Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi

Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi was born in April 1907 in Miyagi province in northern Japan. His parents were farmers. At the age of 14 he entered the Zuiryo-ji monastery as a novice, under the direction of Joten Soko Miura, Rōshi. At the age of 21 he was ordained as a priest (Oshō) and received the name Kyozan. Shortly afterwards his teacher Joten Soko was appointed abbot (Kansho) of the Myôshin-ji head monastery in Kyoto. Kyozan Joshu Oshō went with him to continue his training.

At the age of 40, Kyozan Joshu was granted the standing and authorisation of a Zen master (Rōshi). He received the name Denkyo-shitsu. Shortly afterwards he became abbot of the Yotoku-in monastery of Zuigan-ji. In 1953 Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi left Yotoku-in and became abbot of Shoju-an in Iiyama in Nagano province. There he restored the temple founded by Shoju Ronin (Dôkyô Etan 1642 – 1721), the master of Hakuin Ekaku.

From there he left Japan in 1962 to teach Zen in America. At 55 he opened a new chapter in his life and in the lives of many of his students in the West. From 1980 onwards, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi led Sesshins in Austria at the Buddhist Centre Scheibbs. Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi last visited Austria in 1999, leading the anniversary Sesshin at Zwettl Abbey (Lower Austria) marking 20 years of the Bodhidharma Zendo and Genro Oshō’s 75th birthday.

Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi taught tirelessly until the age of 104 at the Mount Baldy Zen Center and other centres in the USA. He gave teaching talks (Teishōs) lasting several hours and offered Koan practice (Sanzen) several times a day. From spring 2012 he reduced his teaching because of his advanced age.

Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi died on 28 July 2014 in Los Angeles at the age of 107. Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi sowed the seed for a path that offers deep insight in philosophical terms while placing practice above all at the centre. With Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi we have lost a great teacher and a great human being; now as before, however, his teaching will remain our teacher.

A statement by the Bodhidharma Zendo and its abbot, Seigaku Kigen Oshō, on the conduct of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi can be found here.