Studying Buddha's Robe
Kodo Sawaki's 20th century nyoho-e movement
While practicing with Ryoun Fueoka in Tamba, Kodo Sawaki noticed that his robe was different in fabric and construction from the average one worn by other Buddhist monks. He was intrigued by this and had a strong aspiration to learn more about this style of robe and the practices that went with it. Later he met a Shingon-ritsu nun who was also wearing a nyoho-e and he embarked on research about the background of these robes. Sawaki Roshi's study put much attention on the teachings and practice of an Edo-period monk called Jiun Sonja. A scholar, reformer and calligrapher, Jiun made a deep study of the Vinaya, and Sawaki Roshi was heavily influenced by these works in his own research and writing about nyoho-e. This interest and aspiration continued throughout his life, and in the early 1960s his 20th century nyoho-e movement taught and encouraged practitioners of all walks of life to study, make and wear nyoho-style robes. Although he spent time training and working in temples, given his itinerant lifestyle and choice not to settle in and lead any particular temple in the long term, he spread nyoho-e practice mainly outside of the established temple system. Eko Hashimoto, the other central figure in the nyoho movement, focused on establishing nyoho-e practice within the senmon sodo among novices. There are minor but identifiable differences in the styles of Sawaki and Hashimoto robes; for instance, the proportions of certain rows and seams are not the same, so there are elements that are the particular legacy of our dharma family within the larger nyoho-e world. However, the more significant differences are between nyoho-style robes and the commercially made robes which are the official Sotoshu clerical vestments. There is very important denominational history at play here, and it is little understood by the average practitioner. Unfortunately, Sawaki Roshi died within a very few years of beginning the 20th century movement. Thus Sanshin now picks up his movement in an intentional, comprehensive and strategic way and we carry it forward ourselves in the 21st century as the direct descendants of its originator. |
Sawaki Roshi encounters the nyoho okesa
Kodo Sawaki was ordained by Koho Sawada when he was 17 in 1897 at Soshinji in Amakusa, Kyushu. After two years, he followed the tradition of traveling to visit various temples and practice with different teachers. His first encounter with nyoho-e came when he practiced with Rev. Ryoun Fueoka at Hosenji from 1899 to 1900. Fueoka had practiced with Bokusan Nishiari for about 20 years. Sawaki felt an affinity with Fueoka, and for the first time in his life felt he had met a true teacher of the dharma. Sawaki had a competitive nature and wanted to gain satori in his early years, but he learned from Fueoka’s unassuming presence the essence of "no-gain" (mushotoku ) Zen practice. Although Sawaki could only practice with Fueoka for less than 2 years, this teacher was a lasting influence on him for the rest of his life. It was during this time with Fueoka that Sawaki saw him wearing an unusual style of okesa. The two Japanese biographical sources on Sawaki mention two okesa. One was "a gray okesa with fine ramie (echigojofu 越後上布)" and the other was "a mokuran (ochre) linen okesa with fine visible stitches." Fueoka’s okesa was called "nyoho-e, " the robe made in accordance with the Buddha's teaching, the practice of which had been lost but revived in 18th century Japan by a Shingon scholar monk, Jiun Onko. Though Sawaki didn’t know anything about nyoho-e at that time, Fueoka’s okesa made a deep and lasting impression on him. Fueoka’s presence while wearing nyoho-e okesa gave rise to Sawaki's aspiration that "I wish I would be able to wear such an okesa someday." His wish came true many years later when he was studying Yogacara teaching at Horyuji in Nara. Fueoka gave Sawaki private lectures on some of Dogen’s important texts, such as Gakudo Yojinshu and Eihei Shingi, but when Sawaki begged him to teach the Shobogenzo, he was advised that in order to truly understand Dogen’s teachings, he needed to study Buddhism in general first. Sawaki took Fueoka’s words to heart and studied at two Buddhist schools, a Shin Buddhist school in Takada and Horyuji Kangakuin in Nara beginning in 1906, after he was discharged from his six years of military service. It was during his time in Nara that he met two Shingon nuns who set him on the path of exploring and advocating the importance of nyoho-e in Soto Zen. |
Meeting with Shingon nuns
At some point during the four years he spent at Horyuji in Nara studying Yogacara, Kodo Sawaki attended a funeral at Yoshidaji in Yamato. There he met two nuns from the Shingon Vinaya School who were wearing nyoho-e which were similar to that of Fueoka roshi. Finally, ten years after his first encounter with Fueoka's nyoho-e, Sawaki had his opportunity to fulfill his lifetime wish to wear and practice with such okesa. He later recalled that what he had felt at that time was indescribable.
At the time of the funeral, he could only ask them which lineage they were from. He learned that they were the fourth generation from Jiun Onko, a Shingon priest, Vinaya reformer, and the founder of the Shoboritsu (Vinaya of the True Dharma) Shingon sect in the 18th century. Jiun revived the nyoho-e okesa based on his extensive study of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya. He then facilitated the One Thousand Kesa project, which took 40 years to complete and concluded one year after his passing in 1806. In his 30s, Sawaki had opportunities to see and study these okesa at Kokiji, the temple in which Jiun had lived. For many years thereafter he returned to the okesa at Kokiji to resolve the questions he had about nyoho-e construction and practice.
Shortly after he met the nuns, they came to him and asked him to lecture for them on Buddhism. He spoke about texts such as Shobogenzo Zuimonki and Gakudoyojinshu at Kisshoan for several years.
One day the nuns brought him a text called Hobuku kasan (Verses in Praise of Garments of the Way) written by Jiun Onko and asked him to lecture on it. Although it was his first contact with the text, he thought it would not be so difficult to understand. However, he quickly realized that he had no idea what Jiun's text meant because he needed a deeper knowledge of okesa -- not only how to wear and practice with it, but also how they were constructed. Thus the nuns began to teach him to sew nyoho-e.
After he left Horyuji, Sawaki practiced at Yosenji, then lived at Jofukuji by himself and focused solely on zazen, sitting from 2 am to 10 pm every day for three years. In 1914, a laywoman named Satoko Kitamura who used to attend his lectures at Yosenji visited him. He showed her around Nara and took her to the national museum. When looking at statues of the ten disciples of the Buddha made in the 8th century, he told her that he would like to wear such okesa. She immediately responded that she would make one, but it was not until he could borrow one of Jiun’s okesa for her to figure out how it was made that she could make his first nyoho-e okesa: a 15-panel funzo-e, which he wore for the rest of his life.
At some point during the four years he spent at Horyuji in Nara studying Yogacara, Kodo Sawaki attended a funeral at Yoshidaji in Yamato. There he met two nuns from the Shingon Vinaya School who were wearing nyoho-e which were similar to that of Fueoka roshi. Finally, ten years after his first encounter with Fueoka's nyoho-e, Sawaki had his opportunity to fulfill his lifetime wish to wear and practice with such okesa. He later recalled that what he had felt at that time was indescribable.
At the time of the funeral, he could only ask them which lineage they were from. He learned that they were the fourth generation from Jiun Onko, a Shingon priest, Vinaya reformer, and the founder of the Shoboritsu (Vinaya of the True Dharma) Shingon sect in the 18th century. Jiun revived the nyoho-e okesa based on his extensive study of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya. He then facilitated the One Thousand Kesa project, which took 40 years to complete and concluded one year after his passing in 1806. In his 30s, Sawaki had opportunities to see and study these okesa at Kokiji, the temple in which Jiun had lived. For many years thereafter he returned to the okesa at Kokiji to resolve the questions he had about nyoho-e construction and practice.
Shortly after he met the nuns, they came to him and asked him to lecture for them on Buddhism. He spoke about texts such as Shobogenzo Zuimonki and Gakudoyojinshu at Kisshoan for several years.
One day the nuns brought him a text called Hobuku kasan (Verses in Praise of Garments of the Way) written by Jiun Onko and asked him to lecture on it. Although it was his first contact with the text, he thought it would not be so difficult to understand. However, he quickly realized that he had no idea what Jiun's text meant because he needed a deeper knowledge of okesa -- not only how to wear and practice with it, but also how they were constructed. Thus the nuns began to teach him to sew nyoho-e.
After he left Horyuji, Sawaki practiced at Yosenji, then lived at Jofukuji by himself and focused solely on zazen, sitting from 2 am to 10 pm every day for three years. In 1914, a laywoman named Satoko Kitamura who used to attend his lectures at Yosenji visited him. He showed her around Nara and took her to the national museum. When looking at statues of the ten disciples of the Buddha made in the 8th century, he told her that he would like to wear such okesa. She immediately responded that she would make one, but it was not until he could borrow one of Jiun’s okesa for her to figure out how it was made that she could make his first nyoho-e okesa: a 15-panel funzo-e, which he wore for the rest of his life.
