Posted inArt and Poems, Other Teachings

My Real Dwelling, Ikkyū Sōjun

August 8, 2016

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One short pause between
The leaky-road here and
The never-leaking Way there:
If it rains, let it rain!
If it storms, let it storm!

****
My real dwelling
Has no pillars
And no roof either
So rain cannot soak it
And wind cannot blow it down!

Two poems by the famous poet and zen master 一休 宗純 Ikkyū Sōjun” (1394–1481)

Ikkyu 一休 is a dharma name he was given by his master Kaso meaning “one pause or one rest or break” to commemorate his first awakening experience in 1418. The first poem was written by Ikkyu after this first experience.

It reminds me of Shakyamuni’s words

Between heaven and earth
I alone am
the honoured one

Who is this “I” “between heaven and earth”? Or this “One pause””, between “The leaky-road here and The never-leaking Way there?”
In this “one pause/rest/break” – Ikkyu seems to say that all is allowed:

If it rains, let it rain!
If it storms, let it storm!

Compiled by Rosa Bellino, photo also by Rosa.

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