Zen Chinese Caodong school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Dongshan Liangjie. The Sōtō-school has de-emphasized kōans since Gentō Sokuchū (circa 1800), and instead emphasized on shikantaza. Dogen, the founder of Soto in Japan, emphasized that practice and awakening cannot be separated. By practicing shikantaza, attainment and Buddhahood are already being expressed. For Dogen, zazen, or shikantaza, is the essence of Buddhist practice. Gradual cultivation was also recognized by Dongshan Liangjie. Contrary to the popular image, literature does play a role in the Zen-training. Zen is deeply rooted in the teachings and doctrines of Mahāyāna Buddhism. "Unsui", Zen-monks, "are
Buddhism in the West and thus plays a central administrative and spiritual role for Buddhism in the rest of South America. It was first introduced by Japanese immigrants in 1908. Rev. Tomojiro Ibaragi of the Honmon Butsuryū-shū founded the first official Buddhist institution in the country in 1936, the Taisseji Temple. In the 50s and 60s, non-Japanese Brazilians sought out Buddhism influenced partly by translations of the works of DT Suzuki. They went to centers such as the Busshinji Temple of the Soto Zen school in São Paulo and some of them later went on to become popular Zen teachers among Brazilians such as