|
Memories of Ennin / Jikaku Taishi & Kakua ... More Will Be Added:
Events that Most Probably Never Took Place
- And, "Translations" and "Renderings" that Pathetically Fail
a Few Quite Simple Fact Checks<
PART 1 of this presentation will set focus on 9th century Ennin and alleged late 12th century Kakua.
A planned PART 2 will take into account 14th century 'Minki',
a Chinese Zen monk who settled down in Japan to practice and teach Buddhism there,
and a late 17th century questionable account of 15th century Ikkyū Sōjun and Rōan being "friends"?
A potential future PART 3 will challenge seriously unbelievable claims about Shinchi Kakushin and Kyochiku Ryōen Zenji,
presented in documents dated 1795 and 1735, respectively.
PART 1
ENNIN / JIKAKU TAISHI
Did the 9th Century Tendai Monk Ennin "Perform" the Amida Sutra on a Shakuhachi?
Ennin/Jikaku Taishi, 9th century. A treasure of the Ichijō Temple, Hyōgo Pref.
Ennin is a highly reputed historical Tendai Buddhist monk and productive author who,
in 838 CE, journeyed to China as a member of an official Japanese diplomatic mission to China.
Ennin is not least famous for this very comprehensive report of his, published in a complete English translation in 1955:
Edwin O. Reischaur: Ennin's Diary. The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law.
Ronald Press Co., New York, 1955.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: July 1, 2024.
1212:
古事談 - KOJIDAN
"Tales of Ancient Matters"
A 13th century orally transmitted story known as 'setsuwa',
説話.
An anecdote about ENNIN, posthum. Jikaku Taishi, 793/794-866,
supposedly having played a 'shakuhachi', performing the Amida Sutra?
Important note: This anecdote is apocryphal.
The "event" certainly never took place!
唱名 - SHŌMYŌ
音聲不足令座給之間、
以尺八引聲ノ阿彌陀經ヲ令吹傳給ヌ、
「成就如是 功徳莊嚴」
ト云所ヲ, エ吹セ給ハザリケレバ、
常行堂ノ辰巳ノ松扉ニテ、
吹アツカハセ給タリケルニ、
空中ニ有音告云、
「ヤノ音ヲ加ヨ」云云、
自之如是ヤト云音ハ加也。
"At times when Ennin could not hear clearly, he used a shakuhachi in order to chant the Amida Sūtra.
If he did not manage to chant the passage '... an ideal environment so that whatever one lays eyes upon will bring about awakening',*
he would usually place himself by the 'Dragon and Serpent' pine wood doors of the temple hall, and when he had stopped blowing,
there was a voice in the middle of the empty sky proclaiming, 'Raise the ya note', and so forth. Consequently, the ya note had to be raised."
Reported in the 'Kojidan', 1212, by Minamoto no Akikane,
1160-1215. Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson. Source: Koji ruien.
This anecdote is quite certainly apocryphal.
Do note that Ennin was a Tendai monk, not a Zen monk.
Rather than actually "performing" the Amida Sutra on a shakuhachi,
Ennin would have employed the instrument mainly for intonation.
This anecdote is also reported in the Taigenshō of 1512.
* The unabridged sentence in the Amida Sūtra, par. 3, reads as follows:
舍利弗．極樂國土． 成就如是．功徳莊嚴。
"Shariputra, this land of Ultimate Bliss is an ideal environment so that
whatever one lays eyes upon will bring about awakening."
Translation: Jodo Shu Research Institute, 2003.
Link: Jodo Shu Research Institute
Sweden's Gunnar Jinmei Linder relates the incident like this in his 2012 thesis, on page 98:
"The earliest remark about shakuhachi used in relation to Buddhism comes from Kojidan,
probably compiled in 1215 by Minamoto no Akikane.
Jikaku Daishi (Ennin) is supposed to have played the shakuhachi during a recitation of the Amida Sutra (Sukhavati in Sanskrit),
because the voices were too low."
That is not precisely what the original texts reads.
Link to Gunnar Linder's thesis, PDF file
KAKUA: A Famous Anecdote about the Late 12th Century "Zen monk" Kakua 覺阿 Playing a Flute
1322:
元亨釈書
GENKŌ SHAKUSHO
"The Genkō Period Account of Buddhism" (in Japan),
By the Rinzai Zen monk Kokan Shiren,
虎関師錬, 1278–1347
禪
の
笛 - ZEN no FUE
Important note: This anecdote is apocryphal!
That event most probably never really took place.
This is the verifiably extremely short and simple text, in 'kanbun', that, as you will soon see below,
was blown up into pretty much utter nonsensical fantasy by two US American individuals,
namely Elliot Weisgarber and Stan Richardson, each in their ways.
First, the orogical text:
- - -
嘉應帝聞阿禪行召問宗要。
阿横一笛吹之應制。
時機未稔君臣莫測。
惜哉化行不聞乎。
" - - - In the Kaō Period [1169-1171] the Emperor [Takakura, r. 1168-1180] heard of [Kaku-]A's Zen practice.
[He] summoned [the monk to the court] and inquired about the essentials of the sect.
[Kaku-]A - [who by his] side [was carrying] a flute - blew it in response to the Imperial command.
The times not yet being ripe, the Emperor and his retainers did not fathom [the essence of Kakua's teaching].
Regretful indeed! [Kakua] left and was not heard from [again], was he?"
This story about the Rinzai Zen monk Kakua, b. 1142, has been
preserved in the 'Genkō shakusho', the oldest extant account of
Buddhism in Japan written by the Rinzai monk Kokan Shiren,
1278-1346, completed in the second year of the Genkō Period: 1322.
Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson, 2010.
Although the story is apocryphal - the event most certainly never
took place - at least some facts about Kakua's life are known:
Born in 1142, Kakua first studied Tendai Buddhism on Mt. Hiei.
Having heard of the influence of Ch'an in China, however, in 1171
he went to the mainland to become a disciple of Hsia-t'ang Hui-yüan,
1103-1176, at the temple Ling-yin-ssu in Hang-chou, S. China.
Hui-yüan's master was the famous Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in, 1063-1135.
Receiving his master's Dharma seal, 'inka', in 1175, Kakua returned
to Japan and spent the remainder of this life as a recluse on Mt. Hiei.
Do note that Kakua is recorded to have played a 'fue'
一笛,
most probably a transverse flute - not a shakuhachi.
Besides, there is a discrepancy between the dates:
The Kaō Period ended in 1171 and was succeeded by
the Shōan, 1171-1175, and Angen, 1175-1177, periods.
Kakua returned from China only in 1175, so ...
References: Kraft, 1997, p. 49; Dumoulin, 2005, p. 7;
Baroni, 2002, p. 173; Zengaku Jiten, p. 170.
The complete entry about Kakua in the 'Genkō shakusho' can be
found here (PDF): Kakua entry in the 'Genkō shakusho', 1322
Elliot Weisgarber retold that story in 1973, edited and eventually published online in 2019:
"Long ago, when Kamakura was still the headquarters of the ruling military government,
it is said that a certain famous Zen monk was invited by a Kyoto nobleman to visit the old capital
to lead a discussion on the nature of Zen.
The new religion, still little understood in Japan, had come not long before from China and had taken root in the harsh,
military life of Kamakura.
There, on the slopes of the rocky hills which rim the little plain and its crescent beach,
shaded by thick groves of tall, silent cryptomerias, the great temples of Engaku-ji and Kenchō-ji flourished.
As far away as Kyoto, the Zen sect’s strange, radical, philosophical attitudes had begun to attract the attention of the aristocrats,
once so powerful but forced now by their warrior underlings to while away their days in wretched inactivity and impotent frustration.
And so the venerable monk made the long, arduous journey from Kamakura, following the rugged coast, crossing lonely mountain passes, arriving finally at the capital.
There, one evening when the nobles had gathered to hear him speak, someone asked the inevitable question: "Master, what is Zen?"
Without hesitation (we are told) the Kamakura monk pulled from its silken wrapping a shakuhachi and brought it to his lips.
After blowing a single, sustained note he looked up at his audience and said, “That is Zen.”
He replaced the instrument in its wrapper, rose slowly to his feet and, to the astonishment of the assembled guests, silently took his leave."
Link to the online edition of Elliot Weisgarber's 1973/2019 book:
https://www.komuso.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?book=294&lang=39
Once again, revoking H.C. Andersen, 19th century: "the single feather that grows into five hens"
Stan Richardson retold the anecdote on his website some years ago in his own way.
The WIDESPREAD URBAN STORY VERSION of the MYTH:
Kakua arrived at the court and stood quietly before the Emperor and all his esteemed advisors and courtesans who had all gathered to hear this renowned teacher.
After standing for a long period in silence, during which time the court grew agitated, Kakua removed a bamboo flute from the folds of his robe,
blew one short single tone, bowed politely and left.
He returned to the mountains where he was seldom heard from again."
Quotation from Stan Richardson's web page:
www.stanrichardson.com/article_1.html.
Here you also experience what the famous Danish 19th century fairy tale writer H.C. Andersen described as "a single feather growing into five hens":
|
|
