Hakuin Ekaku

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HAKUIN EKAKU

Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1768) was a Japanese Zen monk who worked to reform Rinzai Zen, and from whom modern Rinzai lineages in Japan are descended. For Zen monks, he is known as an artist, scholar, and systematizer of doubt in kŌan study. He stressed that kōan introspection, especially the cultivation of doubt, was the only means to satori (awakening) and that initial sudden awakening had to be followed with more kōan study (gogo) to deepen the experience.

See also:Chan School

Bibliography

Yampolsky, Philip B., trans. The Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1971.

John Jorgensen

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