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Sōtō Zen, or the Sōtō school (曹洞宗 Sōtō-shū) , is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku) . It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty,618–907. It emphasizes Shikantaza - meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference. [Wikipedia]

Ryōkan composed many waka in a naïve style, intentionally avoiding complex rules and the traditional way of waka. As a Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk, he used waka also for expressing his religious feeling.