- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- One Prologue
- Two Renga History
- Three On the <i>Tsukubashū</i>
- Four Post-<i>Shinkokinshū</i> Waka
- Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga
- Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters
- Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (<i>Yūgen</i>)
- 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 <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i> as the Structure of the Renga Link
- Thirty-Five On <i>Rikugi</i>:
- 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
- Forty About <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i>
- Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [<i>en</i>] in the Poetic Process
- Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow
- Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (<i>Yōon</i>)
- Forty-Four Renga Rules and Buddhist Precepts:
- Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Forty-Six The Link Betwee <i>Maeku</i> and <i>Tsukeku</i>
- Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Forty-Eight Selecting Friends of the Way
- Forty-Nine The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Fifty On the Issue of the Ultimate Style
- Fifty-One Discipline in the Mind-Ground
- Fifty-Two Orthodoxy and Plurality
- Fifty-Three Reclusion
- Fifty-Four The Impartiality of Divine Response
- Fifty-Five Heredity, Social Status, and the Way
- Fifty-Six The Mark of Temporality in Talent, Training, and Fame or Obscurity
- Fifty-Seven The Difficulty of Achieving the Way:
- Fifty-Eight Mutually Supportive and Antagonistic Arts
- Fifty-Nine The Practice of Poetry in Our Time
- Sixty The Question of the True Buddha and the Ultimate Poem
- Sixty-One The Ten Virtues
- Sixty-Two Epilogue
- Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
Sitting with a Master
Sitting with a Master
- Chapter:
- (p.75) Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master
- Source:
- Murmured Conversations
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
Perceptivity plays a crucial role, not only in evaluating another's work, but also when it comes to master-disciple relationship. While an excellent teacher constitutes “the great cause and condition” that helps individual talent to flourish, not even the greatest master can help a student who is not perceptive, either due to insufficient wit or lack of artistic sensibility. One example of a student's receptivity is Shinkei's emphasis on an inquiring attitude, or the desire to seek out the deepest truths in the Way of Poetry. In Sasamegoto II he illustrates the importance of this attitude by saying that “it is far better to criticize the Dharma and fall into hell than merely to make offerings to numberless Buddhas.” Hence, discipleship is a process of active penetration and “appropriation,” fueled by desire. In the medieval pedagogy of the Way, however, this process is less an appropriation than the mutuality of understanding suggested by the Zen slogan “by mind transmit the mind.”
Keywords: Shinkei, master, student, Sasamegoto, Way of Poetry, perceptivity, discipleship, appropriation, Japanese poetry
Stanford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- One Prologue
- Two Renga History
- Three On the <i>Tsukubashū</i>
- Four Post-<i>Shinkokinshū</i> Waka
- Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga
- Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters
- Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (<i>Yūgen</i>)
- 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 <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i> as the Structure of the Renga Link
- Thirty-Five On <i>Rikugi</i>:
- 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
- Forty About <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i>
- Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [<i>en</i>] in the Poetic Process
- Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow
- Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (<i>Yōon</i>)
- Forty-Four Renga Rules and Buddhist Precepts:
- Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Forty-Six The Link Betwee <i>Maeku</i> and <i>Tsukeku</i>
- Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Forty-Eight Selecting Friends of the Way
- Forty-Nine The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Fifty On the Issue of the Ultimate Style
- Fifty-One Discipline in the Mind-Ground
- Fifty-Two Orthodoxy and Plurality
- Fifty-Three Reclusion
- Fifty-Four The Impartiality of Divine Response
- Fifty-Five Heredity, Social Status, and the Way
- Fifty-Six The Mark of Temporality in Talent, Training, and Fame or Obscurity
- Fifty-Seven The Difficulty of Achieving the Way:
- Fifty-Eight Mutually Supportive and Antagonistic Arts
- Fifty-Nine The Practice of Poetry in Our Time
- Sixty The Question of the True Buddha and the Ultimate Poem
- Sixty-One The Ten Virtues
- Sixty-Two Epilogue
- Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
