Zen is a living tradition that has been transmitted from master to disciple for more than 2,500 years, starting with Shakyamuni Buddha. This spiritual lineage, deeply rooted in the practice of Dharma, has evolved and diversified into different schools and traditions over the centuries. In our Community, We follow the lineage that has been carefully preserved and passed down through generations of masters until we reach Daizan Soriano sensei, our current teacher Dharma. Next, We present the spiritual genealogy that connects our Community with the great masters of Zen, highlighting the importance of this uninterrupted transmission as the heart of our practice and teaching.
Kodo Sawaki roshi He has been one of the greatest masters in the modern history of Japanese Zen.. Popularly, He was known by the name “Kodo without abode”, since he always refused to live in a temple and preferred to travel the country, always traveling alone, teaching zazen in prisons, in the factories, in universities, wherever there was someone willing to hear the Dharma and to practice it. He taught at the Komazawa Zen University, He was an educator at the second sôtô temple in Japan, el famoso Soji-ji. His teaching could be summarized in two points: accuracy in practice zazen and constant study of Master Dôgen's Shôbôgenô. Died in 1966, after having taught laymen and monks throughout his life. His body was delivered at his request to the Tokyo Faculty of Medicine.. Among his main disciples are Shuyu Narita Roshi., Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, Suzuki Kakuzen Roshi y Taisen Deshimaru Roshi.
Shuyu Narita roshi He was the first disciple confirmed in the Dharma by Master Kodo Sawaki. In 1977, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Taisen Deshimaru roshi's mission to Europe, He visited our continent for the first time at the invitation of Master Deshimaru.. He was abbot of the Todenji Zen temple, en Iidagawa, Akita prefecture.
Taisen Deshimaru roshi was born in Saga, Japan, in 1914. He studied Political Sciences and Economics in Tokyo and worked for several years for the country's first company., La Mitsubishi. Still young, he met the master Kodo Sawaki, of whom he quickly became a disciple.. Since then and for thirty years he follows his teacher everywhere. After the death of Kodo Sawaki, Deshimaru roshi viene a Europa, which marks an important turn in the history of Zen and European culture. Indeed, He was the first teacher authorized by the Japanese sôtô school to implant the seeds of Zen in Europe.. For fifteen years of constant work, dedicated exclusively to the expansion of the Dharma and to the training of the first European Zen monks, Deshimaru roshi embodied the Zen spirit transmitted by the Ancestors. More than one hundred and fifty centers spread throughout all the countries of the continent, more than three hundred ordained monks and thousands of lay disciples confirm him as First Zen Patriarch of Europe. Taisen Deshimaru roshi received the transmission of the Dharma de Yamada Reirin Zenji, abbot of one of the two great Japanese Zen temples, the Eiheiji. His sudden death, occurred in 1982, prevented him from transmitting his lineage to his European disciples.
Dokusho Villalba roshi He received the ordination of a sôtô Zen Buddhist priest from the master Taisen Deshimaru, in 1978, in Paris, under whose direction he studied and practiced until the master's death. He then continued studying Dharma under the direction of Shuyu Narita roshi and in 1987 received from him the transmission of Dharma.
Daizan Soriano sensei received the Transmission of Dharma of his teacher Dokushô Villalba in December 2020, becoming his legitimate spiritual successor. He is the spiritual director of the Zen Centers of Alicante and Murcia. family man, married with children.
