Photo via Pexels
Obaku
A smaller Japanese Zen school of Ming Chinese origin, blending Zen with Pure Land elements.
Ōbaku Zen arrived in Japan in the seventeenth century with the Chinese monk Yinyuan Longqi (Ingen). It preserves Ming-dynasty monastic forms, Chinese liturgical chanting, and a greater openness to nembutsu alongside zazen.
Though smaller than Sōtō and Rinzai, Ōbaku contributed significantly to Japanese cultural life, calligraphy, and temple architecture — notably Manpuku-ji near Kyoto.
Practices
Zazen with Chinese liturgy
Sitting practice framed by Ming-style chanting and temple forms.
Nembutsu
Recitation of Amitābha’s name as practiced within Ōbaku settings.
Texts
Obaku Zen: The Emergence of the Third Sect of Zen in Tokugawa Japan
Helen J. Baroni
Scholarly history of the school.