In 1655 when he was thirty-three, he founded Shoshin an (later Zuiko-ji Temple) in Fukakusa, Fushimi, named himself Chikuyo (bamboo leaf) an, and began applying himself to study Buddhism.
明暦元年33歳で伏見深草に称心庵（後の瑞光寺）を営み、竹葉庵と号し仏道の修行に励んだ。