Hi Everyone,
In my last newsletter, I included a video from Heron Dance Art Studios that featured
this quotation (top image) attributed to Ikkyu. I really love these
wise words and wondered more about the man who said them.
Below, I share more about this eccentric monk and urge you to listen to his enchanting
and yet somehow haunting flute melody. It awakened something in me that hadn’t
been tickled before. I felt altered somehow. Listen for yourself and see if you resonate
with 15th – century musical inspiration. Notice if this exquisite piece affects your
epansion of consciousness.
x
Ikkyu
Ikkyu was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, disruptor, musician, and artist. He is
remembered mostly for a more radical approach to the journey towards higher and
higher states of consciousness. He broke many monastic rules and was a free thinker
related to his stance against celibacy. He drank alcohol to excess and delighted in
embarrassing his master when important guests were present.
He was one of the few Zen practitioners within a religious context who argued that
partaking in love and sex deepened enlightenment. He thought that sex was a part of
being human and, therefore, should be included as part of our journey to greater
consciousness. He wrote “…love play can make you immortal: The autumn breeze of a
single night of love is better than a thousand years of sterile sitting meditation…”
He told his superiors that “brothel girls” who, unlike priests whose minds were filled with
philosophical theories and precepts, existed in a state of no-mind, facing the present
moments immediately.
Ikkyu’s Enlightenment
It is said that Ikkyu was meditating on a boat, and the sound of a crow’s call instantly
sparked Satori or enlightenment upon him. When his master learned of his supposed
awakening, he told Ikkyu that no, he was not yet enlightened by this spark. Ikkyu
dismissively told his master he didn’t care. When Ikkyu said he didn’t care, his master
declared him enlightened!
Musician and Artist
This revered monk was esteemed as one of the greatest influencers of the traditional
Japanese Tea Ceremony. He also greatly impacted the direction of calligraphers and
Sumi-e artists. Ikkyu was a very well-known flutist during medieval times in Japan. You
can listen HERE to one of his most famous pieces. I can just imagine the monks in the
monastery listening to his flute playing and glimpsing Satori or at least momentarily
tasting a more elevated way of being, merely by hearing these gorgeous sounds. I
mean – after all, the only sound Ikkyu needed was the call of a crow! I can also imagine
some of the other monks having an inner chuckle as they observed Ikkyu’s antics! No
matter what you think about this bad-boy monk, you have to love his “saintly” swagger
and powerful artistic and spiritual influence.
Many blessings of love and light, elizabeth