Kogaku Soko

“Kogaku Soko was granted the title Busshin Seito Zenji in 1522 (Daiei 2) by Emperor {{w|Go-Shirakawa}}, and was also granted the title Shobo Daisho Kokushi in 1536 (Tenmon 5) by {{w|Emperor Go-Nara}}.”

“Sōen played a major role in the tea world as an active tea participant and as a powerful abbot of several Zen temples around the Kansai, though he is primarily associated with Daitokuji. Like the Daitokuji priest Kogaku Sōkō (1465–1548) before him, Soen was particularly active as a bridge between Kyoto, and its large community of tea practitioners, and Sakai, the merchant city south of present-day Osaka that gave birth to the new breed of sixteenth-century tea masters.”

“My final words are these:As I fall I throw all on a high mountain peak -Lo! All creation shatters; thus it isThat I destroy Zen doctrine.”