Dokyo Etan, also known as Shoju Ronin, (1642 – October 10, 1721) was a Japanese Rinzai monk and poet. He is known as the only Dharma successor of Shido Munan (1603 - 1676) and as the master of Hakuin Ekaku (1686 – 1769).

Quotes

• You're a self-centered rascal, aren't you!
  • Spoken to Hakuin Ekaku; as cited in: Hakuin Ekaku (author), Norman Waddell (translator). Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin. 2010. p. xxii

• Here in the shadow of death it is hard
  To utter the final word.
  I'll only say, then,
  "Without saying."
  Nothing more,
  Nothing more.
  • Japanese Death Poems. Compiled by Yoel Hoffmann. ISBN 978-0-8048-3179-6.

• Hurrying to die,
  It’s difficult to find a last word.
  If I spoke the wordless word,
  I wouldn’t speak at all!
  • Richard Bryan McDaniel. Zen Masters of Japan. The Second Step East. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 2014. p. 122.

Quotes about Dokyo Etan

• Dôkyô Etan (1642–1721) Japanese Rinzai monk from the Myôshin-ji lineage, best known as the master of Hakuin Ekaku (1768–1768), the great Rinzai sect reformer. Etan was the son of a samurai and his concubine. He was raised in the household of Lord Matsudaira Tadatomo, where he was first introduced to Zen. On a trip to Edo in 1660, Etan became the disciple of Shidô Bu'nan (1603–1676), having already attained an experience of enlightenment. He received the master's certificate (J. inka) after only one year of practice. He then returned to his native Iiyama in Shinano, where he lived a simple life in a small hermitage called Shôju-an. From the hermitage Etan received his nickname, Shôju Rôji, “the old man of the Shôju hermitage.” None of Etan's writings were published, although some of his teachings are scattered within Hakuin's work.
  • "Dôkyô Etan (1642–1721)," at terebess.hu. Accessed 2018-06-25.

External links

• Dôkyô Etan (1642–1721) at terebess.hu