Keizan Jokin

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A Japanese Sōtō zen monk who authored the Denkō-roku (Taishō 2585), an authoritative Sōtō Zen historical work composed between 1299 and 1301. He was a fourth-generation successor to Sōtō founder Dōgen (1200-53), and considered the second great patriarch of the school. Strongly spiritual, he had frequent visions of the Bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara) in his youth, and entered the monastic order very early in his childhood at the behest of his mother. He trained at the Sōtō headquarters temple, Eiheiji, and from 1285-88 went on a pilgrimage to many temples and masters around Japan, broadening his knowledge of Buddhism. Following the transmission of the Dharma from his master, Tettsu Gikai (1219-1309), he was sent to be founding abbot of the Jōman Temple in Awa, and later succeeded his master as abbot of the Daijō Temple. He founded other temples and posted his disciples as abbots, but his greatest achievement in this regard came when he was given charge of a former Shingon temple which he renamed the Sōjiji. Under his direction it became the main temple of the Sōtō school, rivalling the Eiheiji in importance and gaining imperial patronage. By the time of his death, his spiritual achievements, charisma, diplomatic skills, and administrative ability had helped heal the schisms that the Sōtō school had undergone during his master's lifetime, and Keizan's branch of Sōtō became predominant.