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Zuiryoji is located in the centre of downtown Gifu. Zuiryoji Mountain and the southern slopes of Kinka Mountain provide the scenic backdrop as you enter the grounds of a religious community where, enclosed by a white wall, six temples straddle the approach.
At the far end stands the Zen training monastery of Zuiryoji itself.
In the second year of Onin (1468 CE), Lord Saito Toshiharu, a senior official of the Province of Mino (the ancient name for Gifu Prefecture), also known by his Buddhist name of Great Layman Myochin, consecrated a temple to the salvation of his late liege lord, the Duke Toki Nariyori, and invited the highly respected Zen Master Gokei Soton Zenji to take up residence there. |
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In ancient times during the Asuka Period(552-645 CE), the temples of Churinji and Atsumidera of the Tendai Sect of Buddhism had stood on this venerable ground.
Subsequently, however, these spiritual centres had fallen into neglect and been abandoned.
The founder of the Tokai line, one of the four sub-groups comprising the Myoshinji family of temples, Gokei Soton Zenji, who also held the title Teacher of the Naion, dedicated himself to restoring the area, and in the second year of Bunmei(1470)
completed work on seven temples.
Gokei Zenji initially concentrated his efforts of spiritual guidance in the Provinces of Owari (now western Aichi Prefecture) and Mino, but gradually through his influence Zuiryoji became known throughout Japan as an important centre of the Tokai line.
Gokei Zenji trained nine Zen Masters to be his Dharma Heirs, as well as over 700 other disciples. |
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Following the death of Gokei Soton Zenji on the 6th of September in the ninth year of Meio (1500), his disciples took it in turns in a system of annual rotation to be responsible for the running of Zuiryoji, and as a consequence the monastery was preserved.
In the fourth year of Enkyo (1747), the system that had lasted 247 years ended, and for nearly 60 years Zuiryoji remained without a formal occupant until the third year of Bunka (1806) when it was restored by Inzan Zenji.
Inzan Zenji did a great deal to promote the fortunes of Zuiryoji. He also left behind him some remarkable Dharma Heirs who became known as the Nine Sages. Life at Zuiryoji as a monastic training centre has continued during the one hundred and eighty or so years since his death. |
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