Gasan_Jitō
Gasan Jitō
Zen master
Gasan Jitō was a Zen master in the Japanese Rinzai school. He received Dharma transmission from Rinzai teacher Gessen Zen'e, before meeting Hakuin.[1] Deeply impressed, he started koan-study with Hakuin, completing it under Tōrei Enji tutelage.[2] Gasan is considered to be a dharma heir of Hakuin, though "he did not belong to the close circle of disciples and was probably not even one of Hakuin's dharma heirs."[3][note 1] After completing his training, Gasan Jitō moved to Rinsho-in, a small temple in Edo where he had more than five-hundred students.[1] He and/or his students Inzan Ien and Takuju Kosen created the contemporary Rinzai koan-curriculum out of the "raw koan system" inherited from Gasan.[1]