Suzuki Shōsan

Shōsan Suzuki
Title	Samurai Zen monk
Personal life
Born	(1579-02-05)February 5, 1579 Japan
Died	July 28, 1655(1655-07-28) (aged 76)
Religious life
Religion	Zen Buddhism

Suzuki Shōsan (鈴木正三, February 5, 1579–July 28, 1655) 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

• Mōanjō (盲安杖, "A Safe Staff for the Blind"), 1619
• Ha Kirishitan (破切支丹, "Crush Christianity"), 1642
• Roankyō (驢鞍橋, "Donkey Saddle Bridge"), 1648
• Ninin Bikuni (二人比丘尼, "Two Nuns"), 1664
• Banmin Tokuyō (萬民徳用, "Right Action for All"), 1661

Further reading

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