The "Ascetic Shakuhachi" Historical Evidence Research Web Pages

2025: ChatGPT.com On "Torsten Olafsson"

Mid-June, 2025 - ChatGPT.com Responds to the Requests:
     Who (What) is That (Danish) Guy aka "Torsten Olafsson"?

Now again, obviously: We also do have to fact check AI generated information
- on ChatGPT.com, not least!

Do observe for your general information, however:
Every time you search the very same subject on ChatGPT.com, the result that turns up on your screen is more or less different than the one that you saw before!


As of June 14, 2025, asking ChatGPT.com about "Torsten Olafsson", this is just a little bit of what turned up on the screen (example), apart from a few nice photos copied from the internet:

"Torsten Olafsson is a multi-talented Danish musician and shakuhachi expert who blends performance, scholarship, design, and cultural exchange.
From founding a pioneering prog-rock band to deeply exploring Zen shakuhachi tradition—and sharing it widely—his career spans creative and academic realms."


On June 12, 2025, these were some of the search results:

"Torsten Olafsson is a distinguished Danish shakuhachi player, musicologist, Japanologist,
and teacher, with deep engagement in the early history and ideology of the komusō/Fuke shakuhachi tradition."

"His critical research website, zen shakuhachi.dk, challenges and reconstructs narratives surrounding Zen-related shakuhachi history."

"In short, Torsten Olafsson is a leading voice critically reevaluating the komusō/Fuke shakuhachi tradition, questioning romantic Zen tropes, and refocusing attention on its true historical and ideological roots."


And, on June 11, 2025, slightly different, still quite complimenting search results showed on the screen, for example:

"Here’s a refined overview of Torsten Olafsson — a pivotal figure in modern shakuhachi studies and the deconstruction of the suizen myth:"

"His research challenges commonly held assumptions about Komusō monks and Fuke shakuhachi origins, revealing a mix of religious and philosophical influences—including Advaita, Taoism, Shingon, and Pure Land Buddhism—rather than pure Zen."

"Olafsson is one of the foremost proponents of the view that “suizen” is a modern construct, dating back no earlier than the 20th century, and not an authentic medieval Zen practice."

"His textual analysis, particularly of early documents like the Kaidō Honsoku (1628), forms key evidence that the Komosō (and later Komusō) were ascetic practitioners with complex philosophical traditions — not strictly Zen monks performing meditative flute playing."

"Prominent Japanese scholars (e.g., Tsukitani Tsuneko) recognize Olafsson’s research as among the most rigorous outside Japan, noting the paucity of domestic scholarship."

"Summary:
Torsten Olafsson bridges performance, ethnomusicological scholarship, and critical historical research.

His work not only enriches modern shakuhachi practice but also rigorously challenges widely held myths about suizen
— grounding the art in accurate context and multidimensional heritage."

Yours Truly :-) Torsten 'Mukuteki' Olafsson, June 14, 2025.