An Introduction to Zen Training

Omori Sogen (1904—1994) began his formal training in Zen, kenjutsu (traditional swordsmanship), and calligraphy in his early twenties, and was a widely respected sword teacher and advisor to the Japanese Cabinet. After WWII, he entered the priesthood in the Tenryu-ji Rinzai lineage. For the next forty years he continued to teach swordsmanship, calligraphy, and Zen, while also writing twenty books and serving as a court magistrate, eventually becoming President of Hanazono Daigaku, the principle Rinzai university in Japan. He established the International Zen Dojo in Hawaii and founded Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Honolulu—the first headquarters temple in Rinzai Zen established under canon law outside Japan. Sanzen Nyumon was translated from the Japanese by Hosogawa Dogen Roshi--Abbot of Daihonzan Chozen-ji and a dharma successor of Omori Sogen Rotaishi—and Roy Yoshimoto. With an introduction by Trevor Leggett, author of A First Zen Reader, Zen and the Ways, and many other books on Zen, Taoism, and Asian philosophy.