Gasan Jitō

Gasan Jitō was a Zen master in the Japanese Rinzai school. He received Dharma transmission from Rinzai teacher Gessen Zen'e, before meeting Hakuin. Deeply impressed, he started koan-study with Hakuin, completing it under Tōrei Enji tutelage. Gasan is considered to be a dharma heir of Hakuin, though "he did not belong to the close circle of disciples and was probably not even one of Hakuin's dharma heirs." After completing his training, Gasan Jitō moved to Rinsho-in, a small temple in Edo where he had more than five-hundred students. He and/or his students Inzan Ien and Takuju Kosen created the contemporary Rinzai koan-curriculum out of the "raw koan system" inherited from Gasan.