,
or Harada Rōshi, is a
Rinzai priest, author, calligrapher, and head abbot of Sōgen-ji — a three-hundred-year-old temple in
Okayama, Japan. He has become known as a "teacher of teachers",
with masters from various lineages coming to sit
sesshin with him in Japan or during his trips to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
.
Biography
Shodo Harada was born into a
Zen temple Aug. 26,1940 in
Nara, Japan.
While still in high school he encountered his teacher,
Mumon Yamada
was a Rinzai roshi, calligrapher,Ford, 116 and former abbot of Shōfuku-ji in Kobe, Japan.Harada, ix Mumon was also the former head of the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japan.
His most prominent student (and Dharma heir) is Shod ...
, while running an errand for his father to
Myōshin-ji.
He was impressed by how little he knew of Buddhism at this encounter.
After college he entered Shofukuji and began his training in 1962 under
Rinzai Zen master and
Japanese calligrapher Mumon Yamada,
from whom he received
Dharma transmission in 1982.
In 1982 he was sent by Mumon to Sogen-ji to help an elderly abbot tend to the building and training schedules, which is the main of the four pillars where he is still teaching now.
In September 1989, Harada came to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
to provide instruction for students and in 1995 founded Tahoma Sogenji Zen Monastery on
Whidbey Island in
Island County, Washington
Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor.
The county's name reflects the fact that it is compo ...
, where the practice mirrors the practices found at Sogen-ji. This is the second pillar.
The third pillar being Indozan Sogenji near the town of Adilabad in Telanaga state, central India. Long time student Bodhidharuma Osho is teaching there and offering training for young boys in residence and sesshins for locals. Harada Roshi leads a sesshin in Indozan once every August.
The fourth pillar is Hokuozan Sogenji in
Asendorf
Asendorf is a municipality in the district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...
, Germany, being the central place for the many One Drop groups all over Europe. ShoE Roshi is in residence there. Harada Roshi is leading sesshins 3-4 times a year in Hokuozan.
Nearby the Tahoma One Drop Monastery, Harada has opened a
hospice known as Enso House in 2001.
Among those Western teachers that study with Harada Roshi are Hogen Bays,
Jan Chozen Bays
Jan Chozen Bays (born 1945), is a Zen teacher, author, mindful eating educator, and pediatrician specializing in work with abused children.
Biography
Jan Chozen Bays was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 9, 1945. She grew up in East Greenb ...
, Mitra Bishop, Alan Hozan Senauke, and
Paul Haller.
Roshi flew to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
to perform the
Jukai ceremony of
Damien Echols. Echols (a member of the ''
West Memphis Three'') was wrongly convicted of the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys in
West Memphis, Arkansas. Whilst in prison, Echols began practicing Buddhism.
[Echols, Damien. ''Life After Death'' (novel), chapter 1, pages 16-20, published in 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2015.]
Bibliography
*
*
*Harada, Shodo; Tim Jundo Williams & Jane Shotaku Lago (eds.); Priscilla Daichi Storandt (translator) (2011). ''Moon by the Window: The Calligraphy and Zen Insights of Shodo Harada''. Wisdom Publications. .
*
See also
*
Buddhism in Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had ...
*
List of Rinzai Buddhists
*
Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
References
External links
Shodo Harada Roshi: A Short BiographyVideo about zen, Teaching of zen, Shodo Harada Roshi in AmericaVideo of a public talk by Harada Roshi
on the Maka Hanya Haramita Sutra
1940s births
Living people
People from Nara Prefecture
Writers from Nara Prefecture
Rinzai Buddhists
Zen Buddhism writers
Zen Buddhist abbots
Japanese Zen Buddhists
Buddhism in Arkansas
{{Japan-reli-bio-stub