This study concentrates on the relatively unknown Rinzai Mino line to illustrate the liveliness of Rinzai Zen practice in Meiji Japan. Even as struggles over the precepts and politics were being waged within the Zen denominations, some clerics attempted to carry on with their quest for awakening in relative isolation. Through a study of three monks, Toju Reiso, Tairyu Bun % and Seishu Shusetsu, strategies employed to preserve Rinzai Zen's spiritual legacy in the face of the turmoil of Meiji are highlighted. This article illustrates how these monks did their best to continue their eremetic existence and to pick up the pieces left by the widespread destruction of Buddhist temples and monasteries in early Meiji Japan.
