TALKS during our ROHATSU RETREAT are about life, strength, joy, vibrancy ... although called "Death Poems," said to be the last words of Zen monks and haiku poets. Although superficially mournful at first glance, they are also filled with wisdom, existential power to live, positivity, humor and reminders of how precious is our life now. Zen folks just to not divide our entrances and exits on the stage of life, nor all the drama in between. We even celebrate the end of life as life well lived.
If you would like to read an academic explanation about this genre of Japanese poetry, it's history and custom, please read from page 13 to 43 or so, here:
https://www.academia.edu/32662080/Ja...Verge_of_Death
Talks during our Retreat will be led by our Treeleaf Novice Priests, at the following times, and based on some or all of the poems below.
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Quote:
Geika (Unit 1-3)
MUMON GENSEN
Died on the twenty-second day of the third month, 1390 at the age of sixty-eight
Life is an ever-rolling wheel
And every day is the right one.
He who recites poems at his death
Adds frost to snow.
["Adding frost to snow" is an expression of doing something which is extra or not needed]
* * * *
Life is like a cloud of mist
Emerging from a mountain cave
And death
A floating moon
In its celestial course.
If you think too much.
About the meaning they may have
You'll be bound forever
Like an ass to a stake.
(These are two separate poems. They were spoken, apparently one after the other, just before Mumon's death.)
~~~~~
KASO SODON
Died on the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month, 1428 at the age of seventy-seven
A drop of water freezes instantly-
My seven years and seventy.
All changes at a blow
Springs of water welling from the fire.
(Kaso was the teacher of [the famous Ikkyu Sojun]. His comparison of his seventy-seven-year-long life to "a drop of water (that) freezes instantly" symbolizes transience, the essence of this world of senses according to Buddhist doctrine [much as our bodies and "self" appear in the world from causes and conditions like liquid water turning to solid ice, then someday to melt back into the world]. The "blow" that changes all refers to enlightenment [like the solid ice of our "self" suddenly smashed with a blow]: a thing no longer contradicts its opposite [such as "self" vs. "not self"], and time and space are no longer perceived through the concepts of the ordinary mind. Life may seem to flee in a moment, but when the mind is freed of the veil of ignorance and illusion that comes between the mind and the truth, life and death are only opposite sides of the same coin --"water welling from the fire.")
~~~~~
GOHEI
Died on the seventh day of the seventh month, 1819
A lone paulownia leaf
falls through
pure autumn air.
Aki ya ima
kiyoshi to kiri no
hito-ha chiru
(The paulownia (kiri) is a tree with large purple flowers, a member of the figwort family. A "lone paulownia leaf" appears in ancient Chinese poetry as a seasonal image for the first part of autumn. Even without the aid of autumn winds, the large leaves of the paulownia tree fall one by one. This sight suggests the beginning of autumn and the oncoming end of life. [But is it also the beginning of something too, as the seasons roll onward?]
~~~~~~
KYOSHU
Died on the sixteenth day ef the sixth month, 1769 at the age of eighty
A journey of no return:
the wanderer's sack is
bottomless.
Sokonuke ya
kaeranu tabi no
zudabukuro
(Kyoshu prefaces his death poem with a phrase from Zen Buddhist writings: "I came from nowhere and go nowhere." The image of a bottomless sack which also fits the spirit of Zen, indicates that the wanderer's consciousness is freed from concepts like "life" and "death.")
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Quote:
Shinshi (Unit 1-5)
BASSUI TOKUSHO
Died on the twentieth day of the second month, 1387 at the age of sixty-one
Look straight ahead.
What's there?
If you see it as it is
You will never err.
~~~~~
GIZAN ZENRAI
Died on the twenty-eighth day of March, 1878 at the age of seventy-seven
I was born into this world
I leave it at my death.
Into a thousand towns
My legs have carried me,
And countless homes
What are all these?
A moon reflected in the water
A flower floating in the sky
Ho!
("Ho!" is a translation of the word totsu, a kind of challenging cry uttered at the moment of enlightenment.) [The "moon reflected in the water" is usually a symbol of enlightenment, or the unbroken, reflected in all the individual, broken appearances of the world. A flower in the sky is like a mirage, an illusion.]
~~~~~
SENGAI GIBON
Died on the seventh day of the tenth month, 1837 at the age of eighty-eight
He who comes knows only his coming
He who goes knows only his end.
To be saved from the chasm
Why cling to the cliff?
Clouds floating low
Never know where the breezes will blow them.
(Sengai is one of the most colorful figures in Japanese history: Zen monk, a painter, and a poet. His drawings and writings, both done with a flourish, vibrate with Zen insight and humor. Sengai gives one to understand, in many of his poems and sketches, that a "lifeless" life is not worth living. He once presented to a newlywed a marriage present, a senryu [poem] written in her honor and urging her thus:
Young bride
Be alive till they say to you
Diel Die!
In one of his sketches, a bent and bald old man is trying to outwit death. Above the picture Sengai wrote:
If you say, "Come back later,"
He will speedily come to snatch you away.
Say rather, "I shall not be in till I'm ninety-nine."
~~~~~~
ISAN
Died in 1698
For not honoring my parents
while I lived, in my last hour
I feel remorse.
Issho oya ni
ko o nasazaru koto o
matsugo ni kuite
~~~~~~
REN SEKI
Died on the fifth day of the seventh month, 1789 at the age of eighty-eight
I cleansed the mirror
of my heart-now it reflects
the moon.
Harai arai
kokoro no tsuki no
kagami
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Quote:
Shokai (Unit 1-7)
GOKU KYONEN
Died on the eighth day of the tenth month, 1272 at the age of fifty-six
The truth embodied in the Buddhas
Of the future, present, past;
The teaching we received from the
[Ancestors] of our faith
Can all be found at the tip of my stick.
(When Goku felt his death was near, he ordered all his monk-disciples to gather around him. He sat at the pulpit, raised his stick, gave the floor a single tap with it, and said the poem above. When he finished he raised the stick again, tapped the floor once more and cried, "See! See!" Then, sitting upright, he died.)
~~~~~
MUSHO JOSHO
Died on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, 1306 at the age of seventy-three
When it comes--just so!
When it goes-just so!
Both coming and going occur each day.
The words I am speaking now-just so!
(The sources tell us that on the day of his death, Musho summoned the other monks, arranged for his burial service, said his last words, and died sitting upright. "Just so!" or "Thus!" (nyoze) is a cry used by the Zen master to direct his pupil's attention to "things as they are" or to indicate that the student sees things clearly.)
~~~~~
TAIGEN SOFU
Died on the tenth day of the intercalary month, 1555 at the age of sixty
I raise the mirror of my life
Up to my face: sixty years.
With a swing I smash the reflection
The world as usual
All in its place.
~~~~~
HOKUSHI
Died on the twelfth day of the eighth month, 1718
I write, erase, rewrite,
erase again, and then
a poppy blooms.
Kaite mitari
keshitari hate wa
keshi no hana
(Hokushi's death poem is built around a pun. Keshi means "to erase" as well as "poppy," so the poem may be read, "I write, erase, rewrite, / erase again, and then / a flower erases." However it is read, the poem's intent remains the same-that nature eventually overwhelms culture. The poppy blooms in Japan at the beginning of summer, the season in which Hokushi died. Hokushi, a sword-sharpener, learned to write haiku from Basho. He would not hesitate to suggest changes in his teacher' s poems, and Basho praised him for his helpful criticism.)
~~~~~
KOHA
Died on the fourteenth day of August, 1897
I cast the brush aside --
from here on I'll speak to the moon
face to face.
Fude nagete
tsuki ni mono iu
bakari nari
[The moon is often taken as a symbol of enlightenment.]
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Quote:
Kokuu (Unit 2-3)
KOZAN ICHIKYO
Died on the twelfth day of the second month, 1360 at the age of seventy-seven
Empty-handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
(A few days before his death, Kozan called his pupils together, ordered them to bury him without ceremony, and forbade them to hold services in his memory. He wrote this poem on the morning of his death, laid down his brush, and died sitting upright.)
~~~~~
YAKUO TOKUKEN
Died on the nineteenth day of the fifth month, 1320 at the age of seventy-six
My six and seventy years are through.
I was not born, I am not dead.
Clouds floating on the high wide skies
The moon curves through its million-mile course.
(Two days before his death, Yakuo called his fellow monks together and said, "The words of a man before he dies are no small matter. This is a barrier that all must pass through. Tell me each of you what you think about that." The monks answered in various ways, and Yakuo neither approved nor disapproved. The next day he ordered his pupils to burn his body and forbade them to hold an elaborate burial ceremony. "Tomorrow morning," he said, "I shall eat the rice porridge with you for breakfast, and at noon I shall go." The following day at noon he wrote his final words, threw the brush from his hand, and died sitting upright.)
~~~~~
CHOWA
Died on the seventeenth day of the tenth month, 1715 at the age of seventy-eight
This is one poem
people won't dispute --
the winds of winter.
Kono ikku
shugihan nashi
kogarashi no
~~~~~
ISSA
Died on the nineteenth day of the eleventh month, 1827 at the age of sixty-five
What matter if I live on-
a tortoise lives
a hundred times as long.
A mama yo
ikite mo kame no
hyaku-bu ichi
(Issa is considered one of Japan's greatest haiku poets. Among the common people of Japan he is perhaps loved more than any other poet, because of the many vicissitudes of his life, and because of the human simplicity of his poetry. Accounts of Issa's death do not indicate that he wrote a death poem: these two poems are held to be his death poems by popular tradition.
An ancient Oriental belief features the tortoise as a symbol of long life, ascribing to it a life of ten thousand years. Should man live to be one hundred, his life would be no more than a hundredth part of the life of this shell-covered creature that drags its tail in the mud. Why then should a man ask for another year, a month, or a day?)
~~~~~
RYOKAN
Died on the sixth day of the first month, 1831 at the age of seventy-four
Now it reveals its hidden side
and now the other-thus it falls,
an autumn leaf
Ura o mise
omote o misete
chiru momiji
(Ryokan is one of the most well-known of Japan's poets. At the age of seventeen he left his home and from then until his death lived as a Zen monk. Most of the time he supported himself by begging rice from door to door. He was always content with his lot. At times he would take part in the village children's games, or gather herbs with the women. Near the end of his life he became attached to a young Zen nun named Teishinni, who tended and fed him in his illness. His death poem may have been composed by another poet; it was spoken by Ryokan to Teishinni in his fast moments.)
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Quote:
Sekishi (Unit 2-5)
KOGAKUSOKO
Died on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, 1548 at the age of eighty-four
My final words are these:
As I fall I throw all on a high mountain peak
Lo! All creation shatters; thus it is
That I destroy Zen doctrine.
~~~~~
ZOSO ROYO
Died on the fifth day of the sixth month, 1276 at the age of eighty-four
I pondered Buddha's teaching
A full four and eighty years.
The gates are all now locked about me.
No one was ever here-
Who then is he about to die,
And why lament for nothing?
Farewell!
The night is dear,
The moon shines calmly,
The wind in the pines
Is like a lyre's song.
With no I and no other
Who hears the sound?
~~~~~
KOGETSU SOGAN
Died on the first day of the tenth month, 1643 at the age of seventy
Katsu!
Katsu!
Katsu!
Katsu!
(The word katsu cannot really be translated conceptually. It is a sharp cry used by the Zen teacher and pupil at the moment of enlightenment. The cry appears in many Chinese and Japanese Zen writings and can be heard even today within monastery walls.)
~~~~~
KOKEI SOCHIN
Died on the seventeenth day of the.first month, 1597 at the age of sixty-six
For over sixty years
I often cried Katsu! to no avail.
And now, while dying,
Once more to cry Katsu!
Won't change a thing.
(On the second day of the eighth month, 1596, the sixty-five year-old Kokei took ill. Certain he would die soon, he composed his death poem. When he had finished reciting it, he "died." After six hours, however, he revived and began preaching to the monks who had gathered around his bed. Kokei abandoned the world for good about five months later.)
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TAKUAN SOHO
Died on the eleventh day of the twelfth month, 1645 at the age of seventy-three
(Lying on his deathbed, Takuan at first refused to write a death poem. At last, he gave in to the entreaties of those surrounding him, took up his brush, and drew the character for "dream," [夢]. When he finished, he threw the brush down and died. Takuan had requested beforehand that his body be burned on a mountain, that no burial service be held, and that no tombstone be put up for him.)
