Soto (曹 洞 宗; Japanese: sōtō-shū) is one of the famous JapaneseZen sects, founded by Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) and based upon the Chinese Caodong school.
With 14,700 temples and nearly 7 million adherents (in 1989) Soto is the largest Zen sect in Japan, surpassing Rinzai and Obaku. In Japanese history, Soto gained ground among provincial rulers and ordinary people, while Rinzai won the support of the central samurai government.
Soto is practised both in Japan and in the West, and stresses shikantaza, the meditation in simply sitting in a fixed posture. Sitting is not seen as the means to an end, but as an end in itself, a direct means of expressing enlightenment and Buddhahood in an instant.
