Oda Sessō Explained

Oda Sessō
Birth Place:	Japan
Death Date:	^[1]
Religion:	Zen Buddhism
School:	Rinzai
Rōshi
Predecessor:	Gotō Zuigan

Oda Sessō (小田 雪窓, 1901 - 1966)^[2] was a Rinzai Rōshi and abbot of the Daitoku-ji (大徳寺) in Kyoto, Japan, a Dharma successor of Gotō Zuigan. He was elected abbot of Daitoku-ji upon Goto's retirement from that post in 1955. At Goto's request, Oda opened Daitoku-ji to foreigners. His western students included Gary Snyder,^{[3] [4]} Janwillem van de Wetering, Irmgard Schloegl, and Philip Yampolsky.

Snyder described him as

Alan Watts said,

Janwillem van de Wetering gave an account of his stay at Daitoku-ji in his book "The empty mirror".

See also

• Buddhism in Japan
• List of Rinzai Buddhists

Sources

• Kraft, Kenneth

Morinaga, Sōkō. Zen, Tradition and Transition (1988) Grove Press.

• Kyger, Joanne. Strange Big Moon: The Japan and India Journals: 1960-1964 (2000) North Atlantic Books.
• Snyder, Gary. The Real Work: Interviews & Talks, 1964-1979 (1980) New Directions Publishing.
• Stirling, Isabel. Zen Pioneer: The Life & Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki (2006) Shoemaker & Hoard.

Further reading

• Janwillem van de Wetering, The empty mirror

Notes and References

1. Stirling 2006, pg. 125
2. Stirling 2006, pg. 50
3. Snyder 1980, pp. 97, 98
4. Kraft 1988, p. 20