禅Ikkyu Sojun

verse

Crazy Cloud

Kyounshu (Crazy Cloud Anthology)

Muromachi

Historically verified

Text

Look at the monks in their grand temples, chanting sutras they do not understand, counting beads while their minds wander to gold, to silk, to the next meal. Crazy Cloud has no temple, no robes of state. He drinks when thirsty, sleeps when tired. The wind blows through the bamboo— that is the only sutra he needs. Who is the true monk: the one who keeps the precepts with a dead heart, or the one who breaks them all and finds the living Buddha in a cup of wine?

license: public_domain

Attribution

Lineage: Rinzai

By Ikkyu Sojun

Sources

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