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. READ MORE: Sawaki Roshi encounters the nyoho okesa
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. |
The Robe and the Dharma are One ThusnessArticle by Kōdō Sawaki |