Dharma transmission

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In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (kechimyaku) theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself."^[1] The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family".^[2]

In Rinzai-Zen, inka shōmei (印可証明) is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation",^[3] but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (shike) of the training halls.^[4] There are only about fifty^{[web 1]} to eighty^{[web 2]} of such inka shōmei-bearers in Japan.

In Sōtō-Zen, dharma transmission is referred to as shiho, and further training is required to become an oshō.^{[web 3]}

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