Nōnin

Dainichibō Nōnin (大日房能忍) (fl. 1190s) was a Japanese Buddhist monk who started the first Zen school in Japan.

Biography

While a monk with the Tendai school, he came across texts about Zen which had been brought from China. In 1189, he dispatched two of his disciples to China to meet with Zhuóān Déguāng (拙庵德光, 1121–1203), himself a student of the Rinzai master Dahui Zonggao. The disciples presented a letter Nonin had written describing his realization from practicing Zen on his own. Deguang apparently approved and sent a letter certifying Nonin’s enlightenment. Nonin then started his own school, which he called the Darumashū, or "Bodhidharma school".

Daruma-school

The Daruma-school depended on two sources for their teachings: early Chán as "transmitted on Hiei-zan within the Tendai tradition", with clear elements of teachings from the Northern School, and the Chinese Rinzai-school. The Chán-teaching of 'inherent awakening', or hongaku, influenced the Tendai-teachings. It explains

Because of his nonstandard Dharma transmission and extensive blending of various teachings, his school was heavily criticized. Heinrich Dumoulin wrote of Nonin: