Thursday, November 28, 2024

A00087 - Hazrat Inayat Khan, Indian Professor of Musicology, Poet, Philosopher and Transmitter of Sufism to the West

Inayat Khan, Hazrat

"Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence."

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Hazrat Inayat Khan
عنایت خان رحمت خان

Title	Pir-o-Murshid Shaikh al-Mashaikh Tansen Zamanihal Yüzkhan Bakhshi Shah Mir-Khayl^[1]
Personal
Born	Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan July 5, 1882 Baroda, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died	February 5, 1927 (aged 44) New Delhi, British India
Religion	Islam
Spouse	Pirani Ameena Begum
Children	Vilayat; Hidayat; Noor; Khair-un-Nisa Inayat Khan
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Hanafi
Creed	Sufism
Profession	Musician, Pir, Musicologist
Muslim leader
Successor	Vilayat
Profession	Musician, Pir, Musicologist

Universel Murad Hassil, Netherlands
Sant and Pir
Venerated in	Inayatiyya; Western Sufism
Major shrine	Dargah in Hazrat Nizamuddin, Delhi
Influences	Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani
Influenced	Universal Sufism
Tradition or genre	Chishti, and other major Sufi tariqa

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Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan (Urdu: عنایت خان رحمت خان; 5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West.^[2] At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorization at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani (d. 1907) of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism (the Sufi Order) in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.^[3]

Early life

Inayat Khan was born in Baroda to a noble Mughal family. His paternal ancestors, comprising yüzkhans (Central Asian lords) and bakshys (shamans), were Turkmen from the Chagatai Khanate who settled in Sialkot, Punjab during the reign of Amir Timur. Inayat Khan's maternal grandfather, Sangit Ratna Maulabakhsh Sholay Khan, was a Hindustani classical musician and educator known as “the Beethoven of India.” His maternal grandmother, Qasim Bibi, was from the royal house of Tipu Sultan of Mysore.^[4]

Sufism

Inayat Khan's Sufi sources included both the traditions of his paternal ancestors (remembered as the Mahashaikhan) and the tutelage he received from Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani.^[4]^: 3–64 From the latter he inherited four transmissions, constituting succession in the Chishti, Suhrawardi, Qadiri, and Naqshbandi orders of Sufism. Of these, the Chishti lineage, traced through the Delhi-based legacy of Shah Kalim Allah Jahanabadi, was primary.^[5]

Travels

Inayat Khan toured the United States with his brother Maheboob Khan and cousin Mohammed Ali Khan between the years 1910 and 1912. Further travels took him to England, France, and Russia. During the First World War, living in London, he oversaw the founding of an order of Sufism under his guidance. Following the war he traveled widely, and numerous Sufi centers sprang up in his wake in Europe and the U.S. He ultimately settled in Suresnes, France, at the house and khanqah (Sufi lodge) known as Fazal Manzil.^{[citation needed]}

Teaching

Inayat Khan's teaching emphasized the oneness of God (tawhid) and the underlying harmony of the revelations communicated by the prophets of all the world's great religions. His discourses treated such varied subjects as religion, art, music, ethics, philosophy, psychology, and health and healing. The primary concern of Inayat Khan's teaching was the mystical pursuit of God-realization.^[6] To this end he established an Inner School comprising four stages of contemplative study based on the traditional Sufi disciplines of mujahada, muraqaba, mushahada, and mu‘ayyana, which he rendered in English as concentration, contemplation, meditation, and realization.^[7]^{: 218–227}

Foundational principles

Ten principles, known as the Ten Sufi Thoughts, enunciate the universal spiritual values that are foundational to Inayat Khan's mystical philosophy.^[7]^: 3–13

There is One God, the Eternal, the Only Being; none exists save God.
There is One Master, the Guiding Spirit of all Souls, Who constantly leads followers towards the light.
There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.
There is One Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction towards the ideal, which fulfills the life's purpose of every soul.
There is One Law, the law of reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience together with a sense of awakened justice.
There is One Brotherhood and Sisterhood, the human brotherhood and sisterhood, which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
There is One Moral, the love which springs forth from self-denial, and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
There is One Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshippers through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
There is One Truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of all wisdom.
There is One Path, the annihilation of the false ego in the real, which raises the mortal to immortality, and in which resides all perfection.

Family and personal life

In New York, he met the woman who would become his wife, Ora Ray Ameena Begum née Baker. They had four children: Vilayat Inayat Khan, Hidayat Inayat Khan, Noor Inayat Khan, and Khair-un-Nisa Inayat Khan.^{[citation needed]}

Death and legacy

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2023)

In 1926 Inayat Khan returned to India; he died in Delhi on 5 February 1927.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11] He is buried in the Inayat Khan dargah in Nizamuddin, Delhi. The dargah is open to the public and hosts qawwali sessions. ^[12]

Bibliography

Musicological works

Balasan Gitmala
Sayaji Garbawali
Inayat Git Ratnawali
Inayat Harmonium Shikshak
Inayat Fidal Shikshak
Minqar-i Musiqar

Sufi works

1914 A Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty
1915 The Confessions of Inayat Khan
1918 A Sufi Prayer of Invocation
Hindustani Lyrics
Songs of India
The Divan of Inayat Khan
Akibat
1919 Love, Human and Divine
The Phenomenon of the Soul
Pearls from the Ocean Unseen
1921 In an Eastern Rosegarden
1922 The Way of Illumination
The Message
1923 The Inner Life
The Mysticism of Sound
Notes from the Unstruck Music from the Gayan Manuscript
The Alchemy of Happiness
1924 The Soul—Whence and Whither
1926 The Divine Symphony, or Vadan

Posthumous Sufi works

1927 Nirtan, or The Dance of the Soul
The Purpose of Life
1928 The Unity of Religious Ideals
1931 Health
Character Building; The Art of Personality
1934 Education
1935 The Mind World
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
1936 The Bowl of Saki
The Solution of the Problem of the Day
1937 Cosmic Language
Moral Culture
1938 Rassa Shastra: The Science of Life's Creative Forces
1939 Three Plays
Metaphysics: The Experience of the Soul in Different Planes of Existence
1980 Nature Meditations

Collected works

1960–1967 The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, 12 volumes
1988– Complete Works of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan: Original Texts, 12 volumes (to date)
2016– The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan: Centennial Edition, 4 volumes (to date)

See also

Inayati Order
Vilayat Inayat Khan (son)
Western Sufism
Zia Inayat Khan (grandson, current president of the Inayati Order)

References

^ Pirzade Zia Inayat Khan, ed. (2001). A Pearl in Wine: Essays on the life, music and Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan. New Lebanon, NY; USA: Omega Publications. ISBN 093087269X.
^ Mehta, R.C (2001). "Music in the Life of Hazrat Inayat Khan". In Pirzade Zia Inayat Khan (ed.). A Pearl in Wine: Essays on the life, music and Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan. New Lebanon, NY; USA: Omega Publications. pp. 161–176. ISBN 093087269X.
^ Graham, Donald A. (2001). "The Career of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan in the West". In Pirzade Zia Inayat Khan (ed.). A Pearl in Wine. New Lebanon, NY; USA: Omega. pp. 127–160. ISBN 093087269X.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Khan, Shaikh al-Mashaik Mahmood (2001). "The Mawlabakhshi Rajkufu 'Alakhandan: The Mawlabakhsh Dynastic Lineage, 1833-1972". In Pirzade Zia Inayat (ed.). A Pearl in Wine. New Lebanon, NY: Omega. pp. 3–126. ISBN 093087269X.
^ Pirzade Zia Inayat Khan (2001). "The 'Silsila-i Sufian': From Khwaja Mu'in ad-Din Chishti to Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani". In Pirzade Zia Inayat Khan (ed.). A Pearl in Wine. New Lebanon, NY: Omega. pp. 267–322. ISBN 093087269X.
^ Keesing, Elisabeth de Jong (1977). Inayat Answers. London: Fine Books Oriental. ISBN 978-0856920080.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Hazrat Inayat Khan (2019). The Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Vol. 4, Healing and the mind world. (Centennial ed.). Richmond, VA; USA: Sulūk Press; Omega Publications. ISBN 978-1941810309.
^ van Beek, Wil (1983). Hazrat Inayat Khan: Master of life, Modern Sufi Mystic (1st ed.). New York: Vantage Press. ISBN 978-0533054534.
^ Inayat Khan (1979). Elise Guillaume-Schamhart; Munira van Voorst van Beest (eds.). Biography of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. London; The Hague: East-West Publications. ISBN 0856920134.
^ Keesing, Elisabeth Emmy de Jong (1974). Inayat Khan: A Biography [Translated from the original Dutch: Golven, waarom komt de wind]. Translated by Hayat Bouman; Penelope Goldschmidt. The Hague: East-West Publications; Luzac. ISBN 0718902432.
^ Sirkar van Stolk; Daphne Dunlop (1967). Memories of a Sufi Sage: Hazrat Inayat Khan. London; The Hague: East-West Publications. ISBN 0856920134.
^ Bergman, Justin (24 November 2016). "36 Hours in Delhi". The New York Times.

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Sunday, November 24, 2024

A00086 - Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun), Fifteenth Century Japanese Zen Buddhist Monk annd Poet

Ikkyu

"Having no destination, I am never lost." (04/30/2023)

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Ikkyū Sōjun

Title	Zen master
Personal
Born	February 1, 1394 Kyoto, Japan
Died	December 12, 1481（aged 87） Kyōtanabe, Kyoto
Religion	Buddhism
School	Rinzai
Other names	Shūken
Senior posting
Predecessor	Kaso

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Shapers of Japanese History

Ikkyū Sōjun: The Enduring Legacy of a Zen Renegade

Culture History Mar 31, 2020

Yanai Kazuma [Profile]

Best known as the mischievous boy-hero of folklore and anime, Ikkyū was in real life a prickly iconoclast who challenged the religious establishment of fifteenth-century Japan.

Read in other languages

Among the most famous and best-loved figures in Japanese Buddhism is Ikkyū Sōjun (1394–1481). A devout but eccentric monk of the Rinzai school of Zen, Ikkyū attracted a large number of followers in his day, but his wider popularity dates to the Edo period (1603–1868), when anecdotes illustrating his quick wit and ingenuity spread through all levels of society.

More recently, Ikkyū’s position in popular culture was cemented by the animated TV series Ikkyū-san (produced by Tōei Animation), based on the abovementioned stories. The program’s 296 episodes, which originally aired between 1975 and 1982, portray Ikkyū as a cute and clever young acolyte who uses his wit to solve problems large and small, outsmarting even the shōgun. The creators of the anime skillfully incorporated trademark gestures along with well-known aspects of Zen culture. Ikkyū’s Zen meditation is accompanied by the sound of a wooden temple block (mokugyo, or wooden fish), while the chime of a meditation bell announces his flash of insight. The scenes in which he pines for his mother, from whom he had been separated, add a compellingly sentimental touch.

Repeats of Ikkyū-san continued to be aired for years, and the fan base expanded intergenerationally. The series was also broadcast in China, where it was such a hit that schoolchildren vied with one another to memorize the program’s Japanese theme song. Ikkyū-san also attracted a big following in Thailand and even in Iran. The popular image of the Ikkyū that prevails in Japan and elsewhere today owes much to this animated series.

Not surprisingly, however, the adorable young scamp portrayed in the TV series has little in common with the historical Ikkyū. A complete biography of Ikkyū, who lived to be 88 (an astonishing feat of longevity for that period in history), is far beyond the scope of this article. However, with the help of a few select episodes, I hope to sketch a more authentic picture of this influential figure than that found in pop culture.

A bronze statue of Ikkyū as a boy at Buddhist temple Shūon’an in Kyoto. (© Pixta)

A Child of Conflict

Ikkyū, as he was later known, was born in 1394 in Kyoto to a low-ranking noblewoman of the Southern Court. This was just two years after the unification of the Northern and Southern imperial courts under the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The boy, named Sengikumaru, is believed to have been the illegitimate son of Emperor Go-Komatsu. Yoshimitsu, who favored the Northern line, feared that the child could be used as a political weapon. For this reason, he was separated from his mother at the age of six and sent to the Rinzai Zen temple Ankokuji, where he trained to become a priest. (The TV series focuses on this period in his life.)

Ikkyū was a brilliant student, excelling particularly in the composition of Chinese poetry. At the same time, he was a stickler for spiritual rigor. It is written that he clapped his hands over his ears and left the room in anger when he heard other monks bragging about their family lineage.

At the age of 17, Ikkyū entered the temple Saikonji and studied under the Zen master Ken’ō Sōi, from whom he received the name Sōjun. At Saikonji, Ikkyū practiced a non-mainstream form of Zen that renounced all material wealth and comforts, and he became all the more rigorous in his austerity. When Ken’ō died, Ikkyū—then aged 21—was so bereft that he tried to drown himself in Lake Biwa, but one of his mother’s servants managed to stop him.

Ikkyū moved on to Shōzuian in the small town of Katata, where he became a disciple of the priest Kasō Sōdon. It was Kasō who gave him the name Ikkyū.

One day, Ikkyū was meditating in a boat on Lake Biwa, caressed by a gentle breeze, when he heard the call of a crow and achieved enlightenment. Ikkyū’s master Kasō wanted to grant him the inka, a much-prized document recognizing the recipient as enlightened and qualified to transmit the Dharma. But Ikkyū, who detested such formalities, refused. Continuing his training, he distinguished himself by his eccentricity as well as his devotion to Kasō, who chose him as his heir. When Kasō was bedridden, the other disciples used bamboo implements to clean away his waste, but Ikkyū used his bare hands. After Kasō died, Ikkyū abandoned the temple in Katata for the life of an itinerant monk, wandering the countryside.

Ikkyū and the Merchants of Sakai

One place to which Ikkyū returned again and again was Sakai, a seaport in what is now Osaka Prefecture. At that time, when natural disasters and feudal warfare had thrown much of the land into turmoil, Sakai prospered as a major center of domestic and foreign trade. With its upstart merchant class and international influences, it was a city of progressive ideas as well as material affluence. In Sakai, Ikkyū quickly attracted attention by swaggering through the town’s bustling streets in his monk’s robes, carrying a long, red sword—an utterly bizarre and incongruous sight. When asked what he meant by such behavior, he replied, “This is a wooden sword; it cannot cut. The priests that run rampant in this world are like my wooden sword here—handsome fakes that are utterly useless in a crunch.” Ikkyū directed his criticism not only at the priests themselves but also at the townspeople who bought into their fakery. His message was that such behavior was no more rational than his.

A portrait of Ikkyū with his famous red sword. (Courtesy of Shūon’an)

Among those drawn to Sakai (then Japan’s most prosperous town) was another, more senior, disciple of Kasō, named Yōsō Sōi. Leveraging his inka, Yōsō was working to broaden Zen’s sphere of influence from the warrior elite to the merchant class. To do so, however, he felt obliged to “dumb down” Rinzai teachings, since the typical merchant had neither the education nor inclination to pore over Chinese texts. Ikkyū, with his deep erudition and spartan rigor, found this approach intolerable. As far as he was concerned, Yōsō—notwithstanding his position as Ikkyū’s elder and one of Kasō’s chosen heirs—was just another “wooden sword.”

Ikkyū’s own very different approach—a combination of rigor and iconoclastic eccentricity —exerted an appeal all its own among the free-thinking citizens of Sakai (who were doubtless impressed by his imperial blood as well). Many of the town’s wealthy merchants studied and trained under Ikkyū. Recent research has shed light on this interesting and diverse group of followers, including one who traveled to China by stowing away on a trading vessel and another, of mixed Chinese and Japanese parentage, who became an interpreter.

Life and Legacy of an Iconoclast

Ikkyū’s iconoclasm was legendary. He disdained titles and badges of honor. In his view, the much-sought-after inka, which “certified” a monk as enlightened, was not merely useless but harmful. At the age of 47, he agreed to take over as abbot of Nyoian subtemple at Daitokuji—the head temple of the Daitokuji sect of Rinzai Zen—but he left after a short time, saying that the job of a “distinguished priest” did not agree with him. It was, perhaps, the ultimate gesture of rebellion against the religious establishment.

However, Ikkyū returned to Daitokuji late in life, after much of the temple had been reduced to ashes in the Ōnin War (1467–77). At the advanced age of 85, he accepted the position of abbot in order to aid in Daitokuji’s reconstruction out of consideration for its significance to colleagues whom he respected. He was able to enlist the support of many wealthy Sakai merchants in this costly project.

Despite his contempt for worldly honors, Ikkyū became the center of a major subsect with numerous followers. However, true to his principles, he refused to bestow the inka on any of his disciples. In 1478, his failure to anoint a successor triggered an internal crisis. The members of Ikkyū’s subsect saw their leader as the legitimate Dharma heir in an unbroken line of transmission extending all the way back to the Chinese monk Xutang Zhiyu (1185– 1269). Now the sect was facing dissolution. Ikkyū’s disciples urged him to choose a legitimate successor. There were any number of qualified candidates, but Ikkyū refused to designate one. The pressure mounted, and finally, one day, he uttered the name of Motsurin Jōtō. But when the choice was joyfully conveyed to Motsurin, he balked, insisting that the master would never have said such a thing had he been in full possession of his faculties. “How could you be so foolish after watching and listening to him all these years?” he exclaimed, and left the room in a huff.

How, then, was Ikkyū’s Dharma transmitted to later generations?

After Ikkyū’s death in 1481, his disciples decided to gather once a year at his mausoleum in Kyōtanabe to confer and decide on issues of importance to the sect. These assemblies, referred to as kesshū, closely resemble the councils held after the death of Gautama Buddha, through which the Buddha’s teachings were preserved and passed on and the early schools of Buddhism took shape. Much like the quick-witted Ikkyū of legend, his disciples arrived at an ingenious solution for preserving his legacy without the use of the despised inka. In this way, the Dharma of Ikkyū lives on today.

A wooden statue of Ikkyū at Shūon’an.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: A portrait of Ikkyū Sōjun at Shūon’an, Kyoto. Image courtesy of Shūon’an.)

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By

Barbara O'Brien

Updated on March 08, 2017

Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) remains one of the most famous and popular Zen masters of Japanese history. He has even been portrayed in Japanese anime and manga.

Ikkyu broke rules, and molds, and called himself "Crazy Cloud." For a large part of his life he avoided monasteries in favor of wandering. In one of his poems he wrote,

If some day you get around to looking for me,
Try the fish-shop, the wine parlor, or the brothel.

Who was Ikkyu?

Early Life

Ikkyu was born near Kyoto to a lady of the court who was disgraced by the pregnancy. There is speculation he was the son of the Emperor, but no one really knows. At the age of five, he was given to a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto, where he was educated in Chinese culture, language, poetry and art.

At 13 he entered the larger Kennin-ji temple in Kyoto to study with a well-known poet-monk named Botetsu. He gained skill as a poet but was unhappy with the cliquey and superficial atmosphere he found in the temple.

At the age of 16, he left Kennin-ji and took up residence in a small temple on Lake Biwa, near Kyoto, with only one other monk named Keno, who was devoted to zazen practice. When Ikkyu was only 21 Keno died, leaving Ikkyu in despair. The young monk considered drowning himself in Lake Biwa, but was talked out of it.

He found another teacher named Kaso who, like Keno, preferred simple, ascetic living, rigorous practice and koan contemplation to the politics of Kyoto. However, his years with Kaso were marred by a rivalry with Kaso's other senior student, Yoso, who seems not to have appreciated Ikkyu's attitude.

According to legend, Ikkyu often took a boat out on Lake Biwa to meditate through the night, and on one night the cawing of a crow triggered a great awakening experience. Kaso confirmed Ikkyu's realization and made him a lineage holder, or a part of his teacher's lineage. Ikkyu threw the lineage documents into a fire, it is said, either out of humility or because he felt he didn't need anyone's confirmation.

Nevertheless, Ikkyu stayed with Kaso until the older teacher died. Then Yoso became abbot of the temple, and Ikkyu left. He was 33 years old.

A Wandering Life

At this point in Zen history, Rinzai Zen enjoyed the favor of the Shogun and the patronage of samurai and aristocrats. To some Rinzai monks, institutional Rinzai had become political and corrupt, and they kept their distance from the main temples in Kyoto.

Ikkyu's solution was to wander, which is what he did for nearly 30 years. He spent most of his time in the general areas around Kyoto and Osaka, making friends with people of all walks of life. He gave teachings wherever he went to whoever seemed amenable. He wrote poetry and, yes, visited wine shops and brothels.

There are a great many anecdotes about Ikkyu. This is a personal favorite:

Once when Ikkyu was crossing a lake on a ferry, a Shingon priest approached him. "I can do something you can't, Zen monk," the priest said, and caused an apparition of Fudo, a fierce dharma protector of Buddhist iconography, to appear in the prow of the boat.

Ikkyu regarded the image solemnly, then declared, "With this very body I will cause this apparition to disappear." Then he peed on it, and put it out.

On another time, he was begging house to house wearing patched old monk's robes, and a wealthy man gave him a half penny. He returned some time later wearing the formal robes of a Zen master, and the man invited him inside and asked him to stay for dinner. But when the sumptuous dinner was served, Ikkyu stripped off his robes and left them in his seat, saying that the food had been offered to the robes, not to him.

Later Years

At about the age of 60, he finally settled down. He had managed to attract disciples in spite of himself, and they built him a hermitage next to an old temple he restored.

Well, he settled down up to a point. In his old age, he enjoyed an open and passionate relationship with a blind singer named Mori, to whom he dedicated many erotic poems about the wonders she had performed to revive his "jade stalk."

Japan suffered a brutal civil war from 1467 to 1477, and during this time Ikkyu was recognized for his work to help those who suffered because of the war. Kyoto was especially devastated by the war, and a Rinzai temple called Daitokuji had been destroyed. He rallied the help of old friends to rebuild it.

In his final years, the lifelong rebel and iconoclast was given the ultimate establishment job -- he was named abbot of Daitokuji. But he preferred to live in his hermitage, where he died at the age of 87.

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Ikkyū (一休宗純, Ikkyū Sōjun, February 1, 1394 - December 12, 1481) was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals.^[1] He is perhaps best known for his radical approach to Zen, which included breaking Buddhist monastic precepts and his stance against celibacy.^[2]

Biography

Childhood

Ikkyū was born in 1394 in a small suburb of Kyoto. It is generally held that he was the son of Emperor Go-Komatsu and a low-ranking court noblewoman.^[1] His mother was forced to flee to Saga, where Ikkyū was raised by servants. At the age of five, Ikkyū was separated from his mother and placed in a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto called Ankoku-ji, as an acolyte.^[1]^[3] The temple masters taught Chinese culture and language as part of the curriculum, a method termed Gozan Zen. He was given the name Shuken, and learned about Chinese poetry, art and literature.

Training and enlightenment

When Ikkyū turned thirteen he entered Kennin-ji in Kyoto to study Zen under a well known priest by the name of Botetsu. Here Ikkyū began to write poetry frequently that was non-traditional in form. He was openly critical of Kennin-ji's leadership in his poetry, disheartened with the social stratum and lack of zazen practice he saw around him. In 1410, at the age of sixteen, Ikkyū left Kennin-ji and entered the temple Mibu-dera, where an abbot named Seiso was in residence. He did not stay long, and soon found himself at Saikin-ji in the Lake Biwa region where he was the sole student of an abbot named Ken'o. It seemed Ikkyū had finally found a master that taught true Rinzai Zen as Ikkyū saw it. Ken'o was sporadic in his teaching style and was a strong believer in the supremacy of zazen. In 1414, when Ikkyū was 21, Ken'o died. Ikkyū performed funeral rites and fasted for seven days. In despair Ikkyū tried to kill himself by drowning himself in Lake Biwa, but was talked out of it from the shore by a servant of his mother.

Ikkyū soon found a new teacher in a master named Kaso at Zenko-an, a branch temple of Daitoku-ji. Kaso was much like Ken'o in his style. For years he worked hard on assigned kōan and made dolls for a local merchant in Kyoto. In 1418 Ikkyū was given Case 15 of the Mumonkan, ("The Gateless Gate", a famous set of 49 kōan), known as "Tozan's Three (or 60?) Blows", which depicts Tozan becoming enlightened when Ummon rebukes him for wandering from one monastery to another. One day a band of blind singers performed at the temple and Ikkyū penetrated his kōan while engrossed in the music. In recognition of his understanding Kaso gave Shuken the Dharma name Ikkyū, which roughly means 'One Pause'. In 1420, Ikkyū was meditating in a boat on Lake Biwa when the sound of a crow sparked satori.

When Ikkyū told Kasō of his experience, Kasō replied, "This is the enlightenment of a mere arhat, you’re no master yet.” To this, Ikkyū responded, “Then I’m happy to be an arhat, I detest masters.” Thus, Kasō declared, “Ha, now you really are a master.”^[4] Kasō confirmed Ikkyū's great enlightenment and granted him inka. However, when presented with his inka, Ikkyū threw it to the ground and stomped off. Kasō retained the inka for safekeeping, but when Ikkyū learned of this, he tore it to pieces. Later, when his disciples had it pieced back together, Ikkyū burned it completely.^[5]

Ikkyū came up against the jealousy of Yoso, a more senior student who eventually came to run the monastery. In Ikkyū's poems, Yoso appears as a character unhealthily obsessed with material goods, who sold Zen to increase the prosperity of the temple.

Vagabond

Ikkyū could sometimes be a troublemaker. Known to drink in excess, he would often upset Kaso with his remarks and actions to guests. In response, Kaso gave inka to Yoso and made him Dharma heir. Ikkyū quickly left the temple and lived many years as a vagabond. He was not alone, however, as he had a regular circle of notable artists and poets from that era. Around this time, he established a sexual relationship with a blind singer, Mori, who became the love of his later life.

Ikkyū strove to live Zen outside of formal religious institutions. However, the Ōnin War had reduced Daitokuji to ashes, and Ikkyū was elected to be its abbot late in life, a role he reluctantly took on. This firmly placed him in one of the most important Zen lineages. However, Ikkyū refused to give formal sanction to any of his disciples, stating his intent thus: “I have never given inka to anyone. . . . So if after I’m gone, someone comes claiming to have my inka, you should report him to the authorities and prosecute for criminal misconduct. That’s why I’m telling everyone the facts by way of a written testament.”^[6] Toward the end of his life, Ikkyū told his disciples:

After my death some of you will seclude yourselves in the forests and mountains to meditate, while others may drink sake and enjoy the company of women. Both kinds of Zen are fine, but if some become professional clerics, babbling about 'Zen as the way,' they are my enemies. I have never given an inka, and if anyone claims to have received such a thing from me, have him or her arrested!^[7]

In 1481, Ikkyū died at the age of 87 from acute ague.

Non-celibacy

Ikkyū felt a close connection with the Chinese Chan master, Linji, for whom everyday ordinary activities expressed the buddha-nature. Linji said, "Shit and piss and just be human; when hungry, eat; when tired, sleep; make yourself the master of every situation!"^[8] According to Yanagida, this represents a recognition of the "fundamental value of the human being."^[9] Ikkyū was inspired by such an attitude, taking it to include sexual needs as well. "If you are thirsty," Ikkyū said, "you dream of water; if you are cold, you dream of a warm coat; as for me, I dream of the pleasures of the boudoir—that's my nature!"^[10]

For Ikkyū, sex was a form of spiritual practice. He regarded sex in light of the nonduality of desire and bodhi, and it also served as a means for him to test his own sense of enlightenment as well.^[11] According to John Stevens, "For Ikkyū, the passions were the anvil on which true enlightenment is forged."^[12] Ikkyū wrote that sex was better than sitting in meditation and working on koans:

Rinzai's disciples never got the Zen message,
But I, the Blind Donkey, know the truth:
Love play can make you immortal.
The autumn breeze of a single night of love is better than a hundred thousand years of sterile sitting meditation . . .

Stilted koans and convoluted answers are all monks have,
Pandering endlessly to officials and rich patrons.
Good friends of the Dharma, so proud, let me tell you,
A brothel girl in gold brocade is worth more than any of you.^[13]

Ikkyū also came to embrace the view, found in Esoteric Buddhism, that the body is the real Buddha. Thus, when he practiced Zen, he practiced with the body as well as the mind.^[14] Such a tantric attitude, which draws on the language of alchemy, can be seen in the following:

A sex-loving monk, you object!
Hot-blooded and passionate, totally aroused.
But then lust can exhaust all passion,
Turning base metal into pure gold.

The lotus flower
Is not stained by the mud;
This dewdrop form,
Alone, just as it is,
Manifests the real body of truth.^[15]

Legacy

Ikkyū is one of the most significant (and eccentric) figures in Zen history. To Japanese children, he is a folk hero, mischievous and always outsmarting his teachers and the shōgun. In addition to passed down oral stories, this is due to the very popular animated TV series Ikkyū-san.

In Rinzai Zen tradition, he is both heretic and saint.^[16] He was among the few Zen priests who addressed the subject of sexuality from a religious context, and he stood out for arguing that enlightenment was deepened by partaking in love and sex, including lovers, prostitutes and monastic homosexuality.^[2]^[16]^[17] He believed that sex was part of the human nature, and therefore purer than hypocritical organizations and worldly pursuits. At the same time, he warned Zen against its own bureaucratic politicising.^[2]

Usually he is referred to as one of the main influences on the Fuke sect of Rinzai zen, as he is one of the most famous flute player mendicants of the medieval times of Japan. The piece "Murasaki Reibo" is attributed to him. He is credited as one of the great influences on the Japanese tea ceremony, and renowned as one of medieval Japan's greatest calligraphers and sumi-e artists.

Ikkyū wrote in Kanbun-style classical Chinese, which was employed by many contemporary Japanese authors. For instance, the "Calling My Hand Mori's Hand" poem.

我手何似森手
自信公風流主
發病治玉茎萌
且喜我会裏衆

My hand, how it resembles Mori's hand.
I believe the lady is the master of loveplay;
If I get ill, she can cure the jeweled stem.
And then they rejoice, the monks at my meeting.^[18]

Ikkyū is also connected with a Hell Courtesan, who became his disciple.^[19]

In popular culture

Toei Animation produced the historical comedy anime series Ikkyū-san (一休さん) based on Ikkyū's recorded early life at Ankoku-ji Temple,^[20] originally airing on TV Asahi from October 15, 1975 to June 28, 1982. The anime was directed by Kimio Yabuki and written by Makoto Tsuji, Tadaki Yamazaki, Hisao Okawa, Tatsuo Tamura, Hiroyasu Yamaura and Keisuke Fujikawa. The series was received by all ages in Japan and throughout Asia. In 1976, a theatrical film released was released as part of the Toei Manga Matsui film festival in the summer of that year.
In the anime OVA Read or Die, a clone of Ikkyū appears as the leader of the villains, all of whom are also clones of famous historical figures.
In the second edition of the book On the Warrior's Path, author Daniele Bolelli refers to Ikkyū as his "hero and philosophical role model". He also explored Ikkyū's life story in a chapter of his 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Religion, and in two episodes of the podcast History on Fire.^[21]
The Japanese manga author Hisashi Sakaguchi wrote a life story of Ikkyū, あっかんべェ一休, 'Ikkyu', or 'Akkanbe Ikkyu', more or less according to the popular stories about him. The manga has been translated in four volumes into Catalan, Spanish, French, German and Italian.
In the manga Afterschool Charisma, a clone of Ikkyū appears among the main body of classmates in a special school filled with clones of famous historical figures.
Comic author Tom Robbins identifies Ikkyū as his "idol".^[22]^[23] In the anime/manga Eyeshield 21, Hosakawa Ikkyū (細川一休) is the name of the genius cornerback on the Shinryuji Naga American football team.
In the PSP game GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class Slapstick Wonderland, the children's story version of Ikkyū can be chosen as the picture book project theme/final story part of the game.
Kleenex Girl Wonder wrote the song Don't Cry, Ikkyu about Ikkyū.^[24]
In the Kamen Rider Ghost DVD special, Ikkyu Eyecon Contention! Quick Wit Battle!!, the soul of Ikkyū helps Takeru Tenkuji (Kamen Rider Ghost) to access his monk-like Ikkyū Damashii form.
Wednesday Campanella's song and PV Ikkyu-san.

See also

Notes

^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry "Ikkyū" by James H. Sanford
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Peipei Qiu (2005). Basho and the Dao: The Zhuangzi and the Transformation of Haikai. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824828455.
^ Messer, Sarah; Sojun, Ikkyu; Smith, Kidder (2015). Having Once Paused: Poems of Zen Master Ikkyū (1394–1481). University of Michigan Press. pp. 1–2. doi:10.3998/mpub.7739022. ISBN 978-0-472-07256-9.
^ Crow With No Mouth: Ikkyū, 15th Century Zen Master, Versions by Stephen Berg, Preface by Lucien Stryk, page 9, Copper Canyon Press, 1989
^ John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, page 20, Kodansha International, 1993
^ Letting Go: The Story of Zen Master Tōsui, Translated and with an Introduction by Peter Haskel, page 133, note 81, University of Hawai'i Press, 2001
^ John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, page 56, Kodansha International, 1993
^ John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, page 24, Kodansha International, 1993
^ Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 76, State University of New York Press, 2006
^ John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, page 24, Kodansha International, 1993
^ Sonja Arntzen, Ikkyū And The Crazy Cloud Anthology, A Zen Poet of Medieval Japan, Revised and Expanded, page 29, Quirin Press, 2022
^ John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, page 24, Kodansha International, 1993
^ Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyū, translated by John Stevens, pages 75-76, White Pine Press, 2003
^ Dr. Jon Covell, and Abbot Yamada Sobin, Zen At Daitoku-ji, page 101, Kodansha International, 1974
^ John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, page 24, Kodansha International, 1993
^ Jump up to:^a ^b William R. LaFleur (2020). Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400843671.
^ Ikkyū and The Crazy Cloud Anthology: A Zen Poet of Medieval Japan. University of Tokyo Press. 1986. p. 33. ISBN 9780860083405.
^ Tr. Arntzen 1987:158, note Ikkyū's use of the literary metaphor gyōkeihō 玉茎萌 "jeweled stem" meaning "phallus".
^ Avilés, Ernult José Rodolfo (2021). "The uncanny and the superflat in macabre representations: Iconographic analysis of a Kawanabe Kyosai blockprint" (PDF). Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies. 39 (1): 58–80. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
^ "Ikkyu-san, the Clever Little Monk". Essays in Idleness. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
^ "EPISODE 45 Sex, Sake and Zen: The Life of Ikkyu Sojun (Part 1)". 18 March 2019.
^ Robbins, Tom (2006). Wild Ducks Flying Backward. Random House. ISBN 0-553-38353-1.
^ Opening Remarks at Northwest Bookfest 1996. Random House. 2006. ISBN 9780553902945. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
^ "Don't Cry, Ikkyu".

References

On the Warrior's Path, Daniele Bolelli, Blue Snake Books, 2008.
The Possible Impossibles of Ikkyu the Wise, I.G. Reynolds, 1971, Macrae Smith Company, Philadelphia, Trade SBN: 8255-3012-1.
Ikkyu and the Crazy Cloud Anthology, Sonja Arntzen, 1987, University of Tokyo Press, ISBN 0-86008-340-3.
Unraveling Zen's Red Thread: Ikkyu's Controversial Way, Dr. Jon Carter Covell and Abbot Sobin Yamada, 1980, HollyM International, Elizabeth, New Jersey, ISBN 0-930878-19-1.
Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu, translated by John Stevens, published by Shambhala, Boston, 1995.
Crow with No Mouth, versions by Stephen Berg, published by Copper Canyon Press, WA, 2000. ISBN 1-55659-152-7.
Steiner, Evgeny. Zen-Life: Ikkyu and Beyond. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4438-5400-9.

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