Hypocrisy, poetry, iconoclasm in Zen

Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu

Japanese Zen Buddhist priest Ikkyū (一休宗純, Ikkyū Sōjun) was an iconoclast with an "enlightenment certificate" (inkajo). He was born in 1394 and died in 1481. He was an eccentric, iconoclastic, "crazy wisdom" Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, poet, musician, alcoholic, and womanizer.

He had an 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, Note 1].

• worldhistorybook.com
  
• Monastic Disciplinary Code
• Zen Masters: Ikkyu, Hakiun, Ryokan: A Maverick, a Master of Masters, and a Wandering Poet (by John Stevens)
• Buddhism in Japan
• Zen Buddhism

Biography

In 1394, Ikkyū was born in a small suburb of Kyoto, Japan. It is generally held that he was the illegitimate child 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 5, Ikkyū was separated from his mother and placed in a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto, Japan called Ankoku-ji, as an acolyte [1, 5].

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. More