Religion Zen Buddhism Died January 16, 1892 School Rinzai Successor Soyen Shaku | Predecessor Gisan Zenkai Titles Zen master Name Imakita Kosen | |
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Similar People Soyen Shaku, Nyogen Senzaki, Keisuke Kinoshita, Yasujiro Ozu | ||
Imakita Kōsen (今北 洪川, 3 August 1816 - 16 January 1892) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen rōshi and Neo-Confucianist.
Kosen did his Zen training under Daisetsu Shoen (1797–1855) at Sōkoku-ji and received inka from Gisan Zenkai at Sōgen-ji in Okayama. Kosen was instrumental in bringing Zen to lay practitioners and to the west. Kosen's Dharma heir Soyen Shaku participated in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, which introduced Soyen Shaku's student D.T. Suzuki to Paul Carus and western Theosophy. Kosen's dharma descendant Tetsuo Sōkatsu established Ningen Zen Kyodan, an independent lay-Rinzai school.
As one-time head abbot of Engakuji in Kamakura, Japan, he was known as a government loyalist and is remembered for his support of Emperor Meiji—in the 1870s serving as Doctrinal Instructor for the Ministry of Doctrine.