- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
-
One Prologue -
Two Renga History -
Three On the Tsukubashū -
Four Post-Shinkokinshū Waka -
Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga -
Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters -
Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (Yūgen) -
Eight Learning and the Study of Renga -
Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training -
Ten On Hokku -
Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry -
Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry -
Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality -
Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation -
Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination -
Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet -
Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way -
Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind -
Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value -
Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline -
Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion -
Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration -
Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations -
Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master -
Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive -
Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure -
Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry -
Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse -
Twenty-Nine Plagiarism -
Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect -
Thirty-One Semantic Confusion -
Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility -
Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link -
Thirty-Four On Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū as the Structure of the Renga Link -
Thirty-Five On Rikugi: -
Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism -
Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga -
Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age -
Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time - Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
Poetry is an Existential Discipline
Poetry is an Existential Discipline
- Chapter:
- (p.66) Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline
- Source:
- Murmured Conversations
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
This chapter is often cited as evidence that Shinkei identified the Way of Poetry with the Way of Buddhism, but Kidō rejects this notion because the two activities differ in terms of aims. While the aim of Buddhism is to “discover the ultimate source of the mind” (kokoro no minamoto o akiramemu), that of Poetry is to “gain insight into the deeply moving power of things” (aware fukaki koto o satoran). That is to say, Poetry apparently seeks to move human beings to the consciousness of the tragic character of mundane existence, whereas Buddhism wants to uncover the truth that lies beyond the tragedy of mundane existence. The distinction between Buddhism and Poetry that Kidō mentions is largely valid for Sasamegoto I but not for Sasamegoto II. Ultimately, the religious justification for poetry that can be found in the works of Teika, Shunzei, Saigyō, and Shinkei himself is based on nondualism and grounds the medieval Japanese sense of praxis (michi, the Way).
Keywords: Japanese poetry, Shinkei, Kidō, Way of Poetry, Way of Buddhism, mundane existence, Sasamegoto, nondualism, praxis, michi
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
-
One Prologue -
Two Renga History -
Three On the Tsukubashū -
Four Post-Shinkokinshū Waka -
Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga -
Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters -
Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (Yūgen) -
Eight Learning and the Study of Renga -
Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training -
Ten On Hokku -
Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry -
Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry -
Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality -
Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation -
Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination -
Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet -
Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way -
Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind -
Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value -
Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline -
Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion -
Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration -
Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations -
Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master -
Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive -
Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure -
Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry -
Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse -
Twenty-Nine Plagiarism -
Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect -
Thirty-One Semantic Confusion -
Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility -
Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link -
Thirty-Four On Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū as the Structure of the Renga Link -
Thirty-Five On Rikugi: -
Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism -
Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga -
Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age -
Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time - Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
