Zenne See Zenne-bō.
Zenne-bō (1177–1247) Also known as Shōkū. The founder of the Seizan branch of the Pure Land school in Japan. A disciple of Hōnen, the founder of the Japanese Pure Land school, he zealously studied the Pure Land teachings and assisted his teacher in composing his key work, The Nembutsu Chosen above All. After Hōnen’s death, he devoted himself to spreading faith in Amida Buddha among the nobility. Unlike Hōnen, however, he did not reject Buddhist practices other than the Nembutsu (the invocation of Amida Buddha’s name), believing that all such good acts assisted rebirth in the Pure Land.
Zen school A Buddhist school that maintains that enlightenment is not to be found in the pursuit of doctrinal studies but rather in the direct perception of one’s mind through the practice of seated meditation. Bodhidharma is regarded as the founder, having introduced the teaching in China, where it is called Ch’an. In the early Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan, Eisai went to Sung dynasty China and brought back the teachings of the Lin-chi (Jpn Rinzai) school of Zen, which then became popular among the Hōjō regents and other officials of the Kamakura government.