- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
-
Forty About Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū -
Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [en] in the Poetic Process -
Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow -
Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (Yōon) -
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 Maeku and Tsukeku -
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
Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Chapter:
- (p.153) Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Source:
- Murmured Conversations
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
According to Priest Saigyō, “the Way of Poetry is wholly the practice of Zen meditation” (kadō wa hitoe ni zenjō shugyō no michi). The so-called Initiation Rite to the Kokinshū is similar to the formal transmission of the secret teachings, which is regarded as an important ritual in the Esoteric sect of Buddhism. In essence, the Way of Poetry is the True Word (darani) of Japan. When employed it as an instrument of vain sophistry, reading of the sutras and commentaries as well as Zen meditation all become blind delusions. This chapter is about Shinkei's equation of poetry and a Buddhist construction of the world. Here Shinkei comments on the nature of Zen (dhyana) meditation and the nature of the poem as an embodiment of the true aspect of Suchness (shinnyo, jissō), ultimate reality as understood in Mahayana teaching. The chapter also recounts Shunzei's miraculous vision and posits an equation between the poem as the Dharma Body (Dharmakaya) and poetic language as dharani.
Keywords: Shinkei, Japanese poetry, Zen meditation, Buddhism, True Word, Shunzei, Dharma Body, dharani, poetic language
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
-
Forty About Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū -
Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [en] in the Poetic Process -
Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow -
Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (Yōon) -
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 Maeku and Tsukeku -
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