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Ikkyū
was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals,Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry "Ikkyū" by James H. Sanford as well as on Zen itself, often breaking religious taboos with his stance against celibacy. Biography Childhood Ikkyū was born in 1394 in a small suburb of Kyoto. It is generally held that he was the son of Emperor Go-Komatsu and a low-ranking court noblewoman. His mother was forced to flee to Saga, where Ikkyū was raised by servants. At the age of five, Ikkyū was separated from his mother and placed in a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto called Ankoku-ji, as an acolyte. The temple masters taught Chinese culture and language as part of the curriculum, a method termed . He was given the name Shuken, and learned about Chinese poetry, art and literature. Training When Ikkyū turned thirteen he entered Kennin-ji in Kyoto to study Zen under a well known p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word (). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters "public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable" and "table; desk; (law) case; record; file; plan; proposal." According to the Yuan dynasty Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben ( 1263–1323), originated as an abbreviation of (, Japanese —literally the "official correspondence; documents; files" of a "government post"), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang dynasty China. / thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle. Commentaries in col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Go-Komatsu
was the 100th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後小松天皇 (100) retrieved 2013-8-28. and the sixth and final Emperor of the Northern Court. He is officially considered to have been the Northern pretender from May 24, 1382 to October 21, 1392, when upon Emperor Go-Kameyama's abdication, Go-Komatsu is understood to have been a legitimate emperor (the 100th sovereign) from that date. In 1392, following the post''-Nanboku-chō'' unification of the two formerly contending courts, the Southern Emperor Emperor Go-Kameyama reached an agreement with Go-Komatsu to alternate control of the throne between the Northern and Southern courts on a ten-year plan which effectively signaled the end of the southern court's claims to sovereignty. However, Go-Komatsu reneged, not only ruling for 20 years until his own abdication on October 5, 1412, but was succeeded by his own son, rather than by one from the former South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daitoku-ji
is a Buddhist temple, one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. It is located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The "mountain name" ('' sangō'') by which it is known is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex today covers more than . History Daitoku-ji originated as a small monastery founded in 1315 or 1319 by the monk , who is known by the title ''Daitō Kokushi'' ("National Teacher of the Great Lamp") given by Emperor Go-Daigo. In 1325, the monastery was converted into a supplication hall for the imperial court at the request of the retired Emperor Hanazono. The dedication ceremony for the imperial supplication hall, with its newly added dharma hall and abbot's living quarters, was held in 1326, and this is generally recognized as the true founding of the temple.Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry "Daitokuji." Like many other temples in Kyoto during that time, the temple's buildings were destroyed by fire. In 1474, which was when Kyoto was the scene of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rinzai
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan Eisai (1141 –1215). Contemporary Japanese Rinzai is derived entirely from the Ōtōkan lineage transmitted through Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1769), who is a major figure in the revival of the Rinzai tradition. History Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Linji Yixuan (Japanese: Rinzai Gigen). Kamakura period (1185–1333) Though there were several attempts to establish Rinzai lines in Japan, it first took root in a lasting way through the efforts of the monk Myōan Eisai. In 1168, Myōan Eisai traveled to China, whereafter he studied Tendai for twenty years. In 1187, he went to China again, and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which is known in Japan as Rinzai. Decades ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city had a population of 1.46 million. The city is the cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an/Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869. It was the scene of several key events of the Muromachi period, Sengoku period, and the Boshin War, such as the Ōnin War, the Honn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbot (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, the abbot ( pi, saṅghaṇāyaka) is the head of a Buddhist monastery or large Buddhist temple. In Buddhist nunneries, the nun who holds the equivalent position is known as the abbess. In English-speaking countries, the English word "abbot" is used instead of all the various words that exist in the languages of the countries where Buddhism is, or was historically, well established. Role An abbot is a monk who holds the position of administrator of a monastery or large temple. The administrative duties of an abbot or abbess include overseeing the day-to-day running of the monastery. The abbot or abbess also holds spiritual responsibility for the monastics under their care, and is required to interact with the abbots or abbesses of other monasteries. Languages other than English Asian countries where Buddhism is still widely practiced have words in their own languages for the abbot of a Buddhist monastery or large temple: Chinese In Chinese Chan Buddhist monas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ōnin War
The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bunmei era. A dispute between a high official, Hosokawa Katsumoto, and a regional lord, Yamana Sōzen, escalated into a nationwide civil war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of ''daimyō'' in many regions of Japan. The war initiated the Sengoku period, "the Warring States period". This period was a long, drawn-out struggle for domination by individual ''daimyō'', resulting in a mass power-struggle between the various houses to dominate the whole of Japan. Origin The ''Ōnin'' conflict began as a controversy over who would succeed ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshimasa. In 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir. He persuaded his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, to abandon the life of a monk, and named him heir. In 1465, the unanticipated birth of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vagabond (person)
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporary work, or social security (where available). Historically, vagrancy in Western societies was associated with petty crime, begging and lawlessness, and punishable by law with forced labor, military service, imprisonment, or confinement to dedicated labor houses. Both ''vagrant'' and ''vagabond'' ultimately derive from the Latin word '' vagari'', meaning "to wander". The term ''vagabond'' is derived from Latin ''vagabundus''. In Middle English, ''vagabond'' originally denoted a person without a home or employment. Historical views Vagrants have been historically characterised as outsiders in settled, ordered communities: embodiments of otherness, objects of scorn or mistrust, or worthy recipients of help and charity. Some ancient sources ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inka Shōmei
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' ('' kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself."Haskel, 2 The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family". In Rinzai-Zen, ''inka shōmei'' is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation", but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (''shike'') of the training halls. There are only about fifty to eighty of such ''inka shōmei''-bearers in Japan. In Sōtō-Zen, dharma transmission is referred to as ''shiho'', and further training is required to become an oshō. History The notion and practice of Dharma Transmission developed early in the history of Chan, as a means to gain credibility and to foste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satori
is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of ''kenshō'', "seeing into one's true nature". ''Ken'' means "seeing," ''shō'' means "nature" or "essence". ''Satori'' and ''kenshō'' are commonly translated as enlightenment, a word that is also used to translate bodhi, prajñā and Buddhahood. Definition ''Satori'' means the experience of awakening ("enlightenment") or apprehension of the true nature of reality. It is often considered an experience which cannot be expressed in words. While the term ''satori'' is derived from the Japanese verb "to know" (''satoru''), it is distinct from the philosophical concept of knowledge as it represents a transcendence of the distinction between one that knows and knowledge. D. T. Suzuki, a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were influential in the West, des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharma Name
A Dharma name or Dhamma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is traditionally given by a Buddhist monastic, and is given to newly ordained monks, nuns and laity. Dharma names are considered aspirational, not descriptive. Most of the well-known Buddhist teachers are known to have had many different Dharma names in the course of their careers, and often each name represents a stage of their career. For example, Prince Shotoku was also known as Prince Umayado and Prince Kamitsumiya. Shinran's original name was Matsuwakamaru; he was also known as Hanen, Shakku, Zenshin, Gutoku Shinran and Kenshin Daeshi. Nichiren's original name was Zennichi and his Dharma names were Zenshobo Rencho and Rissho Daishi. Similarly, the tradition of various Dharma names was also used by Zen monks, who also used art to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
