Japanese Zen Buddhist Meditation Training: Jōza 定坐 and Sesshin 摂心
Tairyū Ogawa
JOURNAL OF INDIAN AND BUDDHIST STUDIES March 25, 2021 DOI: 10.4259/ibk.69.2_608 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that the modern-style Zen sesshin retreat format developed under the influence of the Ōbaku school of Zen, transmitted from Ming-dynasty China to Japan in the early seventeenth century, and that its likely prototype was a Song-dynasty seven-day retreat known as the xiaoxian. Medieval jōza retreats differed from later Edo-period sesshin. |
Abstract
Concentrated meditation retreats have been conducted in Japanese Zen monasteries since the Middle Ages (1185–1600). The Zen retreats held during the Middle Ages, known as jōza 定坐, differed somewhat from the type of retreats held during the Edo period (1603–1868), known as sesshin 摂心, a form of concentrated meditation practice similar to present-day Zen retreats (still known as sesshin). The sesshin format appears to have developed under the influence of the Ōbaku school of Zen, a Chinese Zen school transmitted to Japan from Ming-dynasty China during the early seventeenth century. Evidence for this is found in the Ōbaku sannai shingi 黄檗山内清 (Detailed regulations of Mount Ōbaku) and the recorded sayings of early Ōbaku-school monks. The prototype of the sesshin was probably a Song-dynasty seven-day form of retreat known as the xiaoxian 小限.
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| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |