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The book
Echu Kyuma-roshi’s Great Robe of Liberation, since its original publication in 1967 (as Kesa no Kenkyuu), has served as an indispensable resource for anyone wanting to study, sew, or wear robes in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition. Kyuma-roshi, a longtime student of both Kodo Sawaki-roshi and Kosho Uchiyama-roshi, generously shares his research and personal experience, presenting a kind of technical manual with in-depth explanations of everything from the proper color, size, and materials of a robe, to the actual sewing, to how to wear it and care for it.
Woven throughout those discussions is an examination of the evolution of the robe—how it has taken shape in the vinaya and in our own Soto Zen tradition—and ultimately how we can understand it as an expression of the dharma. Great Robe of Liberation, now translated into English for the first time, is a loving, curious, and rigorous exploration of the one object that most clearly symbolizes and embodies the practice of Zen Buddhism. The author: Echu Kyuma
Born in 1934 in Kobe, Japan, Echu Kyuma was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at age 19 by Sodo Kyuma. He graduated Komazawa Junior College with Buddhism major in 1954. Since then he practiced and studied with Kodo Sawaki and Kosho Uchiyama at Antaiji. In 1956 he became an abbot of Tozenji in Maizuru, then moved to Jofukuji in Ichinomiya in 1966. He started Fukudenkai ( Nyoho-e sewing group) in 1968 and lead the sewing retreat of 5 days twice a year. From 1991 for a few years he traveled to Europe and taught Nyoho-e okesa sewing at Fudenji in Italy.曹洞宗東海管区教化センタ布教師Lecturer at NHK Cultural Center in Nagoya and 修験宗総本山金峯山寺 Author of many books including ‘Kesa no Kenkyu’ ( Study of Kesa), ‘Ryokan Nyumon’ ( The Introduction to Ryokan) and ‘Kesa no Hanashi’ ( The Story of Kesa). He passed away on January 18, 2019.
The supervisor: Kodo Sawaki
While practicing with Ryoun Fueoka in Tamba, Kodo Sawaki noticed that his robe was different in fabric and construction from the average one worn by other Buddhist monks. He was intrigued by this and had a strong aspiration to learn more about this style of robe and the practices that went with it. Later he met a Shingon-ritsu nun who was also wearing a nyoho-e and he embarked on research about the background of these robes including, importantly, putting much attention on the teachings and practice of an Edo-period monk called Jiun Sonja. A scholar, reformer and calligrapher, Jiun made a deep study of the Vinaya, and Sawaki Roshi was heavily influenced by these works in his own research and writing about nyoho-e.
This interest and aspiration continued throughout his life, and in the early 1960s his 20th century nyoho-e movement taught and encouraged practitioners of all walks of life to study, make and wear nyoho-style robes. Although he spent time training and working in temples, given his itinerant lifestyle and choice not to settle in and lead any particular temple in the long term, he spread nyoho-e practice mainly outside of the established temple system. LEARN MORE from the Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury |
The translators
Koun Franz, Resident Priest
Thousand Harbors Zen in Halifax, Nova Scotia Koun came to Halifax from Japan, where he trained, taught, and translated at traditional monasteries and temples. From 2006 to 2010, he also served as resident priest of the Anchorage Zen Community in Alaska. Some of his writings on Buddhist practice can be found at Nyoho Zen and One Continuous Mistake; many of his talks are available on the THZ Podcast. A former board member for the Association of Soto Zen Buddhists and Soto Zen Buddhist Association, he is recognized by the Soto school in Japan as a kokusai fukyoshi, or international teacher. 
Yuko Okumura,
Teacher of nyoho sewing of Buddha's Robe Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, IN Yuko started to practice zazen when she was 16 and later went to Komazawa University to study Buddhism. During her time there, she had an opportunity to learn nyoho-e style sewing. She received lay precepts from Kin-ei Otogawa Zenji at Sojiji in Japan in 1977. After being married to Shohaku Okumura in 1983, she lived at Antaiji for one year to study okesa sewing. Since Sanshinji's establishment in Bloomington in 2003, she has been helping lay people to sew their rakusu and ordained people to sew their okesa. In 2018 she led an online kesa study group where she shared the English translation of the book Kesa no Kenkyu ( Great Robe of Liberation - A Study of Kesa ) by Kyuma Echu. 
Mrs. Kyuma, Kyuma roshi and Yuko Okumura at the gate of Kokiji (Founded by Jiun Onko) in January 2011.
Special Thanks to Zen Buddhist Sewing Teachers ( ZBST)
This translation was made possible in part by the generous support of ZBST. |
Copyright © 2024 Koun Franz and Yuko Okumura. You are free to copy, distribute, and transmit this work provided you give appropriate credit to the copyright holder and cite the website source accurately. You may not modify the work. All other rights reserved.
