Yamada Koun

Yamada Koun
Title	Roshi
Personal
Born	1907 Nihonmatsu, Japan
Died	1989 (aged 81–82) Kamakura, Japan
Religion	Zen Buddhism
Partner	Yamada Kazue Myo-en
Children	Masamichi Ryoun-ken Yamada
School	Sanbo Kyodan
Senior posting
Teacher	Asahina Sōgen Hanamoto Kanzui Harada Daiun Sogaku Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko
Predecessor	Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko

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Yamada Koun Zenshin (山田 耕雲, Yamada Kōun, 1907—1989), or Koun Yamada, was a Japanese Buddhist who was the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, the Dharma heir of his teacher Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko. Yamada was appointed the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1967, 1970 or 1973 and continued to differentiate the lineage from other Japanese Zen traditions by deemphasizing the separation between laypeople and the ordained—just as his teacher Yasutani had done. Yamada was also instrumental in bringing Christians to the practice of Zen that “by the end of Yamada’s teaching career approximately one quarter of the participants at his sesshins were Christians”.^[1][2]