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Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun) Japan (1394 - 1481) Timeline Buddhist : Zen / Chan Poems by Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun) Books - Links |
Ikkyu was appointed to be the head priest of the great temple at Kyoto, but he renounced the position after just nine days, denouncing the hypocrisy he saw among the monks around him. In a famous line from one of his poems, he told his fellow monks they could find him in the local brothel instead.
Though clearly not of an ascetic temperament, Ikkyu was a poet, calligrapher, and musician who viewed the world with a deep insight that permitted no pretense, favoring direct truth over religious and social facades.
He founded what became known as the Red Thread school of Zen.
Poems by Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun)
- A Fisherman
- a well nobody dug filled with no water
- Every day, priests minutely examine the Law
- Form in Void
- I Hate Incense
- Ikkyu this body isn't yours I say to myself
- inside the koan clear mind
- Like vanishing dew
- Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain,
- only one koan matters
- sick of it whatever it's called sick of the names
- The vast flood
- To write something and leave it behind us
Recommended Books: Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun)
Related Links
Verses of Ikkyu
http://hjem.get2net.dk/civet-cat/poetry-stories/ikkyu.htm
Several Ikkyu poems by a few different translators.
Ikkyu
http://www.links.net/vita/trip/japan/media/bukz/ikkyu/
A brief description of Ikkyu's poetry and significance within Japanes Zen. Includes some of his erotic poetry.
From Ikkyu (1400s) - His Poem Skeletons
http://www.elon.edu/sullivan/zenpoems.htm
Some of Ikkyu's poetry on death.
