ZEN MESTEREK ZEN MASTERS
« Zen főoldal
« vissza a Terebess Online nyitólapjára

石黒法龍 Ishiguro Hōryū

The Scientific Truth of Zen: the principles and methods of scientific zen
by 石黒法龍 Ishiguro Hōryū
Tokyo: Zenrigaku Society, 192 Eifukucho, Suginamiku, 1964, 27 p.

PDF: Through an Eastern Window > See CHAPTER II-IX, pp. 10-63.
Copyright: © 1965 by Jack T. Huber
Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1967.

…through a letter from a Japanese psychologist I had met on my previous trip, I learned of a Zen course in Tokyo. I had no idea what it was all about but my informant had said in his short letter that the at-tempt of the course was to get a “glimpse into one’s own nature.” I liked the phrase, but I had no idea what he meant by it, and I was sure he could not, or would not, elucidate.
With no hesitation at all I wrote to the Zen master and asked for admission to his school. The immediate reply was typewritten on plain white paper with nothing at the top except the date.

I am most happy to inform you that it will be my great pleasure to give you guidance in Zen practice.
The next Zen training will begin on the 13th of June and end on the 17th which is for five days. I shall appreciate your presence at the school at 6:00 p.m. of the 12th as I have arranged to have an in-terpreter to explain to you the fundamentals of my training.
I am looking forward to meeting you.

It was signed, “With warmest regards. Sincerely yours. Horyu Ishiguro.”
Having become accustomed to the idea of three weeks of solitary confinement in Burma, I felt five days was almost no threat at all. I could stand anything for five days. It was another rare chance for a professional experience. I do not believe I had any hopes of personal enrichment from only five days. I knew Zen training required many years.

> See CHAPTER II-IX, pp. 10-63.

佐藤幸治 Satō Kōji (1905-1971): Two articles

PDF: How to get Zen enlightenment ―On Master Ishiguroʼs five-daysʼ intensive course for its attainment―.
Psychologia, 2(2), 107-113. 1959

PDF: The Ishiguro technique―An intensive course of Zen training―.
Psychologia, 6(4), 187-189. 1963

Incl.: August Training Session [of Daikoji Temple] and Afterwards
by Shui'chi Kitahara. Translated by Sachi Toyomura

PDF: The Zen Life
photographs by 葛西宗誠 Kuzunishi Sōsei
text by 佐藤幸治 Satō Kōji (1905-1971)
translated by 良潤 Ryōjun (aka 大禅 Daizen) Victoria
Weatherhill, 1972
This book was originally published in Japanese by Tankosha under the title 禪の生活 Zen no Seikatsu.

Hōryū Ishiguro-rōshi, who developed 二王禅 Niō (Guardian King) Zen into an effective method of controlling one’s mind, is known to have used a kind of shikan-taza in which one concentrates on the sensation of doing zazen itself as the final step in realizing enlightenment. This is very close to the Burmese method of meditation. The chief methods of meditation in the Southern Theravada school of Buddhism, of which Burma is a part, are to move the stomach wall in and out when breathing, and to be completely conscious of each and every action one performs such as, for example, the lifting, stretching, and lowering of the foot when walking. It is believed that in this way freedom from discriminative thinking can be achieved. There are also several other methods in this school that I think are of great value in helping to understand the essential aspects of zazen.

In most present-day monasteries there is little effort made to promote more efficient methods for realizing enlightenment. Hōryū Ishiguro-rōshi, a disciple of 原田(大雲)祖岳 Harada (Daiun) Sogaku (1871-1961)-rōshi and founder of the 禅理学会 Zen Rigaku-kai (Zen Science Society), did, however, attempt to modernize Zen. Unfortunately he was taken ill while traveling abroad and died a few years ago, but I think his efforts to rationalize Niō Zen are worthy of close consideration.