Customer Reviews (2)

The Giants of Zen
This small volume does a wonderful job at introducing us to three of the wildest, most fascinating Zen masters. The lifestories of Ikkyu and Ryokan, in particular, are almost too good to be true. This book makes Zen comes to life in a real, down to earth kind of way. Wonderful work!

Well written, interesting, broad
This slim volume is in many ways a great introduction to Zen thinking through profiles of three great masters.It is a wonderful combination of historical examination and recollection of stories about the lives of these three.The selection of the figures is excellent as you see a broad sweep of different styles of living and practicing Zen Buddhism.Also, the three are each in their own way extremely influential, so it is good to understand the roles of the individuals in the overall development of Zen Buddhist religious practice.Finally, the stories are just plain entertaining, filled with humor, insight, wry observation, and wisdom.A very enjoyable read. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a collection of more than 150 poems by the beloved poet and Zen monk Ryokan, born in Echigo, Niigata Prefecture in 1757.His poems, which remain widely popular in Japan today, are celebrations of the quotidian, capturing the joys and sadness of daily life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Same Ol' Quirky Zen Poet in a Quirky Little Collection
Well, there are a good number of books out now on the poetry of this gentle, eccentric, and talented Zen monk, each with their own particular strengths and weaknesses. So what about this one? First of all, this was clearly a labor of love; the authors have been moved and inspired deeply by Ryokan's art and life, and they hope to share what Ryokan has meant to them with English speakers--this aim informs the book with a warmth and immediacy consonant with Ryokan's own writings. On a more technical note, this book is rare in giving Ryokan's poems in Japanese script AND romanji transcription as well as in English translation--this is highly useful for those who may be somewhat conversant with the Japanese language and/or Literary Chinese but not fluent in the poetic idiom of Ryokan's time. I tend to think bilingual editions are a good idea anyway, especially for poetry, and that goes for this book definitely.

I also liked the presentation of the poems in this book. One section just gives the poems one after the other like usual poetry anthologies, and this is fine and well, but other sections were more creative: one imbedded Ryokan's poems in a biography and general intro, one culled the translator's favorites, and one (particularly interesting to me in giving a glimpse of the social role of poetry in monastic life) demonstrated Ryokan in an extended poetic dialogue with his friend and disciple the nun Teishin. The poems themselves are deceptively simple like so much of Ryokan's work, filled with meditations on nature and his eremitic lifestyle with its little pleasures, frequently rephrasing Buddhist insights in an unpretentious and colloquial voice.

The book does have its drawbacks, too, of course. Duly acknowledging the fact that translating from one's primary language into a second language is highly challenging (especially for poetry, in which so much depends upon rhythm, mood, connotation, and such), still that doesn't change the fact that the resulting translations here are somewhat flat and sometimes awkward. And accounting for "poetic license" in translating, still in a few poems the English seems to veer too far off from the original, or else over-interpret it. Finally, in the first pages there is some disturbing culturally-essentialist talk about how Ryokan reveals "The Japanese Mind" as if the Japanese were homogenous and imbued with one collective cultural identity. I don't think Ryokan would go for this. He'd be the first to admit he's a bit of an oddball (rather than a typical example of a given nationality, say). He seems more interested in revealing his own mind, and this mind of his speaks eloquently through his poetry to all of us with ears to hear, no matter where we may be.

Of course without translation that voice won't carry far, and Kodama and Yanagishima are to be heartily thanked for doing their very best to share their enthusiasm for Ryokan with us. In my case at least, the enthusiasm was decidedly contagious.

Enjoyable, multilingual translation
The title of this book is a bit misleading - this is not poetry of the "holy fool" type as one sees the holy fool in the Christian and Islamic traditions.Rather, this is poetry of a Zen monk who retained theplayfulness of a child and who is reticent regarding his enlightenment.Infact, you may read far into the book before encountering poems that areunambiguously "Zen".

What truly sets this edition apart,however, is the afterward which includes memories of individuals who knewRyokan.Even if the translation was mediocre, I would recommend the bookfor this alone.Luckily, the translation is satisfactory though notinspired.

The poems themselves were written in Japanese and Chinese - inform, they are varied - as there is so much wonderful Zen haiku translatedinto English, this volume is a delightful counterpoint of other poeticforms.

Truly heart warming!
Of all the translated books of Ryokan, this was the most true and heartfully interpreted collections of poems I have come across. As a bilingual second generation Japanese, I know the difficulty of translatingthe essence of a culture into another, andstill relay the message as itwas intended. That is the art form of the translator, and very rarely do Ifeel the same sensation from reading the same material in a differentlanguage. Truly wonderful! ... Read more

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Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Emperor Saga, Fujiwara No Teika, Kūkai, Tomioka Tessai, Ryōkan, Honami Kōetsu, Kazuaki Tanahashi, Yishan Yining, Mumon Yamada, Yamaoka Tesshū, Omori Sogen, Ono No Michikaze, Shingai Tanaka, Konoe Nobutada, Fujiwara No Yukinari, Shotei Ibata, Rosanjin, Shōkadō Shōjō, Sanpitsu, Sasaki Genso Roshi, Tachibana No Hayanari, Nakahara Nantenbo, Obaku Dokuryu, Obaku No Sanpitsu, Sanseki, Fujiwara No Sukemasa. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Fujiwara no Teika (Japanese: ), also known as Fujiwara no Sadaie or Sada-ie, (1162 September 26, 1241) was a Japanese poet, critic, calligrapher, novelist, anthologist, scribe, and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. His influence was enormous, and he is even to this day counted as among the greatest of Japanese poets, and perhaps the greatest master of the waka form - an ancient poetic form consisting of five lines with a total of 31 syllables. His critical ideas on composing poetry were extremely influential and studied until as late as the Meiji era. A member of a poetic clan, Teika was born to the noted poet Fujiwara no Shunzei. After coming to the attention of the Retired Emperor Go-Toba (11801239; r. 1183-1198), Teika began his long and distinguished career, spanning multiple areas of aesthetic endeavor. His relationship with Go-Toba was at first cordial and led to commissions to compile anthologies, but later resulted in his banishment from the retired emperor's court. His descendants and ideas would dominate classical Japanese poetry for centuries afterwards. Monument to Fujiwara no Teika, Ogura, Kyoto Teika was born to a minor and distant branch of the aristocratic and courtly clan, the Fujiwara, in 1162, sometime after the Fujiwara regents had lost their political pre-eminence in the Imperi...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1126926 ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Takeshi Kitano, Kenshin Sumitaku, Shūji Terayama, Bashō Matsuo, Kenji Miyazawa, Sōkan Yamazaki, Ryōkan, Issa Kobayashi, Takeo Arishima, Buson Yosa, Takuboku Ishikawa, Fujiwara No Teika, Shiki Masaoka, Ueda Akinari, Kakinomoto No Hitomaro, Ono No Komachi, Minamoto No Yorimasa, Chiyo-Ni, Ikkyū Sōjun, Ki No Tsurayuki, Sono Sion, Chūya Nakahara, Fujiwara No Nobuzane, Jien, Fujiwara No Shunzei, Hashizume Bun, Sugawara No Michizane, Izumi Shikibu, Taneda Santōka, Taira No Tadanori, Ariwara No Narihira, Masato Tomobe, Mutsuo Takahashi, Gōzō Yoshimasu, Tetsuro Furukaki, Akazome Emon, Hisashi Okuyama, Hoshi Sosei, Ise, Ōtomo No Yakamochi, Ki No Tomonori, Ōshikōshi No Mitsune, Mibu No Tadamine, Murayama Kaita, Mokichi Saito. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Kenshin Sumitaku , , ) était un poète japonais de la seconde moitié du XX siècle (fin de l'Ère Shōwa). Né Harumi Sumitaku, il est plus connu sous son seul prénom de plume Kenshin ). Prêtre bouddhiste diagnostiqué avec une leucémie aiguë à 23 ans, il a consacré au poème court les vingt derniers mois de sa vie. Météore du haïku, au destin littéraire plus bref encore que ceux des mélancoliques tuberculeux Takuboku (1886-1912) et Kajii (1901-1932), Kenshin a laissé 281 haïkus qui ont marqué une génération. Les Japonais l'appellent « le poète du haïku de l'âme ». - (trad. Kemmoku et Blanche) Kenshin est né Harumi Sumitaku , ) le 21 mars 1961, à Okayama, une ville de taille moyenne du sud-ouest du Japon (environ 150 km à l'ouest d'Ōsaka). Bien que le prénom Harumi (« beauté de printemps ») soit habituellement donné aux filles, c'est le sien ; il vient probablement du fait que c'était l'équinoxe de printemps. Premier enfant de la famille, il a une sœur l'ann...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Chapters: Japanese Calligraphers, Emperor Saga, Fujiwara No Teika, Kūkai, Tomioka Tessai, Ryōkan, Honami Kōetsu, Kazuaki Tanahashi, Yishan Yining, Mumon Yamada, Yamaoka Tesshū, Omori Sogen, Ono No Michikaze, Ensō, Hitsuzendo, Shingai Tanaka, Konoe Nobutada, Fujiwara No Yukinari, Kakizome, Edomoji, Shotei Ibata, Rosanjin, Shōkadō Shōjō, Sanpitsu, Sasaki Genso Roshi, Tachibana No Hayanari, Nakahara Nantenbo, Obaku Dokuryu, Obaku No Sanpitsu, Sanseki, Fujiwara No Sukemasa. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 120. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Fujiwara no Teika (Japanese: ), also known as Fujiwara no Sadaie or Sada-ie, (1162 September 26, 1241) was a Japanese poet, critic, calligrapher, novelist, anthologist, scribe, and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. His influence was enormous, and he is even to this day counted as among the greatest of Japanese poets, and perhaps the greatest master of the waka form - an ancient poetic form consisting of five lines with a total of 31 syllables. His critical ideas on composing poetry were extremely influential and studied until as late as the Meiji era. A member of a poetic clan, Teika was born to the noted poet Fujiwara no Shunzei. After coming to the attention of the Retired Emperor Go-Toba (11801239; r. 1183-1198), Teika began his long and distinguished career, spanning multiple areas of aesthetic endeavor. His relationship with Go-Toba was at first cordial and led to commissions to compile anthologies, but later resulted in his banishment from the retired emperor's court. His descendants and ideas would dominate classical Japanese poetry for centuries afterwards. Monument to Fujiwara no Teika, Ogura, Kyoto Teika was born to a minor and distant branch of the aristocratic and courtly clan, the Fujiwara, in 1162, sometime afte...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1126926 ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Thich Nhat Hanh, Dōgen, Ryōkan, Gudō Wafu Nishijima, Kodo Sawaki, Taisen Deshimaru, Hakuin Ekaku, Roland Rech, Eisai, Ikkyū Sōjun, Kosen, Taïkan Jyoji, Niwa Zenji, Takuan Sōhō, Shuyu Narita, Kōshō Uchiyama, Chân Không, Kishigami Kojun, Linji, Keizan Jōkin. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Eihei Dōgen ), Dōgen Kigen ) ou maître zen Dōgen , , ) est le plus grand maître de l'école Sōtō du bouddhisme zen, qu'il introduisit au Japon depuis la Chine. Dōgen est né en 1200 à Uji, près de Kyōto. Son père Michichika appartenait au clan des Minamoto et était descendant de l'empereur Murakami (947-967). À cette époque, le Japon traverse une période de troubles. Le pays est soumis depuis peu à un double pouvoir : celui de l'empereur et de sa cour installée à Kyōto, capitale traditionnelle, et celui des shoguns, sorte de général suprême qui détient le pouvoir militaire, établi à Kamakura. Dans cette société féodale les grandes familles se disputent le pouvoir. Les plus illustres sont les Fujiwara et les Minamoto. Sa mère était la fille de Fujiwara Motofusa, autre personnalité importante de la cour impériale. Dōgen vit donc le jour au sein d'une famille aristocratique bien en place et influente. Mais son père mourut alors que lui-même était âgé de deux ans et sa mère lorsqu'il avait huit ans. Le jeune Dōgen reçut l'éducation appropriée à une telle famille et dès l'âge de quatre ans il pouvait lire des poèmes en chinois. Malgré cela, il passa une enfance malheureuse et solitaire, regardant le caractère illusoire de la lutte pour le pouvoir dans un monde de chagrin et d'impermanence. Juste avant de mourir, sa mère lui recommanda de devenir moine afin d'aider au salut de tous les êtres. Très tôt cet enfant, confr...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Kapitel: The Leading Hotels of the World, Hotelstern, Love Hotel, Xenia, Holidaycheck, Unternehmensgruppe Nordmann, Ryokan, Check-In, Ertragsmanagement, Spa, Gastrosocial Pensionskasse, Kapselhotel, Minibar, Hotelleriesuisse, Hotelsoftware, Suite, Gastrosuisse, Kinderhotel, Resort, Hotelpost, Revpar, Bankett, Hoteldiener, Hotelverband Deutschland, Roomnight, Hotelschau, Hotelmodus, Grand Opening, Hotelroute, Soft Opening, Aufbettung. Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: Other reasons this message may be displayed: ...http://booksllc.net/?l=de ... Read more

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Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Al-Aqsa Mosque, Umayyad Mosque, Qasr Amra, White Mosque, Heijō Palace, Great Mosque of Aleppo, Hoshi Ryokan. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Al-Aqsa Mosque -Masjid al-Aqsa translates from Arabic into English as "the farthest mosque", Its name refers to a chapter of the Qur'an called "The Night Journey" in which it is said that prophet Muhammad traveled from Mecca to "the farthest mosque", and then up to Heaven on a flying horse called al-Buraq al-Sharif. "Farthest" as used in this context means the "farthest from Mecca." For centuries, al-Masjid al-Aqsa referred not only to the mosque, but to the entire sacred sanctuary. This changed during the period of Ottoman rule (c. early 16th century to 1918) when the sanctuary complex came to be known as al Haram ash-Sharif, and the mosque founded by Umar came to be known as al-Jami' al-Aqsa or al-Aqsa Mosque. The area of the mosque was part of King Herod the Great's upgrading of the mount initiated in 20 BCE. Herod had masons cut the stone surface on the eastern and southern side of the mount and plaster them. Residues may be found today at some locations. When the Second Temple stood, the present site of the mosque was called the Hall of Solomon, and on each side was the location of the Temple storehouse known as the chanuyot, which ran the length of the southern edge of the mount. The square giant columns on the north side the Mosque, and the Mosque walls, have recently been given a date of construction far older than first estimated by scholars (on the basis of written quotes by eyewitnesses of the time), a date from the Roman period. The walls were rebuilt or reinforced soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. The underground structure of the building is from the time the Jewish people...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=65759 ... Read more

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Chapters: 710s Architecture, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Umayyad Mosque, Qasr Amra, White Mosque, Heijō Palace, Great Mosque of Aleppo, Hoshi Ryokan. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 53. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Al-Aqsa Mosque -Masjid al-Aqsa translates from Arabic into English as "the farthest mosque", Its name refers to a chapter of the Qur'an called "The Night Journey" in which it is said that prophet Muhammad traveled from Mecca to "the farthest mosque", and then up to Heaven on a flying horse called al-Buraq al-Sharif. "Farthest" as used in this context means the "farthest from Mecca." For centuries, al-Masjid al-Aqsa referred not only to the mosque, but to the entire sacred sanctuary. This changed during the period of Ottoman rule (c. early 16th century to 1918) when the sanctuary complex came to be known as al Haram ash-Sharif, and the mosque founded by Umar came to be known as al-Jami' al-Aqsa or al-Aqsa Mosque. The area of the mosque was part of King Herod the Great's upgrading of the mount initiated in 20 BCE. Herod had masons cut the stone surface on the eastern and southern side of the mount and plaster them. Residues may be found today at some locations. When the Second Temple stood, the present site of the mosque was called the Hall of Solomon, and on each side was the location of the Temple storehouse known as the chanuyot, which ran the length of the southern edge of the mount. The square giant columns on the north side the Mosque, and the Mosque walls, have recently been given a date of construction far older than first estimated by scholars (on the basis of written quotes by eyewitnesses of the time), a date from the Roman period. The walls were rebuilt or reinforced soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. The underground structure of the building is ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=65759 ... Read more