Intellectual society Ryōmō Kyōkai means "Association for the Abandonment of the Concepts of Objectivity and Subjectivity". It was founded at the beginning of the
Meiji restoration, when Japan started to modernise: It attracted figures such as
Imakita Kōsen (1816–1892) (abbot of the Rinzai monastery
Engaku-ji, and teacher of
Soyen Shaku),
Nakajima Nobuyuki,
Kawajiri Hōkin, and
Nakae Chomin (1847–1901). Kōsen was its honorary leader but not its founder. It attracted lay Buddhists and possibly inspired the form of Zen practice centers throughout the Western world. Sōkatsu stayed in the USA four years before returning to Japan, leaving only Sokei-an behind. Sokei-an lived most of his adult life in the United States, returning to Japan only briefly on four occasions, principally to complete his Zen training and receive his final Dharma transmission from Sōkatsu. In 1930 he established the
Buddhist Society of America in New York City, initially as a branch of Ryōmō Kyōkai; this was renamed the First Zen Institute of America after World War II, and continues to this day, in spite of having no resident teacher. The Japanese revival was disbanded after World War II, and the San Francisco branch likely was lost during the
Japanese American internment.
Ningen Zen Kyodan Ryobo-an Roshi gave Dharma transmission to Koun-an Tatsuta Eizan Roshi, Ichimu-an Ohazama Chikudo Roshi, Gotō Zuigan Roshi, and Sokei-an Sasaki Shigetsu Roshi. Koun-an Roshi founded
Ningen Zen, "Zen cultivation of the human spirit". The
Ningen Zen Kyodan. Its mission is "to establish an earthly paradise". In this, it sees itself as "essentially different from the traditional Zen Buddhists who aimed principally at Dharma-transmission for the sake of Dharma-transmission." The
Ningen Zen Kyodan has sixteen groups and sixteen meditation centers, and twelve
Zen masters, who received Dharma transmission from Koun-an Roshi. ==References==