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A PRESENTATION OF THE POET IKKYU

WITH TRANSLATIONS FROM THE


KYOUNSHU

"MAD CLOUD ANTHOLOGY."

by
SONJA AHNTZEN
B.A., U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Colombia, 1966

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF


THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
M.A.
i n the Department
of
Asian Studies
We accept t h i s thesis as conforming to the
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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA


A p r i l , 1970

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ABSTRACT

This t h e s i s presents a resume of the t r a d i t i o n a l biography of the


Japanese Zen poet, Ikkyu Sojun and t r a n s l a t i o n s w i t h commentaries of a
s e l e c t e d number of poems from the Kyounshu, "Mad Cloud Anthology,", a
The Ky5unshu consists of one

e o l l e c t i o n of Ikkyu's Chinese poems.

thousand and s i x t y Chinese poems, some w i t h prose i n t r o d u c t i o n s and


d i a r y - l i k e d e s c r i p t i o n s of the circumstances surrounding t h e i r
composition.

Thus, the Kyounshu,aside

from i t s wealth of poetry,

philosophy, and h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r e s t , i s a l s o a v a l u a b l e source of


b i o g r a p h i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n about the poet h i m s e l f .
There are some d i f f i c u l t i e s inherent i n t h i s study.
with

To begin

i t i n v o l v e d research i n two languages, Japanese and c l a s s i c a l

Chinese.

Secondly, the subject range of Ikkyu's poetry i s very l a r g e ;

i t includes the whole of Zen l i t e r a t u r e , the Mahayana Sutras, the


c l a s s i c s of Chinese poetry and Chinese h i s t o r y as w e l l .

Although

b i o g r a p h i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n about Ikkyu i n Japanese i s f a i r l y s u b s t a n t i a l ,


t e x t u a l c r i t i c i s m and commentary f o r h i s poetry i s extremely l i m i t e d ,
thus, one i s sent often without a chart t o the maze of f i r s t sources
seeking a l l u s i o n s .

This, coupled w i t h the very s u b j e c t i v e nature of the

poetry i t s e l f - w i t h Ikkyu, o r i g i n a l i t y tends to make f o r o b s c u r i t y makes the u n r a v e l i n g of sources a thorny problem sometimes.

Thus, i t i s

no wonder that few attempts have been made by scholars, even i n Japan,to
w r i t e commentaries f o r these poems.

To my knowledge, t h i s i s the f i r s t

attempt to t r a n s l a t e i n t o E n g l i s h and give commentaries f o r t h i s large


number of poems from the Kyounshu although,compared to the t o t a l number
?

of poems, t h i s i s s t i l l few indeed.

This t h e s i s t h e n j i s really-

preparatory work f o r a more complete t r a n s l a t i o n of the Kyonnshu which


could well) and w i l l , I hope, c o n s t i t u t e the subject of a Ph.D.

thesis.

Having o u t l i n e d the d i f f i c u l t i e s inherent i n the subject of t h i s


t h e s i s , i t would be w e l l to p o i n t out i n what ways t h i s study i s of
particular interest.

To begin w i t h , the f i e l d of kanbun, l i t e r a t u r e i n

Chinese w r i t t e n by Japanese w r i t e r s , has been r e l a t i v e l y untouched i n so


f a r as t r a n s l a t i o n s i n t o E n g l i s h are concerned; thus, to some extent these
t r a n s l a t i o n s are an opening up of new t e r r i t o r y i n Japanese L i t e r a t u r e .
Secondly, Ikkyu's v o i c e i s an unusual one i n Japanese poetry.

Japanese

poetry has been so c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a contemplative a p p r e c i a t i o n


of nature, d e l i c a t e and r e s t r a i n e d emotions, suggestion r a t h e r then
statement, and a s u b t l e sense of nuance, q u a l i t i e s r a t h e r constant
throughout the development of u t a , renga and haiku.

However, i t i s w i t h

some i n t e r e s t then, t h a t one greets a poet such as Ikkyu i n whose poetry


these q u a l i t i e s are q u i t e absent.

Ikkyu's poetry seldom seems to be the

product of q u i e t r e f l e c t i o n ; r a t h e r h i s poems have the q u a l i t y of being


w r i t t e n i n the heat of the moment; strong and sometimes v i o l e n t
defiance, anger, passion, remorse, love, are b o l d l y expressed.

emotions,,
Ikkyu's

poetry a l s o tends, because of h i s own eruditeness; to be q u i t e i n t e l l e c t u a l


poetry which would lean toward the extremely a b s t r a c t were i t not f o r h i s
strong personal v o i c e which i s ever-present.

In short, Ikkyu's poetry i s

very i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c i n a c u l t u r e which has never put a high store on


individuality.

Thus i t i s , t h a t Ikkyu adds a new dimension to our

conception of Japanese poetry.


OS )

Table of Contents

I.

Introduction

II.

H i s t o r i c a l Background

III.

B i o g r a p h i c a l Information & Comment

IV.

P h i l o s o p h i c a l Poems

25

V.

C r i t i c a l Poems

69

VI.

Love Poems

83

VII.

Footnotes

115

VIII.

Bibliography

120

(ill)

I.

Introduction

Ikkyu i s p r a c t i c a l l y unknown as a l i t e r a r y f i g u r e . Legends that


grew up around him i n the Tokugawa period were passed on to succeeding
generations of c h i l d r e n f o r entertainment's

sake^so Ikkyu i s well-known

by name i n Japan today, but as a poet, he i s t o t a l l y ignored.

Thus,it

i s not strange that i n the Vest he should h a r d l y be known at a l l .

The

greatest reason f o r h i s o b s c u r i t y as a poet, both i n Japan and the West, i s


the f a c t that he wrote h i s most important work i n kanbun, t h a t i s Chinese.
As Japan had no system of w r i t i n g before contact w i t h China, i t
was only n a t u r a l that educated peopleAshould w r i t e i n Chinese;

indeed;

the a b i l i t y to read and w r i t e Chinese c o n s t i t u t e d the only l i t e r a t e


education p o s s i b l e ,

Even a f t e r a phonetic system of w r i t i n g had

evolved

from the use of Chinese characters, s t i l l , a greater p a r t of any person's


education c o n s i s t e d of l e a r n i n g to read and w r i t e Chinese.

This

was

true r i g h t up to the Tokugawa period, and no one thought i t strange.

Thus,

a great number of Japan's most g i f t e d and i n t e l l i g e n t men, i n c l u d i n g most


of the great monks, wrote i n Chinese.

However, i n the Tokugawa Period

w i t h Motoori Norinaga, a movement against Chinese language and l e a r n i n g "took momentum. The great scholar Motoori Norfcaga was the f i r s t scholar i n Japan
to apply himself to things purely Japanese, h i s great work being the
e l u c i d a t i o n of the e a r l i e s t Japanese H i s t o r y , the K o . j i k i , on the b a s i s
of which he drew conclusions about Japanese language and Japanese
sensibility.

He too was the f i r s t to c l a i m the u t a , waka, and i t ' s

r e l a t e d forms as the only true Japanese poetry, a l l the poetry w r i t t e n


i n Chinese being only i m i t a t i o n s . He a l s o c r i t i c i z e d Buddhism f o r being

2
a Chinese r e l i g i o n and, thus, not s u i t a b l e f o r the Japanese soul which
found i t s true f u l f i l l m e n t i n Shinto.

These ideas caught on and spread

quickly, e s p e c i a l l y when Japanese i d e n t i t y was newly threatened from the


outside by c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t h the West.

Thus, by the time Western

scholars became i n t e r e s t e d i n Japanese L i t e r a t u r e , i t was a f i r m l y


entrenched idea t h a t the only Japanese Literature was l i t e r a t u r e w r i t t e n
i n Japanese, which i n poetry means the waka, u t a , renga and haiku.

So

i t i s that the overwhelming number of t r a n s l a t i o n s i n t o Western languages


are of these forms.

This, coupled w i t h the decline among Japanese people

of the a b i l i t y t o read Chinese a f t e r the opening t o the West and the


necessary rush t o acquire Western l e a r n i n g , has removed the enormous
store of Japanese L i t e r a t u r e w r i t t e n i n Chinese f a r t h e r and f a r t h e r away
from the reach of most people i n Japan as w e l l as i n the West.

Western

i n t e r e s t i n Zen and other forms of Buddhism has, however, i n i t i a t e d some


work i n the rediscovery of kawbun l i t e r a t u r e .

Such i s the case w i t h

t h i s t h e s i s , f o r i t was my own i n t e r e s t i n Zen and Buddhism i n general


t h a t l e d me t o choose Ikkyu's poems as a subject f o r t r a n s l a t i o n .
I t should be noted a t t h i s point that Ikkyu d i d not w r i t e a l l
h i s work i n Chinese.

There i s a mass of m a t e r i a l i n Japanese which i s

a t t r i b u t e d t o him^but, of that, very l i t t l e i s considered t o be a c t u a l l y


his.

A c o l l e c t i o n of Doka, "Poems of the Way," that i s , waka w r i t t e n on

common r e l i g i o u s themes, which has been t r a n s l a t e d i n t o E n g l i s h by R. H.


B l y t h , * i s perhaps the most surely Ikkyu's. Bukigun, a r e l i g i o u s
a l l e g o r y which t e l l s of a b a t t l e between the forces of Heaven and H e l l ^ i s
l e s s c e r t a i n l y Ikkyu's. A f t e r t h a t , a l l the r e s t has been a t t r i b u t e d t o
one or more other monks as w e l l and so i s l i k e l y not Ikkyu's. The

3
Kyounshu i s r e a l l y the only work of Ikkyu which expresses h i s unique
personality) and a l s o the only work which contains d e f i n i t e personal
references, dates and d i a r y - l i k e d e s c r i p t i o n s of noteworthy events i n
Ikkyu's l i f e .

I t i s , therefore, the most i n t e r e s t i n g .

The Kyounshu, "Had Cloud Anthology* i s a c o l l e c t i o n of 1060 poems


1

w r i t t e n i n Chinese.

Some of the poems have date a, but most of them do notj>

So i t i s very d i f f i c u l t to know during which period of Ikkyu's l i f e they


were w r i t t e n .
are

In the Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho and Ikkyu Osho z e n ^ h u they

d i v i d e d i n t o j o kan and ge k a n . " f i r s t s c r o l l ""second s c r o l l , " and i t

i s assumed t h a t these correspond to an e a r l y and a l a t e r i^eriod i n Ikkyu's


life.

The Yamato Bunka[lfaikan e d i t i o n of the Kyounshu. the t e x t of which

I have used most e x t e n s i v e l y since i t i s the most recent and

comprehensive

e d i t i o n of the Kyounshu, does not maintain t h i s d i v i s i o n but keeps


b a s i c a l l y the same order i n i t s arrangement of the poems.

A detailed

commentary t o the whole of the Kyounshu has never been done.

The Yamato

BunkejKaikan e d i t i o n concerns i t s e l f only w i t h the establishment of the


text.
least.

The commentary i n the Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho i s cursory to say the


I am indebted, however, to P r o f e s s o r s Kaneko Matabee and N i s h i o k a
2

Skirt who have provided, i n the p e r i o d i c a l Kokubungaku d e t a i l e d commentaries


y

f o r over a hundred poems of the Kyounshu.

II.

H i s t o r i c a l Background

Ikkyu was born i n 139^ and d i e d i n 1481, Thus,his l i f e


was -witVim

one of the most r e s t l e s s and v i o l e n t periods i n Japanese

H i s t o r y , the rule,

of the Ashikaga Shogunate, b e t t e r known perhaps as

the Muromachi P e r i o d ; a f t e r the area i n Kyoto where the government of


the Shogunate was centered.

I t was a time of almost incessant c i v i l

shot through w i t h sporadic desperate r e v o l t s among the


a g r i c u l t u r a l population,,

war,

hard-pressed

Many of the b a t t l e s were fought r i g h t i n the

s t r e e t s of Kyoto. Thusj the " C a p i t a l of Peace" s u f f e r e d great damage


during t h i s period; e s p e c i a l l y since f i r e was as popular a weapon as the
sword.

Power struggles between the various clans of samurai were at the

root of these c o n f l i c t s ^ but, as i s so t y p i c a l of Japan, a l l f i g h t i n g


done i n the name of the Emperor, succession disputes between the

was

two

i m p e r i a l l i n e s being the p e r s i s t a n t excuse f o r trouble during t h i s


period.
The samurai a t t i t u d e toward the o l d a r i s t o c r a c y of Kyoto was
somewhat ambiguous.

U n l i k e Yo,titomo who regarded the court at Kyoto

as a c o r r u p t i n g i n f l u e n c e on the s t e r n v i r t u e of the w a r r i o r and, therefore,


kept himself and h i s w a r r i o r s as f a r away as he could from t h e i r e f f e t e
company, the Ashikaga Shoguns were only too f a s c i n a t e d w i t h the court's
cultural allure.

They c u l t i v a t e d q u i t e c o n s c i e n t i o u s l y the l e a r n i n g

and a r t s of the c a p i t a l and, thus, were themselves t y p i c a l of a new k i n d


of "aesthete w a r r i o r " .

On the other hand,there was never the shadow of

an i n t e n t i o n on the part of the Ashikaga Shoguns to allow the a r i s t o c r a t s


to regain any of the p o l i t i c a l power they had once h e l d .

Thus^ the

a r i s t o c r a c y was paid nominal respect but kept poor; a r i s t o c r a t s were


c u l t i v a t e d as f r i e n d s but denied any say i n important p o l i t i c a l
decisions.
However, as Karaki Junzo" i n h i s book Causei no bungaku points
out,
for

i t was not an unenviable p o s i t i o n t o be i n a t that time, since poor


the a r i s t o c r a c y was never s t a r v i n g ; a l i t t l e money could always be

obtained by t u t o r i n g eager samurai i n the a r t s of c a l l i g r a p h y and poetry.


The a r i s t o c r a c y were a t l e a s t i n a more s t a b l e p o s i t i o n than the samurai
whose fortunes were precarious t o an extreme.

Having l i t t l e or no

p o l i t i c a l power was i n r e a l i t y the s a f e s t p o s i t i o n t o be i n , f o r those


with p o l i t i c a l power were the immediate t a r g e t s f o r everyone around them.
Ikkyu was born i n t o the a r i s t o c r a c y .
The Tokugawa h i s t o r i a n s d i d not f i n d much worthy of praise when
they cast t h e i r eyes on the s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l disorder of the Muromach
Period.

This s l i g h t l y p e r j o r a t i v e p o i n t of view of the Muromachi P e r i o d

was transmitted

t o the p o s t - M e i j i e r a and f u r t h e r augmented by the

influence of the concpt of the Middle or Dark Ages i n Western H i s t o r y .


There were enough s i m i l a r i t i e s between the European feudal period and the
Japanese feudal period t o make an equation of them easy.

Thus, the

Muromachi P e r i o d along with the Kamakura and Tokugawa periods came to be


considered a k i n d of dark or unenlightened age. And at l e a s t i n so f a r
as moral and s o c i a l order i s concerned, t h i s i s t o a c e r t a i n extent true
of the Muromachi Period.

However, t o an A r t H i s t o r i a n i t i s exceedingly

d i f f i c u l t t o accept the Muromachi Period as a Dark Age; a glance through


any o r i e n t a l a r t book a t the masterpieces of Sesshu, Sesson, the
G i n k a k u j i , the K i n k a k u j i , or the S a i h o j i garden, not t o mention the

anonymous masterpieces i n the c r a f t of pottery, point to an age of


artistic brilliancy.

As mentioned above, t h i s p e r j o r a t i v e view o f the

Muromachi Period i n Japan mirrors the Western view of the European Middle
Ages that p r e v a i l e d from the Renaissance through the Age of Enlightenment
i n t o q u i t e modern times.

Here i n the West, i t was a

rejuvenated

a p p r e c i a t i o n of Medieval A r t s t a r t i n g i n the 19th century that preceded


a comprehensive r e - e v a l u a t i o n of the middle ages as a whole.

A similar

phenomenon seems to be o c c u r r i n g i n Japan, except that i t seems to be


the e f f e c t of a cross i n f l u e n c e , that i s , i t i s Western i n t e r e s t i n
Japanese Medieval A r t that has sparked Japanese scholars to re-examine
t h a t period of t h e i r c u l t u r e from a d i f f e r e n t point of view.

Thus, we

see karaki Junzo quoting scholars who are of the opinion that there are
s i m i l a r i t i e s between t h e ^ I t a l i a n Renaissance i n so f a r as the growth of
2
i n d i v i d u a l i s m and a k i n d of humanism are concerned.

This shows the

trend that contemporary thought on the Medieval P e r i o d i n Japan i s t a k i n g .


The overwhelming f l a v o r of the a r t of the Muromachi Period which
has so caught the eye of the contemporary West i s without a doubt the
f l a v o r of Zen.

I t i s a q u a l i t y which can only sound c l i c h e d when

described, e s p e c i a l l y when i t has been described so o f t e n .

Such words

as s i m p l i c i t y , naturalness, an " a c c i d e n t a l " f e e l i n g , are the most


f r e q u e n t l y used i n d e s c r i p t i o n .
e

In r e a l i t y , i t i s an i n e f f a b l e q u a l i t y

which i s however immediately recognizable upon c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t h those


objects i n which i t i s embodied.

I t i s not the purpose of t h i s paper to

analyse Zen a e s t h e t i c s i n the v i s u a l arts. A s u f f i c e to say

that Zen has

become so p o p u l a r l y i d e n t i f i e d with Japan and Japanese a r t here i n the


West, that many Westerners forget or even do not know t h a t Zen i s an

7
imported r e l i g i o n t o Japan.
Zen ( i n Chinese Ch'an) was imported from China.

Ch'an i n China

had become the sect of Buddhism w i t h the most d i s t i n c t i v e l y Chinese


flavor.

I t had received the q u i e t i n f i l t r a t i o n of Taoism and,-thus,"

a cosmic sense of humor.

I t was a pared down v e r s i o n of Buddhism s t r i p p e d

of a l l the Indian baroque, ornamental i n t r i c a c i e s .

Something of these

q u a l i t i e s appealed t o the Japanese as well, f o r Ch'an was very s u c c e s s f u l l y


transplanted t o Japan.

There were, however, some d i f f e r e n c e s between

Ch'an i n China and Zen i n Japan. For example, Ch'an was never as c l o s e l y
associated w i t h the v i s u a l a r t s as Taoism was, while i n Japan i t was Zen
which acquired an intimate connection w i t h a e s t h e t i c s .
At any r a t e , from i t s i n t r o d u c t i o n during the Eamakura p e r i o d ,
the Zen sect of Buddhism s t e a d i l y grew i n numbers and i n f l u e n c e . The
Muromachi P e r i o d marks the z e n i t h of Zen's power and i n f l u e n c e i n Japan.
At t h i s time, Zen was h e a v i l y supported by the Shogunate and the court.
The Gosan J i s s a t s u - " F i v e Mountains Ten Temples''were but a few of the
great monasteries f l o u r i s h i n g a t t h a t time.

Yet another source of

p r o s p e r i t y was the p r o f i t a b l e trade w i t h Ming China c a r r i e d on under the


auspices of the Zen s e c t .

Of the two major Zen sects i n Japan, Soto and

R i n z a i , B i n z a i was the more expansive,


p o l i t i c a l and s o c i a l a f f a i r s .

freely involving i t s e l f i n

Soto, on the other hand, f o r the most part

eschewed the busy "dusty" l i f e of the c a p i t a l p r e f e r r i n g t o remain


" s i t t i n g q u i e t l y " i n the h i l l s , which, i t must be noted, was more i n
keeping w i t h the usages of the great T'ang scViools..

Indeed, what the

R i n z a i sect gained i n wealth, p r e s t i g e , and i n f l u e n c e , seems t o have been


detrimental t o the true s p i r i t of Zen.

8
There are many reasons f o r t h i s .

The sheer increase i n the

number of f o l l o w e r s made i t d i f f i c u l t f o r a r e l i g i o n which founds i t s e l f


on something so nebulous as the "wordless transmission of mind" t o keep
i t s l i n e s of transmission pure.

This increase i n numbers also tended t o

t u r n the temples i n t o large i n s t i t u t i o n s which demanded a numerous s t a f f


of organizers and beaureaucrats rather than holy men t o keep them going.
These large temples took over the f u n c t i o n of t r a i n i n g schools f o r young
boys.

So, whereas Zen was o r i g i n a l l y a r e l i g i o n designed t o free the

mind of a mature man from the f e t t e r s of conventional t h i n k i n g , now


B i n z a i temples were charged w i t h task of i n s t i l l i n g manners i n raw youths.
However, perhaps the greatest s i n g l e reason f o r the s p i r i t u a l degeneration
of the R i n z a i sect at t h i s time l i e s i n the o l d axiom, power and wealth
i n e v i t a b l y corrupt.

Where power and wealth reach t h e i r z e n i t h , droves of

s e l f i s h people gather t o struggle f o r the s p o i l s .

Thus, the R i n z a i sect,

at i t s height of power and i n f l u e n c e , became f i l l e d w i t h people of


i n s i n c e r e motives who propagated a double-standard m o r a l i t y and dabbled
i n unsavory p r a c t i c e s .

The s i t u a t i o n of the R i n z a i sect i n Japan at t h i s

time was not u n l i k e the Roman C a t h o l i c Church before the reformation.


I t was i n such a time, i n such a place, and i n such a m i l i e u that
Ikkyu l i v e d .

III.

B i o g r a p h i c a l Information and Comment

I t i s always d i f f i c u l t when d e s c r i b i n g famous f i g u r e s of the past


to d i s t i n g u i s h between the man and the myth about the man.

With Ikkyu t h i s

i s no easy task, e s p e c i a l l y since Tokugawa w r i t e r s e n e r g e t i c a l l y created


an elaborate myth f o r Ikkyu by which he i s g e n e r a l l y known i n Japan today.
The mythical Ikkyu i s a l i g h t - h e a r t e d carefree f e l l o w , e x c e p t i o n a l l y
c l e v e r and w i t t y as a c h i l d , an e v a n g e l i s t i c s a v i o r of courtesan's souls
as a monk, i n general a j o y f u l , f i s h - e a t i n g , sake-drinking, love-making,
prank-playing, Zen p r e l a t e .

Yet when one turns and examines Ikkyu's

own

poems of the Kyounshu, how d i f f e r e n t i s the impression one gets of h i s


character.

Whereas the mythical Ikkyu was c l e v e r , the author of the

Kyounshu i s learned and erudite to a f i n e extreme* V h i l e the m y t h i c a l


Ikkyu, the c l e r i c a l Don Juan, abandoned himself to pleasure, Ikkyu of
Kyounshu explores a l l the p h i l o s o p h i c a l and metaphysical l e v e l s of love.
"Whereas the mythical Ikkyu was happy and c a r e f r e e , the Kyounshu shows a man
who knows sorrow and indeed a l l the darker depths of the s o u l .

Somewhere

between the popular biographies and Ikkyu's own poems l i e s the


t r a d i t i o n a l biography of Ikkyu which has been handed down f o r many years
w i t h i n the Zen church and a small c i r c l e of s c h o l a r s .

This t r a d i t i o n a l

biography i s a mixture undoubtedly of f a c t and myth, but i t i s as close to


h i s t o r i c a l l y objective as can be obtained so f a r as Ikkyu i s concerned.
The Tokugawa popular biographies of Ikkyu t e l l more about the Tokugawa
p e r i o d and those w r i t e r s themselves than about Ikkyu and so I have
l a r g e l y disregarded them i n forming my i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Ikkyu's
character.

I have r a t h e r concentrated on studying the man through h i s

own poems.

Xn f i n d i n g an approach to both the man and h i s poems, the

t r a d i t i o n a l h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l has, of course, been very h e l p f u l .

Thus,

I would l i k e t o begin t h i s s e c t i o n w i t h a resume of the t r a d i t i o n a l


biography of Ikkyu.*
Ikkyu was born i n 139** i n Kyoto.

He i s s a i d to have been the

i l l e g i t i m a t e son of the Emperor Go-Komatsu.

I t i s q u i t e probable t h a t

he a c t u a l l y was, since i t i s recorded i n a l l the t r a d i t i o n a l biographies^


and h i s l a t e r c l o s e connections w i t h the court i n d i c a t e t h a t h i s b i r t h
must have been very high.

H i s mother was of the Fujiwara c l a n , but

during the dispute between the Northern and Southern c o u r t s , she was
accused of having treasonous i n t e n t i o n s toward the emperor and so was
banished t o a l e s s e r d w e l l i n g i n Kyoto where Ikkyu was born.
I n the t r a d i t i o n a l biography, there i s a l a s t testament
-

supposedly

w r i t t e n by Ikkyu's mother

i n which she sounds l i k e a very i c o n o c l a s t i c

woman h e r s e l f ; she urges Ikkyu to make "servants of the Buddha and


Dharma" and warns t h a t people who s t i c k t o
are " j u s t worms".

hoben '

"expedient means,"

However, the a u t h e n t i c i t y of t h i s document i s very

questionable, and i t could w e l l be the f a b r i c a t i o n of people i n a l a t e r


time who f e l t t h a t s i n c e Ikkyu was such an e c c e n t r i c person he must have
had an e c c e n t r i c mother.

At any r a t e , Ikkyu was separated from h i s

mother q u i t e e a r l y , being sent t o the Zen monastery Ankokuji i n Kyoto


3
at the age of s i x . At the age of twelve he was supposed t o have amazed

-that

KBCI

a gatheringAcome t o hear Master S e i s o n i n l e c t u r e by d i s p l a y i n g a wisdom


4
very much beyond h i s years.
composition of Chinese Poems.

At t h i r t e e n he began studying the


Thus, i t can be seen t h a t i t was not

strange f o r Ikkyu to have w r i t t e n most of h i s poems i n Chinese, f o r i t was

11
a genre t h a t he had studied and p r a c t i s e d since boyhood.
he took h i s f i r s t r e a l master, Keno

At seventeen

and l i v e d and s t u d i e d w i t h him f o r

f i v e years u n t i l t h a t master's death.

Keno i t seems, had not r e c e i v e d

h i s t r a n s m i s s i o n of Zen i n an orthodox way since he had no s e a l (the


s i g n of c o r r e c t transmission) to pass on to Ikkyu.

However, he i s

reputed to have t o l d Ikkyu t h a t Ikkyu had advanced to the p o i n t where


Keno had no more to teach him.

The r e l a t i o n s h i p between Ikkyu and Keno

seems to have been a very warm one; the t r a d i t i o n a l biographies speak


glowingly of the s i m p l i c i t y and pure poverty of t h e i r l i f e i n r e t r e a t .
Keno d i e d when Ikkyu was twenty-one and he was very saddened
indeed by the l o s s .

Ikkyu wandered about i n a d i s t r a c t e d f a s h i o n and

prayed f o r seventeen days before the Ishiyama Kannon but could not f i n d
any c o n s o l a t i o n and so r e s o l v e d to drown himself i n Lake Biwa.^

However,

he was stopped from c a r r y i n g out t h i s d r e a d f u l e n t e r p r i s e by a v i s i o n of


h i s mother which appeared and admonished him and t o l d him to perservere
i n the path toward enlightenment.

Versions of t h i s s t o r y vary s l i g h t l y

but there seems t o be a consensus that he d i d attempt s u i c i d e and t h a t


h i s s a l v a t i o n had something to do w i t h the memory of h i s mother.
Thus rescued from s e l f - a n n i l a t i o n he set out f o r the master Kaso's
hermitage at Katada.

Kaso was somewhat famous f o r being a severe master

and c e r t a i n l y the s t o r y of Ikkyu's acceptance there bears t h i s out.


Ikkyu a r r i v e d at Katada and waited outside Kaso's gate f o r f i v e days
during which time Kaso d i d not deign even t o n o t i c e h i s presence.

Finally,

one day on h i s way to a ceremony i n the v i l l a g e , he looked at Ikkyu and


s a i d "Is t h i s monk s t i l l here?

Throw some water on h i s head and chase

him away." which was duly c a r r i e d out.

However, a f t e r the ceremony was

12

f i n i s h e d Kaso returned and saw Ikkyu s t i l l standing t a l l and making no


7

move t o go away.

So Kaso r e l e n t e d and agreed t o take him as a d i s c i p l e .

Kaso's d i s c i p l i n e was very r i g o r o u s and kept Ikkyu occupied n i g h t and


day.

Again, the standard of l i v i n g i n the temple was very poor, very

l i t t l e t o eat.and no warm c l o t h e s t o wear i n the w i n t e r . Under such


hardships Ikkyu s t u d i e d f o r some y e a r s .

E v e n t u a l l y Ikkyu came t o be

w e l l loved by Kaso who was even supposed t o have s a i d once of Ikkyu,


8
"This boy i s smarter than me."
Wien

Ikkyu was t w e n t y - f i v e he heard someone p l a y i n g a song from

the Heike monogatari on the Biwa and suddenly grasped a koan of Unmon's.
At t h i s p o i n t Kaso gave Ikkyu h i s name; p r i o r t o t h i s Ikkyu had been
known as Shuken.

Ikkyu composed an u t a w i t h h i s new name e x p l o r i n g i t s

philosophical implications;
from.the realm of i l l u s i o n s ,

uroji yori

Ve r e t u r n t o the realm of no i l l u s i o n s ,

muroji e kaeru

One restt,

hitoyasumi

I f i t rains, l e t i t rain.

ame furaba fure

I f the wind blows, l e t


Ikkyu's name

i t blow

kaze fukaba fuke

hitoyasumi i n Japanese r e a d i n g , means one r e s t ,

one slumber; here, i t i s a metaphor f o r our short human l i f e

The

i m p l i c a t i o n i s t h a t i f one a r r i v e s a t the s t a t e of mind where i t i s


evident t h a t from b i r t h t o death i s r e a l l y only a moment, then g r i e f s and
cares i n t h i s l i f e seem s m a l l t h i n g s indeed.
Then, two years l a t e r , one s p r i n g n i g h t i n May, Ikkyu was
m e d i t a t i n g , f l o a t i n g i n a boat on a l a k e , when;hearing a crow c a l l out
through the n i g h t , he was immediately enlightened. He h u r r i e d t o Kaso

13

to witness h i s enlightenment, but Kaso s a i d , "This i s j u s t the enlightenment


of an arhat, you are not a r e a l master y e t . "
happy to be an arhat, I j u s t detest masters."
- 10
s a i d Kaso.

Ikkyu s a i d , "Then I am
"Now you are a r e a l master,"

At t h i s time, Ikkyu was twenty-seven years o l d and had

been consciously seeking enlightenment f o r ten years.

The poem he i s

s a i d to have w r i t t e n recording t h i s important event i s the f o l l o w i n g :


Since ten years ago a mind longing f o r knowledge:
Raging and angry, the time i s nowl
The crow laughs, I leave the dust and end up an arhat:
B r i l l i a n t s h i n i n g sun, i n the shadow ^'Jeweled, face sings.
(2vJt w V/awato Bunk* Kail<atr\ Edi-fcion o? KyouvisViOTi
This marks the d i v i s i o n between what i n the t r a d i t i o n a l b i o g r a p h y is
calleJIkkyu's e a r l y l i f e and l a t e r l i f e .

As we can see, the e a r l y p a r t of

Ikkyu's l i f e was spent almost e n t i r e l y w i t h i n the confines of the various


monasteries and master's hermitages he s t u d i e d a t .

I t was only a f t e r h i s

enlightenment t h a t Ikkyu began to move away from such an austere and


s o l i t a r y environment and venture i n t o the outside world.

I t i s recorded

t h a t Ikkyu stayed at Kaso's hermitage long enough to attend to some of


the i l l n e s s e s t h a t accompanied Kaso's o l d age; but he began to come and
11
go.
This marks the beginning of h i s long companionship w i t h the
"straw r a i n hat and bamboo walking s t i c k " t h a t are mentioned so o f t e n i n
the Kyounshu.

There i s no d e t a i l e d record of h i s t r a v e l s because he

seems to have t r a v e l e d by whim and almost always u n o f f i c i a l l y .

His few

o f f i c i a l v i s i t s to places other than temples, were mainly to the court.


For example, i t i s known t h a t i n the year 1428, Ikkyu was i n v i t e d to the
court, and h i s b i r t h r i g h t s A o f f i c i a l l y recognized by the Emperor AKbmatsu.

14
A f t e r t h a t time, he became q u i t e a frequent and welcome v i s i t o r to the
court; the emperor himself was supposed to have been very fond of Ikkyu's
13
manner of e x p l a i n i n g Zen.
His

u n o f f i c i a l t r a v e l i n g must have brought him i n t o contact w i t h

the b r o t h e l s and sakejshops that are another frequent theme i n the Kyounshu,
although about t h i s the t r a d i t i o n a l biographies have very l i t t l e to say.
, T h i s i s not to imply t h a t b r o t h e l s and sakeshops were the only
items on Ikkyu's u n o f f i c i a l i t i n e r a r i e s .

One recorded i n c i d e n t gives a

good i d e a of the other a c t i v i t i e s Ikkyu must have indulged i n during h i s


travels.

I t i s recorded t h a t i n the year 1436, Ikkyu was n o t i c e d wandering

through the s t r e e t s of Sakai wearing a wooden sword, p l a y i n g a shakuhachi


and r e g a l i n g passers-by w i t h s a t i r i c a l accounts of the behavior of
14
present-day monks.

Thus, i t seems t h a t during h i s t r a v e l s , Ikkyu some-

times assumed the r o l e of " s t r e e t p l a y e r " i n order to i n s t r u c t l a y people


i n the ways of Zen and the i l l s of the church.
Ikkyu was not always t r a v e l i n g .

He spent a great p o r t i o n

of h i s time i n temples as w e l l , mainly D a i t o k u j i which was h i s "base"


temple f o r the l a t t e r h a l f of h i s l i f e .

Not f a r from D a i t o k u j i i n the

Muromachi s e c t i o n of Kyoto he had a personal hermitage c a l l e d Katsuroan,


" B l i n d Donkey Hermitage"

and he spent much time there as w e l l .

I t seems

t h a t a p a t t e r n of movement f o r Ikkyu during the middle part of h i s l i f e


was t o stay at D a i t o k u j i and i n s t r u c t student monks u n t i l he could bear
the atmosphere of the temple no longer. At tVefc point, he would e i t h e r go
off

t r a v e l i n g among the "people" or else r e t r e a t i n t o the s e c l u s i o n of the

mountains u n t i l he could bear to come back.


Apart from the general degeneration of s p i r i t w i t h i n the temple,

15

one of the reasons why D a i t o k u j i was unbearable to Ikkyu was the presence
of one p r e l a t e c a l l e d Yoso.
been a student of Kaso's.

Yoso, twenty years Ikkyu's s e n i o r had a l s o


Thus, the two had a very c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p

i n common. However, they seem t o have been as compatible as f i r e and


ice.

For Ikkyu, Yoso became the concrete embodiment of a l l t h a t was

evil in
t n

church.

I f we accept Ikkyu's d e s c r i p t i o n of Yoso, Yoso

was a monk who craved power and p r e s t i g e , was arrogant to an


greedy f o r wealth, and h y p o c r i t i c a l .

extreme,

He was the epitome of the f a l s e

monk parading as holy and duping the l a i t y .

A l l the most venemous

i n v e c t i v e s i n the Kyounshu are reserved f o r Yoso.


The t r a d i t i o n a l biographies r e c o r d one i n c i d e n t which t y p i f i e s
the nature of the enmity between them.

The o c c a s i o n was the t h i r t e e n t h

anniversary of t h e i r master Kaso"s death, h e l d on the 27th of J u l y i n


1343.

A week p r e v i o u s l y Ikkyu, upon the request of temple elders, had

taken up residence at Nyoian i n D a i t o k u j i .

Yoso, o f f i c i a l l y head of the

temple, arranged the ceremony and had e s p e c i a l l y i n v i t e d c e r t a i n wealthy


merchants from Sakai. They came and were n o i s y and u n r u l y , but each gave
Yoso r i c h presents afterwards.

Two days l a t e r , Ikkyu wrote t h i s poem

on the w a l l of Yoso'a house:


Let

us put some necessary t h i n g s i n a cottage.

L i k e wooden l a d l e s , bamboo baskets, hanging on the east w a l l ,


I don't have a l o t of f u r n i t u r e l i k e you do.
R i v e r s and seas, many y e a r s , t r a v e l i n g w i t h straw r a i n coat, straw
r a i n hat.
Bunka Ka'ikavx e < M W T J
and then l e f t another poem addressed t o Yoso p e r s o n a l l y which s t a t e s h i s
Yamato

f e e l i n g s more d i r e c t l y :

16
Dwelling

i n the temple t e n days, my mind i s spinning"


15

Under my f e e t the r e d thread

i s very l o n g .

I f you come tomorrow and ask a f t e r me

I ' l l he im the f i s h and sake shops or e l s e a b r o t h e l .


L"vio.85 "Vamato Buwka Ka.ikav\ ecSMooCJ]
^
With t h a t Ikkyu gathered up h i s r a i n coat and hat and l e f t .
Such was
the h o s t i l i t y between Yoso and Ikkyu.
Ikkyu was once even d r i v e n by the s t a t e of things a t D a i t o k u j i
to the p o i n t o f r e s o l v i n g t o starve himself t o death.
discussed

The event which i s

i n d e t a i l i n the commentaries t o poems/involved slanderous

accusations on the p a r t of f a l s e monks and temple i n t r i g u e .

Ikkyu i n a

f i t of despair f l e d t o Mount Jo-u's S h i d a j i , one of h i s f a v o r i t e r e t r e a t s ,


and decided t o commit s u i c i d e by s t a r v i n g t o death.

News of t h i s came t o

the court,however, and an i m p e r i a l e d i c t was issued t o dissuade him


from c a r r y i n g out h i s r e s o l v e .

The e d i c t s a i d :

" I f the honourable monk

does t h i s , Buddha's way, the King's way w i l l be caused t o p e r i s h .

How

can the master cast us aside l i k e t h i s , how can the master f o r g e t h i s


17
country l i k e t h i s . "

From the wording of t h i s e d i c t we can see how

high an esteem the emperor h e l d f o r Ikkyu,and a l s o how personal the


connection between Ikkyu and the court was. T h i s e d i c t from the emperor
combined w i t h f r i e n d ' s e n t r e a t i e s gradually moved Ikkyu t o change h i s
mind.

He f i n a l l y came back t o Kyoto^ and from t h a t time u n t i l he was

made Bishop^ he dwelt only i n Katsuroan and not w i t h i n the D a i t o k u j i


A
18
grounds.
Another i n c i d e n t of i n t e r e s t during t h i s middle period of Ikkyu's
l i f e which was h i s r e c e i v i n g of Kaso's s e a l of c o r r e c t

transmission.

17
Kaso had decided on the occassion of Ikkyu's enlightenment to make him
his

sole successor; the document stated s p e c i f i c a l l y , "This i s my only

son/'

and was dated A p r i l of the year 1421, the same year as the a f o r e 19

mentioned
did

enlightenment.

However, f o r what reasons we know not, he

not give t h i s document to Ikkyu himself but r a t h e r entrusted i t to

a lady of the court named S o k i t s u to keep u n t i l a f t e r h i s death at which


time she was t o t r a n s f e r i t to Ikkyu.

She, i n t u r n , however, entrusted i t

to Prime M i n i s t e r Minamoto who kept i t f o r some years.

F i n a l l y i n the

year 1438, when Ikkyu was f o r t y - f o u r years o l d , Ikkyu p a i d the Prime


M i n i s t e r a v i s i t , a n d the Prime M i n i s t e r gave him the s e a l .
supposed t o have s a i d on t h i s occassion:

Ikkyu i s

"How w e l l we can see today's con-

d i t i o n s , Buddha's great dharma s c a t t e r e d and r u i n e d , jewels and stones,


good and bad, mixed and confused.

Those who have understood the true

v i s i o n f i n d t h a t p r i e s t s who resemble p r i e s t s but are not p r i e s t s are


l i t t l e by l i t t l e presumptuously trampling the true dharma more and more
20
to the ground."

Me then burnt the s e a l .

This act d i d not i n any

way represent d i s r e s p e c t f o r h i s o l d master but r a t h e r a profound respect


for

the phenomenenof "wordless t r a n s m i s s i o n " t h a t i s at the foundation

of Zen.

A l l around him he could see f a l s e monks l i k e Yoso w i t h scraps

of paper c l a i m i n g t r u e t r a n s m i s s i o n ; Ikkyu himself needed no such papers


to prove h i s enlightenment.
In

l a t e r years, Ikkyu's l i f e moderated somewhat; at l e a s t the

tone of the episodes is . not so extreme.

He found i n the temple Shuonan

i n T a k i g i a q u i e t r e t r e a t , not so remote and w i l d as Mount Jo-u and yet


far

enough removed from the confusion of Kyoto and D a i t o k u j i to be a

18
s u i t a b l e p l a c e f o r r e s t and renewal.

However, as Ikkyu's l i f e became

more calm, t h e p o l i t i c a l s t a t e of the n a t i o n rose t o a f e v e r p i t c h .


Onin d i s o r d e r broke out i n 1468.

The

Ikkyu was seventy-four years o l d .

He was f o r c e d t o f l e e from Kyoto as f i g h t i n g broke out i n the s t r e e t s ,


and indeed, during the c o n f l a g r a t i o n t h a t f o l l o w e d , Ikkyu's Katsuroan
21
was burned t o t h e ground.
peaceful f o r some time.

Ikkyu escaped t o T a k i g i which

remained

Ikkyu was able t o h o l d the hundredth anniversary

of Reizan Osho t h e r e , and the people who gathered t o hear him on t h a t


22
occassion were many.
A year l a t e r , m i l i t a r y s t r i f e spread t o T a k i g i as
w e l l , and Ikkyu f l e d t o the Izumi r e g i o n t h i s time, s t a y i n g i n various
23
places u n t i l t h e f i g h t i n g had abated.
Seven y e a r s l a t e r , a t the age of eighty-one Ikkyu was c a l l e d t o
become Bishop of D a i t o k u j i .

The poem he wrote on the day he assumed "tfoe -

post e l o q u e n t l y d e s c r i b e s h i s f e e l i n g s toward the r e c e i v i n g of t h i s honor:


Daito's s c h o o l destroyed h i s remaining l i g h t

D i f f i c u l t t o e x p l a i n s i n g i n g i n the heart,one n i g h t ' s e t e r n i t y .


For f i f t y years a f e l l o w of straw r a i n hat and coat,
24
Shameful today, a purple-robed monk.
tjno. 514 Yamato Bunka Kaikan edition^]
Having been & renegade f o r most of h i s l i f e , t a k i n g up such a d i g n i f i e d
and l o f t y p o s i t i o n i n an i n s t i t u t i o n he had c r i t i c i s e d f o r so many years
must have been odd f o r Ikkyu.

However, i t was a time of d i f f i c u l t y f o r

D a i t o k u j i s i n c e i t had been l a r g e l y destroyed by f i r e i n the preceding


wars and was i n need of a strong and j u s t man t o l e a d the r e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
Thus, i t was not j u s t a p o s i t i o n of eminence Ikkyu acceeded to,but a l s o
an o p p o r t u n i t y t o be of great h e l p .

I n the next few years he i s supposed

to have exhausted h i m s e l f w i t h a i d i n g i n the r e c o n s t r u c t i o n .

25

19
Ikkyu apparently s u f f e r e d g r e a t l y from the heat i n h i s l a s t years and
took every opportunity he could t o r e t r e a t t o T a k i g i and h i s beloved
Shuonan.

He f i n a l l y died there i n 1482 at the age of e i g h t y - e i g h t and

was a l s o buried there.

H i s death poem i s recorded as being:

South of Mount Sumeru,


Who meets my Zen ?
Even i f Kido comes,
26
He's not worth h a l f a penny.

Cnot vn Ysvnato BuWka Ka'ikaw ecTrtiovnTJ

Even from the d e s c r i p t i o n i n the t r a d i t i o n a l biography, i t i s


obvious that Ikkyu was q u i t e an e c c e n t r i c f i g u r e .

Ikkyu too seems t o

have had t h i s sense of himself; since the name he gave himself was Kyoun,
"Mad Cloud".

This does not n e c e s s a r i l y mean, however, that he considered

himself crazy.

Ikkyu was simply aware that t o the r e s t of the world

assuming the v a l i d i t y of mundane r e a l i t y , he appeared t o be crazy, while


at a transcendental l e v e l of r e a l i t y he was not crazy a t a l l ; but r a t h e r
q u i t e sane, more sane perhaps than any one e l s e .

Thus, he was not a f r a i d

to c a l l himself crazy f o r i t was a way of p o i n t i n g at h i s supra-mundane


r e a l i t y sanity.
One of Ikkyu's e c c e n t r i c i t i e s which i s almost completely l e f t out
of the t r a d i t i o n a l biographies i s h i s love of making love and i n general
a s o f t spot f o r women.

One of the reasons why the t r a d i t i o n a l

biographies

have so l i t t l e to say of Ikkyu's propensity f o r love, i s that t h e i r main


i n t e r e s t was i n preserving Ikkyu's r e p u t a t i o n as a great Zen monk. Thus,
they found i t embarrassing t o deal w i t h t h i s aspect of h i s character.
More recent researchers i n t o Ikkyu l i k e K a r a k i Junzo f i n d i t impossible
to ignore t h i s information but s t i l l f i n d i t d i f f i c u l t t o harmonize w i t h

20
Ikkyu'8 r e p u t a t i o n as a great monk
i t was unfortunate that Ikkyu, who

Sfaraki Junzo f i n a l l y concludes

that

had no t r o u b l e r i d d i n g himself of

attachment t o "name and profit," was so h o p e l e s s l y a d d i c t e d to the weakest


27
ness of the f l e s h but/lin s p i t e of i t a l l he was s t i l l a great monk.
However, apologies and excuses are not r e a l l y

necessary.

I n p o i n t of f a c t , as the t r a n s l a t e d poems w i l l show, Ikkyu himself


almost never f e l t any shame f o r h i s actions<,
due t o the temper of the times.

This may have been p a r t l y

As has already been mentioned, t h i s

not a time of p a r t i c u l a r l y s t e r n v i r t u e w i t h i n the Zen church.


the monks kept concubines s e c r e t l y and homosexuality

was

Many of

was a l s o r i f e .

For

Ikkyu t o do openly what other monks kept h a l f hidden was c e r t a i n l y an


expression of honesty i f nothing e l s e and a l s o a k i n d of p r o t e s t .
However, more importantly, the nature of Zen enlightenment does
not n e c e s s a r i l y condemn experience of the senses.

Zen,as a branch of

Mahayana Buddhism, i n s i s t s on the e s s e n t i a l u n i t y of nirvana


and samsara "the sphere of b i r t h and death",

"enlightenment'

Suzuki, i n h i s book on

Mahayana Buddhism, presents the formula which i s at the core of Mahayana


Buddhism, "Yas klec^as so \bodhi, yas samsaras t a t nirvananaj'

"What i s

s i n or passion, t h a t i s I n t e l l i g e n c e , what i s b i r t h and death

28
i s Nirvana".

that

.
This means that there i s no n i r v a n a t o be sought outside

this worldly l i f e .

Or as t h i s passage from the V i m a l a k i r t i Sutra

expresses i t :
"Just as the l o t u s flowers do not grow i n the dry-land, but i n the
dark c o l o r e d watery mire, 0 son of good f a m i l y , i t i s even so [ w i t h
I n t e l l i g e n c e (prajna or b o d h i ) J . I n n o n - a c t i v i t y and e t e r n a l
a n n i h i l a t i o n which are cherished by the Cravakas and Pratyekabuddhas
there i s no opportunity f o r the seeds and sprouts of Buddhahood t o
grow. I n t e l l i g e n c e can grow only i n the mire and d i r t of passion

21
and s i n . I t i s by v i r t u e of passion and s i n t h a t the seeds and
sprouts of buddhahood are able to grow,"29
Suzuki himself i s very eloquent i n the e l u c i d a t i o n of t h i s most s u b t l e
point:
"Nirvana i s not to be sought i n the heavens nor a f t e r a departure
from t h i s e a r t h l y l i f e nor i n the a n n i h i l a t i o n of human passions and
a s p i r a t i o n s o On the contrary, i t must be sought i n the midst of
w o r l d l i n e s s , as l i f e w i t h a l l i t s t h r i l l s of p a i n and pleasure i s
no more than Nirvana i t s e l f . " 3 0
This conception has inherent i n i t a more p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e toward the
phenomenal world.

This c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Mahayana Buddhism c o n t r a s t s

q u i t e s t r i k i n g l y w i t h the more austere and w o r l d - d i s d a i n i n g tendencies


of Hinayana Buddhism,
This conception of the e s s e n t i a l u n i t y and voidness of the universe
led

to a great p r o l i f e r a t i o n i n the ways and means of a t t a i n i n g e n l i g h t e n -

ment or s a l v a t i o n , <Dne of the most astounding, at l e a s t from a t r a d i t i o n a l

Western r e l i g i o u s viewpoint, being t h a t form of T a n t r i c Buddhism which


saw the b l i s s of p h y s i c a l union as the profound experience of the non31
dual nature of the universe and c e l e b r a t e d i t as such.

This i s not t o

suggest t h a t Ikkyu was i n f l u e n c e d by t h i s form of Buddhism f o r he c e r t a i n l y


was not, but only to make c l e a r t h a t Ikkyu's f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h the act of
love was not c o n t r a d i c t o r y to the b a s i c p r i n c i p l e s of Mahayana Buddhism.
Perhaps a u s e f u l comparison to make here would be one w i t h the
E n g l i s h poet John Donne, who

i s a l s o known equally as an amourous

adventurer and devout p r e l a t e .

Donne i s often spoken of as having a

" s p l i t personality." I n h i s youth, he i s depicted as a debauched p r o f l i g a t e


chasing f u g i t i v e pleasures one a f t e r another.

Then l a t e r i n l i f e , he

i s supposed to have renounced and repented h i s previous l i f e of s i n and


pursued h i s redemption w i t h a l l the powers of body and s o u l .

However,

22
there seems t o have been more u n i t y t o h i s p e r s o n a l i t y than t h a t *
C e r t a i n l y , the same s p i r i t runs through a l l h i s poems whether s e c u l a r or
religious.

There are passages i n h i s love poems t h a t d i s p l a y a pro-

foundly m y s t i c a l or r e l i g i o u s a t t i t u d e toward the a c t of love. For


example i n the "Canonization":
"So, t o one n e u t r a l t h i n g both sexes f i t
wee dye and r i s e the same, and prove
32
Mysterious by t h i s l o v e . "
And then l a t e r , i n h i s r e l i g i o u s poems he o f t e n e n t r e a t s God as though
God were a powerful m i s t r e s s ;
W

Y e t d e a r l y I love you and would be l o v ' d f a i n e ,


But am b e t r o t h ' d unto your enemie,
Divorce mee, u n t i e , or break t h a t knot againe,
Take me t o you, imprison me, f o r I
Except you e n t h r a l l me, never s h a l l be f r e e ,
Nor ever chast, except you r a v i s h mee.
I t seems that John Donne was seeking f o r something throughout

h i s whole l i f e , i n h i s youth through union w i t h women and i n h i s


maturity through union w i t h God. This same seeking i s at the root
of a l l r e l i g i o n s .

With Ikkyu, the i n t e g r a t i o n of r e l i g i o n and love,

or love of God and love of women i s more complete.

This may be

p a r t l y due t o the f a c t that he experienced union w i t h God or the


v o i d before he experienced union w i t h women.

I t w i l l be remembered

that Ikkyu spent h i s youth i n s t r i c t r e l i g i o u s t r a i n i n g , and only


a f t e r he had a t t a i n e d enlightenment d i d he d i s c o v e r women.

I t was

e x a c t l y the opposite w i t h John Donne, and, moreover, i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o

23
speak of enlightenment with John Donne.
ceased i n h i s mind.

The doubts never seemed to have

One gets the impression t h a t he was never r e a l l y sure

that he had found what he was l o o k i n g f o r , whereas Ikkyu a f t e r h i s


enlightenment; never doubted h i s own grasp of Zen.

Thus, he could say t h i n g s

l i k e "once enter a b r o t h e l , then great wisdom happens "


a b s o l u t e l y sure of h i s r i g h t n e s s i n saying i t .

and be

So i t i s t h a t a f r e e r

s p i r i t breathes through the poems of Ikkyu,and one i s not tempted to speak


of a " s p l i t p e r s o n a l i t y . "

24

Translations:
1 have roughly d i v i d e d the t r a n s l a t e d poems i n t o the categories
of p h i l o s o p h i c a l , c r i t i c a l , and love, simply t o introduce some
o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t o the presentation.

These categories, however, are only

l o o s e l y a p p l i c a b l e since i n many poems these themes overlap.

I have

t r i e d t o place the poems according t o which theme predominates.

N.B.

I t should be noted that the number i n brackets before each poem

r e f e r s t o i t s number i n the Yamato Bunka]Kaikan e d i t i o n of the Kyounshu


since i t was that t e x t which I took as f i n a l a u t h o r i t y .

IV.

P h i l o s o p h i c a l Poems

Ikkyu's p h i l o s o p h i c a l poems are almost e x c l u s i v e l y concerned w i t h


p o i n t s of Zen philosophy.

Ikkyu, i n some poems, explores the various

s p e c i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the p h i l o s o p h i e s of the former great masters


and i n other poems presents h i s own thought; but they are a l l l i n k e d by
t h e i r common b a s i s i n Zen thought and i t s u l t i m a t e g o a l , enlightenment.
The phenomenon of enlightenment i s the t o p i c of many of these poems.
Perhaps the word p h i l o s o p h i c a l i s misleading because of i t s a n a l y t i c a l
connotations^and these poems are c e r t a i n l y not a n a l y t i c a l .

However,

I h e s i t a t e d to c a l l them r e l i g i o u s because of t h e i r a b s t r a c t content;


something

between p h i l o s o p h i c a l and r e l i g i o u s would have been the

proper word.

r i n z a i shiryoken
Hinzai's
a.

Four P o i n t s of View

R i n z a i Gigen ( L i n - c h i I-hsiian)
$u

fit

hi

(? - 850) was a great

T'ang master, founder of the H i n z a i Sect of Zen to which Ikkyu


b.

The "Four P o i n t s of View"

belonged.

shiryoken; are among H i n z a i * s teachings

recorded i n the R i n z a i roku ( L i n - c h i l u )

7^" ^ I I .

Although i t i s

not known whether R i n z a i himself r e f e r e d to them as "Points of View" or


2

not, they were c e r t a i n l y known to l a t e r generations as such.

I n essense,

they represent four ways of conceiving the r e l a t i o n s h i p between subject


and object,which are a l s o four ways of conceiving r e a l i t y .

Ikkyu takes

these "Four P o i n t s of View" as t i t l e s f o r four poems which are then

26
comments on them.

if

f*\ |

4-

<L &

& *

&

datsu n i n fudatsu kyo


Hyakujo I s a n na imada kyu sezu
yako no mi t o suikogyu t o
zenctvono k o j i so no j u suru nashi
koyoshufu tomo n i i c h i r o

Taking away the subject, not taking away the object


Hyakujo,

I s a n , ^ names not yet s t i l l :

Wild fox body

and water b u f f a l o b u l l .

No monks dwell i n the former dynasty's o l d temples;


Yellow leaves and autumn wind share the p a v i l i o n .

a. ^Hyakujo "was a Zen monk of the T'ang Dynasty, born 720, died 814; h i s
f u l l name i s Hyakujo Ekai (Po-chang Huai-hai)
studied Zen w i t h Baso Doitsu (Ma-tsu Dao-i)

He
He i s

most famous f o r drawing up a set of r u l e s f o r the organization of Zen

27
communities, one of the most b a s i c miles being "a day of no working i s a
3
day of no e a t i n g " .
b. Isan"is another monk of the T'ang dynasty, d i e d 813.

H i s f u l l name

i s Isan Reiyu (Wei-shan Mng-yu)


/fe] ^' $L
He was a student of
_
4
Hyakujo and co-founder of the Igyo (Wei-yangj sect of Zen i n China.
s

c. "Wild fox body"is an a l l u s i o n t o a s t o r y concerning Hyakujo.


s t o r y goes as f o l l o w s : "There was an o l d man who

l i s t e n e d everyday to

Hyakujo expounding the law and afterwards l e f t w i t h the crowd.


stayed behind.

Hyakujo asked him who he was.

The

One day he

The o l d man r e p l i e d saying,

'Once i n the time of Eashobutsu (a Buddha before ShakyameniJ there was


teacher named Boko [a M i s t e r So and So] l i v i n g on t h i s mountain.
student of h i s asked him, 'Can a man
of Karma or not?'
Karma."

Boko s a i d , No,
l

of great t r a i n i n g f a l l i n t o the c h a i n

he does not f a l l i n t o the chains of

Then,after t h i s Boko died;he was r e i n c a r n a t e d f i v e hundred times

as a f o x .

Now,

I ask you f o r the sake of t h i s Boko, say the word of

enlightenment t h a t he may be l i b e r a t e d from h i s fox body.'


s a i d , 'The man

of great t r a i n i n g does not ignore Karma.'


-

man was immediately enlightened and revered Hyakujo.

Hyakujo

At t h i s the o l d

...

d. *'Water b u f f a l o " r e f e r s t o a koan of Isan's i n which he confronts h i s


students w i t h the problem:

"Suppose, a hundred years a f t e r I d i e , a water

b u f f a l o comes t o the p a r o c h i a l houses w i t h an i n s c r i p t i o n on h i s l e f t


f l a n k saying 'Monk Isan'.

Then, i f you say 'This i s Isan,' i t i s s t i l l a

water b u f f a l o , i f you say ' I t i s a water b u f f a l o . ' then i t i s s t i l l Monk


Isan.
e.

I f you say, 'What k i n d of a t h i n g i s t h i s ? ' , then you

understand."^

R i n z a i , when asked f o r f u r t h e r e x p l a n a t i o n of h i s "Four P o i n t s of

View" provided comments f o r each one and these are given at the end of

each of Ikkyu's poems for the sake of comparison, Kudu's cotwnenHW Os):
9

&

The shining sun, breaking forth, the earth is spread with a


brocade of flowers,*
On the child hangs hair as white as thread.

w
f

>i

$ if

if

A .

l |

* ftfl *L*^
*

i.

&

Mfif.

datsu kyo fudatsu nin


Rinzai no jison tare ka tekiden
shufu mekkyaku su katsuro hen
boai chikujo furyu no tomo
kyokuroku Ssokuvjo myori no zen
Taking away the object, not taking away the subject

Who, among Rinzai's descendents received the true transmission?


4

My teaching w i l l be lost in the hands of blind donkeys I

Straw sandals, bamboo walking stick, I ' l l be a friend of wind and stream*

29
Monk's c h a i r s , wooden beds,

you can have your Zen of name and


... c.d.
profit.

a,

"My t e a c h i n g w i l l be l o s t i n the hands of b l i n d donkeys" i s a quote

from the R i n z a i ooku. At the occasion of t h i s remark, R i n z a i was


and c l o s e t o death.

sick

Re had c a l l e d h i s f a v o r i t e d i s c i p l e t o h i s bedside

and asked what he would say a f t e r R i n z a i was dead to someone who

came and

asked,"\rfhat was R i n z a i ' s teaching?" The d i s c i p l e shouted, whereupon R i n z a i


7

s a i d , "You see my teaching w i l l be l o s t i n the hands of b l i n d donkeys."


This i s one of the paradoxes of R i n z a i Zen., f o r according t o t r a d i t i o n ,
R i n z a i ' s Zen was t r a n s m i t t e d to t h a t p u p i l , y e t the s t o r y seems t o
i n d i c a t e otherwise.
b. "Monk's c h a i r s , wooden beds" - These pieces of f u r n i t u r e are
associated w i t h high-ranking monks.

The p o r t r a i t s of famous monks

u s u a l l y show them seated i n a c h a i r .

Wooden beds were considered

more l u x u r i o u s than t r a d i t i o n a l rope ones because they were u s u a l l y


ornate.
c. "Name and p r o f i t " i s a c l a s s i c expression which denotes a l l d e s i r e a f t e r
personal aggrandizement and wealth.

The word r i or " p r o f i t " has had a

d e c i d e d l y p e j o r a t i v e connotation ever s i n c e Mencius i n the opening


passage of h i s book so soundly berated the K i n g of Wei f o r even mentioning
it
d.

I t c e r t a i n l y has t h a t sense here.


R i n z a i ' 8 comment f o r the same "Ppint of View":

it

/l

The King's commands already c a r r i e d out a l l over the country,


The general outside the f r o n t i e r brings an end to smoke and dust.

30

U5J

If t *. I il it
#
A.

ifc tt'ii ft /$
L

if

if & a
ninkyo

itf

<9

& M

gudatsu

e h i e i kisho mi

chanten

Hei)Fun s h i n o zetsu s h i t e wato madoka n a r i


y a r a i mekkyaku su s h i j i n no kyo
k e i wa oru shufu hakuro no

mae

Taking away both subject and object


The pheasant takes f o r cover,

the t o r t o i s e i s scorched,

one i s

obstructed.
R e v o l t s i n P i n and Fen, b e l i e f i s cut o f f

yet people c h a t t e r .

Night comes and the poet's i n s p i r a t i o n dies avay.


Before white f r o s t , the cinnamon t r e e l i e s broken, autumn wind.

a.

"The pheasant takes f o r cover" r e f e r s to a story about a f o r e s t f i r e


g

i n which a pheasant plays a h e r o i c but desperate p a r t .

I t i s a metaphor

for a distressing s i t u a t i o n .
b.

"The t o r t o i s e i s scorched" r e f e r s to the ancient custom of o b t a i n i n g

31
oracles by p a t t i n g a hot i r o n t o a t o r t o i s e s h e l l and then i n t e r p r e t i n g
the cracks thereby produced.

I n times of d i s t r e s s , oracles are f r e q u e n t l y

sought.
c.

"One i s obstructed" means the o r a c l e i s bad; one cannot do what one

wants t o do. The l i n e as a whole i s suggesting


d.

"Revolts i n P i n and Fen b e l i e f i s cut o f f " .

from R i n z a i ' s comment on the same opinion,

a time of misfortune.
This i s a d i r e c t quote

(see f o l l o w i n g ) . The

commentary t o the R i n z a i ' s Roku says that P i n and Fen were two provinces
of the T'ang empire who r e v o l t e d against the dynasty under the leadership
of Go Gensai (Wu Yuan-chi)

lw .

The meaning of R i n z a i ' s

comment seems t o be t h a t b e l i e f or t r u s t i n humanity i s extinguished by


the treacherous r e v o l t of Pin and F a n .

That i s , i t i s no longer p o s s i b l e

to b e l i e v e t h a t human order can p r e v a i l f o r e v e r .

This i s an i r o n i c

c o n t r a s t t o the previous prose poem of R i n z a i ' s where human order, the


King's way, looked t o be permanent.
e.

R i n z a i ' s comment f o r the t h i r d "Point of View".

# ft ifc ft
if k - *
The r e v o l t s of Ron and Fan cut o f f b e l i e f ,
He i s alone, s t a y i n g i n one corner.

(16)

A. A A r- 4

i t H

it ^ & tf i

to

ii

&* ^%

ninkyo gufudatsu
i u nakare s a i r a i sen hanmon t o
inbo shushi n i kokun a r i
tada h i t o no Sojo ga katsu o wa su n i y o t t e
chodan su k i n d a i nippo no kumo

Not t a k i n g away subject or object


Don't say b r i n g on some more moneyI
B r o t h e l s and sake-shops have t h e i r own m e r i t .
I t ' s j u s t f o r that people t a l k of S o j o ' s

thirst:

Breathtaking, music from the koto stand, clouds at sunset.^

a.

Sojo's t h i r s t - Sojo i s a famous character of the Han dynasty. H i s

f u l l name i s Shiba Sojo (Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju)

He was

a man of high rank and served as an o f f i c i a l from time t o time, but he


-tVius,
was extremely fond of reading books and d r i n k i n g wine and' never kept a
1

p o s i t i o n f o r long and was always poor.


l o r d ' s daughter Bunkun ^Wen-chun)

^-

One day he f e l l i n love w i t h a


. He won her love by p l a y i n g

to her n i g h t a f t e r n i g h t on h i s Koto, ^hence the reference t o the Koto


i n the f o u r t h l i n e ) .

However, he was s t i l l too poor t o support h i s newly-

won w i f e , so he s o l d h i s c a r r i a g e , one of h i s few remaining possessions


and bought a wine shop.

The wine shop was a f i n a n c i a l success and

content w i t h h i s wife and h i s !koto, Sojo never had t o want f o r wine again.
b.

R i n z a i ' s comment f o r the f o u r t h "Point of View."

f f
if

it

Jt i& i !

33
The King goes up to h i s treasure house
In the f i e l d an o l d man

sings

" R i n z a i ' s Four P o i n t s of View"

can be i n t e r p r e t e d i n two ways,

e i t h e r as f o u r ways of conceiving r e a l i t y or four stages of attainment


the course of enlightenmento

in

Suzuki i s of the o p i n i o n t h a t they are four

ways of s t a t i n g r e a l i t y which are at the same time independent from one


11

another and connected to one another.


understanding

of the word n i n A

Suzuki l a y s emphasis on the

; he maintains t h a t i t i s not

"man"

i n any absolute sense nor an i n d i v i d u a l man but r a t h e r "subject" i n


i n t i m a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h and o p p o s i t i o n to "object" kyo
the terms datsu

and fudatsu ~&

correspond to
12

" t a k i n g away", and " a f f i r m i n g " , "not t a k i n g away".

\ while
"negating",

Suzuki a l s o says

t h a t since R i n z a i l e f t these four phrases with only the four sets of


oblique comments f o r e x p l a n a t i o n , i t always has been and i s very unclear
what R i n z a i himself e x a c t l y meant by these "Four P o i n t s of View."

He

concludes t h a t i t i s f o r each person who undertakes to study the "Four


13

P o i n t s of View" to make hxs own commentary as Suzuki himself has done.


Thus, w i t h encouragement and a i d from Suzuki D a i s e t s u , I have humbly
attempted a commentary of my own

f o r these evasive "Four P o i n t s of View"

and Ikkyu's poems, which are no more s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d .


The f i r s t of the "Four P o i n t s of View", "Taking away the s u b j e c t ,
not t a k i n g away the o b j e c t " denotes a s t a t e i n which the object i s
a f f i r m e d and the subject i s negated.

This r e a l l y amounts to the a f f i r m a t i o n

of the substance or r e a l i t y of the object as opposed to the non-substance


and u n r e a l i t y of the subject,,

In the human world, the subject i s always

34
" I " or the e g o - s e l f , while the object i s the world at l a r g e , the o b j e c t i v e
universe.

Here t h e n , i t i s a case where the " I " has no r e a l substance to

i t w h i l e the world at l a r g e does.

Thus, i n R i n z a i ' s comments the f i e l d

brocaded w i t h flowers represents the o b j e c t i v e world or nature which w i t h


i t s ever-renewing c y c l e s i s f u l l of substance and r e a l i t y ^ w h i l e the image
of the c h i l d w i t h white h a i r denotes the " I " , the e g o - s e l f , which when i t
d i e s i s gone and so has no r e a l substance.

I n Ikkyu's poem, Hyakujo and

Isan represent two " I s who have c e r t a i n l y passed away? t h e i r names l i v e


, M

by the s t o r i e s connected w i t h them, but i t i s c e r t a i n t h a t no monks are


d w e l l i n g i n the temples where they used t o l i v e . There i s only the y e l l o w
leaves and autumn wind, Ikkyu's images f o r the o b j e c t i v e world of
complement

nature,win

B i n z a i ' s s p r i n g f i e l d of f l o w e r s .

I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g that although the view that objects possess


r e a l substance i s a f a l s e view i n Buddhism, i n t h i s context i t leads toward
the negation of ego.

That i s , the idea of the absolute r e a l i t y of the

o b j e c t i v e universe leads to a r e a l i z a t i o n of how small and ephemeral the


ego i s i n comparison, and t h i s tends towards a sense of egolessness which
i s a step i n the r i g h t d i r e c t i o n so f a r as Buddhism i s concerned.
t h i s point of view can be looked on as a stage i n a t t a i n i n g

Thus,

enlightenment.

The second "Point of View" designates the s i t u a t i o n where the


subject i s a f f i r m e d and the object i s negated, t h a t i s , subject i s regarded
as r e a l and object i s regarded as u n r e a l .

This conception approaches a

k i n d of absolute i d e a l i s m ; indeed, U i describes t h i s "Point of View" as


the opinion "that the e n t i r e world i s merely a r e f l e c t i o n of one's

own

consciousness.
K i n z a i ' s comment f o r t h i s one seems to r e f e r t o Confucianism.

His

35

meaning i s hard to grasp here, but perhaps he i s p o i n t i n g at the Confucian


tendency t o regard ideas l i k e j e n \z~ "Benevolence," i_
wang-tao

%-

"Justice," and

"the Way of the King,"as more r e a l or having more

substance than the o b j e c t i v e world.

C e r t a i n l y the a t t e n t i o n of the

Confucians was centered on ideas, and t h i s q u i t e a l t e r e d t h e i r perception of


the o b j e c t i v e world.

Ikkyu, i n h i s poem, on the other hand, takes the

opportunity t o brandish f o r t h h i s own s e l f - c o n f i d e n t ego, by a s s e r t i n g ,


as he does o f t e n , t h a t he w i t h h i s simple h a b i t s has i n h e r i t e d the t r u e
transmission while other monks bewitched by the fame and gain of the
o b j e c t i v e world go t h e i r way t o p e r d i t i o n .

Ikkyu a s s e r t s h i m s e l f , h i s

" o r i g i n a l nature" and,thus, sees through the i l l u s i o n s of the o b j e c t i v e


world.
Although i t i s not e s s e n t i a l to the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Ikkyu's poem,
i t should be noted here that t h i s "Point of View", too, corresponds to a
stage i n enlightenment because i t implys an awareness of the intimate
connection between subject and o b j e c t .

The subject i s i n a sense c r e a t i n g

the object^and, thus, the two are i n the end one.


The t h i r d "Point of View" presents the s i t u a t i o n where both subject
and object are negated.

I n the language of the Lankavatara s u t r a t h i s

s t a t e i s known as pudgaladharmanairatmya

(here ho

has the same meaning as kyo i f j ) "the egol essness of both the i n d i v i d u a l
15
soul and e x t e r n a l o b j e c t s " .

I n other words, there i s "no self-substance

l6
i n anything."

This i s regarded as a s t a t e of t r u e enlightenment because

d u a l i t y i s f i n a l l y transcended, and a l l things are r e a l i z e d to be v o i d .


This i s the p o i n t of view which has p o p u l a r l y gained Buddhism a r e p u t a t i o n
for nihilism.

This negative statement of the non-dual t r u t h of the

36
universe presupposes, however, that the opposite p o s i t i v e statement i s a l s o
true since nothing can be absolute not even negation.
However, c e r t a i n l y both R i n z a i ' s comment and Ikkyu's poem have a
gloomy aspect about them.

R i n z a i ' 8 comment f o r t h i s "Point of View"

seems to be i n i r o n i c contrast to the l a s t one where the King's way

was

followed and a l l was i n peace; here, r e v o l t s i n Pin and Fan cut o f f b e l i e f


i n a l l t h i n g s , the subject ceases to a c t .

Ikkyu makes a c o l l a g e of images

of d i s t r e s s and s u f f e r i n g i n the human, animal, and p l a n t worlds,


luck f o r the pheasant and everyone; men

aren't dependable, but no

bad
one

l e a r n s ; even the poets i n s p i r a t i o n i s ephemeral; autumn brings death,


d e s t r u c t i o n and c o l d .

Under such circumstances,who wouldn't welcome the

e x t i n c t i o n of subject and object.


The f o u r t h "Point of View" h a p p i l y presents the p o s i t i v e expression
of the non-dual t r u t h ' subject and object are both affirmed as r e a l .
As was mentioned i n the previous d i s c u s s i o n of the t h i r d "Point of View",
the negative expression presupposes that the p o s i t i v e expression i s a l s o
true. unreal and r e a l , when d u a l i t y i s transcended^are the same.

This

i s the f i n a l goal of Mahayana Buddhism, to come back to the world

and

act i n the world but cleansed of f a l s e notions by the process described.


R i n z a i ' s comment describes a s i t u a t i o n where a l l seems as i t should, the
k i n g i n h i s treasure house and the o l d man

s i n g i n g i n the f i e l d .

Ikkyu's

poem emphasizes the f a c t that from t h i s enlightened p o i n t of view there


i s merit i n b r o t h e l s and sake-shops too.

He a l s o advocates l i v i n g at

each moment and not worrying f o r the future. So, i f you have only a l i t t l e
money now,

don't worry about spending i t on wine f o r who knows what t o -

morrow may b r i n g , luck l i k e Sojo's perhaps.

This i s Ikkyu's way

of saying

37

"Live i n the e t e r n a l now."

(7)

A t

*
On -f
ii

Kido Osho o san su


Ikuo no j u i n yo mina somuku
hoe o hoge s h i t e haai no gotoshi
R i n z a i no shoden i t t e n nashi
i t t e n no fugetsu g i n k a i n i mitsu

P r a i s i n g Monk Kido
b
The master of YH-wang

r e v o l t e d i n every way against the world,

Abandoning h i s h a b i t as though i t were a broken sandal,


R i n z a i ' s c o r r e c t transmission, not a s i n g l e p o i n t .
Whole sky, wind w h i s t l i n g moon, f i l l s a s i n g i n g heart.
a.

,' H<mk< Kido - Kido Chigu

(Hsu-t'ang Chih-yu)

it ^

monk of the Sung i>ynasty; he died i n 1269 a t the age of e i g h t y - f i v e .


received h i s teaching from Renan

(&Vn-an)

|f_ ^

was a
He

, a master of the R i n z a i

38
line.

He was noted f o r being a wanderer, never long i n one place and

very unpredictable,,

H i s death poem, recorded i n the Kido @)sho ^oroku,

i s as f o l l o w s :
E i g h t y - f i v e years
Not even knowing the P a t r i a r c h s ,
Rowing w i t h elbow, s e r v i n g , going,
17
Erasing my t r a c k s i n the Great V o i d .
be "Yu-wang"- This i s one of the many mountain temples t h a t Kido served
at.

He was supposed to have been the Master of Yu-wang f o r a three year


18

p e r i o d s t a r t i n g i n 1258.
Ikkyu o f t e n found encouragement and c o n s o l a t i o n i n studying the
teachings and e x p l o i t s of the great Zen masters of the T'ang and Sung
periods.

He f e l t p a r t i c u l a r l y c l o s e t o Kido Osho since there was some

similarities i n their l i f e styles.

Ikkyu sometimes signed himself as,

"Ikkyu Sojun, the seventh generation of Kido."


t h a t he mentioned Kido i n h i s death poem,
h a l f a penny."

I t w i l l a l s o be remembered

" i f Kido comes, he's not worth

This sounds d i s r e s p e c t f u l , b u t i t i s r e a l l y l i k e a joke

between soulmates.

K i d o , only wanting to obscure h i s t r a c k s i n the v o i d

had no i n t e n t i o n whatsoever to be remembered as worthy. Thus, Ikkyu's poem


i s a c t u a l l y a k i n d of backhand

compliment.

This poem p r a i s i n g Kido i s more s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d .

Ikkyu p r a i s e s

him f o r being such an "homme r e v o l t e " and so marvelously detached from


h i s s t a t u s as a monk. He could d i s c a r d h i s h a b i t as i f i t were a broken
sandal.

Kido didn't even know about the P a t r i a r c h s , how much l e s s

concerned must he have been w i t h the f i n e p o i n t s of the c o r r e c t t r a n s m i s s i o n

39
of R i n z a i , something which was probably debated at great length i n the
temples that Ikkyu was accustomed t o .

Ikkyu f i n i s h e s the poem w i t h an image

from nature, the moon on a windy night which symbolizes the f r e e s p i r i t


of Kido.

Thinking of him,Ikkyu i s f i l l e d w i t h poems.

(9)

*> #[ I
^

;f f f

&

* A ?$ %

I - % & @ Ik

hi

f IL

i k a n a m ka kore R i n z a i ka no j i ,

. QoSo en iwaku gogyaku r a i o k i k u

k i s e n no i k k a t s u t e t s u c h i kuzuru
gogyaku ganrai noso n i a r i
t o r i shun^pu seien no yube
hansei hahsui shu j o no gotoshi

What i s i t l i k e , the R i n z a i sect? Ihe F i f t h P a t r i a r c h


"the

lecturing said,

f i v e s i n s , and one hears thunder."

J u s t a t the t h r e s h o l d ^ one shout and the i r o n cage crumbles.


The f i v e s i n s are i n monks since the beginning.
Peach and plum, s p r i n g wind, a b e a u t i f u l f e a s t a t evening:
H a l f sober, h a l f drunk, sake's l i k e a rope.

40
a. "The F i f t h P a t r i a r c h " - Gunin

(Hung-jen)

>1

i s the F i f t h

P a t r i a r c h of the Zen sect and l i v e d during the T'ang dynasty i n China.


A l l the p a t r i a r c h s before the S i x t h P a t r i a r c h have a somewhat legendary
existence and t h e r e f o r e d e f i n i t e dates are not a v a i l a b l e .

He was reported

to be the f i r s t Zen p a t r i a r c h to have a very large following,, However,


his

fame i s somewhat overshadowed by the pre-eminence of the S i x t h

Patriarch.

\i

b.

anJ one.

,,

The F i v e SinsAhears thunder - These are a l i s t of f i v e crimes against

Buddhism which are supposed to without f a i l send one to i n f e r n a l punishment.

I n order of ascending seriousness they are:

to k i l l one's f a t h e r ,

to k i l l one's mother, to k i l l an arhat (an enlightened man), t o draw blood


19

from a Buddha, and to cause d i s s e n s i o n w i t h i n the Order.

I think,

however, t h a t here the F i v e Sins are not to be taken too l i t e r a l l y


r a t h e r as a metaphor f o r man's propensity to do e v i l .

but

"To hear thunder"

i s to be shocked i n t o an awareness of the nature of s i n . Ikkyu


seems t o equate i t w i t h R i n z a i * s shouting.
c

"The t h r e s h o l d " r e f e r s to the p o i n t i n time which i s r i g h t f o r

a t t a i n i n g enlightenment.
R i n z a i was famous f o r shouting at the r i g h t time to push h i s
students to sudden enlightenment.

At the breaking p o i n t , a l l d i s t i n c t i o n s

between good and e v i l , s i n and v i r t u e , are d i s p e l l e d and the i r o n cage


that such d u a l i s t i c t h i n k i n g produces c o l l a p s e s .

A l l monks are chained

by the n o t i o n of s i n . R i n z a i ' s katsu has a l s o been compared to "Vajra's


20
precious sword",

t h u s ^ i t i s capable of c u t t i n g the rope of attachment

to the s p r i n g evening f e a s t s and over-indulgence i n wine.

Above a l l , the

s p e c i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of R i n z a i ' s Zen i s complete l i b e r a t i o n .

(10)

+ n L

A. c

-V + *

?? &

a i-

i n $ n

- f i ? M
*

i* ? $

^
i

4.

i k a n a m ka kore Vomon shu, en iwaku k o k i senjaku


k a k i kaze atataka n i s h i t e shundai n i ugoku
hachiju j o i n s h i seki hiraku
i c h i j i kan, sankutai
ikubaku h i t o k a g a n r i n i koai o tsuku

What i s i t l i k e , Unmon's

sect?

He l e c t u r i n g s a i d ,

"The r e d f l a g

sparkles and flashes"**


The f i n e f l a g i n the warm wind moves above the spring d a i s ,
E i g h t y people or more, the master begins h i s l e c t u r e .
c
d
One word b a r r i e r , three phrase body of knowledge :
How many people have r e d specks i n t h e i r eyes?

a.

Unmon Bunen (Yun-men Wen-yen)

Late T'ang dynasty ( d i e d 9^9).

fl

Seppo Gizon

was a monk of the


(Hsueh-feng I-ts'un)

42
^

was h i s master.

Seppo broke Unmon's l e g by c l o s i n g a


21

door on i t , and the r e s u l t i n g p a i n enlightened him.

He was founder of

the Unmon sect which,however, was never brought t o Japan.


b

The r e d f l a g sparkles and f l a s h e s i s a koan of Unmon's about the


22

nature of enlightenment.
c. ''One word b a r r i e r " - This r e f e r s t o a s t o r y i n which Unmon i s i n v o l v e d .
I t goes, "At the end of the summer, Suigan s a i d t o a gathering, 'For one
gammer now, I have been e x p l a i n i n g the Dharma t o you students
s t i l l have eyebrows?'

See, do I

\People who f a l s i f y the Dharma are supposed t o get

leprosy, one of the f i r s t signs of which i s the l o s s of eyebrowsTj


Hofuku s a i d , 'Robbers have f a l s e hearts.*

Chokei s a i d , ' y o u r eyebrows

are

growing.'

Unmon s a i d ,

l!l

"Unmon's one word b a r r i e r . "

kan

tl

(barrier).

This came t o be known as,

I t i s b e l i e v e d Unmon meant something l i k e

"There's a t r a p here."
d. "Three phrase body of Knowledge"refers t o three famous phrases of Unmon's.
The f i r s t being kangai kenkon,
earth;

l^l

the second, setsudan shuryu,

"box and l i d , heaven and


(5v

everything flows;" and the t h i r d , zuiha chikuro,

>Ll / ^ c u t t i n g o f f ,
ft.

it

ii.

>L

''following waves, chasing waves." A c l e a r explanation of these phrases


which i n themselves are koans i s a thorny problem indeed.

I have decided

to f o l l o w the lead of l/umoulin and take as a guide h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of


the

commentary on these three phrases by Engo Kokugon.

Accordingly, the

meaning of the f i r s t i s "True R e a l i t y , True Emptiness i s the marvelous


existence i n each perception, each c o g n i t i o n , completely evident and
unequivocal."

The second phrase means,

or expression i n words.

"True R e a l i t y d e f i e s understanding

When a l l appearances suddenly come to a r e s t , the

passions are destroyed."

And the t h i r d means, "The knowledge of r e a l i t y

gained through outside objects i s s a i d t o be l i k e the c h a r a c t e r i z i n g and


knowing of the earth from i t s germs or a man from h i s words.

(That i s ,

24
appearances are completely r e l a t i v e ;

....)"

Many of Ikkyu's poems seem t o be composed l i k e c o l l a g e s ; the


connection, s between the l i n e s are not based on any l o g i c a l or r a t i o n a l
k i n d of c o n t i n u i t y .

One l i n e simply evokes the next, sometimes by way

of complement, sometimes by way of c o n t r a s t , sometimes by way of random


association.

This i s a poem of t h i s type.

The subject of the poem,

"What i s i t l i k e Unmon's s e c t ? , " u n i f i e s the poem, the content of the poem


being b i t s and pieces of what Ikkyu knows about Unmon.

The r e d f l a g c a l l s

i n t o Ikkyu's mind the image of a s p r i n g meeting of monks under banners,


Unmon p r e s i d i n g , e n l i g h t e n i n g the gathering w i t h h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y
l a c o n i c teaching.

Since t h i s i s not R i n z a i , however, Ikkyu f e e l s moved

to c r i t i c i z e t h i s s e c t , so the l a s t l i n e , "How many people have r e d


specks i n t h e i r eyes?" has a p e j o r a t i v e sense, meaning how many people
have r e c e i v e d t h i s teaching and s t i l l remain unenlightened.

(11)

h w L <h W t
:

\L
*

t
Jdf

ft

fa L * i ,
#j

1 >t %r

)$ *

H #f ft i

44
Ika n a m ka kore Igyo shu, en iwaku danbi koro n i yokotau
Ejaku wa shaka Reiyu wa u s h i
himo sabutsu mata furyu
kohi michi tayu chokei no kaku
bansei no seimei koyv> no a k i

ft

What i s i t l i k e , t h i s Igyo

sect? He l e c t u r i n g s a i d , "a c u t down stone

marker l y i n g on i t s side on the o l d road."


Ejaku

c
became a monk, Heiyu became a cow;

A Buddha covered w i t h hsdr $ Also d e l i g h t f u l .


Old

stone marker, the road stops, man of the long valley.**

10,000 generations of names, autumn's y e l l o w leaves.

a.

Igyo

(Wei-yang) sect - During the T'ang dynasty the Zen sect was

s p l i t i n t o North and South.


the

Southern branch.

Ling-yu)

i*

%_

The Igyo sect was one of the Five houses, of

The sect was co-founded by Isan Reiyu


and Ryozan Ejaku

(Wei-shan

(Yang-shan H u i - c h i )

$f

<b

between the years 806 t o 820. The Igyo sect was not l o n g - l i v e d
however, and by the beginning of the Sung dynasty, i n 960, i t was
25
amalgamated i n t o the R i n z a i sect.
b.

Ejaku-The aforementioned Ryozan Ejaku was born i n 814 and died i n 890.

As a youth of f i f t e e n he wanted t o leave h i s f a m i l y home and become a


monk but he was denied permission from h i s parents. A t the age of
seventeen he cut o f f two f i n g e r s t o impress h i s parents w i t h the earnestness of h i s i n t e n t i o n and was f i n a l l y allowed t o g o . ^
c.

Isan Reiyu (see poem 13 f o r b i o g r a p h i c a l information and the s t o r y of

45
the

cow.)

d. ''man

of the long v a l l e y " - i n the Sotei j i e n


)tj

(Tsu-t'ing shih-yuan)

Isan i s described as having been "born i n the long


27

v a l l e y of Fukushu

(Fu-chou)"

This poem i s another c o l l a g e poem, t h i s time the subject being


the Igyo sect.

This sect was already long e x t i n c t by Ikkyu's time and

the second part of the t i t l e about the o l d stone marker l y i n g on the road
r e f e r s to t h i s f a c t .

Whenever Ikkyu mentions Isan, the next reference i s

to a cow, since Ikkyu's f a v o r i t e s t o r y i n connection w i t h Isan seems to


have been the s t o r y of the water b u f f a l o r e i n c a r n a t i o n . Here again,
Ikkyu expresses h i s amusement at the idea of a Buddha covered w i t h h a i r .
The t h i r d l i n e harks back t o the f a c t that the Igyo sect i s no more.

The

f o u r t h l i n e i s very s i m i l a r to the l a s t l i n e of poem 13, the image being


autumn leaves expressing the r e l e n t l e s s passing away of generations of
people and leaves, the c l a s s i c Buddhist theme of impermanence.

(12)

- $

# #-

iSL A

46

i k a nam

ka kore Hogen shu

en iwaku j u n n i n yo o okasu
i t t e k i no Sogen, i t t e k i fukashi
j u n n i n nyonyo yo c h i n c h i n
s e i z a n manmoku kore nan no ho zo
kashu nao hoshin o manabu ga gotoshi

What i s i t l i k e t h i s Hogen sect , he l e c t u r i n g s a i d ,


"The watchman breaks i n t o the n i g h t . "
One drop a t the source of the Ts'ao,** one drop deep.
The watchman r a i s e s a row,but the n i g h t i s s i l e n t and deep.
Verdant mountains f i l l everyone's eyes, what k i n d of law i s t h i s ?
I t i s l i k e the ugly women studying to frown.

a.

The Hogen

(Fa-yen) sect was a sect of the l a t e T'ang dynasty and

F i v e Dynastj^js p e r i o d .
jC-

I t was founded by the Hogen Buneki

(Fa-yen Wen-i)

885-958, a very learned man who brought Zen c l o s e r to

a form of s u t r a Buddhism than any other of the great T'ang Zen masters
b. "One drop at the source of the Ts'ao r i v e r " - There i s a s t o r y about
Hogen i n the Sha s h i t s u k i n (Shin s h i h t'ung chien) $ f

ifL -4f.

which

goes as f o l l o w s : "Master Shokoku asked Hogen, 'What i s i t l i k e , one drop of


water from the Ts'ao r i v e r ? ' Hogen s a i d , ' I t i s one drop of water from the
Ts'ao r i v e r . '

Shokoku hearing t h i s was immediately enlightened. ..."

29

The

other s t o r y which helps t o e l u c i d a t e the meaning of t h i s reference, i s one


from the Dento Roku, (Ch'uan teng l u )

which records that "In

the year 502, there was a monk named Chih-yao who s a i l e d i n a boat u n t i l he

47
VIM - cVlot>
reached issssfea and the waters of the Ts'ao r i v e r .

Ue had heard of the

e x c e l l e n t t a s t e of t h i s water and s a i d that a t the upper reaches of t h i s


r i v e r there was f i n e land.

Accordingly, he b u i l t a mountain temple there

and c a l l e d i t P a o - l i n . Many years a f t e r , the S i x t h P a t r i a r c h Eno ( H u i nengj

l i v e d and taught there.

Thus, water from the r i v e r Ts'ao i s a l s o

a metaphor f o r the Zen teachings of the S i x t h P a t r i a r c h

In t h i s poem, the watchman represents the unenlightened person.


This i s made c l e a r i n the second l i n e by the contrast between the watchman, b l i n d l y c l a t t e r i n g about i n the night and the night i t s e l f which i s
i n f i n i t e l y deep

and calm and would appear so t o the watchman i f he

could only s t i l l himself f o r a moment.


shan)

"/vc i*

One i s reminded of Tokusan

(T&

who a t t a i n e d sudden enlightenment when h i s master blew


31

out the candle, and Tokusan experienced the deepness of the n i g h t .

It

w i l l be remembered that Ikkyu a l s o experienced h i s enlightenment a t n i g h t .


Hogen's words of enlightenment t o Shokoku make up the f i r s t l i n e of the
poem.

The meaning of t h i s l i n e i s s i m i l a r t o Blake's

"to see the world

i n a g r a i n of sand," or the passage from the Lankavatara s u t r a which says


t h a t knowing one dharma i s t o know the 10,000 dharmas.

I n essence^ i t

means t h a t by thoroughly penetrating one t h i n g , one can understand a l l


things.

The l a s t three l i n e s , however, seem t o c r i t i c i z e Hogen. I t

appears that Ikkyu f e e l s e i t h e r Hogen or h i s f o l l o w e r s couldn't perceive


e s s e n t i a l t r u t h s f o r making too much noise.

I t w i l l be remembered that

Hogen brought Zen c l o s e s t t o a form of Sutra Buddhism,and i t may be t o


t h i s t h a t Ikkyu i s r e f e r i n g .

The t h i r d l i n e contrasts w i t h the second

by being an image of day rather than night; ihtke-dayi-b^such people do not

48
understand.

The f o u r t h l i n e r e f e r s to the s t o r y of the ugly woman who

copied a famous beauty's frown, only to make h e r s e l f more u g l y .

The

i m p l i c a t i o n i s t h a t Hogen mimics true Zen but only makes himself r i d i c u l o u s .

(8)

&

<

*$ ft q

M k '<' M 4
f

f& >t

M f
U

fL

?i f
&

It

jfi

it*

Daito Kokushi gyojo no sue n i d a i s u


laito o kakage okoshite i t t e n n i kagayaku
iranyo homare o k i s o u hodo no

mae

fusan suishuku h i to no k i s u r u nashi


Daigo kyohen n i n i j u

nen

Inscri-p-tion {or the s t o r y of the behavior of Daito K o k u s h i


a

Raise up high the great lamp,

l e t i t l i g h t the whole sky,

The phoenix carriages'* compete to p r a i s e before the Dharma H a l l ,


e
Wind-eating, water-dwelling , no one remembers
The twenty years he spent around Gojo Bridge.

a.

s t o r y - The character i s matsu

"the end", but here i t i s an

49
abbrieviation for
b.

jt j^.

Daito Myocho Kokushi

Daitokuji.

beginning and end, meaning a s t o r y .


A

it

ti

if

was the founder of

He died at the age of f i f t y - s i x i n 1337.

c. "The great lamp"is a l i t e r a l t r a n s l a t i o n of Daito's name.

I think i t

i s i n t h i s sense t h a t Ikkyu meant i t to be taken here.


d. "Phoenix carriages"means "important" people.
e. V i n d - e a t i n g , water-dwelling'-'is a conventional phrase f o r d e s c r i b i n g
u

the l i f e of a very poor person or beggar.


f. "Gojo B r i d g e " i s a bridge over the Kamogawa i n Kyoto.

Daito l i v e d

i n a temple c l o s e to there named U n k o j i and begged a t the bridge during


33
t h a t time.

"

So i t i s w i t h men who become famous, people often forget the time


they spent i n o b s c u r i t y .

I n Ikkyu's time, D a i t o k u j i was such a large

and wealthy temple, the c e l e b r a t i o n s f o r i t s founder were l a v i s h and


a t t r a c t e d many of the most powerful people i n the country. However, few
of these people bothered to remember that part of Daito's greatness was
due to the f a c t that he had spent twenty years begging around
J
Bridge. Ikkyu remembers i t .

(311, 312, 313, and 314)


prose i n t r o d u c t i o n :

&

% i

h
h

f #
%

Gojo

50

&

&

*q

1
4

il

/A

ft

*1 h

JL

&

fL L

)k

>L

1 &

Good and e v i l have never been confused.

I n t h i s world, those

who do good are a l l f r i e n d s of Shun, and those who do e v i l are a l l f r i e n d s


of C h i e h o ^

The pheasant i s always attacked by the hawk, the r a t i s

always b i t t e n by the c a t , t h i s i s innate i n them and decided beforehand.


The way i n which a l l l i v i n g creatures take refuge i n Buddha's V i r t u e and
escape s i n k i n g i n t o b i r t h and death i s also l i k e t h a t .

Therefore, I

made poems and i n s t r u c t e d a gathering with them.

a.

Shun = The legendary Emperor Shun, one of the t r i u m v i r a t e of model

r u l e r s , Yu, Yao and Shun.


b.

Chieh - the c r u e l l a s t r u l e r of the H s i a Dynasty who was as infamous

f o r e v i l as Shun was famous f o r good.


c.

They a l s o have t h i s c a p a c i t y f o r goodness innate i n them.

1311)

Hi

to

ft % H)

L *
IB

I f >$ %
!J 1
18. A

&

ifc.

% i\

yochi somyo moto j i n e n


i o n g o r a i kyu

innen

t e r a s h i miru B a s e l zangetsu no a k a t s u k i

Meiko no kikan Bakai no mae

Eagle and pheasant, r a t and c a t , are o r i g i n a l l y so of

themselves;

Since time immemorial the ancient l a v of karma.


To see the moon remaining at dawn at Hua-ch'ing,

b
c
Was Genso's reminder of what happened at Ma-wei.

a. "Hua-ch ing"was a palace b u i l t by the T'ang Emperor Genso


1

(Hsuan-tsung)

"Kin.

f o r h i s f a v o r i t e concubine Y o k i h i ( Y a n g - k u e i - f e i ) .
whole seems to a l l u d e to the l i n e i n PbjChu-i's poem

iJ

h h %

The l i n e as a
"The Long G r i e f " ;

&

35
"At the temporary palace, see the moon, c o l o r of a wounded heart,"
This l i n e describes Genso s t i l l i n e x i l e a t a temporary palace a f t e r
Y o k i h i i s dead, l o o k i n g at the moon.
b. "Genso's reminder"- The T'ang Emperor Genso was so i n f a t u a t e d w i t h
the concubine Y o k i h i t h a t he shamefully neglected the a f f a i r s of s t a t e .
Because of t h i s neglect and a l s o the l a v i s h amounts of money Genso
spent i n b u i l d i n g palaces and gardens f o r Y o k i h i , the country was c l o s e
to f i n a n c i a l r u i n .

An o f f i c e r of high rank i n the army, Anrokuzan

l u - s h a n j , seeing h i s opportunity s t a r t e d a r e v o l t which at f i r s t


very s u c c e s s f u l and swept him i n t o the c a p i t a l .

(Anwas

The Emperor and h i s

court were f o r c e d t o f l e e w i t h the remnants of the Imperial army.

At

Ma-wei, however, the army refused to defend the Emperor u n t i l he k i l l e d

Y o k i h i whom they considered as p r i m a r i l y responsible f o r the d e c l i n e


of the country.

Thus, to save the dynasty, Genso was forced to k i l l

Y o k i h i himself.

This p a c i f i e d h i s troops.

His son then set himself

up as Emperor i n another part of the country and g r a d u a l l y won back


their losses.

Genso was eventually c a l l e d back to the c a p i t a l

and

l i v e d the r e s t of h i s l i f e i n l o n e l y retirement with only the memories


of the former happy times w i t h Y o k i h i to comfort him.
c.

As mentioned above, Ma-wei was the place where Y o k i h i was

killed.

(312;

A
t
/>'L>

I it A : t
& i %
1 * t
t- & >f

kagen^mi t a r e b i t o ka ryodatsu

su

akunin wa c h i n r i n s h i zensha wa datsu su


furyu a i s u b e s h i koan madokanari
Tokusan no bo Rinzai no katsu

P a s t , present, and f u t u r e , who

comprehends i t ?

Bad people s i n k , good people are r e l e a s e d ;


Pleasure i s l o v a b l e , the koan i s complete:
Tokusan's s t i c k ,

H i n z a i ' s shout.

a. "Tokusan's s t i c k " - The Zen master Tokusan Senkan


chien)

ifL-

teaching,

WL

(Te-shan Hsiian-

was noted f o r h i s use of the s t i c k i n Zen

He i s recorded as saying t o a group of h i s f o l l o w e r s ,

"Whether a person can e x p l a i n or not, he r e c e i v e s t h i r t y blows w i t h the


stick,"

This gives some idea of the extent t o which Tokusan used h i s

stick.
b. " R i n z a i ' s shout"- The Zen master R i n z a i Gigen was e q u a l l y famous f o r
shouting a t the r i g h t occassions.

(313)

& A
%4

*ii

it

\\ *

iL

i l

f u r y u no s h i f u n mata kosho
Tomyo no Nyorai dancho o ikansen
shinnu kore Bakaisen ka no haku
r i k o n no senjo fuso n i takuseraru

Elegant i n her powder and rouge;


Even a Supremely Enlightened Buddha would be touched.
See she i s the s p i r i t from the s p r i n g of Ma-wei:
The beauty's departed soul was banished t o Japan, perhaps.

54

1 .' at 2 f

%-

ft

s h i n j i n sadamarazu ka t o s h i n t o
yokkai no shujo kushin n i shizumu
shumu sansho r o k u j i k k o
gokku raushiki Bakai no kami

Body and mind cannot be separated i n t o temporary or r e a l .


I n the world of d e s i r e , everyone s i n k s i n t o s u f f e r i n g .
B i t t e r s w e e t dream, past, present and f u t u r e , s i x t y k a l p a s ,

The kalpas are v o i d and formless, the s p i r i t of Ma-wei.

a.

k a l p a - a Buddhist measurement of time, q u a l i f i e d i n such p o e t i c ways

as,

"The p e r i o d r e q u i r e d f o r a c e l e s t i a l woman t o wear away a ten-mile

cubic stone i f she touched i t w i t h her garments once every three years^"
which means t h a t i t i s a very long p e r i o d of time.

30

Ikkyu i n these poems and prose passage r e f l e c t s on the nature of


karma, the Buddhist concept of cause and e f f e c t .

In the beginning i t seems

q u i t e simple: good acts b r i n g good e f f e c t s , bad acts b r i n g bad e f f e c t s ,


and c e r t a i n t h i n g s are s e t ; the eagle always a t t a c k s the pheasant, the
cat always b i t e s the r a t . Nothing leads one to r e f l e c t on the laws of

55
karma so much as examples of people i n l o f t y p o s i t i o n s f a l l i n g
grace at a s i n g l e blow,,

from

So, i n the f i r s t poem Ikkyu t h i n k s of Y o k i h i ,

who had r i s e n so high i n the world t h a t the mothers and f a t h e r s of China


began to wish f o r g i r l babies r a t h e r than boy babies so t h a t they c o u l d
f o l l o w her example.

However, no sooner was she at her z e n i t h than by

f a t e i n the guise of the Anrokuzan r e b e l l i o n , she was cut down.

Genso

too, was i n the same p o s i t i o n , having found a woman who pleased him more
than anything i n the world, he was f o r c e d t o k i l l her the next moment.
The second poem b r i n g s the r e s o l u t i o n t o t h i s seemingly

untenable

s i t u a t i o n ; a l l i s as i t should be, only f a l s e t h i n k i n g makes i t seem


otherwise and there i s always Tokusan's s t i c k and R i n z a i ' s shout t o j o l t
one out of t h a t .

The t h i r d and f o u r t h poem present a p o s i t i v e and

negative a t t i t u d e towards the world and,more p a r t i c u l a r l y , the s i t u a t i o n


f Genso and Y o k i h i .

They correspond roughly t o the l a s t two of H i n z a i * s

"Four P o i n t s of View", the p o s i t i v e and negative way of s t a t i n g the


t r u t h of the u n i v e r s e .

The t h i r d poem presents the p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e .

Ikkyu d e l i g h t s i n beauty and i s o p t i m i s t i c f o r since great beauties


l i k e everyone e l s e are r e i n c a r n a t e d time and time again i n t o the world;
maybe Y o k i h i w i l l be r e i n c a r n a t e d i n Japan next time. This a t t i t u d e i s
one t h a t sees the whole world as a stage and p l a y e r s , p l a y i n g out dramas
f o r e v e r , t h a t i f they are not r e a l , are b e a u t i f u l .

The f o u r t h poem

presents a negative a t t i t u d e t o the same s i t u a t i o n , a l l the world i s a


dream, not r e a l , and no one can escape s u f f e r i n g unless they escape the
dream a l t o g e t h e r .

I n essense, the universe i s v o i d and

you w i l l f i n d the s p i r i t of MarwaJ.

..fQfinless; there

56

(73)

I ft <5 f I * f
lb tfC *

* ^ ^ if i
f.

fli

*f

iii

&

ii-

*v

ft

ushi
i r u i kochu kore waga so
no wa kyo n i y o r i mata kyo wa no n i yoru
shussho bokyaku su r a i j i no michi
s h i r a z u tonen t a ga u j i no so

The

Cow

Come amohg the beasts to teach,

t h i s i s what I have done.

The p e r c e i v e r depends on the perceived; the perceived depends on p e r c e i v e r .


We are born and f o r g e t the path which we came;
No one knows i n those times what monk's name I had.

a.

Iruikochu

^
1

<t*

i s a s p e c i f i c Buddhist term f o r a
39

teacher's being born as an animal i n order to e x p l i c a t e the dharma.


b.

" p e r c e i v e r " - The character no

w i t h the idea of teacher.

i n t h i s context i s almost equatable

In t h i s sense, i t i s often p a i r e d with sho

Thus, noke ht> iLi i s the teacher who transforms and shoke

ft\.

i s the

student who i s transformed.

Another way of conceiving t h i s i s i n the terms

of subject and object, no

being the subject and kyo t% being the o b j e c t .

57
Here,I chose p e r c e i v e r and perceived because i t i s a case of Ikkyu's
seeing the cow which occassions t h i s poem.

In t h i s poem, Ikkyu again embellishes the theme of Isan's koan


about coming back as a cow.
e n d l e s s l y amusing.

I t seems t o have been a koan he found

I n t h i s poem the cow speaks i n the f i r s t person.

The circumstances surrounding t h i s poem w i l l e x p l a i n why.

The s t o r y

goes t h a t Ikkyu one day v i s i t e d the house of a l a y temple supporter. I n


an enclosure he n o t i c e d an o l d cow and wrote the preceding poem which he
then hung on the end of the cow's horn,

j u s t as though i t was a poem

the cow might say. . The next day the cow d i e d and when the owner of
the cow saw Ikkyu,he teased him, saying "Your poem k i l l e d my cow." and
Ikkyu l a u g h e d . ^
The second l i n e r e f e r s t o the f a c t t h a t t o the farmer the cow was
j u s t a cow but t o Ikkyu i t was a memory of Isan and a v e h i c l e f o r
r e f l e c t i n g on the nature of karma. Hence,what was seen depended on the seer,
and the seer,Adepended on what was seen f o r h i s i n s p i r a t i o n .

(18)

($ >

fk

n. ff

>%
<-

ff

)%

:*

V) H

'ft

t
c

58

Ganto senkyo no zu, nisha


Esho igo sogyo o yaburu
i c h i d a n no furyu k a j i s e i
to o mawashite imada i n i n no t e t o nasu o omowazu
token t s u k i n i sakende yo san ko

This i s the f i r s t of two poems e n t i t l e d :


P i c t u r e of Ganto

l i v i n g on a boat

^two poems)

A f t e r Hui-ch angk, monks were abolished.


1

A l i t t l e more g r a c e f u l , how about i t .


S c u l l i n g the oar, you wouldn't b e l i e v e i t was by human hand;
A cuckoo c r i e s a t the moon, midnight.

a.

Ganto Zenkatsu

^Yen-t'ou Ch'uan-huo)

master of the T'ang dynasty, died i n 887 a t the age of s i x t y .

He was

eighteen at the time of the great persecution of Buddhism and became a


41
ferryboat man u n t i l the persecution was over.
b.

The persecution of Buddhism was s t a r t e d i n the f i f t h year of the

42
Hui-ch'ang era, 845.

One would expect a Buddhist monk t o f i n d any persecution of


Buddhism unfortunate.

This was not so with Ikkyu however, who found

many pompous robed p r i e s t s j u s t as odious as the T'ang Emperor d i d .

"What could be a more d e l i g h t f u l and appropriate occupation f o r a Buddhist


monk than t h a t of a ferryman.

I t w i l l be remembered that Buddha's law i s

often r e f e r e d to as a ferryboat f o r c r o s s i n g t o the shore of enlightenment.

59

The cuckoo c a l l i n g through the moonlit night over the water, i s reminiscent
of the c o n d i t i o n s surrounding Ikkyu's own enlightenment.

(362)

&
*

^ f$ H h
i

H % h L

Honen Shonin o sansu


Honen t s u t a e k i k u katsu Wyorai
anza su renge jobon d a i
c h i s h a o s h i t e ninyudo no gotoku narashimu
i c h i m a i no k i s h o mottomo k i naru kana

**

ft

P r a i s i n g S a i n t Honen
Honen, I heard, was a l i v i n g Buddha;
P e a c e f u l l y s i t t i n g on the highest rank of the Lotus d a i s ,
Teaching learned men as though they were nuns and l a y followers.**

c
Honen's One Sheet Document, how marvelous!

a.

Honen 1133 - 1212 was the founder of the Jodoshu, Pure Land s e c t , of

Buddhism i n Japan.

I t i s a form of Buddhism which focuses i t s a t t e n t i o n

on the most compassionate of the Buddhas, Amida

60
b.

That i s , a t l e a s t i n the case of the nuns, as though they were

illiterate.
C o "Honen's One Sheet Document"contains the essence of h i s d o c t r i n e .
"The method of f i n a l s a l v a t i o n t h a t I have propounded i s n e i t h e r a s o r t
of m e d i t a t i o n , such as has been p r a c t i s e d by many s c h o l a r s i n China and
Japan, nor i s i t a r e p e t i t i o n of the Buddha's name by those who have
s t u d i e d and understood the deep meaning of i t .

I t i s nothing but the

mere r e p e t i t i o n of the "Namu Amida Butsu" without a doubt i n h i s mercy,


whereby one may be born i n t o the Land of P e r f e c t B l i s s . . . .

Those who

b e l i e v e t h i s , though they c l e a r l y understand a l l the teachings Shaka


taught throughout h i s whole l i f e , should behave themselves l i k e simpleminded f o l k , who know not a s i n g l e l e t t e r , or l i k e ignorant nuns or monks
whose f a i t h i s i m p l i c i t l y simple.

Thus,without pedantic a i r s , they should


43
f e r v e n t l y p r a c t i s e the r e p e t i t i o n of the name of Amida, and t h a t alone."

I t may seem strange t o read a poem w r i t t e n by a Zen monk p r a i s i n g


the Pure Land sect founder, since Zen and the Pure Land Sect are u s u a l l y
considered t o be opposed i n d o c t r i n e .

A c t u a l l y , the Pure Land Sect and

Zen have a common p o i n t i n t h e i r d i s t r u s t of the s c h o l a s t i c or


i n t e l l e c t u a l approach t o Buddhism; Zen i s always emphasizing the
inadequacy of words t o convey the d o c t r i n e w h i l e the Pure Land sect
merely considers i n t e l l e c t u a l knowledge misleading.

H i s t o r i c a l l y as

w e l l , there have been i n c i d e n t s i n which Zen and the Pure Land sect
have been l i n k e d .

One of the candidates f o r S i x t h P a t r i a r c h , Chih-

h s i e n , had a d i s c i p l e Ch'u-chi who leaned toward the Amidist t r a d i t i o n ,


and h i s d i s c i p l e i n t u r n became a prominent teacher i n the Pure Land

61
school.
However, i t i s not that Ikkyu i s p r a i s i n g Honen's doctrine here,
but r a t h e r Honen's overwhelming genuineness, as compared w i t h some of the
phoney Zen monks w i t h whom Ikkyu was acquainted.

(20)

&f

&.

n it
fa

^ '
f

h
ft

ft

Ni So o sansu
Taito konko zenji

nashi

danpi no kyoden hito s h i r a z u


tada yurusu nanzan dosen ga fude
atakamo tsu^sho n i s h i n s u i o orosu ga gotoshi

P r a i s i n g the Second P a t r i a r c h
From China, now and since o l d times, there are no Zen masters.
No one knows the legend of Danpi;
c
Only Nanzan Dosen's story i s allowed:
J u s t as i f a needle had been a p p l i e d to a p a i n f u l spot.

a.

The Second P a t r i a r c h Keika

(Hui-k'o)

C- $L

*\

was

supposed

62
to have been born i n 487 and d i e d at the age of a hundred and seven i n
593.

He r e c e i v e d h i s t r a n s m i s s i o n at the age of t h i r t y - t w o from the


45

F i r s t P a t r i a r c h Bodhidharma.

(see f o l l o w i n g s t o r y )

b. "Danpi"is a nickname f o r the Second P a t r i a r c h and means "cut o f f

arm".

The s t o r y of how he got h i s arm cut o f f which i s a l s o the s t o r y of h i s


enlightenment,

according to the Humonkan

(Wu-men-kuan), i s as f o l l o w s :

"Daruma sat s t a r i n g at the w a l l , the second P a t r i a r c h stood i n the snow


and

[ f i n a l l y a f t e r a long time, t o prove h i s earnestnessj cut o f f h i s

arm,

saying, 'My mind i s not yet p a c i f i e d , please master p a c i f y my mind.'


Daruma s a i d , 'Then b r i n g out your mind and show i t t o me.'

The Second

P a t r i a r c h s a i d , 'Whenever 1 look f o r my mind I can't f i n d i t . '

'There,'

46

s a i d Daruma, 'I have p a c i f i e d your mind.'"


was immediately
c.

Nanzan Dos en

and the Second P a t r i a r c h

enlightened.
(Nan-shan Tao-hsuan)

J-i

the founder of the Nanzan E i s s h u sect i n China.

jjL

596-667, was

He rewrote the s t o r y of

how the Second P a t r i a r c h l o s t h i s arm i n the Zokukosoden

(Hsu-kao s*\^ c-U'oan)

and apparently, at l e a s t as f a r as we can t e l l from the poem, i t was


q u i t e current i n Japan at Ikkyu's time.

H i s v e r s i o n of the s t o r y i s as

follows:
"The Great P a t r i a r c h Keika met robbers and had h i s arm cut o f f .
C o n t r o l l i n g h i s mind w i t h Buddha's law, he didn't f e e l any pain; with
f i r e he burned the wound, and bound i t up w i t h c l o t h .
had been on h i s way begging, he didn't t e l l anyone.

As though he
Later, a priest

named E i n ( L i n ) a l s o met robbers and had h i s arm cut o f f .

He shouted

through the n i g h t ; Keika came and tended h i s wounds, and begged food t o
give to him.

K i n got angry w i t h Keika's clumsiness.

Keika s a i d

'You

63
have r i c e cakes i n f r o n t of you, -why don't you wrap them up?'
s a i d , 'I've l o s t an arm, don't you know?

Rin

E e i k a s a i d , '1 don't have an


47

arm e i t h e r , what i s there t o get angry about?'" '


Ikkyu obviously p r e f e r s the t r a d i t i o n a l Danpi s t o r y , because
i t i s the c l o s e s t t o the t r u t h of Zen.

Nanzan Dosen's v e r s i o n i s

t y p i c a l of the glowing accounts of famous monks i n the face of hardship;


i t i s an e d i f y i n g story i n the conventional sense of the word, but not
condusive to pushing the mind beyond i t s conventional l i m i t s .

Yet, i t

i s p a r t i c u l a r l y t h i s k i n d of s t o r y which people p r e f e r ; the idea of a


monk going so f a r as t o cut o f f h i s arm f o r the sake of a few words of
enlightenment, s t r i k e s a p a i n f u l spot i n most people.
The metaphor of the needle i n the l a s t l i n e must r e f e r to the
technique of acupuncture. Thus, the Danpi s t o r y i s l i k e the acupuncture
needle which, though i t h u r t s , cures.

Danpi's a c t , i t s e l f , though

p a i n f u l cured him of h i s uneasy mind.


There i s a l s o a c e r t a i n amount of s c h o l a r l y evidence t o support
the o p i n i o n t h a t the legend which t e l l s of the Second P a t r i a r c h c u t t i n g
ff h i s arm

i s perhaps the true s t o r y .

U i Hakuju argues t h i s

way,

f i r s t by c i t i n g an i n s c r i p t i o n recorded by H o r i n ( F a - l i n )

572-640, which has t h i s v e r s i o n of the s t o r y and d e f i n i t e l y pre-dates /


48
Nansan JDosen's v e r s i o n .

Then he quotes two manuscripts from Tun-Huang,

the P ' u - t ' i - t a - m o - n a n - t a ' u n - t ' i n g - s h i h - f e i - l u n ^


$?>
fL

!_
iLS

ife

and the Leng-ch" i e h - s h i h - t s u - c h i ^

^
M

which both record the v e r s i o n where the Second P a t r i a r c h cuts

o f f h i s own arm. Thus the t e x t u a l evidence f o r t h i s s t o r y i s s u b s t a n t i a l .


S u z u k i , t o o , i s of the o p i n i o n t h a t t h i s s t o r y i s the t r u e one, and

64
he backs up h i s argument w i t h p s y c h o l o g i c a l reasoning.

He maintains

t h a t , as t h i s was the culmination f o r K e i k a of many years of seeking f o r


enlightenment through s c h o l a s t i c s u t r a Buddhism which had always l e f t
him u n s a t i s f i e d , even such a d r a s t i c act was understandable.

In

amother place, Suzuki, again r e f l e c t i n g on the s t o r y of Danpi, f e e l s


t h a t maybe i t i s too much that Keika should be standing i n the snow as
w e l l at the time, and perhaps t h i s d e t a i l was added to make i t a good
52.
s t o r y . However, h i s e s s e n t i a l acceptance of the s t o r y remains unchanged.
U i , a l s o provides a p s y c h o l o g i c a l argument to support h i s view t h a t the
Danf>i s t o r y i s the true one.

I t i s r e a l l y an argument against those who

cannot accept the s t o r y on the b a s i s of common sense.

He says people

l i k e t h a t , modern s c h o l a r s , simply cannot imagine what such a "desire


55
to seek the way" i s l i k e because they do not f e e l i t themselves.
This
i s c l o s e to what Ikkyu meant when he s a i d t h a t the Danpi s t o r y h i t s a
54-

p a i n f u l spot i n people. '

(25, 26, and 27)

'>

K i d o Osho santibengo

Monk Kido's three sayings of enlightenment

"Three sayings of enlightenment"


words")

( l i t e r a l l y "three turn-around

have been recorded f o r many of the great Zen monks.

Ikkyu

wrote poems f o r the sancfcengo of the masters, Joshu, D a i t o , Shogen, and

These of Kido, I found the most i n t e r e s t i n g .

Kido.

The three sayings

of Kido are t i t l e s f o r the three poems.

(25)

6 Ik t

]|: t

A i$

fl *

t ft

f #I

< t & i- *

ft

* 4 *

kogan imada a k i r a k a narazaru t e i , nani n i y o t t e


ka koku o motte fuko t o n a s h i t e tsuku
ga^_byo r e i cho ue imada mitazu
nyojo nojkogan mite mo no gotoshi
kando i c h i y a koromo o amou i
r a k i senju an n i genjo

One's own eyes not yet c l e a r , how w i t h empty space make cotton
breeches t o wear?
a
P a i n t e d r i c e - c a k e s , c o l d stomach hungry, never f u l l ;
Born from woman w i t h eyes of f l e s h seeing as though b l i n d .
In the c o l d h a l l s , one n i g h t , t h i n k of c l o t h e s :
Figured gauze, a thousand f o l d s , i n the darkness

appears.*'

66
a.

A metaphor f o r unreal things which b r i n g no s a t i s f a c t i o n .

b.

I t was impossible to render the double sense of t h i s i n t r a n s l a t i o n ,

Genjo a l s o means h i r v a n a , the sudden appearance of things as they are.55

(26)

i-j

JL
e

ih h

it. * i

& i

ii

L L %r & 5

k- %
chi n i

JtL i

"kakushite, ro to nasu t e i , nani n i y o t t e ka shako o


t o r i sugizaru

nanigoto zo shunjyu kyo imada kiwamarazu


j i n s h i n wa mottomo kore kakuhai no kyu
tendo j o j u s h i , j i k o k u metsusu
h i wa nagashi rakuka h i j o no u c h i

Divide the earth, make a cage, how i s i t that you penetrate but
do not pass through?
How i s i t that i n s p r i n g - r e v e l r y , my i n t e r e s t i s never exhausted?
People's minds are j u s t l i k e the bow i n the guest's cup.
Heaven a t t a i n e d , H e l l i s destroyed.
Long day amid f a l l i n g f l o w e r s , w i l l o w f l u f f .

a.

There i s a s t o r y about a man who went to v i s i t a f r i e n d and took a

cup of wine.
wine.

In the cup, he saw a snake but s a i d nothing and drank the

When he l e f t he f e l t very i l l and a t t r i b u t e d i t to the snake

i n the cup.

He didn't v i s i t that f r i e n d f o r a long time.

had occassion to go again.


so long.

F i n a l l y he

H i s f r i e n d asked him why he had stayed away

He t o l d the f r i e n d about the snake i n h i s cup and h i s i l l n e s s .

The f r i e n d gave him another cup of wine;


saw another snake i n h i s eup

he sat i n the same place and

He t o l d h i s f r i e n d who pointed to a bow

on the w a l l that was decorated w i t h a snake design and was r e f l e c t e d i n


his

cup.^The snake was not r e a l , and yet the man had become i l l .

xV

The

bow i n the guest's cup"is a metaphor f o r the i l l u s i o n s that man's mind


i s prey t o .

(27)

x #
^
*

fe

it %

AS

ft

if If- ft

*f ii

s..

>t

k a i n i i r i t e isago o kazouru t e i , nani n i y o t t e ka shinbo t o j o


n i ashi o tsumadatsu
do o s a t s u s h i isago o kazoete fukaku ko o t a t s u
shinpo n i ashi o tsumadatete j i n z u o genzu

sanzo ga s h a r i rau^no no kan

tokai no j i s o n Tentaku no kaze

Go t o the sea and count the sand, how do you stand t i p t o e on the

head of a needle?
S c a t t e r the e a r t h and count the sand, i t b u i l d s up great m e r i t ,
Stand t i p t o e on the p o i n t of a needle and paranormal powers appear,
Among the mountain monks, there i s no one of a b i l i t y ,
The son of the Eastern Sea i s of Kido's s t y l e .

a.

The son of the Eastern Sea means Ikkyu.

Poems of C r i t i c i s m about other monks

I f there seems t o be a rather large number of poems c r i t i c i s i n g


the c l e r i c a l society, i t should be remembered that the E i n z a i sect was
i n a s t a t e of severe decline.. Ikkyu, although from the standpoint of
conventional m o r a l i t y he appeared to be a prime example of moral
decadence, was a c t u a l l y the only one who had the s p i r i t of the ancient
masters, true Zen. This was f i r s t and foremost, Ikkyu's own opinion, so
deeply convinced was he of the rightness of h i s own perception.

From t h i s

f i r m base of s e l f - c o n f i d e n c e , a q u a l i t y much i n evidence among the


masters of o l d as w e l l , he attacks the monks f o r t h e i r petty concerns and
petty quarrels brought about by narrow egotism, and t h e i r

preoccupation

with the propagation of the "name" of Zen - i t s power of influence i n


secular a f f a i r s - and the " p r o f i t " of the Zen, When we consider that
Ikkyu was involved with the Zen as an i n s t i t u t i o n f o r p r a c t i c a l l y h i s
whole l i f e , i t i s no wonder that he should be moved quite often t o pen
off v i o l e n t t i r a d e s , i f only t o somehow ease h i s own mind.
presented here are some of the milder t i r a d e s .

(74)

ft 4? % .fe * - 4
&
^

if *>k $

f/f
1

#
/f

ft fa
ft

it

-ft

L
*

The poems

70
a
keigei o t s u r u n i narete warai i c h i j o
deisha n i ho o k i s h i r i t e hanahada hobo
awaremubeshi s e i t e i n i sondai to shosu
tenka no noso mina Shiyo

The

frog

Accustomed t o f i s h i n g f o r whales, I had to laugh


At the frog,1 t h r a s h i n g through the mud so b u s i l y .
They are p i t i a b l e , those at the bottom of w e l l s , c a l l i n g themselves great;
A l l the patch-cloaked monks under heaven are j u s t l i k e Shiyo^.

a. f r o g " - The f r o g at the bottom of the w e l l i s w e l l known i n China


u

and Japan as an aphorism f o r narrow-minded people;

people who

boast

and c o n s i d e r themselves important simply because they are b l i n d to the


r e s t of the w o r l d .
b.

Shiyo

(Tzu-yang) whose o f f i c i a l name was Koson J u t s u


Mi

sun Shu)

ib

( ? - 36)

(Kung-

was a f i g u r e of the Han Dynasty.

He

became King of Szechwan and r a t h e r p r e t e n t i o u s l y c a l l e d himself


emperor.

He spent much money b u i l d i n g palaces but h i s r e i g n was short;

i n the end, he was assassinated. Ma-Yuan, i n a H i s t o r y of the L a t e r


Han Dynasty, says of him "Shiyo was j u s t a f r o g at the bottom of the
well".

This i s one of the famous i n c i d e n t s of the use of t h i s

expression.

Ikkyu always keeps h i s mind on the great t r u t h , which i s here


l i k e n e d to a whale while a l l the other monks occupy themselves w i t h the
s u p e r f i c i a l aspects of the d o c t r i n e , busy l i k e f r o g s t h r a s h i n g through
mud.

One i s reminded of the Toba Sojo animal s c r o l l which parodies

monks by p a i n t i n g them i n the forms of f r o g s , r a b b i t s , and monkeys.

(75)

A. ^
ii *- /V tf.
< x p%
fr

# n *

ft

&

it

shakuhachi
i s s h i no shakuhachi urami tae gatashi
f u i t e koka s a i j o no g i n n i i r u
j u j i g a i t o t a ga u j i no kyoku zo
Shorin mooka c h i i n o zessu

Shakuhachi*
Music from the shakuhachi, sorrow d i f f i c u l t t o bear.
Blowing i n t o the b a r b a r i a n flute,** a song a t the f r o n t i e r ;
At the crossroads, whose piece does he play?
Among the students of Zen , I have few f r i e n d s .

72
a.

Shakuhachi - This i s a bamboo f l u t e w i t h f i n g e r i n g holes which has

a very s h r i l l sound.

There was a k i n d of wandering,mendicant monk

c a l l e d komuso who played the shakuhachi

as he

went about begging.

It

i s perhaps one of these monks that Ikkyu hears go by.


b.

Barbarian f l u t e - koka i s a w h i s t l e made out of a reed w i t h no holes

for fingering.

This i s a p r i m i t i v e instrument that was used among the

barbarians on the borders of China.


c.

The expression here i s "the students of Shorin"

( S h a - l i n ) , Shorin

waa the temple of BohdhijDharma, thus i t means students of Zen.

This i s a d e s c r i p t i o n of Ikkyu's l o n e l i n e s s .
umfamiliar song played on a shakuhachi

He hears an

at the crossroads, and he imagines

t h a t he i s a t some f r o n t i e r post i n China hearing the strange music of


the barbarians.

The poem as a whole i s reminiscent of many T'ang poems

on the subject of l o n e l y duties a t f r o n t i e r outposts.

A further

i m p l i c a t i o n i s that the people who occupy the temples, l i k e Yoso and h i s


company, are l i t t l e more than barbarians so f a r as Ikkyu i s concerned.

(76)

& % $fai i Affi.


1 #fi
A.

73

kairai
ippo t o j o n i genshin o genzu
aruiwa oko-to ka-shi aruiwa shomin
moknzen s h i n no mokuketsu o hokyakn s h i t e
c h i j i n wa yonde honrai no h i t o to nasu

Puppets
On the s h e l f , appear whole bodies,
Sometimes they are transformed i n t o kings and nobles, sometimes commoners,
F o r g e t t i n g t h a t before t h e i r eyes there are r e a l l y only wooden s t i c k s ,
I d i o t s c a l l them r e a l people.

The p o i n t of t h i s poem i s t h a t j u s t as the audience at a puppet


theater are t r i c k e d i n t o t a k i n g puppets f o r r e a l people, so the l a i t y of
the Zen church were deceived i n t o accepting fake monks as r e a l monks.

(101,108)
Prose i n t r o d u c t i o n :

i\

&

L h

I f1

i -

<f

ta
A

it i i if i _ f

t %*

$ A !

it * f

4 4

Ii M

i^

74
i i

t % A ftt 1

*k

IL

# ih i

ti

L $

if t

1$

% *

&

I n the sutumn of the year 1447, there was a monk a t Daitoku


temple who,for no reason, committed s u i c i d e .
slanderous r e p o r t s t o the o f f i c i a l s .

S c a n d a l - l o v i n g monks made

So, i n connection w i t h t h i s c a l a m i t y

f i v e or seven of my f e l l o w monks were imprisoned.


t o cause great t r o u b l e w i t h i n my s c h o o l .

This was s u f f i c i e n t

A t t h a t time, people were

n o i s i l y spreading rumours about i t .

I l i s t e n e d t o them and t h a t very

day disappeared i n t o the mountains.

The reason f o r my l e a v i n g was t h a t

I simply couldn't bear i t .

I t chanced that a s c h o l a r should come by

here, himself j u s t from Kyoto, and he has informed me of the various


things going on at the temple.
bear my g r i e f .

I found i t a l l the more impossible t o

I made poems expressing my g r i e f .

As t h i s happened t o

occur on the n i n t h day of the n i n t h month, I made nine poems.

l have

chosen t o t r a n s l a t e two of these poems, the second and the ninth.}

(101)
tff

&

|if

* 1 &

U l l f

75

%t

J% 1 t

L%

hazu ware seimei nao imada tsutsumazu


sanZen gakudo j i n r o o chozu
Ryozan no shobo chi o h a r a t ^ t e metsusu
omowazariki Kao no jujo takakaran to wa

I am ashamed my name and fame are not yet obscured;


P r a c t i s i n g Zen, studying the way, dusty troubles grow long;
The true doctrine of Ryozan
Unexpecte3]y/,

a.

i s swept from the earth and destroyed:

the King"of Demons^ has grown a hundred feet high.

Ryozan i s an abbreviation for Rycjusan "Holy Eagle Mountain" which

i s a t r a n s l a t i o n of the Sanskrit name of the mountain Grdhrakuta.


mountain i s located i n Rajgirof modern B i h a r .
fact that i t has the shape of an eagle.

This

I t gets i t s name from the

Shakymuni i s said to have

preached there and ? hence, i t s connection with the "true d o c t r i n e . " ^


b0

The

king of Demons here means something l i k e the d e v i l i n C h r i s t i a n i t y ,

but, since Buddhism i s e s s e n t i a l l y a non-dualistic philosophy, that


one which emphasizes a transcendent truth
evil,

is,

encompassing both good and

the King of Demons does not have the unique character of being i n

absolute opposition to

good as does the C h r i s t i a n d e v i l .

Ui's

d i c t i o n a r y says of him "The kind of d e v i l who i s the l o r d of the s i x


heavens i n the world of d e s i r e .

Together with his followers, he hinders

people from adhering to the Buddhist r e l i g i o n . "

76
(108)

% A
i| *

fa k) iL

K {

* H

US * f

A., 4

*f

(fit.

fugai no shosan midarete kumo n i i r u


shoho wa shu o uagokashi mata gun o odorokasu
liinkyo k i k a n ware e sezu
dakuro i s s a n y o t t e kunkun.

The wind outside, pines and cedars i n confusion enter clouds.


Elsewhere, everywhere, crowds move and people are suprised i n groups.
The workings of humanity I do not understand;
One cup of cloudy sake

a.

and I'm drunk.

Cloudy sake means u n r e f i n e d sake, poor q u a l i t y and perhaps even

home-made.

These poems and the prose passage record the i n c i d e n t over which
Ikkyu i s supposed t o have resolved t o starve himself t o death i n p r o t e s t .
As can be seen, Ikkyu himself makes no d i r e c t reference t o the idea of
s u i c i d e . However, i t i s obvious i n these poems that i t was a deeply
depressing s i t u a t i o n f o r him.

The poems g r a p h i c a l l y express h i s f e e l i n g

of helplessness before such overwhelming manifestations of e v i l and

77
c o r r u p t i o n w i t h i n the church.

I n the f i r s t poem, he uses the image of a

d e v i l a hundred f e e t high t o express the magnitude of the e v i l he sees.


In the second poem, a storm i n nature symbolizes the p o l i t i c a l storm a t
Daitokuji.

(130)

f t * 1k t h if
n t $
-

fa
#

&

iiihfi
>tj^

jisan
Kaso no j i s o n Zen o s h i r a z u
Kyoun menzen t a r e ka Zen o toku
sanju nenrai kenjo omoshi
i c h i n i n katansu Shogen no Zen

Self-praise
The descendents

of Kaso

don't know Zen,

Before Mad Cloud's face, who would e x p l a i n Z e n ?


For t h i r t y y e a r s , heavy on my s h o u l d e r s ,

b
I have c a r r i e d the burden of Shogen s Zeno
1

78
a.

Kaso - I t w i l l be remembered that Kaso was Ikkyu's master, (see

introduction)
b.

Shogen' - Shogen Sogaku

(Sung-yuan Ch'ung-yo)

|t

was a E m z a i master of the Sung Dynasty A died 1209 at the age of seventy4
one.

This poem i s d i r e c t e d p r i n c i p a l y a t Yoso who was the senior


descendant of Kaso w i t h whom Ikkyu was i n b i t t e r c o n f l i c t f o r many years.

(134,

135 and 136)

E r i no t o n i shimesu san shu

Three poems t o show t o a meeting of monks

(134)

4 1

**

jL

ix

- it. n

rakuchu ku a r i Ikkyu no mon


koko u arasou s e i t e i no son
chuya kokoro n i oku genjikyaku

79
zehi ninga issho

kamabisushi

I n the midst of harmony there i s t r o u b l e i n Ikkyu's school.


Each f r o ga f i g h t i n g f o r respect at the bottom of the w e l l ;
Day and night,busy t h i n k i n g about d e t a i l s of the s c r i p t u r e s ;
Right and wrong, myself and other**, f u s s i n g away a whole l i f e .

a.

See poem 7k The Frog.

b.

Myself and others - D o r the enlightened monk the d i s t i n c t i o n between

r i g h t and wrong, myself and other, i s extinguished.

U35)

koan s a n j i k i t a t t e mei r e k i r e k i
kyokin kanpa sureba an konkon
onzo s h i s h i n i i t a r u made bokyakushi

gatashi

doban no chugen j i kon n i sakarau

Involved i n the koan, i t comes d i s t i n c t and c l e a r .


Breaking i n t o the heart, blackness i s dark,

dark.

There are resentments that u n t i l death are d i f f i c u l t t o f o r g e t :


The sincere reproofs of f e l l o w monks grates the ears.

80
(136)

4 4

ft

f-

if

A.

|,

it

^
9

*
55

i t a z u r a n i soshi no gonku o gakutokushite


s b i k i j o wa Tozan ge va kenju
miyo, miyo, h i n p i n t a no h i o kosuru o
c h i o fukunde h i t o n i haku sono kuchi kegaru

I n v a i n do you l e a r n the words and phrases of the o l d masters.


Knowledge i s l i k e the tusks of Tozan,** sown swords.
See them, f o l l o w i n g one upon another, b r i n g i n g up the f a u l t s of others.
Whoever holds blood i n h i s mouth to spout out at others, h i s mouth i s
polluted.

a. "words and phrases of the o l d masters"- Most of the teachings of the


T'ang and Sung Zen masters are recorded i n l a c o n i c saying and anecdotes
such as one one f i n d s i n the Mumonkan.

These verbal teachings c o n s i s t

mainly of key words and phrases which serve as touchstones f o r a c e r t a i n


k i n d of conciousness

which wo,s

not meant to be i n t e l l e c t u a l l y

rationalized.
b. "Tusks of Tozan' - Tozan i s a mythical mountain i n h e l l , a mountain
5
of sharp edges.
7

81
These three poems are i n t e r e s t i n g because they are examples of
the k i n d of lessons Ikkyu gave t o h i s f o l l o w e r s . A l l three poems are
q u i t e severe i n tone, but perhaps the t h i r d one e s p e c i a l l y so.

The

f i r s t poem i s simple enough; i t admonishes preoccupation w i t h the l e t t e r


off the s c r i p t u r e s which only leads t o occasion f o r dispute.
poem i s a d e s c r i p t i o n of the f a u l t y understanding

of a koan.

The second
Intellectual-

l y i t may appear c l e a r , but,deep i n the heart, resentments that are


d i f f i c u l t t o root out remain.

When t h i s i s the case, then even the

well-meant c o u n c i l of f r i e n d s i s annoying.

The strong imagery i n the

t h i r d poem emphasizes the dangers of purely v e r b a l knowledge which i s


turned as a sword against others.
A k i z u k i Ryumin i s of the opinion that these c r i t i c i s m s were
l e v e l e d p a r t i c u l a r l y a t Yoso's handling of koan i n s t r u c t i o n w i t h i n
d

Daitokuji.

Apparently Yoso was a l l o w i n g students t o get by w i t h mere

i n t e l l e c t u a l understanding

of the koana and i n f a c t s e t t i n g up a k i n d of

"koan m i l l " much as we c a l l some of our educational i n s t i t u t i o n s


mills."
(179)

M f

*
>*-

{ 1 M
4

I If if . t if
i t

ft ii

)%

<.

"diploma

82

Yoso no Daiyuan n i daisu


s a n r i n wa f u k i (jjosan wa otorou
tada j a s h i nomi a r i t e , shoshi nashi
i k k a n o t o t t e gyokaku t o naran t o hossureba
koko k i n d a i gyaku f u fuku

An i n s c r i p t i o n f o r the hermitage of Yoso Daiyu

(the second of two

poems on the s u b j e c t )
The temples are wealthy, but the Five Mountains are degenerating,
There are only f a l s e masters, there are no t r u e masters?
1 would l i k e t o take a f i s h i n g r o d and go f i s h i n g :
But these days, on the r i v e r s and l a k e s , a c o n t r a r y wind blows.

a. The F i v e Mountains"are the f i v e primary temples of the R i n z a i s e c t .


vV

Here, they symbolize the R i n z a i sect i n g e n e r a l .

T h i s poem i s very s i m i l a r t o the two poems d i r e c t e d against Yoso


t h a t were c i t e d i n the i n t r o d u c t i o n .

Before Yoso, Ikkyu always emphasizes

"simple t h i n g s " , straw sandals, bamboo walking s t i c k , a l i f e of p l a i n


p l e a s u r e s , as compared t o the l i f e of wealth and o s t e n t a t i o n t h a t Yoso
pursued i n the temple.

Here the f i s h i n g r o d and going f i s h i n g symbolize

the simple l i f e t h a t Ikkyu i s so fond o f , w h i l e the c o n t r a r y wind


represents the t i d e of the times toward degeneration
other monks are swept up i n .

which Yoso and

VI.

Ikkyu's Love Poems

Among Ikkyu's poems t h a t deal predominantly w i t h l o v e , two kinds


can be d i s t i n g u i s h e d .

There are those poems t h a t concern love i n general,

ranging from simple longing f o r the company of the b r o t h e l s , t o


p h i l o s o p h i c a l r e f l e c t i o n s on eros i n a l a r g e sense.

And,there are those

poems addressed t o Lady Mori which deal w i t h h i s p a r t i c u l a r and personal


love f o r her.

(89

and 90)

These two poems come under the t i t l e :


j*

% =- n

Sankyo n i shu
Dwelling i n the mountains

(89)

&

ilL

&i

inbo j i s s a i kyo kiwame gatashi


s h i i t e kuzan yu^koku no u c h i n i j u su
kokyo kumo saegiru sanman r i
chosho mimi n i sakarau okuto no kaze

VI.

Ikkyu *s Love Poems

Among Ikkyu's poems that deal predominantly v i t h l o v e , two kinds


can be d i s t i n g u i s h e d .

There are those poems t h a t concern love i n general,

ranging from simple longing f o r the company of the b r o t h e l s , t o


p h i l o s o p h i c a l r e f l e c t i o n s on eros i n a large sense.

And there are those

poems addressed t o Lady Mori which deal with h i s p a r t i c u l a r and personal


l o v e f o r her.

(89

and 90)

These two poems come under the t i t l e :

Sankyo n i shu
Dwelling i n the mountains

(89)

ii
M

Jf

f ft

%%

id

&

l l

t' # f 1

i% )%

Inbo j t l s s a i kyo kiwame gatashi


s h i i t e kuzan yu^koku no uchi n i j u su
kokyo kumo saegiru sanman r i
chosho mimi n i sakarau okuto no kaze

84
Ten years spent i n b r o t h e l s , e l a t i o n d i f f i c u l t t o exhaust.
Now, f o r c e d t o l i v e amid empty mountains, gloomy v a l l e y s ,
30,000 m i l e s of cloud

spread between here and those d e l i g h t f u l p l a c e s ;

The wind i n the t a l l pines around the house grates upon my ears.

a.

a r h e t o r i c a l exaggeration

(90)

Ifyoun wa s h i n n i kore Daito no mago


k i k u t s u kokuzan natazo son t o shosen
Omou mukashi soka unu no yube
f u r y u no netasho kinson 0 t o s e s h i koto 0

Mad cloud i s t r u l y the descendant of D a i t o .

Demon caves, b l a c k mountains, what i s there t o revere here?


I remember a former time's songs on the pan pipe, evenings of
cloud-rain,

Youthful pleasures, d r a i n i n g the golden cask.

a.

Daito Myocho Zenshi, a E i n z a i p r i e s t , founder of D a i t o k u j i .

See poem 8.

85
b. "cloud-rain ' - One of Ikkyu's most frequent metaphors f o r lovemaking
1

i s " c l o u d - r a i n " , a metaphor which comes from a Chinese s t o r y about the


King of Ch'u. The King of Ch'u^while t r a v e l i n g i n Kao T'ang, dreamed he
met and made love w i t h the s p i r i t of Wushan(Sorceress's Mountain),

He

pleaded w i t h her to stay w i t h him;but she i n s i s t e d on l e a v i n g saying


t h a t i n the morning she became a cloud on the south side of the mountain,,
and i n the evening she became the r a i n .

I n the morning, the King saw

t h a t t h i s was so and b u i l t a shrine f o r her t h e r e .


the phrases,

"the dream of Wushan",

T h e r e a f t e r i n China,

"the cloud ofWuslian",

"the r a i n of

WusJnart" or " c l o u d - r a i n " , a l l came to be metaphors f o r the r e l a t i o n s h i p


1
between men and women.
e

a p o l i t e expression'for d r i n k i n g a l o t of sake.

The s i t u a t i o n described i n these poems i s aelf-evidleht.; Ikkyu has


been forced by what circumstances
hermitage.

we know not, t o r e t r e a t t o a mountain

He has no romantic sentiments toward these' "gloomy v a l l e y s "

and "black mountains"j on the contrary, they only arouse i n him, an acute
longing f o r the warm company, drink)and song of the b r o t h e l s .

One might

t h i n k that such shameless longing would be unworthy of a Zen monk and


t h a t Ikkyu's Zen would seem more v a l i d i f he welcomed t h i s forced r e t r e a t
to the mountains as an opportunity f o r r e s t and meditation away from the
"dusty" world, but Ikkyu says no, j u s t as he i s , he i s the true i n h e r i t o r
of Daito's Zen.
I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g how the treatment

of n a t u r a l images i n these

poems d i f f e r s from that of the more t r a d i t i o n a l genres of Japanese poetry,


notably the waka or u t a .

What waka poet would dare t o say t h a t the wind

86
i n the pines grated, h i s ears.

Wind i n the pines i s always musical i n

the waka world, such extreme emotions were not encompassed within the
gentle s e n s i b i l i t y of t r a d i t i o n a l Japanese poetry.

Not only was there

no place i n t r a d i t i o n a l genres for extreme and v i o l e n t emotions;


p h i l o s o p h i c a l or i n t e l l e c t u a l thought did not come within that framework
either.

ThiSj perhaps, was one of the basic reasons why Ikkyu chose to

express his most profound and intense subjective moods and thoughts i n
Chinese forms rather than Japanese ones; the range of possible

emotions,

ideas^and subject matter was simply wider i n Chinese poetry.


The reader w i l l perhaps bring up the case of the doka a t t r i b u t e d
to Ikkyu which are i n waka form and which
Buddhist themes.

deal e x c l u s i v e l y with

These poems, however, although they are i n basic t h i r t y -

one s y l l a b l e form, represent an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t genre.

They are not

r e a l l y poetic i n the same sense as the waka i n that they are not concerned
at a l l with the expression of a subjective state of mind, nor with the
poetic d e s c r i p t i o n of nature, nor even with the manipulation of
of language.

subtleties

The basic concern of these <&oka i s to express i n as simple

and comprehensible a language as possible the fundamental tenets of


Buddhism.

That i s ,

Buddhist f a i t h .

they are i n essence d i d a t i c , " o l d saws" of the

Blytb,

'

i n the preface to his t r a n s l a t i o n of

Ikkyu's doka, states that doka i n general are of l i t t l e p o e t i c a l value


and the Ikkyu's doka i n p a r t i c u l a r portray "a man of deep s i n c e r i t y , too

2
honest perhaps to be a great l y r i c a l poet."
his

However,it i s p r e c i s e l y i n

Chinese poems that h i s genius as a l y r i c a l poet i s

revealed.

87
(94)

This poem has a prose i n t r o d u c t i o n which t e l l s the s t o r y that i s


the background t o the poem:
4

3-

4-

it 4t # ^

n *$

it

4t

it if

Once a long time ago there was an o l d woman, who f o r twenty years
supported the head of a hermitage.

U s u a l l y , she sent a s i x t e e n year o l d

g i r l t o b r i n g meals and serve him. One day, she t o l d the g i r l t o embrace


him and ask him, "Right at t h i s moment, what i s i t l i k e ? "

She d i d so

and the monk s a i d , " I f e e l l i k e an o l d whithered t r e e leaning against


c o l d stones, during the three months of winter when there i s no warm
weather.

The g i r l returned and described what had happened'. The o l d

women s a i d , "For twenty years I have been supporting a phoney."


she chased him out and burnt the hermitage down.

;| >1 # fl H
f
U
U
^.H
U ih i t t I #

Then

88
robashin zoku no tame n i kakehashi o kasu
shojo no shamon n i nyosai o atau
konya b i j i n moshi ware n i yakuseba
koyo. haru o i t e sara n i nikobae o shozu

The o l d woman's i n t e n t i o n was t o make a ladder f o r that r a s c a l ;


So, t o the " c e l i b a t e " monk, she gave a g i r l b r i d e .
Tonight, i f a b e a u t i f u l woman promised h e r s e l f t o me,
Spring's w_ithered o l d w i l l o w t r e e would put f o r t h new shoots.

The issue here i s the a u t h e n t i c i t y of the monk's p u r i t y .

Ikkyu

obviously concurs w i t h the o l d woman's opinion t h a t the monk was probably


seething i n s i d e with e r o t i c i n t e r e s t i n the young g i r l but because of
s l a v e r y t o l i f e l e s s conventions,

denied h i s true f e e l i n g and gave the

stereotyped, expected v e r b a l response.

C l i n g i n g t o anything whatsoever,

even the laws of conventional m o r a l i t y i s contrary t o the p r a c t i s e of


Zen; therefore, the monk was a phoney and a scoundrel.
The "ladder" here i s a metaphor f o r the g i r l that the o l d woman
wanted t o give the monk. The i m p l i c a t i o n i s that the g i r l

represented

a way by which the monk might r i s e t o new realms of awareness.

{lkk)

>i

89

i & $ t b %
g.

K % it

Inbo n i daisu
b i j i n no unu aiga fukashi
r o s h i rozen r o j o no g i n
ware n i h o j i sofun no kyo a r i
t s u i n i kajushashin no kokoro nashi

Inscription f o r a brothel
A b e a u t i f u l women's c l o u d - r a i n , love's deep r i v e r :
Up i n the p a v i l i o n , the p a v i l i o n g i r l and the o l d monk s i n g .
I f i n d i n s p i r a t i o n i n embraces and k i s s e s ,
Thus, I don't t h i n k a t a l l of abandoning my body as though i t were a
heap of f i r e .

a.

k a j u - The meaning f o r k a j u "accumulation

of f i r e " here, i s t o be

found i n the Nirvana Sutra 4 i n the l i n e , "Regarding one's body as though


it

were an accumulation

of f i r e , t h i s i s c a l l e d s e l f - r i g h t e o u s n e s s "
TEhat i s , regarding

the body as though i t were a heap of f i r e , a dangerous t h i n g , i s the


c o r r e c t view.

This regarding one's body as though i t were a heap of f i r e


represents the orthodox p e j o r a t i v e view of sex i n Buddhism,,

The i d e a

behind t h i s p o i n t of view i s t h a t a man s t r i v i n g f o r s p i r i t u a l


ment must harness a l l h i s energies toward t h a t end.

develop-

I n other words, i t

90

i s not that sex i s i n i t s e l f e v i l or s i n f u l but that the v i t a l energy


which i s the essence of sex, once expended i n p h y s i c a l u n i o n , i s then l o s t
to the man who would use i t t o s t r i v e upward f o r union with god.

Edward

Conze i n a d i s c u s s i o n of monastic c e l i b a c y says of t h i s : "Meditation


and sexual intercourse have i n common the goal and the force t h a t they
use.

For the simple reason that one cannot use the same force twice,

complete suppression of sexual behavior i s indispensable t o success i n


meditation."

_
This point of view i s the most prevalent i n Hinayana

Buddhism and coupled there w i t h a d i s d a i n i n general f o r experiences of


the phenomenal world', thus, sex came t o have darker and darker

connotations

there.

The s t o r y

This b e l i e f i s shared a l s o by some sects of Hinduism.

of the holy man who has amassed through years of a u s t e r i t i e s immense


s p i r i t u a l powers and i s then t r i c k e d by some b e a u t i f u l women i n t o
pouring f o r t h a l l h i s power i n one night's communion which leaves him
wasted and f o r l o r n , an ordinary being again, i s very common i n I n d i a .
This i s the k i n d of s i t u a t i o n that t h i s term i m p l i e s .
However, t h i s i s not a u n i v e r s a l point of view i n Buddhism.

On

the contrary, the Mahayana doctrine of the "great d e l i g h t " , which has
already been discussed i n Chapter I I I , sees i n the sexual experience a
profound experience of the non-dual nature of the universe.

This more

a f f i r m a t i v e a t t i t u d e not only towards sex but towards a l l phenomena i s


based on the equation of nirvana and samsara which i s close t o the core
of Mahayana Buddhism.

Thus, i t was no c o n t r a d i c t i o n f o r Ikkyu t o a s s e r t

the d i g n i t y and v a l i d i t y of the sexual

experience.

However, i n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r poem, Ikkyu's reason f o r defending


sensual love i s not founded on any p h i l o s o p h i c a l r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n a t a l l

but r a t h e r on the q u a l i t y of the experience i t s e l f .


his

I n p o i n t of f a c t ,

experience was e l a t i n g , energy-giving not exhaustingj therefore, he

c o u l d not see the sense of the o l d p o i n t of view.

(255)

The second of two poems d e p i c t i n g an arhat going to a b r o t h e l .

.S a
A

>

% % i%

>*) &
>

* J

<_ H

x A

y% 4

SL

_ tf i f %b ?fc

rakan inbo n i asobu no zu


s h u t s u j i n no rakan b u t s u j i n i tozakaru
h i t o t a b i inbo n i i t t e d a i c h i o hatsusu

fukaku warau Honju Ryogon o tonauru o


shikkyakusu shonen furyu no j i

P i c t u r e of an arhat

reveling i n a brothel

Emerging from the dust,* the arhat i s s t i l l far from Buddha;


1

E n t e r a b r o t h e l once and great wisdom happens.


I laugh deeply at Manjusri chanting i n the Surahgama Sutra;
L o s t and gone are h i s y o u t h f u l years of pleasure.

a. " A r h a t " o r i g i n a l l y meant simply a monk who had a t t a i n e d

enlightenment.

However, l a t e r , a3 the two schools of Hinayana and Mahayana diverged, i t


came t o be more a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the i n d i v i d u a l enlightenment

attained

through t h e rigourous i m i t a t i o n of the h i s t o r i c a l Buddha,Shakyamuni,


emphasized by the Hinayana s c h o o l .

Thus, i n Mahayana Buddhism the term

came t o have a s l i g h t l y p e j o r a t i v e meaning.


b. " D u s t " i s the common Buddhist metaphor f o r the mundane world.
c.

I n the Surangama S u t r a , Ananda, an arhat, while on h i s way begging,

i s l u r e d i n t o a b r o t h e l . This i s the occasion f o r the Buddha to give


a s p e c i a l sermon and teach Manjusri a transcendental mantra to chant by
which he can cure Ananda of h i s s e n s u a l i t y .

Im t h i s poem Ikkyu's equation of the a c t of love w i t h some k i n d


of t r a n s c e n d e n t a l experience which generates wisdom i s made more e x p l i c i t .
Ignorant of such experiences, the w o r l d - d i s d a i n i n g arhat has s t i l l a
long way t o go before he a t t a i n s a t o t a l r e a l i z a t i o n of u l t i m a t e t r u t h .

(263)
if

ii fh

. # 1

It H %

93
Shi

n i iwaku

Inpu kakoku sobo no u r e i


kimi miyo shokyu ka no su n i a r i
r e i n i s h i t a g a t t e kyuga shuon no yube
gyokuhai y a ya i k u shunju zo

The Book of Songs says


c
LasUvious ways, the sorrow of l o s i n g house and country.
The l o r d sees the fishhawk on the other bank of the r i v e r ;
Following example, the court lady receives her l o r d ' s favor i n the evening:
A jeweled cup, night a f t e r n i g h t , how many springs and autumns.
This poem a l l u d e s to the f i r s t poem i n the Book of songs, "Kuan
c r i e s the F i s h Hawk"." This love song t e l l s of a l o r d ' s i n f a t u a t i o n w i t h
a young g i r l .

The image of the g i r l haunts him night and day, and he i s

not s a t i s f i e d u n t i l he has her.

Ikkyu's poem superimposes upon t h i s

o r i g i n a l theme another theme common i n Chinese love s t o r i e s , that of a


r u l e r n e g l e c t i n g and l o s i n g h i s country f o r the excessive love of a
woman.

Perhaps the best known s t o r y of t h i s k i n d i s the legend of the

love between the Emperor Genso and h i s concubine Y o k i h i .


which f a s c i n a t e d Ikkyu.

I t was a s t o r y

Ikkyu reading the f i r s t poem of the Book of

Songs was reminded of the f o l l y of over-ardent love among people i n


responsible p o s i t i o n s . Yet, the predominant tone of the poem i s not a
m o r a l i s t i c one. Rather, i t evokes a mood of p h i l o s o p h i c a l r e f l e c t i o n
on the sadness inherent i n the transience of a l l w o r l d l y t h i n g s .
excessive love can only run a short course.

Such

Yet, i t i s i t s very f l e e t i n g

94

q u a l i t y which i n some ways gives such a love i t s s p e c i a l charm, much as


i t i s the f l e e t i n g q u a l i t y of the cherry blossoms which makes them so
breathtakingly b e a u t i f u l .

(264)

4$

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ft

i -it i 4 A <t
z o k u j i n inbo monzen n i s h i o gi*\jite kaeru
r o s h i mushin kare ushin
s h i n i i n s u shikaku i r o nanzo i n s u
shukuu n i s h i n i haru shoka no kure
t a j o aisubeshi mon n i y o t t e

ginzu

A layman r e c i t i n g a poem before the gate of a b r o t h e l and then


returning
A g i r l i n the p a v i l i o n has no mind but he has mind.
A poet overflowing

i n poems, how h i s desire overflows too.

A f t e r the long r a i n , c l e a r i n the west, a l i t t l e song at sunset;


So much f e e l i n g , l o v a b l e , the man leaning on the gate and r e c i t i n g .

95
a.

T h i s t r a n s l a t i o n may seem a l i t t l e s t i l t e d , but the only way to h i n t

at the double sense of the l i n e was t o render i t as l i t e r a l l y as p o s s i b l e .


On the one hand, the courtesan i s mindless i n the sense t h a t she has no
thought or doesn't care about the man s i n g i n g at the gate, w h i l e he
"has mind" i n the sense t h a t he has the courtesan and h i s own u n f u l f i l l e d
d e s i r e s i n mind.

On the other hand, mushin,

, "no mind" comes

so o f t e n i n Zen w r i t i n g s as a d e s c r i p t i o n of the enlightened person t h a t


i t i s h a r d t o ignore t h a t sense of the expression. Take f o r example
Tokusan's statement,

Only when you have no t h i n g i n your mind and

6
no mind i n t h i n g s are you vacant and s p i r i t u a l , empty and marvelous."

Ikkyu may be saying then, that the courtesan, by v i r t u e of the mindless


performance of her dharma^is enlightened w h i l e the man a t the gate s t i l l
has h i s mind muddled by words and ideas which pour c e a s e l e s s l y f o r t h i n
poems.

However, I t h i n k t h i s should be taken as l i g h t and p l a y f u l i r o n y

6A the p a r t of Ikkyu.

This v i g n e t t e seems to be a scene witnessed by Ikkyu e i t h e r from


i n s i d e a b r o t h e l or from the s t r e e t as a passer-by.

Ikkyu pokes fun

at the poet f o r r e c i t i n g poems about love outside the b r o t h e l .

Yet, i t

i s obvious that Ikkyu sympathizes very s t r o n g l y w i t h the poet;

Ikkyu,

a f t e r a l l , was as f u l l of poems as anyone.

The d e s c r i p t i o n of the evening

sky a f t e r the long r a i n adds a l y r i c a l touch which rounds out t h i s


g r a c e f u l poem.

Love poems to Lady Mori

The love poems to and about the b l i n d g i r l Mori are q u i t e


surprising.

They are witnesses to a tender love.

I t i s strange

enough t h a t i t should be a Zen monk w r i t i n g these poems, but that i t


should be a p r o f l i g a t e Zen monk over seventy years of age experienced
i n a l l the w i l e s of debauchery i s a l l the more i n c r e d i b l e .

It is

obvious that t h i s love preoccupied h i s heart f o r the l a s t years of


his l i f e .

Even h i s f a r e w e l l to the world poem (death poem) r e f e r s to

Mori and h i s unforgotten love f o r her.


There i s p r a c t i c a l l y no b i o g r a p h i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n about Mori
aside from t h a t i n Ikkyu's poems. He c a l l s her Lady Mori i n p l a c e s ,
but t h i s almost c e r t a i n l y does not correspond to any r e a l rank.

She

was most l i k e l y simply an attendant attached to the temple of Shuonan


in Takigi.

She seems to have sung p r o f e s s i o n a l l y ; s i n g i n g was a

common p r o f e s s i o n f o r b l i n d people i n Japan.

There i s one p o r t r a i t

of her at the.Shuonan; the p a i n t i n g i s p r i m a r i l y a p o r t r a i t of Ikkyu,


but she appears i n the lower h a l f k n e e l i n g on a mat w i t h a small hand
drum.

(548)
Prose i n t r o d u c t i o n :

it

4t 0 # 46

it

JL

97

I n the second year of Bunmei ^1470), during the eleventh month,


the fourteenth day, I t r a v e l e d t o Yakushido and l i s t e n e d to the b l i n d
g i r l ' s love songs.

So, I made a poem recording i t .

fate. I % % * f f
I
it I ft %
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& ^ k % t*.

yuyu katsu yorokobu yakushido


dokuki benben kore waga harawata
g i z a n kansezu sesso no b i n
g i n j i tsukusu genkan shuten no nagaki o

I t r a v e l e d l e i s u r e l y t o Yakushido

and r e j o i c e d there;

S t i l l , a poisonous s p i r i t l i n g e r s i n my v i s c e r a ;
Ashamed I am, not t o be concerned w i t h my hoary h a i r ;
S i n g i n g t i l l exhaustion, severe c o l d , the melancholy note r i n g s long.*

a.

This i s Yakushido a t Sumiyoshi.9

b.

The character f o r melancholy should be

but i n a l l e d i t i o n s of

the Kyounshu^the character p r i n t e d i s Pf-, "autumn". However, i t i s


explicitly

s t a t e d i n the prose passage t h a t the season i s w i n t e r ; thus,

i t obviously must stand f o r some other character.

The c l o s e s t character

i n sound and form t o i t i s melancholy which, moreover, occurs very

98

f r e q u e n t l y i n other poems of Ikkyu.

Ikkyu u s u a l l y uses i t t o express

moods of b i t t e r s w e e t sadness and that seems t o s u i t the tenor of t h i s


poem as w e l l .

T h i s i s the f i r s t poem w i t h a d e f i n i t e date which makes reference


to Mori.

I t i s reasonable

t o t h i n k that t h i s might be one of h i s f i r s t

encounters w i t h iAovi because the next poem dated 1471 records t h e i r f i r s t


r e a l confession of love f o r one another.

I t seems Ikkyu was a b i t r e t i c e n t

at f i r s t t o act on h i s i n c l i n a t i o n ; he i s a l i t t l e ashamed t o f e e l the


r i s i n g of d e s i r e s t h a t make a mockery of the wisdom and d i g n i t y which
should accompany h i s white h a i r .

I t i s not c l e a r here whether "poisonous

s p i r i t " r e f e r s t o sexual desire or j u s t t o the various i l l s that an


aging body i s subject t o .

(549)

Prose i n t r o d u c t i o n :

% %

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ft %

W *

I lodged f o r some years i n a small d w e l l i n g i n T a k i g i .

1L t) &

The attendent

M o r i j h e a r i n g of my appearance and manner, already had f e e l i n g S o f longing


toward me.

I too, knew of i t , but remained undecided u n t i l now, the

spring of Shinbo ( l 4 7 l ) , I have met her by chance i n Suniiyoshi and

questioned her about her previous f e e l i n g s .


w i t h me.

So I made a small poem r e c o r d i n g i t .

& <t

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if

if! .*{/ Sf

ii-

She agreed and complied

j f
&

fi

omou mukashi Shinen kyoju no t o k i


oson no b i y o k i i t e aiomou
tanen kyuyaku sunawachi* b o j i t e nochi
nao a i s u gyokukai shingetsu no sugata

I r e c a l l the o l d times l i v i n g a t T a k i g i ,
You heard of the renown of the king's descendent

we
and^loved.' K.

A f t e r the o l d promise had been many years f o r g o t t e n ,


S t i l l a l l the more I love the form of the new moon on jeweled s t a i r s .

a.

T h i s r e f e r s t o Ikkyu's r o y a l b i r t h .

b.

New moon on the jeweled s t a i r s i s an a l l u s i o n t o a poem of L i Fo

"The j e w e l l e d s t a i r s r e p i n e " .

1L L
if 1

ft &
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100

On the jeweled s t a i r s grows white dew


A l l n i g h t long s i n k i n g . i n t o t h i n s i l k sheets.
P u l l down the c r y s t a l c u r t a i n s ,
JO

The c l e a r n i g h t , look a t the autumn moon.

I n t h i s poem the autumn moon stands a l s o f o r a woman's face


behind the c r y s t a l c u r t a i n ; thus, i n Ikkyu's poem the new moon r e f e r s t o
Mori.

This poem seems t o i n d i c a t e t h a t there were r e l a t i o n s between


Mori and Ikkyu before t h i s time.

The prose passage i s not e x p l i c i t as

to the exact nature of these r e l a t i o n s , mentioning only t h a t they knew


of one another and t h a t Ikkyu was i n d e c i s i v e i n h i s a c t i o n s .
the " o l d promise" may r e f e r t o former r e l a t i o n s w i t h M o r i .

(54U)

it t

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ft

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fe.

However,

101

Shinko koshi n i noru


.p-anyo no mo jo shibasliiba sliunyu su
utsuutsu t a r u k y o k i n y o s h i u r e i o i s u r u n i
samo araba are shujo no kyosen suru koto o'
a i s h i miru Shin y a ga b i f u r y u

Lady Mori r i d e s i n a c a r t
In the phoenix c a r t , the b l i n d g i r l o f t e n goes on s p r i n g outings.
When my heart i s oppressed, she l i k e s t o comfort my melancholy.
Even though most people make f u n of her,
I love t o see M o r i , so f a i r a beauty she i s .

Perhaps Mori was c a l l e d on i n the s p r i n g - t o e n t e r t a i n a t wealthy


people's hana mi "Flower-viewing" and so was brought there i n a c a r t .
Ikkyu, a t any r a t e , embellishes the scene and makes i t a r o y a l phoenix
cart.

There i s

a l s o an i n d i c a t i o n i n t h i s poem t h a t people d i d

laugh at the r e l a t i o n s h i p between i k k y u and M o r i , but, i f t h i s was s o i t


?

i s a l s o obvious by t h i s poem that Ikkyu wasn't perturbed.

(5k6)

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ft

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i I-

The f i r s t day of the n i n t h month, my attendant Mori borrowed a paper


Kimono from a v i l l a g e p r i e s t t o p r o t e c t h e r s e l f from the c o l d , so l i g h t

102

and p r e t t y , l o v a b l e .

it

I made a poem saying i t .

4i

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If

tt

&

jH'ftj

ryosho no fugetsu s h i n t o o midaru


i k a n sen s o s h i s h i n j o no a k i
shumu chonn h i t o r i

shosha t a r i

yaso ga shishu mata f u r y u

Fine evening, wind and moon, i n my heart confusion.


How

w i l l our love f a r e as autumn comes over us?

Autumn m i s t , morning c l o u d , alone so d e l i c a t e and

fair^

Even i n the paper sleeves of a country p r i e s t , charming.

Due t o t h e i r poor circumstances Mori i s f o r c e d to borrow a paper


kimono from a country p r i e s t

i n order t o ward o f f the approaching c o l d .

Paper kimonos were the cheapest, coarsest

form of outer garment to be

obtained; thus, Ikkyu's p r a i s e of Mori's beauty i n t h i s humble garb i s

-a.
tantamount t o someone p r a i s i n g the beauty o f / t g i r l i n blue jeans.

Yet,

there i s no doubt that the p r a i s e i s sincere, Ikkyu r e a l l y d i d f i n d Mori


e n d l e s s l y charming i n no matter what costume.

The tone of

anxiousness

and u n c e r t a i n t y i n the f i r s t two l i n e s gives the poem a touching q u a l i t y .

103
(544)

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Jfc

.Miroku asan o yakusu


mo S h i n yaya g i n s h i n n i tomonau
h i t e i no eno shigo arata n a r i
a r a t a n i yakusu Jison san'e no akatsuki
honkyo kobutsubanpan no haru

Promise t o be born i n the time of Miroku


B l i n d M o r i every n i g h t accompanies me s i n g i n g ;
Under the covers, mandarin ducks,** intimate c h a t t e r i n g always new:
Promise anew

t o meet

i n the dawn of Miroku.

Here a t the home of the o l d Buddha a l l things are i n s p r i n g .

a.

Miroku J i s o n - the Buddha of the future who i s supposed t o appear

5,670,000,000 years a f t e r Shakyamuni's d e a t h .

11

b. Mandarin ducks"who take only one mate f o r a l i f e t i m e are a common


u

symbol f o r f i d e l i t y i n China and Japan.


c.

The expression here i s r e a l l y "the dawn of Miroku's three meetings,"

104

which refers to the time of Miroku's future enlightenment when he w i l l


speak three times to countless numbers.

I l e f t the "three meetings"

out for the sake of b r e v i t y .

Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho records a passage that describes


"intimate chattering"

of Genso and Y o k i h i .

the

In the middle

of the night when no-one i s around they t a l k of r e b i r t h , " i f i n the a i r ,


13

then as b i r d s , i f on the land, then as two branches of one t r e e . "


Ikkyu and Mori likewise made promises for future
(543)

fa

;* tr fl

&

waga te o yonde Shin shu to nasu


waga te Shin no te n i izure zo
mizukara shinzu ko wa furyu no shu
hatsubyo gyokukei no ho o j i su
katsu yorokobu waga e r i no shu

lives.

Here,

105

C a l l i n g my hand Mori's hand


My hand, how i t ressembles Mori's hand.
I b e l i e v e the lady i s the master of l o v e p l a y ;
I f I get i l l

she can cure the jeweled stem:

And then they r e j o i c e , the monks a t my meetings,

a, A C h i n e s e metaphor f o r the male sexual organ.

I t appears Mori was of great help keeping Ikkyu i n good s p i r i t s


w i t h other monks during h i s l a t e r years.
This poem i s unusual i n the Kyounshu. because i t i s one of the
few poems t h a t d e v i a t e from the seven c h a r a c t e r l i n e .

Here the s i x

character l i n e seems t o s u i t the l i g h t and whimsical mood of the poem.

(537)

11 %

$.

i f

Ift #
i-

b i j i n no i n s u i o suu
R i n z a i j i s o n Zen o s h i r a z u
shoden shinko katsuro hen
unu sansho r o k u j i k k o go
shufu i c h i y a hyakusen nen

106
This poem i s the t h i r d poem of three poems under the t i t l e :
Sipping a b e a u t i f u l woman's l a s c i v i o u s f l u i d s
R i n z a i ' s descendent's don't know Zen.
Correct transmission of the t r u t h , t h i s i s t o a b l i n d donkey.
C l o u d - r a i n , past, present and f u t u r e 60 kalpas,
Autumn wind, one night a 100,000 years.

a.

An a l l u s i o n t o a saying of R i n z a i , see poe^

U4-)nste a.<

R i n z a i ' s descendents don't know Zen, the t r u e teaching i s w i t h


b l i n d donkeys; but Ikkyu i s a b l i n d donkey so he has the true teaching,
yuch i s the a s s e r t i o n r e i t e r a t e d again and again throughout the
Kyounshu.

Ikkyu's confidence was never shaken as regards h i s grasp

of Zen. The second h a l f of the poem deals w i t h love's a b i l i t y


to make time r e l a t i v e .

While making l o v e , past, present and f u t u r e ,

s i x t y kalpas of time might seem instantaneous, y e t one night spent thus


c o u l d seem a hundred thousand years longo

I n other words, while making

l o v e , i k k y u had the sense of " e t e r n i t y i n an instant;- a phenomenon which


i s c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h some m y s t i c a l s t a t e s .

So here again, i k k y u

makes e x p l i c i t the connection he p e r s o n a l l y f e l t between the enlightenment


of Zen and the experience of l o v e .

(542)

&& t t & f

107

>l u f i s

RJ

b i j i n no i n , snisenka no ka a r i

Sodai masa n i nozomubeshi sara n i masa n i yozubeshi


hanya gyokusho shumu no a i d a
hana wa hokorobu i k k e i b a i j u no moto
ryoha no senshi yokan o meguru

A b e a u t i f u l woman's dark place

has the fragrance of a narcissus

KingCU'Ws h i l l , * * one must regard from a f a r and moreover climb.


Middle of the n i g h t , on the jeweled bed amid b i t t e r s w e e t dreams,
The flower opens under the branch of a plum t r e e ,
D e l i c a t e l y the narcissus revolves between t h i g h s .

a.

The Chinese character here i s simply y i n of yin-yang, the two

p r i n c i p l e s , female and male r e s p e c t i v e l y of the universe.

Extended from

t h i s cosmic meaning the character i s a l s o used t o denote the female


sexual organ.
b.

KingCWWs h i l l - r e f e r

to the f i r s t explanation of " c l o u d - r a i n "

poem 90.

This i s one of Ikkyu's more simply e r o t i c poems.

This elegant

and a l l u s i v e imagery must come from the vocabulary of Chinese e r o t i c i s m .


However,A symbolic meaning of the reference to the Plum tree may be r e l a t e d

108

to t r a d i t i o n a l Japanese p o e t i c imagery,

The Plum t r e e i s u s u a l l y thought

of there as o l d , gnarled and enduring, so Ikkyu may have chosen i t


p a r t i c u l a r l y to r e f e r t o h i m s e l f .

(538 and

539)

Prose i n t r o d u c t i o n :

t.

* k

4 * M

ifc

The b l i n d g i r l Mori's f e e l i n g s of love are very strong.

fe

She i s

about t o d i e from not e a t i n g ; f u l l of sorrow, I made poems saying i t .

(538)

iL

ft

Hyakujo j o t o shinse sho su


hansen Enro katte amasazu
mojo ga enka r o s h i o warau
Sodai no bo'u t e k i shosho t a r i

109

In Hyakujo's hoe, my t r u s t i s e x t i n g u i s h e d .
R i c e money, the Old Man of H e l l i s never generous.
The b l i n d g i r l ' s love songs laughed a t by the p a v i l i o n g i r l s .
Chu's h i l l , evening r a i n d r i p s lonesomely.

(539)

ift.

ii

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k
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miyo, miyo, Kehando r i no Zen


sekinen Hyakujo kakuto hen
yayu r a n s u i su gabei no t e i
Bnro menzen hansen o i k a n sen

See, see, the Zen i n s i c k n e s s .

Long ago there was nyakujo and h i s hoe.


Night's i n t o x i c a t e d r e v e l r y beneath painted screens.
Facing the Old Man of H e l l , how about some r i c e money.

a.

The expression i n Chinese i s "Nirvana h a l l " which i s the h o s p i t a l

i n Zen temples,but Ikkyu i s u s i n g i t here t o r e f e r t o s i c k n e s s .

15

The exact s i t u a t i o n surrounding these poems i s not known. I t must

110

be the t r i a l s of war t h a t have caused t h e i r d i s t r e s s .

I t i s c l e a r from

the prose passage t h a t the immediate problem i s Mori's nearness t o


death from l a c k of food.

The phrase used here u s u a l l y means t o f a s t t o

death r a t h e r than starve t o death', thus, i t probably i n d i c a t e s t h a t due


to a shortage of food Mori i s r e f u s i n g t o eat l e s t Ikkyu should s t a r v e .
The poems are very e x p l i c i t about a l a c k of money t o buy food.
In h i s a n x i e t y Ikkyu r e f l e c t s on two t h i n g s ; one, on Hyakujo,
the T'ang master who was the f i r s t t o draw up a s e t of temple r u l e s f o r
Zen monasteries, h i s most b a s i c r u l e being "a day of no work, i s a day of
no e a t i n g " . Hyakujo - ;

" ' was supposed t o have r e f u s e d t o eat when

he got too o l d t o do a day's work.

Now, during t h i s p a r t i c u l a r time of

no e a t i n g , the r u l e no longer makes sense t o i k k y u ; there i s nothing


f o r Ikkyu t o do w i t h a hoe.
working.

No e a t i n g i s not always a r e s u l t of no

Then Ikkyu i s reminded, perhaps even a l i t t l e remorsefully^ o"f

the many previous years of pleasure and p l e n t y i n the b r o t h e l s . The


t h i r d l i n e s of both poems conjure up p i c t u r e s of the b r o t h e l s ; i n the
f i r s t poem

he imagines how the b r o t h e l h a r l o t s would laugh a t the

b l i n d g i r l s naive songs, and i n the second poem he remembers the drunken


evenings i n gavtdy surroundings.

(550;

if.

&

>t

Ill
k i shibomi ha ochite sara n i haru o kaesu
ryoku o c h o j i ban a o s h o j i t e kyuyaku a r a t a n a r i
Shin y a ga|shinon mo shi

bokyakuseba

muryo oku go chiknsho no mi

The t r e e budded leaves that f e l l but once more round comes springeGreen grows, flowers bloom, o l d promises are renewed.
Mori, i f 1 ever f o r g e t my deep bond to you,
Hundreds of thousands of kalpa_^s without measure, may I be born as a beast.

In t h i s poem Ikkyu simply asks to be reincarnated countless


times as a beast i f he ever f o r g e t s h i s love f o r Mori.
charming s i m p l i c i t y about i t .

The poem has a

Ikkyu i s l i k e an o l d t r e e which has

dropped i t s leaves,yet once more s p r i n g comes round, and he i s r e v i v e d .


This could be a poem of reunion between Ikkyu and M o r i , " o l d promises"
seems to i n d i c a t e t h i s .

(1049;

i & tm 4

iL

% &

it. & *jr %L

it I t- k

I t i s l a t e autumn, the season of g i v i n g winter c l o t h e s .

For t h i s

reason I had some new clothes cut and gave them to my l a t e b l i n d


attendent Mori.

Thus, I aided u n f i n i s h e d t i e s i n the other l i f e and s a i d :

& & If

I * C fl[ ft

haku hatsu zan so hachi j u nen


g i n j i nozorau yoyo heki un no t e n
t a j o no en zensai o tsugunawaseraru
d a n j i s u sansho koen o yakusu

I remain, white h a i r e d o l d monk of eighty y e a r s .


S i n g i n g , l o o k i n g up every n i g h t t o blue sky and clouds.
Sad mandarin duck, redeeming former debts,
Snap f i n g e r s at present and f u t u r e , the promise t o love again.

There i s no record of what happened t o Mori,but i t must be


concluded from t h i s poem that she d i e d before Ikkyu.
circumstances

Under what

or from what cause we know not; however, i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t

the s i t u a t i o n described i n poems 538 and 539 a c t u a l l y l e a d t o her death.


In t h i s poem, w r i t t e n when Ikkyu was eighty, she i s already dead,and he
i s b r i n g i n g an o f f e r i n g of winter c l o t h e s t o her grave as a token of
h i s unforgotten t i e s t o h e r .

113
(1060)

*f

fa * ft $ &

- 1 1 i i . ft -ft

** *j A 9
it * f n

* *

>

j i s e i no s h i
junen hana no s h i t a hoiuei o osarau
i c h i d a n no f u r y u mugen no j o
sekibetsusu c h i n t o j i n y o no h i z a
y o r u fukakushite unu sansho o yakusu

Farewell t o the world poem


Ten years ago, under the f l o w e r s , I made a f r a g r a n t a l l i a n c e ,
One step more d e l i g h t , a f f e c t i o n without end.
I r e g r e t t o leave p i l l o w i n g my head on a girl's l a p .
Deep i n the n i g h t , c l o u d - r a i n , making the promise of past, present and
future.

N e i t h e r of these two l a s t poems appear i n the Kokuyaku Zanshu


Sosho or the Ikkyu Oaho genshu.

They appear only i n the Yamanto

Bunkakaikan e d i t i o n of the Kyounshu which, however, i s the most recent


and comprehensive of the e d i t i o n s of the Kyounshu.

This poem,then, can

stand w i t h the "South of Mt. Sumeru, who meets my Zen" poem as a l e a v i n g

114

the world poem.

How d i f f e r e n t i n character the two poems are.

The

one has the r i n g of t r a d i t i o n a l Zen death poems, extremely confident,


almost d e f i a n t ,

going to meet death i n a w a r r i o r s manner.

The second i s

so gentle and n o s t a l g i c , fondly remembering back r a t h e r than going


forward z e a l o u s l y ; Ikkyu even expresses r e g r e t s to leave r a t h e r than a
t o t a l break w i t h the t i e s of t h i s world.

Strangely enough, however, both

are t y p i c a l of Ikkyu at d i f f e r e n t times i n h i s l i f e .

To c a l l one more

true than the other would be i m p o s s i b l e , f o r i t would deny the man as a


whole.

No man i s e n d l e s s l y strong; i t i s from these poems where Ikkyu

honestly, w i t h no thought as to whether i t was appropriate f o r a Zen


monk or not, expresses h i s f e e l i n g s of attachment and longing that one
can see a complete man composed of both weak and strong. And t h i s
a b i l i t y , to without c r i t i c i s m accept whatever one f e e l s as r e a l and v a l i d ,
i s a mark of true enlightenment.
nature.

I t i s i n f a c t , to t r u s t i n one's Buddha

VII.

Footnotes

Introduction
1. H. H. B l y t h , "Ikkyu's Doka," The Young East, I I . 2 t o
I I I . 9, 1952-54.
2, Kaneko Matabee and N i s h i o k a Shin, "Kyounshu chukai,"
Kokubungaku, (Kansai Daigaku Eokubungaku K a i ) . no. 21-28,
1958-1960.
II.

H i s t o r i c a l Background
1.

K a r a k i Junzo, Chusei no bungaku, pp. 233-34.

2.

I b i d . , pp. 227-28.

3. T h i s does not n e c e s s a r i l y apply t o a l l the T'ang masters;


a d i f f e r e n c e may be n o t i c e d here between the Northern and Southern
schools of Ch'an. The Southern schools t a k i n g Hui Neng (who
h i m s e l f d e c l i n e d i n v i t a t i o n s t o the c a p i t a l ) as the S i x t h P a t r i a r c h ,
on the whole f o l l o w e d h i s example. The Northern schools on the
other hand were q u i t e c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the c a p i t a l . Thus
when the persecutions of Buddhism came, they were more v u l n e r a b l e
to a t t a c k w h i l e the Southern schools s u r v i v e d b e t t e r simply by
v i r t u e of being more out of the way. I t i s a l s o i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t
the Soto sect of Zen should choose t o f o l l o w the Southern school
i n t h i s respect, while a l s o adopting the concept of gradual
enlightenment, a concept associated with the Northern school.

III.

B i o g r a p h i c a l Information and Comment


1. This resume i s based p r i n c i p a l l y on the account i n Takashima
Daien's Ikkyu Qsho den.
2.

Takashima Daien,

3.

I b i d . , P- 58.

4.

Ibid.

5o

I b i d . , P. 59.

6.

I b i d . , P- 60.
I b i d . , PP<, 60-61.

7.
8.
9.
10.

I b i d . , P- 62.
I b i d . , P- 64.
I b i d . P,
< 67.

116
11.

I b i d . , p. 69.

12.

I b i d . , p. 72.

13.

Ibid.

14.

I b i d . , p. 80.

15. The r e d thread symbolizes attachment t o p h y s i c a l d e s i r e .


Morohashi T e t s u j i , Daikanva j i t e n v. V I I I , p. 947.
f

16.

Takashima, op_. c i t . pp. 82-83.

17.

I b i d . , p. 86.

18.

Ibid.

19.

I b i d . , p. 89.

20.

Ibid.

21.

I b i d . , p. 93-

22.

I b i d . , p. 95.

23.

I b i d . , p. 96.

24.

I b i d . , p. 100.

25.

I b i d . , p. 101.

26.

I b i d . , p. 103.

27.

K a r a k i Junzo, Chasei no bnngaku, p. 246.

28.

Suzuki Daisetsu, Outline of Mahayana Buddhism, p. 352.

29. As quoted by I b i d . , p. 351. See a l s o Etienne Lamotte,


L'Enseignement de V i m a l a k i r t i , p. I l l and Shuo wu kuo ch'eng ching,
Taisho shinshu daizokyo, v. XIV, p. 559a, I . 1.

IV.

30.

Suzuki, op. c i t . , p. 357.

31.

H e i n r i c h Zimmer, Philosophies of I n d i a , p. 555.

32.

John Shawcross, The Complete Poetry of John Donne, p. 97.

33.

I b i d . , p. 344.

P h i l o s o p h i c a l Poems
1.

R i n z a i roku, i n v. XI of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, Chinese p. 5.

2.

Suzuki Daisetsu, Zen shiso s h i kenkyu, v. I l l , p. 425.

3. Kaneko Matabee and N i s h i o k a Shin, "Kyounshu chukai,"


KoknTbungaku, no. 22, p. 60.
4.

Oda Tokuno, Bukkyo dai.jiten, p. 1472.

5.

Kaneko, op_ c i t . , pp. b 0 - 6 l .


0

117
6.

I b i d . , no. 27, p. 73.

7.

R i n z a i roku, i n v. XI of Kokuyaku genahu sosho, Chinese p. 29.

8.

Kaneko, op. c i t . , no. 22, p. 62.

9.

R i n z a i roku, op. c i t . , kokuyaku, p. lOn.

10.

Morohashi T e t s u j i , Paikanwa .jiten, v. V I I I , p. 175.

11.

Suzuki Daisetsu, Zen shiso s h i kenkyn, v. I l l , p. 424.

12.

I b i d . , pp. 424-25.

13.

I b i d . , p. 425.

14.

U i Hakuju, Japanese-English

15.

Suzuki Daisetsu, Studies i n the Lankavatara S u t r a , p. 419.

16.

I b i d . , p. 360.

Buddhist D i c t i o n a r y , p. 288.

17. Kaneko Matabee and N i s h i o k a Shin, "Kyounshu chukai,"


Kokubungaku, no. 21, p 6 l .
18.

Ibid.

19.

Kaneko, op_. c i t . , p. 63.

20.

Suzuki Daisetsu, Zen shiso s h i kenkyn, v. I l l , p. 475.

21. H e i n r i c h Dumoulin, Ruth S a s a k i , The Development of Chinese


Zen, p 29.
22. Kaneko Matabee and N i s h i o k a Shin, "Kyounshu chukai,"
Kokubungaku, no. 21, p. 63.
23o

Hekigan roku, v. V I I of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, Chinese p. 30.

24.

Dumoulin, op_. c i t . , p. 30.

25. Kaneko Matabee and Nishioka Shin, "Kyounshu chukai,"


Kokubungaku, no. 21, p. 64.
26.

Ibid.

27.

Ibid.

28. I b i d . , p. 65. See a l s o P h i l i p Yamplosky, The Platform


Sutra of the S i x t h P a t r i a r c h , p. 62.
29.

Dumoulin, op. c i t . , p. 31.

30.

Kaneko, op. c i t .

31.

Dumoulin, op_. c i t . , p. 8.

32.

Kaneko, op_. c i t . , no. 21, p. 62.

33.

Ibid.

34. Kyounshu, i n v, IX of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, kokuyaku


p. 72n.
35. Takagi Masakazu (ed.), Haku kyo i (p*o-Ghii-i), v. X I I I of
Chukoku shi.i i n senshu, p. 103.

118
36. A f t e r the d e s c r i p t i o n i n P'o Chu-i's aforementioned poem
and more p a r t i c u l a r l y , Morohashi T e t s u j i , Daikanva j i t e n , v. X I ,
pp. 672-73.
37. H e i n r i c h Dumoulin, The Development of Chinese Zen, p. 47,
c i t i n g Goto Egen, Bk. V I I , Dainihon zokuzokyo, p. 116.
38.

U i Hakuju, Japanese-English Buddhist D i c t i o n a r y , p. 175-

39-

Jimbo Nyoten, Zengaku j i t e n , p. 53.

40.

Mori K e i z o , Ikkyu Osho zenshu, p. 5.

41.

Kaneko, op_. c i t . , no. 22, p. 64.

42.

Ibid.

43. As t r a n s l a t e d by Eev. Coates and Eev. I s h i z u k a i n Honen,


the Buddhist S a i n t , p. 728.
44. P h i l i p Yampolsky, The P l a t f o r m S u t r a of the S i x t h P a t r i a r c h ,
pp. 42-43.
45.

Kaneko, op_. c i t . , no. 23, p. 72.

46.

Mumonkan, i n v. XI of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, Chinese, p. 19.

47. Nanzan Dosen, To koso den, v. LXXVII of Kokuyaku i s s a i kyo,


pp. 9-10. O r i g i n a l Chinese, Hsu kao seng ch^jian, Taisho shinshu
daizokyo, v. L, p. 552b, 11. 22-2948.

U i Hakuju, Zenshu s h i kenkyu", p. 37.

49. For t h i s one see a l s o , Yanagida Seisan, Shoki Zenshu shisho


no kenkyu, p. 10350.

U i , op. c i t . , p. 38.

51.

Suzuki D a i s e t s u , Zen shiso s h i kenkyu, v. IV, p. 215.

52.

I b i d . , v. X V I I I , p. 199.

53.

U i , op_. c i t . , p. 39..

54. There i s a l s o a s u t r a reference t o the c u t t i n g o f f of arms


as an o f f e r i n g t o Buddha which may have been i n K e i k a s mind when
he cut o f f h i s own arm. I t i s i n the Lotus S u t r a ; a B o d h i s a t t v a
says t o a gathering, " I threw away both arms and n e c e s s a r i l y
a t t a i n e d the Buddha's golden body." (MiftQ f a l i e n hua ching,
Taisho shinshu daizokyo, v. IX, p. 262a, 11. 4-5.)
1

55.

Kyounshu, i n v. IX,of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, p. 6n.

56. Kaneko Matabee and N i s h i o k a Shin, "Kyounshu chukai,"


Kokubungaku, no. 23, pp. 76-77.

119
V.

VI.

C r i t i c a l Poems
1.

Morohashi T e t s u j i , Daikanwa j i t e n , v. I I I , p 797.

2.

Oda Tokuno, Bukkyo d a i j i t e n , p. 1794a.

U i Hakuju, Japanese-English Buddhist D i c t i o n a r y , p 195.

4.

Kaneko, op. c i t . , p. 74.

5.

Morohashi, op. c i t . , v. I I , p. 190.

6.

A k i z u k i Kyumin, Zefrmion no i r y u , p. 314.

Love Poems
1.

Morohashi T e t s u j i , Daikanwa j i t e n , v

X I I , p. 16.

2. B. H. B l y t h , "Ikkyu's Doka," The Young East, v. I I . 2,


f i r s t page of the a r t i c l e . (Page numbers are missing from the
xerox copies of the a r t i c l e s . )
3.

Morohashi, op_. c i t . , v. V I I , p. 364.

4. Mochizuki does not record t h i s meaning f o r kaju but r a t h e r


itB use as a metaphor f o r the i l l u s i v e nature of existence,
a l a t a c a k r a , f i r e c i r c l e . (Mochizuki, Bukkyo d a i j i t e n , v. I l l ,
p. 2952bJ. However, I f e e l i t i s obvious t h a t t h i s i s not the
meaning here.
5.

Edward Conze, Buddhism: i t s essence and development, p 59.

6.

Charles Luk, The Surafxgama Sutra, p. 2.

-j

Kuan-ying, Shih ching i chu, pp. 1=3.

8.

H e i n r i c h Dumoulin, The Development of Chinese Zen, p. 48,

c i t i n g Bento Eyo, Bk. XX: Dainihon zokuzokyo, p. 378.


9.
Kyounshu, i n v. I X of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, kokuyaku,
p. l l l n .
10. Takabe Toshio, Rihaku ( l i p'o), v. V I I I of Chugoku s h i n i n
senshu, p. 97. See a l s o Pu-Tung-liua, L i ffeJ s h i h , p. 47.
11.

Oda Tokuno, Bukkyo d a i j i t e n , p. l689a.

12.

Mochizuki, Bukkyo d a i j i t e n , v. 5, p. 4990c.

13.

Kyounshu, i n v. IX of Kokuyaku Zenshu sosho, p. l l O n .

14. Ikkyu's comparison o f _ h i s hand t o Mori's hand may be an


a l l u s i o n to the koan c a l l e d Oryu no sankan "Oryu's three b a r r i e r s , "
the second question of which i s , "My hand how does i t ressemble
Buddha's hand?" See Mochizuki, Bukkyo d a i j i t e n , v. I , p. 360c.
15.

Jimbo Nyoten, Zengaku j i t e n , p. 1128.

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&

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. Haku-kyo-i

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_ _

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