Keizan Jà Âkin (, 1268âÂÂ1325), also known as Taiso Jà Âsai Daishi, is considered to be the second great founder of the Sà Âtà  school of Zen in Japan. While Dà Âgen, as founder of Japanese Sà Âtà Â, is known as , Keizan is often referred to as .
Keizan and his disciples are credited with beginning the spread of Sà Âtà  Zen throughout Japan, away from the cloistered monastic practice characteristic of Dà Âgen's Eihei-ji and towards a more popular religion that appealed to all levels of Japanese society. Keizan founded several temples during his lifetime, most notably Yà Âkà Â-ji and Daihonzan Sà Âji-ji (founded on the Noto Peninsula and moved to Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama in 1911). Today Sà Âji-ji and Eihei-ji stand together as the two principal Sà Âtà  Zen training centers in Japan.
Keizan is also the author of several important Zen works, including the Zazen Yà Âjinki (Admonitions for Zazen), the Denkà Âroku (Transmission of the Light), and KeizanâÂÂs Rules of Purity (Keizan shingi).
Keizan spent the first eight years growing up under the care of his grandmother, Myà Âchi (æÂÂæº), who was one of Great Master Dà Âgen's first supporters on his return from China. Keizan dedicated the Kannon shrine at the temple of Yà Âkà Â-ji to her memory.
His mother was the abbess of a Sà Âtà  monastery, Jà Âju-ji and was a teacher in her own right. It seems that his mother had a huge influence on him, both as an example of someone who encouraged the teaching of Buddhism to women and through her emphasis on the power of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion.
Keizan first became a novice, at the age of eight, at Eihei-ji, under the tutelage of Gikai, and he was formally ordained at age thirteen by Koun Ejà Â. He reached the stage of "non-backsliding" while training with Jakuen, and received dharma transmission from Tettsà « Gikai at the age of thirty-two, according to his autobiography; he was the first Japanese Zen monk to describe his own life.
Keizan succeeded Gikai as the second abbot of Daijà Â-ji, in present-day Kanazawa.
Keizan's major accomplishment, which gave rise to his status as "second ancestor" of Sà Âtà  Zen, was the founding of Sà Âji-ji, which soon overshadowed Eihei-ji as the principal Sà Âtà  temple. Sà Âji-ji eventually became the institutional head of four regional networks with several thousand temples under them. By 1589, the imperial court recognized Sà Âji-ji as the head temple of the Sà Âtà  school, above Eihei-ji; the two temples remained rivals for imperial support. By the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1872, they had arrived at a truce, according to the characterization that the Sà Âtà  school followed "the maxims of the founding Ancestor, Dà Âgen, and the aspirations of the late teacher, Keizan."
Keizan died at Yà Âkà Â-ji on the twenty-ninth day of the ninth month of 1325, at the age of fifty-eight years. Meihà  Sotetsu (1277âÂÂ1350) became abbot of Yà Âkà Â-ji, and Gasan Jà Âseki abbot of Sà Âji-ji; both of those lines of Dharma Transmission remain important in Japanese Sà Âtà  Zen. (Jiyu-Kennett 2002: 97)
Keizan was a learned scholar-monk in the Zen tradition, yet he perceived that ZenâÂÂs future could not depend solely on monastic scholars or aristocratic patrons. As such, he worked to promote Zen in a way that could penetrate the life of fishing villages, rural temples, family homes, and the lives of lay practitioners who sought a path that was viable in their lay life. In doing so, he reshaped the social reach of Sà Âtà  Zen in ways that would have lasting impact.
One of KeizanâÂÂs most significant contributions was his integration of ritual and devotional practices into Sà Âtà  Zen. Whereas Dà Âgen emphasized zazen, Keizan understood that a tradition becomes durable when it resonates with the emotional and spiritual needs of its communities. Under his leadership, ceremonies that included chanting, bowing, memorial services, ancestor veneration, and liturgical offerings became fully woven into the rhythm of Zen temple life. Much of what practitioners today recognize as the ceremonial dimension of Sà Âtà  Zen can be traced to Keizan.
At the institutional level, Keizan also played a decisive role. His founding of Yà Âkà Âji and especially Sà Âjiji provided structural stability for the Sà Âtà  Zen tradition, establishing training systems, forms, and schedules that continue in recognizable shape to this day. Through this work, Keizan transformed Sà Âtà  Zen from a relatively small monastic movement into a broad tradition with the capacity to train, support, and transmit Zen across generations. Nearly all contemporary Sà Âtà  priests trace their lineage through the line that flows from his leadership at Sà Âjiji.
Apart from extending the appeal of Sà Âtà  Zen to the rural population, Keizan made efforts to encourage the training of women in Buddhism. Keizan, in his autobiography, gave much credit to his grandmother and mother; he regarded their support as vital to his own training, and this must have influenced him.
His mother, Ekan, founded two temples, Hà Âà Â-ji and Jà Âju-ji, the latter as a convent of which she was abbess. Keizan's veneration of the bodhisattva Guanyin (Kannon, in Japanese)âÂÂwho is customarily represented as female in East Asian BuddhismâÂÂstemmed from or was enhanced by his mother's devotion to her.
Around 1323 or 1324, Keizan named Myà Âshà Â, his cousin (his mother's niece), abbess of Hà Âà Â-ji. Following his mother's example of teaching Buddhism to women, Keizan gave the first dharma transmission to a Sà Âtà  nun to his student, Ekyà «; Keizan had helped Ekyà « by giving her copies of Dà Âgen's writings translated into Japanese, making them easier for her to follow than Chinese.
Keizan had a nunnery constructed near Yà Âkà Â-ji (eventually making Sonin the abbess) and ensured that funds were allocated for its continuing survival (Faure 2000: 42). It is believed that five monasteries for female monks (nuns) were established by Keizan (Matsuo 2010: 143). He also named Sonin, the wife of the original donor of Yà Âkà Â-ji, as a Dharma Heir (Faure 2000: 44); Keizan claimed that Sonin was the reincarnation of Myà Âchi, his grandmother.
Keizan was the author of a number of works, including Zazen Yà Âjinki (Admonitions for Zazen, an important work on zazen), and the Denkà Âroku (Transmission of the Light), a series of fifty-one sermons that says the Sà Âtà  lineage runs from Gautama Buddha through the Indian Ancestors from Bodhidharma and the Chinese Ancestors, and finally to the Japanese Ancestors Dà Âgen and his immediate successor at Eihei-ji, Ejà Â.
He also wrote an important text on monastic life and discipline, the KeizanâÂÂs Rules of Purity (Keizan shingi).
Regarding Keizan's teaching, in his introduction to the Denkà Âroku, Francis Cook writes that Keizan's text focuses on two main topics. The first is the importance of being totally committed to achieving awakening and "making supreme effort in Zen practice". The second key theme in the Denkà Âroku is the "Light" that is transmitted from Zen master to the disciple who recognizes it within themselves. This is the very transmission of the heart of Zen that began with Shakyamuni Buddha, and it is also Buddha-nature itself.
Keizen uses numerous terms and epithets for this Light, including: "True Self," âÂÂThat One,â âÂÂThat Person,â âÂÂThe Old Fellow,â and âÂÂThe Lord of the House.â This is a distinctive feature of Keizan's teaching not found in Dà Âgen Nevertheless, this teaching is not uncommon in classic Zen (for example, see Linji's teachings). As Francis Cook describes it, this matter which "most clearly concerned Keizan" is "the self as the brilliant light of clear and alert knowing of events". He cites various past masters who speak of it in different ways, such as the "thoroughly clear knowingâ (Daman Hongren), an âÂÂalert knowingâ (Qingyuan Xingsi), âÂÂa clear and distinct, constant knowingâ and âÂÂa perfectly clear knowingâ (Dongshan Liangjie), and âÂÂboundless clarity and brightnessâ and âÂÂjust alertnessâ (Xuedou Zhijian).
KeizanâÂÂs Rules of Purity (Keizan shingi ç©山渠è¦Â; T 82.423câÂÂ451c) is a Zen monastic text originally composed in 1324 as a practical handbook for Yà Âkà  Zen Monastery, outlining its liturgical schedule and ritual regulations. The text provides a comprehensive calendar of daily, monthly, and annual observances to be performed by the monasteryâÂÂs monks, together with the prescribed dedications of merit (ekà  åÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ) and statements of purpose (sho çÂÂ) to be chanted on each occasion. It thus functioned both as a timetable of religious activities and a liturgical manual, including procedural instructions for monastic officers.
KeizanâÂÂs work closely parallels the Rules of Purity for the Huanzhu Hermitage (Genjà «an shingi å¹»ä½Âè´渠è¦Â), compiled in 1317 by the Chinese Chan master Zhongfen Mingben (1263âÂÂ1323), and was likely modeled on that or similar Yuan dynasty precedents.
In 1678, Gesshà « Sà Âko (æÂÂèÂÂå®Âè¡; 1618âÂÂ1696) and his disciple Manzan Dà Âhaku (1636âÂÂ1715)âÂÂleaders of the Sà Âtà  school fukko (âÂÂreturn to the oldâÂÂ) reform movement republished the work under the title Reverend KeizanâÂÂs Rules of Purity (Keizan oshà  shingi ç©山åÂÂå°Â渠è¦Â). The text soon became a standard reference work in Sà Âtà  Zen monasteries. In both structure and content, KeizanâÂÂs Rules of Purity served as a direct antecedent to the modern Standard Observances of the Sà Âtà  Zen School (Sà Âtà Âshà « gyà Âji kihan æ¹æ´Âå®Âè¡ÂæÂÂè¦Âç¯Â).