Editing Koan (section)

=== In Japanese Sōtō ===
Few [[Sōtō Zen]] practitioners concentrate on kōans during meditation, but the Sōtō sect has a strong historical connection with kōans, since many kōan collections were compiled by Sōtō priests. During the 13th century, [[Dōgen]], founder of the Sōtō sect in Japan, quoted 580 kōans in his teachings.{{sfn|Bodiford|1993|p=144}} He compiled some 300 kōans in the volumes known as the Greater ''[[Shōbōgenzō]].'' Dōgen wrote of [[Genjōkōan|''Genjokōan'']], which points out that everyday life experience and indeed, the whole universe in this moment, is the "fundamental kōan", which does not refer to any ancient Zen story, but to the "heart of the matter", the question of life and death.<ref name="leighton">{{cite web |author=Taigen Dan Leighton |author-link=Taigen Dan Leighton |title=The Practice of Genjokoan |url=http://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/dharma_talks/the_practice_of_genjokoan |accessdate=May 13, 2013 |publisher=Ancient Dragon Zen Gate}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Yasutani |first=Hakuun |author-link=Hakuun Yasutani |title=Flowers Fall. A Commentary on Zen Master Dōgen's ''Genjōkōan'' |publisher=Shambala Publications |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-57062-674-6 |location=Boston |pages=6–7}}</ref>

Over time, Sōtō sect adopted various koan meditation methods from other schools like Rinzai, including the method of observing a koan in meditation and koan curriculums. By the 15th century, Sōtō temples were publishing koan texts, and Sōtō monks often studied at Rinzai temples and passed on Rinzai koan practice lineages (and vice versa).<ref>Bodiford, William M. ''Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan'', pp. 149-150. University of Hawaii Press, Jan 1, 1993.</ref> Sōtō teachers continued to write and collect kōan texts throughout the medieval period. Later kōan collections compiled and annotated by Sōtō priests include ''The Iron Flute'' (Tetteki Tōsui) by Genrō Ōryū in 1783 and ''Verses and Commentaries on One Hundred Old Cases of Tenchian'' (''Tenchian hyakusoku hyoju'') compiled by Tetsumon in 1771.

However, during the late 18th and 19th century, the Sōtō tradition of {{Transliteration|ja|kōan}} commentary and practice became criticized and suppressed in the Sōtō school, due to a reform movement that sought to return to the teaching of [[Dōgen]] and standardise the procedures for [[dharma transmission]].{{sfn|Foulk|2000|p=25}}{{sfn|Mohr|2000|p=245}} An important figure in this development was [[Gentō Sokuchū]] (1729-1807), who sought to remove Rinzai and [[Ōbaku|Obaku]] influences on Sōtō and focus strictly on Dōgen's teachings and writings.<ref>Heine, Steven; Wright, Dale S. (2000). ''The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism'', p. 245. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-511748-4}}</ref>{{sfn|Mohr|2000|p=245}}

Another reason for suppressing the {{Transliteration|ja|kōan}} tradition in the Sōtō school may have been to highlight the differences with the Rinzai school, and create a clear Sōtō identity.{{sfn|Foulk|2000|p=25}} This reform movement had started to venerate Dōgen as the founding teacher of the Sōtō school and they sought to make Dōgen's teachings the main standard for the Sōtō school. While Dōgen himself made extensive use of {{Transliteration|ja|kōan}} commentary in his works, it is clear he emphasized [[shikantaza]] ("just sitting") without an object, instead of the koan introspection method.{{sfn|Foulk|2000|p=25}}<ref>Leighton, Taigen Daniel; Okumura, Shohaku. ''Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of Eihei Shingi'', p. 13-14. SUNY Press, Jan 1, 1996.</ref>