- Bankei Yōtaku
Infobox Buddhist biography
name = Bankei Yōtaku
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birth_date = 1622
birth_place =Harima Province ,Japan
death_date = 1693
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school =Rinzai
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title = Zen master
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teacher =Umpo Zenjo
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predecessor =Dosha Chogen
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website = nihongo|Bankei Yōtaku|盤珪永琢|extra= 1622-1693 was a well-knownRinzai Zen Buddhist master, and the abbot of the Ryomon-ji and Nyoho-ji. Bankei is most well known for his talks on the "Unborn" as he called it. Bankei's brilliance and directness reminds one of the style and approach of the ancient masters of theCh'an tradition during theT'ang Dynasty .Origins
Bankei Yōtaku was born in 1622, in
Harima Province to asamurai turned medicine man named Suga Dosetsu. His boyhood name was Muchi. Bankei's mother bore the last name of Noguchi, and little more is known of her, other than that the society of the time reified her as 'Maya who begot three Buddhas,' - Maya being the mother of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. Bankei had four brothers and four sisters. His eldest brother, Masayasu, was a skilled physician and his second eldest brother was a pracitioner of the Pure Land school of Buddhism. Hence Bankei's mother was likened to Maya, Masayasu to Yakushi - the Buddha of healing, his second eldest brother to the Buddha Amidha, and Bankei himself to Shakyamuni Buddha [「盤珪禅師逸話選」(1998:5)禅文化研究所] . Bankei was a rebellious and mischievous child, though he showed remarkable intelligence. When Bankei was 11, his father passed away, and in the following year he entered school.Here he was taught many of the
Confucian texts. At this time, Bankei was young and full of questions and the Confucian classics he was being taught confused him greatly. One day, the teacher read a line from one of the 'Four Books' of classicConfucianism : "The way of great learning lies in clarifying bright virtue." ["Waddell". 6] In the unwitting spirit ofSocrates , he then entered a heated exchange with his teacher imploring them for the meaning of this. Bankei felt no satisfactory answers were given.This gap in Bankei's understanding gave birth to many doubts and questions, and so he seized most every chance to question others on their knowledge. He would implore Confucian and Buddhist scholars and attend various religious gatherings in search of answers. All of this, however, proved futile for him. He became so distraught in his need to find answers that school was no longer a priority for him, and in 1633 he was kicked out of his family home. A friend of his family, Yūkan Nakahori, allowed Bankei to stay in a small hut nearby. Being a bit eccentric, Bankei etched into a slat of wood "Practice hermitage" and placed it outside of his little hut.
Enlightenment
It is likely that Bankei began practicing
Shin Buddhism during this time. It is known that when Bankei was 15 he trained at aShingon temple, where he apparently gained some footing insutra study. However, Bankei was not satisfied with the Shingon approach and left that following year. At 16 he walked from Hamada to Ako to see a Rinzai Zen priest namedUmpo Zenjo atZuio-ji . Bankei wasted no time with Umpo and implored him on the meaning of bright virtue, to which Umpo advised the only path toward such understanding could be had through the practice ofzazen . Bankei was intrigued by this advice and ordained as a monk at Zuio-ji under Umpo. It was here he received his Buddhist name Yōtaku (meaning 'Long Polishing of the Mind Gem').When Bankei turned 19 he left
Zuio-ji shortly after and travelled throughKyoto ,Osaka andKyūshū in search for an answer to his question. During his travels he would stay over at temples or sleep in the open wilderness, scrounging by as a beggar. In 1645, at age 24, Bankei returned to Zuio-ji no wiser than the day he left. At this time Umpo informs him that the answer which he seeks can only be found within, not through an intermediary. Bankei left shortly after his return and built a small hut nearby and lived as ahermit . He would sit for rigorous hours practicing zazen. He had given up bodily comfort and had no other goal during this time aside from coming to a complete understanding of things. His practice truly bordered on asceticism. He practiced this way for many years, but eventually the bodily neglect caused him to contracttuberculosis . He sought the care of a medicine doctor who gave the prognosis of death.It was during this near-death experience that Bankei attained enlightenment, later stating of the experience:
Following this breakthrough his doubt and questioning ceased while his physical condition turned for the better. Once strong enough to travel again, he returned to Umpo to relay his experience to him. Umpo confirmed his enlightenment. He sent Bankei off to have his understanding further evidenced by
Gudo Toshoku , another Rinzai master.eeking confirmation
At the age of 26 Bankei went to
Gifu Prefecture toDaisen-ji where Gudo wasabbot . However, when Bankei arrived Gudo was attending to another temple of his in the countryside. So Bankei visited the temples of other Zen teachers in the area, none of which had priests with the proper understanding themselves to confirm his understanding. After a year living in the countryside near Daisen-ji, Bankei travelled back to Umpo once again. In 1651, Bankei heard that aCh'an master had arrived in Nagasaki by the name ofDosha Chogen . Umpo advised he go see the Ch'an master, and Bankei set off for Nagasaki hoping to finally have his enlightenment confirmed.Bankei found Dosha Chogen at Sōfuku-ji, a Chinese style temple. Dosha confirmed Bankei's understanding on their first meeting, but also informed Bankei that his understanding was incomplete. Bankei was offended by this initially and refused to accept it. Yet he stayed at the temple for a bit to observe Dosha's ways, eventually realizing what Dosha had insisted was true. So Bankei stayed on at Sōfuku-ji practicing under Dosha.
While Bankei lived among the other monks at the temple, he refused to chant the sutras with them in Chinese. In 1652, while meditating with the congregation, Bankei experienced final enlightenment. Dosha confirmed this the next day, stating Bankei had finally settled the Great Matter. Bankei then refused a senior position in the monastery, preferring his unassuming existence instead working in the kitchen. The following year Bankei returned to Harima shortly, and then left for
Yoshino in theNara Prefecture to live as a hermit yet again. In the mountains of Yoshino Bankei authors some Buddhist chants pertaining to the Unborn while living in silent retreat there.ee also
*
Buddhism in Japan
*List of Rinzai Buddhists Notes
References
* Waddell, Norman (Translator) "The Unborn: the Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei". North point Press, 2000. ISBN 0-86547-595-4.
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Bankei Yotaku — Bankei Eitaku (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Bankei Yōtaku — Bankei Eitaku (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Bankei — Eitaku (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach Antworten auf… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Bankei Kokushi — Bankei Eitaku (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Bankei Eitaku — (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach Antworten auf die… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Eitaku Bankei — Bankei Eitaku (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Kokushi Bankei — Bankei Eitaku (Yōtaku), auch Bankei Kokushi (jap. 盤珪永琢; * 1622 in Hamada, Provinz Harima; † 30. September 1693 im Kloster Ryūmon ji), ist einer der populärsten japanischen Zen Meister der Rinzai Schule. Bankei suchte bereits als Kind nach… … Deutsch Wikipedia
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