Bassui Tokusho
Bassui Tokusho
1327 – 1387
Bassui Tokushō (1327–1387) was one of the most original and compelling figures in Japanese Zen. Born in Sagami Province (present-day Kanagawa), he was haunted from childhood by the question of what becomes of consciousness after death. He refused to wear monks' robes, declined to live in temples, and wandered for years as an unaffiliated seeker — a radical stance in an era when monastic affiliation defined religious life. He studied under both Sōtō and Rinzai teachers, absorbing the best of each tradition while remaining stubbornly independent. His core question — "Who is the master that hears, sees, and knows?" — became the axis around which his entire practice and teaching revolved.
At the age of thirty-two, Bassui's awakening was confirmed by Kohō Kakumyō, a rigorous master in the Hottō lineage. Even after this confirmation, Bassui continued to resist institutional entanglements, preferring the solitary life of a hermit. Eventually, however, his reputation drew so many seekers that he reluctantly established Kōgaku-an, a hermitage in Kai Province (present-day Yamanashi), where thousands came to hear him teach. His instructions were characterized by relentless emphasis on direct self-inquiry rather than reliance on scripture, ritual, or external authority.
Bassui's collected teachings, known as "Mud and Water" (Wadeigassui), preserve his distinctive voice — urgent, compassionate, and uncompromising. His deathbed words to his assembled students were simply: "Look directly! What is this? Look in this manner and you won't be fooled." He remains one of the most accessible and powerful voices in the Zen tradition, speaking across centuries to anyone willing to take up the question of who, exactly, is asking.
Teachings
- proverbLook Directly
Look directly! What is this? Look in this manner and you won't be fooled.
- proverbWho Is Hearing?
Who is hearing that sound?
- sayingWho Is the Master?
Who is hearing that sound? Who is it that right now sees colors, hears voices, raises the hands, moves the feet? We know these are functions of the mind, but no one knows precisely where this mind is. All that can be said is that the mind is here. But when you try to see into it, there is nothing that can be called the mind. Yet when you are called, something answers. Who is the master? Pursue this question with single-minded devotion. Ask yourself ceaselessly: who is hearing?
- sermonMud and Water
If you cling to emptiness and deny the reality of things, you are like someone who drowns in water to avoid being burned by fire. If you cling to form and deny emptiness, you are like someone who walks into fire to escape drowning. Neither emptiness nor form can be grasped. When you stop trying to grasp them, the truth reveals itself of its own accord. Do not attach to the idea that mind is void, and do not attach to the idea that mind is something. The one who does not attach to either side—that one walks freely between heaven and earth.
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1327-1387
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Bassui Tokusho
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Rinzai
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Koho Kakumyo