A little frightened, he asked, “You also know Foreign Minister Shiina?”
“When I was young, Mr. Shiina did sanzen and was the student of my teacher (Seisetsu Roshi) so I know him well,” I said. Upon hearing this, he began to tremble. I thought, “You little bureaucrat!”
When I finally met Thich Quang Duc, I said, “Won’t you end your fast and come to Japan? If you wish to come, I officially invite you on behalf of the Japanese Buddhist League.”
Omori Roshi with Thich Quang Duc.
Thich Quang Duc told me, “I would like to go to Japan with you now. But because this is the seventieth day of my fast, my body and spirit are weak and I cannot go now.”
I said, “Then, won’t you stop the fast?”
He said, “I cannot stop now. The people who helped me are imprisoned. As long as those people are not released, I will share their fate.” Then he added, “When there is peace in Vietnam, I will go to Japan.” With those words, we parted.10
In 1970, Omori Roshi was appointed a professor at Hanazono University, a Buddhist university in Kyoto. During this time there was unrest at universities all over Japan. Hanazono University was no exception. Along with Ritsumeikan University, it was well known as a base for the students in the Japanese Red Army. Within the university, there was always strife. One student began a hunger strike in the entrance to the university. He said that he would continue his hunger strike until Omori Roshi was brought to the university as a professor. As a result, Roshi became a professor at that university.
Roshi with his wife, Yoshie, at Koho- in, 1966 (above). Training at Koho-in, 1966. (right)
At Hanazono University Roshi’s class was “The Practice of Zen.” The core of the course was zazen and lectures on the Hekiganroku,11 one of the oldest Zen records, and the basics of Zen literature, the Roankyo12 and Shido Bunan Zenji Kana Hogo.13 During his lectures, Omori Roshi would often talk of other things but had the ability to return Gogo no Shugyo (1945–1994) 77exactly to the place where he left off. It was as if he would draw his sword from its scabbard, swing it from side to side with perfect mastery, and then put it right back into its scabbard. While he was a professor, he went to the university in Kyoto from Tokyo every Wednesday to give his lecture.
During that time a Wednesday Zazen Club had been organized by the university Kendo club. Every Wednesday night at Reiun-in on the grounds of Myoshin-ji, with Roshi as the focal point, the group practiced zazen, hitsuzendo, and then had tea. It would end at 9:00. This organization continued until 1982 when Roshi’s term as president ended. At the beginning only the Kendo club members attended, but in the end, there were about thirty people going to the sessions. They were from the pep squad, the Kenpo club, Karate club, “old boy” members of Tesshu-kai and even the general public.
After these sessions Roshi went to eat dinner at Hanazono Hanten, a Chinese restaurant near Hanazono Station. Approximately ten people always accompanied him and ordered the same thing as Roshi: fried rice, gyoza (dumplings) and beer. Roshi always treated everyone.
Chozen-ji and Seitai-ji
In 1970 Omori Roshi met Tanouye Tenshin Roshi who later became the successor to Omori Roshi’s line of Zen in America. Tanouye Tenshin was born in Hawaii on January 21, 1938. He was the son of immigrants, both from Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. From childhood he trained in the martial arts and music. At the early age of 15, perhaps due to the influence of his father from whom he learned the significance of the Japanese martial traditions, Tanouye Roshi was consumed by the question of existence. At the age of 17 while at the University of Hawaii, he committed his life to answering this question through the pursuit of the martial arts. Fortunately he happened to hear Daisetz Suzuki lecture on Zen and swordsmanship and felt as though Suzuki Sensei was speaking to him directly. This experience convinced him that his decision to pursue the martial Way was correct. After deciding on the course of his life, he felt that any bonding he had experienced with others, even his own parents, disappeared.
After graduating from college with a degree in music, he taught orchestral and band music in public schools. Later he developed a curriculum for a martial arts program and taught Kendo, Judo, and Zen at Farrington High School. While working as a music teacher, for ten years, every summer, he travelled to Japan to train in the martial arts, primarily at Keio University where he practiced Kendo and Judo.
During this period Tanouye Roshi also taught himself to read Chinese and Japanese texts on philosophy and the martial arts. He worked through these texts with dictionaries, one character at a time. He tested his understanding of these texts against his experience in the martial art, going back and forth between the two until meaning and practice coalesced. He trained in a variety of martial arts because he felt that when the time was right, a great teacher would emerge in any one of them. As he trained in these arts, he began to see similar principles between them and to grasp the strategy of war as articulated by Sun-tzu, which he had studied since age 17.
Eventually Tanouye Roshi became disillusioned at the difference between what he had read and was taught about the martial arts and what he saw in Japan. But he continued. He considered taking the test to become a yamabushi (a mountain warrior practicing esoteric disciplines) and continuing his search in that realm. At this point his brother-in-law Hideo Ogura and Toyama Mitsuru’s grandson Motokazu, who were both Tanouye Roshi’s seniors at Keio University, told him that he must meet the last samurai in Japan. They made him cancel a trip to Yamagata Prefecture and introduced him to Omori Roshi. Upon meeting, Tanouye Roshi stated his disillusionment with the Japanese martial arts to Omori Roshi. Instead of giving any excuses, Omori Roshi bowed and apologized for the poor state of the Japanese martial arts. He gave Tanouye Roshi his book, Ken to Zen, and invited him back for a demonstration of the Hojo. From their first meeting Omori Roshi and Tanouye Roshi felt as though they had known each other for a long time. Upon reading Ken to Zen, Tanouye Roshi was very impressed because Omori Roshi had already written about the inconsistencies between what was said and done in the field of Kendo.
When Omori Roshi demonstrated the Hojo to him, Tanouye Roshi saw all the principles of the martial arts clearly embodied within the four forms of the Hojo. He asked to be instructed, but only three days remained before he had to return to Hawaii. Omori Roshi, nevertheless, agreed and was astounded when Tanouye Roshi mastered the Hojo in three days. It must be remembered, however, that Tanouye Roshi had been training intensively for ten years at the time he met Omori Roshi and was practicing various martial arts 8-10 hours daily. For example, for one week he swung the sword 10,000 times a day like Tsukahara Bokuden (a famous swordsman in Japanese history, 1490-1571).
Omori Roshi says that a man like Tanouye Roshi appears once in every four or five hundred years and compares him to Saigo Takamori, the Japanese national hero who led the forces of the Meiji Restoration. Omori Roshi describes Tanouye Roshi’s kan (intuitive perception) as ”surudoi” (cutting, severe, penetrating) and likens his approach to Zen to Bankei Zenji’s. As a Zen master Bankei was a person of immense scale and must have radiated kiai (vital energy) so strong that people naturally entered samadhi in his presence. He attained this power through tremendously difficult training. Similarly Tanouye Roshi’s kiai is something which was developed by the severity and intensity of his martial arts training and released through Zen. The problem, however, is that kiai cannot be systematized and taught.
After mastering the Hojo, Tanouye Roshi realized that there was nothing comparable to shugyo (the deepest possible spiritual training) in the West. Because of his background in education, Tanouye Roshi wanted to bring the concept of shugyo to the West. He returned the following year with a request to Omori Roshi and presented it in the formal manner of the martial arts tradition:
I told him, “I have a request to make of you.”
Omori Roshi said, “What is it?”
I said, “Give me your life for five years.”
Omori Roshi asked, “For what
reason?”
“There are many reasons,” I explained to him, “But basically it is to introduce shugyo to the West.”
He agreed.
Circa 1972.
This encounter led Omori Roshi to establish Chozen-ji, International Zen Dojo, in Hawaii in 1972, as “a place of Zen training where persons of any race, creed, or religion who are determined to live in accordance with Buddha Nature (the Inner Self or the Way) may fulfill this need through intensive endeavor.” “Chozen-ji” means “the temple of super Zen” or “Zen transcending Zen.” Omori Roshi hoped that through Chozen-ji new forms of training would develop which would not be bound by tradition but faithfully transmit the vital essence of Zen to the West.
Chozen-ji had its first home in the band room at Farrington High School where Tanouye Roshi was a band instructor at the time. In August of 1972 Omori Roshi and Kanemaru Sotetsu, a famous Zen. cook, came to Hawaii to conduct the first sesshin. Stephen Kow, a senior student at Chozen-ji, recalls these days:
Our butsudan was very simple—just a table with a tablecloth, a calligraphy in the form of a circle, an incense burner, and a vase. Kanemaru Roshi had to teach us everything from eating, to reading the sutras, to all of the signals. We used a han (a board which is struck at various times during the day) that Omori Roshi had written characters on. It was made of pine and later shattered by Tanouye Roshi. We had to make do with what we had in those days.
Sesshin was very taxing for everyone. Omori Roshi stayed at a hotel in Waikiki and had to commute every morning and evening to Farrington High School. Since there were no facilities, the food had to be cooked at Tanouye Roshi’s house and transported at mealtimes. Martial arts training was done outdoors. There was a strong camaraderie at that time. Everybody suffered during sesshin, and nobody knew quite what to do or expect, but gradually we learned.
In 1973, Chozen-ji moved to a large empty space in the Kukui Marketplace. Zazen and martial arts training were held there, but sesshin was still held at Farrington High School. In 1974, Chozen-ji moved to a small, rented house in Kalihi. In 1975, Omori Roshi awarded Tanouye Roshi inka-shomei to acknowledge his Zen realization. In 1976, Chozen-ji was finally permanently established on two and a half acres of land in Kalihi Valley.
June 1973, With students from Hawaii in front of Koho-in.
Practicing Iaido, the Way of drawing the sword, 1973.
1974
In April, 1975, Omori Roshi established another temple, Seitai-ji. Below he talks about his reasons for and the difficulties in starting Seitai-ji.
Although training laypeople in Zen is worthwhile, these laypeople cannot themselves train others because they have jobs and other commitments. It is difficult for them to teach Zen and assure the continuation of the teaching. Zen priests are needed. To develop such priests and also in order to alter the inefficient aspects of the existing monastic life, I wanted to open a monastery. I looked at many places about one hour away from Tokyo. In the end I decided to open this monastery at Seitai-ji, a temple belonging to Nanzen-ji, in Yamanashi prefecture about two hours away from Tokyo.
I was told that if I went through the Kaido ceremony, Nanzen-ji would acknowledge Seitai-ji as a monastery under its jurisdiction. Kaido is a ceremony in which one becomes the archbishop of a head temple for a day. One makes one’s dharma lineage clear and interprets the essence of Zen teaching. In October of 1975, I did Kaido at Tenryu-ji and became the arch-bishop of Tenryu-ji for one day.
After this ceremony I went to Nanzen-ji and said, “I have undergone the ceremony of Kaido. Please give your approval of my monastery.”
But the administration answered, “We don’t remember promising anything like that.” This put me in a very difficult situation.
October 1975, Kaido Ceremony at Tenryu-ji, Kyoto.
1975
I went to Ryutaku-ji in Shizuoka prefecture, Ko-on Monastery in Hachioji, Tokyo, Kogaku Monastery in Yamanashi prefecture, and to others to ask for help. I also called Asahina Sogen, the archbiship of Enkaku-ji in Kamakura. He told me, “Omori-san, you do not need the approval. It would be better for you to do it by yourself.” Because of the intervention of these monasteries, Nanzen-ji came to inspect Seitai-ji, but they said that they could not give official recognition to a monastery in which lay people and priests train together. Finally, we did not receive their sanction.
I began training under Omori Roshi at Seitai-ji in 1975. Below are some incidents from my time at Seitai-ji.
During sanzen, Omori Roshi, who was usually smiling, became a very strict person. When I would enter the sanzen room, bow, sanpai (a very deep bow), and raise my head, this Roshi who was smaller than most of us seemed like a great mountain.
When Omori Roshi wrote calligraphy and made a mistake, he kept that sheet of paper and practiced characters on the unfilled spaces or drew pictures on it until the sheet was black. Only then did he throw it away.
When he did the cleaning, he wore a sash to keep his kimono sleeves out of the way. He dusted the alcove and the frame of the shoji (sliding paper door), then got on his hands and knees to clean the floor. He moved the table, swept, and then put the table back. It was like a scaled down general cleaning.
Roshi’s favorite television programs were ”Sumo Digest” and samurai movies. When Sumo started, he would watch. The inji (attendant to the Zen master) had a room close to the Roshi’s. When Roshi was at the monastery, the inji was always nearby.
While I was inji, after yaza (evening free sitting), at about 9 pm, I would return to the inji room. Roshi would be preparing a manuscript, reading a book, or watching television and having a drink. If he were watching television, sometimes he would knock on my door and say, “Ken-san, there is an interesting program on TV. Do you want to watch with me?” When I went to his room, he would bring another glass, and we would drink beer and watch television together. After the program ended, we would talk about training, about our Zen experiences, and many other things. Then I would say “Good night” and return to my room.
This happened during a sesshin. I finished yaza at about 10:00 and returned to my room. Roshi invited me to watch television with him. I felt very badly about refusing, but I said, “I will continue to do zazen.”
In a voice that sounded a little lonesome, Roshi said, “I see,” and went back to his room. In a little while, Roshi stood in front of my door and said, “I saved a little beer for you so after you finish zazen, please drink it.”
I went to the kitchen and found half a bottle of beer with a glass next to it. Beside it was a side dish to eat with the beer. He had covered it with a small cloth.
After that, whenever Roshi invited me to drink with him, no matter how busy I was, I always accepted.
During this period Omori Roshi became increasingly busy with a wide variety of obligations. His schedule for a typical month during this period was:
November 1976
Sesshin starts at Seitai-ji in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Return to Tokyo to attend installation ceremony of head priest at Korin-ji.
Attend Kaido at Myoshin-ji in Kyoto for Kato Ryuho Roshi.
Return to Seitai-ji to continue sesshin.
Lecture at Tokyo Cultural Center. Return to Seitai-ji to close sesshin.
Return to Tokyo to attend installation ceremony of head priest at Baito-ji. Return to Koho-in to begin Tesshu-kai sesshin.
Lead memorial service for friend in Tokyo.
Close Tesshu-kai sesshin.
Fly to Fukuoka to attend wedding.
Attend wedding and return to Tokyo.
Zen training session at Tesshu-kai.
Lecture for parents at Meijuro Elementary School.
Visit Kubota in Tochigi Prefecture.
Morning lecture at Asahi Cultural Center in Tokyo. Afternoon lecture at Zenshoan.
Return to Seitai-ji to teach monks.
Return to Koho-in.
Lecture for high school principals in Tokyo.
Lecture for lawyers.
Zen training session at Tesshu-kai.
1979, Demonstrating the opening movement of the Hojo at Hanazono University.
Omori Roshi was appointed the president of Hanazono University in 1978. In March of that year, six high ranking Buddhists priests from Kyoto went to Koho-in on an official mission to present a letter from Yamada Mumon Roshi who was then the president of the university and who later became the Abbot of Myoshin-ji. In the letter Yamada Mumon stated that he earnestly hoped that Omori Roshi would succeed him as the president of Hanazono University. Further, it stated that all parties involved had been informed and had accepted Roshi’s appointment. All that was now required was Roshi’s acceptance. Though Roshi was already the Zen master at Chozen-ji, Seitai-ji and Tesshu-kai and very busy with other commitments, because approval had already been given by all the parties involved, he had no other recourse but to accept the position of president.
Cultural Exchange with Europe
In April of 1978, the French Embassy’s Culture Secretary brought Michel Foucault, a distinguished French philosopher, to Seitai-ji, a monastery Omori Roshi founded in 1975. Omori Roshi was attending graduation ceremonies at Hanazono University in Kyoto at that time, so Foucault practiced zazen in the meditation hall. When Omori Roshi returned, he spoke with Foucault.
I did not know what kind of man he was, but the Culture Secretary introduced him as an excellent philosopher of contemporary Europe who surpasses Sartre and said that he had questions that he wanted to ask me. I met Professor Foucault in my room.
Omori Sogen Page 8