[2] It was founded at the beginning of the Meiji restoration, when Japan started to modernize: The Zen lay practitioners Yamaoka Tesshū, Takahashi Deishu and other top leaders of our country asked Soryu-kutsu Imakita Kosen Roshi, the chief abbot of Engaku-ji Temple in Kamakura, to establish a group for intensive Zen meditation (the later Ryobo-Kai) in order to train promising figures, being anxious for the future of the State.
[3]It attracted figures such as Imakita Kōsen (1816–1892) (abbot of the Rinzai monastery Engakuji, and teacher of Soyen Shaku), Nakajima Nobuyuki, Kawajiri Hōkin, and Nakae Chomin (1847–1901).
[1] The rules of the society were as follows: Ryōmō Kyōkai was revived by Tetsuo Sōkatsu, dharma descendant of Soyen Shaku.
[5] It attracted lay Buddhists and possibly inspired the form of Zen practice centers throughout the Western world.
Sokei-an lived most of his adult life in the United States, returning to Japan only briefly on four occasions, principally to complete his Zen training and receive his final dharma transmission from Sōkatsu.