- 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
The Nature and Goal of Criticism
The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Chapter:
- (p.159) Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Source:
- Murmured Conversations
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
As a collective activity, renga requires tact and social decorum so as not to offend other members of the group. Thus, criticizing someone's verse would be considered “foolish” (okogamashi). In the context of Nijō Yoshimoto's view of renga as an activity designed for enjoyment of the session itself (tōza no ikkyō), criticism would also be irrelevant. Shinkei's view is consistent with his belief that renga is a serious practice that allows the Buddhist practitioner to attain mental liberation. Renga is known to be a ritual offering (hōraku) to buddhas and native deities so that one would gain worldly benefits such as victory in an upcoming battle or cure from an illness. Even offerings intended to achieve the salvation of one's soul seemed to fall short of the buddhahood that was Mahayana Buddhism's goal. In Sasamegoto, poetic training involves cultivating the “mind-ground” (shinji shugyō) to attain the purified wisdom of perception that makes it possible to produce a purified Buddha realm with each poem.
Keywords: renga, criticism, Japanese poetry, Shinkei, Sasamegoto, mind-ground, Buddhism, mental liberation, ritual offering, poetic training
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