Ryōkan - Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryōkan

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf is a welcome addition to the growing body of Ryokans work available in English. Tricycle ABOUT THE BOOK The Japanese poet-recluse Ryokan (17581831) is one of the most beloved figures of Asian literature, renowned for his beautiful verse, exquisite calligraphy, and eccentric character. Deceptively simple, Ryokans poems transcend artifice, presenting spontaneous expressions of pure Zen spirit. Like his contemporary Thoreau, Ryokan celebrates nature and the natural life, but his poems touch the whole range of human experience: joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, enlightenment and illusion, love and loneliness. This collection of translations reflects the full spectrum of Ryokans spiritual and poetic vision, including Japanese haiku, longer folk songs, and Chinese-style verse. Fifteen ink paintings by Koshi no Sengai (18951958) complement these translations and beautifully depict the spirit of this famous poet.

JOHN STEVENS is Professor of Buddhist Studies and Aikido instructor at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, Japan. He is the author or translator of over twenty books on Buddhism, Zen, Aikido, and Asian culture. He has practiced and taught Aikido all over the world. Sign up to learn more about our books and receive special offers from Shambhala Publications. Or visit us online to sign up at shambhala.com/eshambhala. DEWDROPS ON A LOTUS LEAF Zen Poems of Rykan Translated & edited by John Stevens SHAMBHALA Boston & London 2012 Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com 1993 by John Stevens Cover art: Autumn Leaves, by Rykan. Ink on decorated paper. Courtesy of the Takashi Yanagi Collection. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. [Poems. English. English.

Selections] Dewdrops on a lotus leaf: Zen poems of Rykan/translated and edited by John Stevens.1st ed. p. cm.(Shambhala centaur editions) eISBN 978-0-8348-2608-3 ISBN 978-1-59030-108-1 ISBN 978-1-57062-261-8 (previous edition) ISBN 978-0-87773-884-8 (alk. paper) (original paperback) 1. Rykan, 17581831Translations into English. 2.

Zen poetry, JapaneseTranslations into English. 3. Zen poetry, ChineseTranslations into English. I. Stevens, John, 1947 . Title. III. Series. Series.

PL797.6.A28 1993 93-20221 895.6134dc20 CIP Contents THE ZEN POET Rykan was born in 1758 in the remote and snowy province of Echig, located in northern Honsh, bordering the Sea of Japan. His father was the village headman and a haiku poet of some note, and Rykan received a thorough education in the classics of China and Japan. Shy and studious as a boy, Rykan was the local Don Juan for a brief period in his youth. Following a spiritual crisis around the age of twenty, however, he renounced his patrimony and entered a Zen monastery. In 1780 Rykan became the disciple of Kokusen, the top St Zen rshi of the period, and accompanied that master to Ents-ji in Tamashima. Rykan trained diligently at that lovely little monastery until Kokusens death in 1791.

Even though he had received formal sanction as Kokusens Dharma heir, Rykan spurned all invitations to head up his own temple and embarked instead on a long pilgrimage, wandering all over Japan during the next decade. In his early forties, Rykan drifted back to his native place, and he remained there the rest of his days, living quietly in mountain hermitages. He supported himself by begging, sharing his food with birds and beasts, and spent his time doing Zen meditation, gazing at the moon, playing games with the local children and geisha, visiting friends, drinking rice wine with farmers, dancing at festivals, and composing poems brushed in exquisite calligraphy. A friend wrote this about Rykan: When Rykan visits it is as if spring had come on a dark winters day. His character is pure and he is free of duplicity and guile. Rykan resembles one of the immortals of ancient literature and religion.

He radiates warmth and compassion. He never gets angry, and will not listen to criticism of others. Mere contact with him brings out the best in people. Once a relative of Rykans asked him to speak to his delinquent son. Rykan came to visit the family home but did not say a word of admonition to the boy. He stayed the night and prepared to leave the following morning.

As the wayward boy was helping tie Rykans straw sandals, he felt a warm drop of water on his shoulder. Glancing up, the boy saw Rykan, with eyes full of tears, looking down at him. Rykan departed silently, but the boy soon mended his ways. The samurai lord of the local domain heard of Rykans reputation as a worthy Zen monk and wanted to construct a temple and install Rykan as abbot. The lord went to visit the monk at Gog-an, Rykans hermitage on Mount Kugami, but he was out gathering flowers, and the party waited patiently until Rykan returned with a bowl full of fragrant blossoms. The lord made his request, but Rykan remained silent.

Then he brushed a haiku on a piece of paper and handed it to the lord: The wind gives me Enough fallen leaves To make a fire. The lord nodded in acknowledgment and returned to his castle. Once, after the long winter confinement, Rykan visited the village barber to have his shaggy head of hair shaved off. The barber cut one side but then demanded a ransom to finish the job: a sample of Ry-kans calligraphy. Rykan brushed the name of a Shint god, a kind of calligraphy that served as a goodluck charm. Pleased that he had outwitted the monk, the barber had the calligraphy mounted and displayed it in his alcove.

A visitor remarked to the barber one day, You know, there is a character missing from the gods name. Such an omission negates the calligraphys effect as a talisman, and the barber confronted Rykan. Rykan scolded him good-naturedly for his greed: You short-changed me, so I short-changed you. That kind old lady down the road always gives me extra bean cake, so the calligraphy I gave her has an extra character in it! Old and infirm, Rykan was finally obliged to leave his mountain hut and spent his final days at the home of one of his patrons in the village. Near the end of his life, he fell in love with the beautiful young nun Teishin. She was at Rykans side when he passed away on January 6, 1831, at age seventy-three.

Rykan wrote thousands of poems and poem-letters, both Chinese and Japanese style, and scattered them about. These were treasured by the local folk and later lovingly studied and collected by scholars. The first edition of Rykans poems, titled Hachisu no Tsuyu (Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf) and compiled by Teishin, appeared in 1835. Expanded collections of Ry-kans work have continued to be published over the years, and he is likely Japans most popular and beloved Zen poet. As mentioned in the tale above, Rykans delightful brushwork, totally unaffected and free-flowing, is also highly esteemed, and Rykan is venerated as one of the greatest calligraphers of all time in East Asia. The practice of Zen and the appreciation of Zen art is now universal, and Rykans life and spirit speak to lovers of poetry, religion, and beauty everywhere.

The selection of poems presented here reflects the range and depth of Rykans Zen vision. He focused on things deep inside the heart, and his poems cover the spectrum of human experience: joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, enlightenment and illusion, love and loneliness, man and nature. Like those of his counterpart Cold Mountain (Han-shan), the legendary Zen poet of Tang China, Rykans poems reveal the full, rich texture of Zen. Good friends and excellent teachers Stick close to them! Wealth and power are fleeting dreams But wise words perfume the world for ages.