Oda Sesso

Oda Sessō (小田 雪窓, 1901 – 16 September 1966) was a Rinzai Rōshi and abbot of the Daitoku-ji (大徳寺) in Kyoto, Japan, a Dharma successor of Gotō Zuigan. He was elected abbot of Daitoku-ji upon Goto's retirement from that post in 1955. At Goto's request, Oda opened Daitoku-ji to foreigners. His western students included Gary Snyder, Janwillem van de Wetering, Irmgard Schloegl, and Philip Yampolsky.

Snyder described him as:

Alan Watts said:

Janwillem van de Wetering gave an account of his stay at Daitoku-ji in his book The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery.

See also

• Buddhism in Japan
• List of Rinzai Buddhists

References

Sources

• Kraft, Kenneth; Morinaga, Sōkō. Zen, Tradition and Transition (1988) Grove Press. .
• Kyger, Joanne. Strange Big Moon: The Japan and India Journals: 1960–1964 (2000) North Atlantic Books. .
• Snyder, Gary. The Real Work: Interviews & Talks, 1964–1979 (1980) New Directions Publishing. .
• Stirling, Isabel. Zen Pioneer: The Life and Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki (2006) Shoemaker & Hoard. .

Further reading

• Janwillem van de Wetering, The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery.