223. Here he attained enlightenment within the Zen sect of Soto, or Ts’ao-tung as it is known in China (Dumoulin 112). On returning to Japan four years later, Dogen preached the teachings he had acquired in China, specifically the stress of "shikantaza" or more commonly, zazen. Zazen is described as "sitting straight through without entertaining vain thought" (Encyclopedia of Religion 388). This doctrine is the core of Soto Zen today.

At the time when Dogen introduced Soto into Japan, Japan had recently entered into the infamous Mappo period. Described as the period of degeneration of the law, the Mappo period was professed to be a time of non-enlightenment. Dogen did not agree and he dismissed the identification of his generation with the Mappo period (Encyclopedia of Religion 388). Instead Dogen believed that the attainment of enlightenment could occur at any period in time as long as the proper effort had been given. In this way, Dogen completely denied the efficacy of the "nembutsu", the central method in the attainment of enlightenment for the Pure Land and True Pure Land Buddhist schools. Along with the denial of this doctrine, Dogen also disregarded and refused any attempt to distinguish Soto and Rinzai Buddhism. Heinrich Dumoulin describes this dislike well by stating that "nothing was more odious to Dogen than the sectarian divisions in Buddhism and in Zen, the disastrous consequences of which, such a spiritual decline, formalization, and envy, he had witnessed in the China of the Sung era" (160). Some of these views within the sect and towards other sects were altered in the coming years by followers of Dogen.

There are few principles in Soto Zen. Mainly, it centers on the practice of meditation or zazen. In propagating the Soto School into Japan, Dogen spent much of his time explaining the correct process of zazen and the reasons for its needed study and practice. In fact, he wrote a famous volume describing the proper techniques and results of zazen entitled "Fukanzazengi" (The Universal Promotion of the Principles of Zazen). He believed that only through the constant practice of meditation one could truly achieve enlightenment. Zazen is a practice where "the body finds itself in that state of relaxed attention in which sense and mind remain awake and yet are released in complete rest" (Dumoulin 162). Ultimately, in the case of Soto, it must be understood that enlightenment and the practice of zazen are one and the same, and "Buddha Law and zazen are not two but one (Dumoulin 168). In this way, no matter how little you meditate, for that time you are enlightened, you have taken a step towards realizing the Buddha-nature within the self.

For Dogen, and the original Soto teaching, the use of koans was not a satisfactory method of attaining enlightenment. Over time, this belief was changed, allowing more koan use; however, this use is not in the usual form of forced koan understanding. It is true that since the Soto School tailored its teaching to each monk personally, the training of particular monks was different; thus, the koan entered at times but it had a different role than usual. Koans were used to extend the student’s knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings, and provide for him a medium on which to meditate. "Dogen taught that Buddhist training itself was the only true koan, the manifestation of enlightenment" (Yokoi 20).

Along with the above points, the "Encyclopedia of Religion", a wonderful resource, describe five main religious principles that are attributed to Dogen and the Soto school (Encyclopedia of Religion 388). The first principle has already been described a bit and is characterized as the "oneness of practice and attainment". Here Dogen found the answer to a question he initially asked during his own search for enlightenment. For even though everyone has the Buddha nature, it is only through practice that this nature is realized. Attainment, satori, is achieved in the practice of zazen, and zazen is satori. This leads inevitably to the second point, the primary emphasis on zazen or shikantaza only. For Dogen, zazen is not the method through which we achieve enlightenment, it is enlightenment itself. Therefore, to be enlightened and to remain that way, practice is essential. The third principle of Dogen has also been described a little above, it consists in the fact that all beings are Buddha nature. Instead of believing in the potential of all beings to become or actualize their Buddha nature, "Dogen teaches that the Buddha nature is not a potentiality but an actuality that is fully realized in sitting meditation" (Encyclopedia of Religion 388).

The final two religious principles of Dogen have also had major impacts on the study of Zen as a whole. The fourth principle is that "impermanence is Buddha nature". This means that the Buddha nature is not beyond impermanence, but is impermanence. In this way, Dogen is a major proponent of the view that Nirvana is Samsara. The final principle is described as Uji or being-time. "For Dogen being and time are completely inseparable. Being is time and time is being" (388). Every particular thing in the universe is itself time. Because all is a moment, every event is disconnected. "Yet as a continuous occurrence of ‘nows,’ time is a discontinuous continuity" (388). This sums up the main thoughts of Dogen Kigan, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism.

Soto has now become the main school of Buddhism in Japan. Since its foundation by Dogen, things have been changed. At the outset, the Soto school began to appeal to the Samurai and peasant classes. In order to gain more adherents, "Soto assimilated a certain amount of popular beliefs and rituals but devised, above all, funeral and memorial services for the dead" (Encyclopedia of Religion 387). These newly adapted rituals and practices appealed to many more people, mostly the working class, who did not have time for the strict practices Zen required, but wished for relief at the end of their life. Today Soto Zen is becoming more Westernized and many adherents are being found in the United States and other Western nations. Zen is a growing religion and the Soto School and Dogen provide it with major vehicle for this assimilation into Western culture.  

 The following table describes the daily routine of a Soto Zen monk in the monastery setting.

Daily Schedule at Zuioji, a Soto Monastery¹

1_{Kraft, Kenneth, Ed. Zen: Tradition and Transition. New York: Grove Press, 1988. P. 157}

* _{Activities performed or attended by a few officers only}

Sources

Dumoulin, Heinrich. A History of Zen Buddhism. Trans. Paul Peachey. Boston: Beacon Press, 1963.

Dumoulin, Heinrich. Zen Enlightenment: Origins and Meaning. Trans. John C. Maraldo. New York: Weatherhill, 1976.

Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 4. Macmillan Publishing Co.: 1995.

Kennett, Roshi Jiyu. Zen is Eternal. California: Dharma Publishing, 1976.

Kraft, Kenneth, Ed. Zen: Tradition and Transition. New York: Grove Press, 1988.

Tsunoda, Ryusaku; de Bary, William Theodore; and Keene, Donald, Eds. Sources of Japanese Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1958.

Yokoi, Yuho. Zen Master Dogen. New York: Weatherhill, 1976.

Last updated: November 16, 2008

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