Famous trickster, flute player, and bringer of Zen awareness into everyday life
Folk hero, poet, Rinzai heretic and saint, eccentric Zen monk, and one of Japan's most famous flute players; Ikkyū's unconventional approach to Buddhism became a significant influence in popularizing Zen teachings to the general population. A Trickster, he rejected and criticized the religious establishment's hierarchy as well as the popular formalities, rituals, and societal norms of his time. Known as a great calligrapher and sumi-e artist, he also evolved and popularized the Japanese tea ceremony. His teachings emphasized direct, experiential, spontaneous understanding and he took a strong position against celibacy. Going further, he even taught that love and sex furthered people on a spiritual path and he encouraged sex with prostitutes, and either heterosexual or homosexual lovers. A continuous influence on Japanese culture, the popular TV series about him ran for 296 episodes.
“Since I have no mind and no body, I am at home both in the mountains and in the floating world.”
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“Lost in elegant dalliance
And love-talk, we in the Boudoir of Dreams scoff at grim ascetics.”
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“Good friends of the Dharma, so proud,
But a brothel girl in gold brocade has you beat by a mile.”
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“Change base lust into refined love and it is worth more than a mountain of gold.”
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“My life has been devoted to love-play and I have no regrets...
I am not ashamed to have passed my days as a crazy cloud”
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“Lost in dalliance, intimate talk, and orgasmic bliss...
Night after night, we two lovebirds snuggle on the meditation platform”
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“Women are the treasure house of Buddhism. They are the source out of which every being came forth including Buddha and Bodhidharma!”
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