Chozen-Ji

Chozen-ji plays several roles in the local community—a monastery for those doing shugyo, a community temple where lay people train daily in various forms of Rinzai Zen, and a place where members of Hawaii’s diverse local population gather and put their Zen training to work. There is also a vibrant community of students training in the Chozen-ji tradition outside of Hawaiʻi and around the world. Chozen-ji was founded by Omori Sogen and Tenshin Tanouye, both renowned Zen masters, swordsmen and calligraphers. Omori Sogen is a direct Dharma Successor in the Tenryu-ji Line of Rinzai Zen and a successor of Yamaoka Tesshu's Taishi School of Calligraphy and of the Jikishinkage School of Fencing. Tanouye Roshi was a kamaʻaina – born of the land of Hawaiʻi – and a public school teacher with a specialty in music who turned his school room into a martial arts dojo every afternoon. He was also a determined student of the martial arts and earned the 6th or 7th degree in seven different arts including Judo, Kendo, Karate, Iaido and Jojitsu.