Background
Soseki Musō was born in 1275 in Ise and raised in the province of Kai.
夢窓 疎石
Soseki Musō was born in 1275 in Ise and raised in the province of Kai.
He entered the priesthood at the age of eight and at first studied the doctrines of the Tendai and Shingon sects. At nineteen he entered the Zen sect, studying under the Chinese master I-slian I-ning (Japanese: Issan Ichinei) and Koho Kennichi and became the Dharma heir of the latter.
Not wishing to associate himself with the men in power at the time, he lived in seclusion in the mountains of Kai and Mino provinces. In time, however, his name became known, and in 1325 he was summoned to the capital by Emperor Godaigo to become head of Nanzen-ji. Later, at the invitation of the members of the powerful Hojo family, he went to Kamakura to head Engaku-ji. He also founded Erin-ji in Kai, Zuisen-ji in Kamakura, and Rinsen-ji and Saiho-ji (Kokedera) in Kyoto.
After the death of Emperor Godaigo, he was treated with great respect by the shogun Ashikaga Takauji and his brother Tadayoshi. He persuaded Takauji and his brother to establish a temple and pagoda in each of the prov-inces of the country to pray for the souls of those who had been killed in the recent civil disturbances and also prevailed upon Takauji to found Tenryu-ji in the western suburbs of Kyoto, a temple dedicated to the repose of the soul of Emperor Godaigo. Muso Soseki became the first head of the temple, which was completed in 1345. Takauji dispatched trading ships to China to obtain funds for the erection of the temple, and these came to be known as Tenryu-ji bune. In 1346' Muso Soseki turned over the direction of the temple to his disciple Mukyoku Shigcn and in 1351 died at Rinsen-ji nearby.
Although he himself preferred a life of retirement, he was respected and honored by the leaders of the nation and exercised his talents in a wide variety of religious, artistic, and political activities. In his religious teachings, he showed a tendency to fuse Zen with the doctrines of other sects, particularly those of Esoteric Buddhism. In this respect he stands in marked contrast to his famous contemporary Shuho Myocho, better known as Daito Kokushi.
Muso Soseki was three times honored during his lifetime as a kokushi (national master), receiving the titles Muso, Shokaku, and Shinsb from emperors Godaigo, Kogen, and Komyo respectively. After his death, he was four more times honored with the title kokushi, so that he became known as the National Master of Seven Reigns.