Sān gēn zuò chán shuō 三根坐禪說 (Japanese: Sangon zazensetsu)
Exposition of Seated Meditation for the Three Capacities — a short one-juan Japanese Sōtō Zen text by Keizan 瑩山紹瑾 (Keizan Jōkin, 1264–1325), the second great founder of the Japanese Sōtō school and direct dharma-heir of Tettsū Gikai 徹通義介, grand-dharma-heir of Dōgen. Keizan’s posthumous imperial title: Sōji Emmei Kokushi 總持圓明國師 (“National Master of Total-Retention and Perfect-Brightness”), from which the text attributes him as Zǒng chí Yuán míng guó shī Yíngshān.
About the work
A short one-juan text on meditation-practice for practitioners at three different spiritual levels, G84 n2086. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted.
Keizan distinguishes three capacities of practitioner:
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Upper capacity (shàng gēn 上根): The most advanced practitioners — not even aware of the Buddhas’ appearing-in-the-world, not realising the subtle un-transmitted truth of the Buddha-patriarchs. “When hungry eat food, when tired sleep.” Sitting openly-and-naturally without distinguishing awakened-from-unawakened.
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Middle capacity (zhōng gēn 中根): Those at the standard Sōtō meditation-practice level. Letting go of all affairs, resting all conditions; throughout the twelve hours of the day sustaining effortful attention. Taking up a huà tóu 話頭 (kōan), focussing attention at the tip of the nose, realising that the original face does not pass through birth-and-death, comprehending that the Buddha-nature does not fall into conceptual-analytical differentiation.
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Lower capacity (xià gēn 下根): Beginners. Valuing simply the establishment of karmic connections; distinguishing good-and-evil actions; manifesting Buddha-nature directly through mind. Specific postural and sensory instructions: feet in lotus-position, hands in meditation-mudra, mouth closed like a seam, eyes not too wide and not too narrow, ears not listening to good-or-bad sounds, nose not smelling pleasant-or-unpleasant odours, body not leaning on any object, movement stopped, mind not going after external objects, joy and sorrow both ceased.
Keizan’s closing position: even minimal advancement in seated meditation exceeds the merit of constructing hundreds of thousands of monastery-stupas — “the most excellent actual-practice among the ten thousand practices is the single gate of seated meditation alone.”
Abstract
Keizan Jōkin 瑩山紹瑾 (1264–1325): the second great founder of Japanese Sōtō, succeeding Dōgen (d. 1253) → Ejō 懷奘 → Gikai 義介 → Keizan. Founded Sōji-ji 總持寺 in 1321, which became (alongside Eihei-ji) one of the two principal head-monasteries of the Japanese Sōtō school. Keizan’s doctrinal-institutional work — particularly his Denkōroku 傳光錄 (Record of the Transmission of the Light) and his institutionalisation of Sōtō monastic practice at Sōji-ji — transformed Sōtō from Dōgen’s intimate teaching-circle into a national institutional tradition.
Dating: notBefore c. 1290 (Keizan’s mature productive period); notAfter 1325 (his death). Precise composition-date not preserved in the received text.
Translations and research
- Bielefeldt, Carl. 1988. Dogen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation. UC Press. Provides context on the Zen meditation-manual genre including Keizan’s contributions.
- Keizan’s Denkōroku has been translated multiple times: Cook, Francis (trans.). 2003. The Record of Transmitting the Light. Wisdom.
- Heine, Steven. Various studies on the Sōtō tradition.
Other points of interest
The Sān gēn zuò chán shuō is one of Keizan’s many short texts establishing clear practical-meditation guidelines for his expanding Sōtō community. The text’s three-tier capacity structure — addressing practitioners at distinct developmental stages — was pedagogically revolutionary in its era, providing a unified framework that could accommodate both beginners and advanced practitioners within a single institutional practice-programme.
Links
- CBETA G2086
- Kanseki DB
- Related Dōgen-school text: Zuò chán zhēn 坐禪箴 (KR6q0241) by Dōgen.
- Parent tradition: Japanese Sōtō school.