Founder or eminent monk
Keizan Zenji
瑩山禅師
Keizan Jōkin was a monk who studied at Eihei-ji and received teachings from Ejō, Gikai, and others. He was involved with Yōkō-ji and Sōji-ji, and devoted himself to training disciples and spreading the teaching. In the Sōtō school he is revered as one of the two founders.
Dōgen Zenji and Keizan Zenji are the two founders of the Sōtō school. There are generations between them; this does not mean that Keizan studied directly under Dōgen.
English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む
Passing the teaching on to the next people
Keizan succeeded Gikai as abbot of Daijō-ji and trained his followers. Later he opened Yōkō-ji in Noto, made the temple 諸嶽寺, which had been donated to him, into a Zen temple, and named it Sōji-ji.
Source: 曹洞宗
Zazen and a compassionate heart
The teachings of the Zazen Yōjinki, as introduced by the Sōtō school, set out the attitude to bring to zazen and a compassion that thinks of all living beings. They offer a way to consider sitting quietly and caring for others together.
Source: 曹洞宗
The Denkōroku, which tells of the Dharma handed down
Keizan's Denkōroku is a work on the Dharma handed down from ancestral teacher to ancestral teacher. In the Sōtō school's official introduction, it is placed in his path together with the Zazen Yōjinki.
Source: 曹洞宗
The kyokuroku chair and the hossu
The Sōji-ji digital archive introduces a portrait of Keizan seated on a chair called a kyokuroku, holding a hossu (whisk). The figure on this site is also based on those features.
Source: 曹洞宗大本山總持寺デジタルアーカイブ