Sky Above, Great Wind
The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
The delightful and often funny poetry of Zen’s quintessential free spirit, Master Ryokan—in a fresh translation by a beloved American Zen figure
Ryokan Taigu (1758-1831) was a monk in the Soto lineage of Japanese Zen who spent a good part of his life as a hermit, writing poetry, playing with children, and creating simple and exquisitely beautiful calligraphies—sometimes using twigs as his instrument when he couldn't afford a brush. He was never head of a monastery or temple and as an old man, he fell in love with a young Zen nun who also became his student. His affection for her colors the mature poems of his late period.
This loving tribute to the great legendary nonconformist includes more than 140 of his poems, 13 examples of his art, and a selection of laugh-out-loud funny anecdotes about his highly idiosyncratic teaching behavior.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tanahashi, a translator (most significantly of Dogen, founder of the Soto Zen school), calligrapher, teacher, and peace activist, has rendered into English a selection of poems by Ryokan (1758-1831), a revered Zen monk who lived during Japan's late Edo period. To provide context, Tanahashi , a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, offers the reader glimpses into the trajectory of Ryokan's life as a "pilgrim, a hermit, and a beggar"; illustrations and discussion of the master's calligraphy; traditional anecdotes; and discussion of his "poetic forms." But the book's centerpiece is a set of luminous translations of Ryokan's poetry. The monk focuses on minute details of the natural world, observations about impermanence and illusion, and wry observations about his own life. In late life Ryokan found love with a young nun, with whom he exchanged delicate short verses. Each poem is printed starkly on an otherwise white page and organized by phases in Ryokan's life. At the book's end Tanahashi describes the complex process of translating Ryokan's Japanese and Chinese scripts into English to produce these simple, radiant poems.
