Nishijima, G.
| English Phonetics | Gudo Wafu Nishijima |
|---|---|
| Sort Name | Nishijima, Gudo Wafu |
| Birth: | 1919 |
|---|---|
| Death: | 2014 |
Tibetan calendar dates
Biographical Information
Gudo Wafu Nishijima (Nishijima Gudō Wafu (西嶋愚道和夫), 29 November 1919 – 28 January 2014) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and teacher.
Biography:
As a young man in the early 1940s, Nishijima became a student of the Zen teacher Kōdō Sawaki.[2] Shortly after the end of the Second World War, Nishijima received a law degree from Tokyo University and began a career in finance. It was not until 1973, when he was in his mid-fifties, that Nishijima was ordained as a Buddhist priest. His preceptor for this occasion was Rempo Niwa, a former head of the Soto Zen sect. Four years later, Niwa gave him shiho, formally accepting him as one of his successors. Nishijima continued his professional career until 1979.
During the 1960s, Nishijima began giving regular public lectures on Buddhism and Zen meditation. From the 1980s, he lectured in English and had several foreign students. Nishijima was the author of several books in Japanese and English. He was also a notable translator of Buddhist texts: working with student and Dharma heir Mike Chodo Cross, Nishijima compiled one of three complete English versions of Dōgen's ninety-five-fascicle Kana Shobogenzo; he also translated Dogen's Shinji Shōbōgenzō. He also published an English translation of Nagarjuna's Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā).
In 2007, Nishijima and a group of his students organized as the Dogen Sangha International. In April 2012, the president of the organization, Brad Warner, dissolved it subsequent to Nishijima's death. (Source Accessed July 12, 2023)
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