Great Fool: Zen Master Ryōkan; Poems, Letters, and Other Writings

i have studies several different collections of translations of this poet, and and addition to being quite comprehensive and varied, these selections and translations make for the best experience, by far, for reading this essential poet in english

I own 120 books of poetry, and this one is easily my favorite. In other versions, Ryokan is presented as a mythical, larger-than-life character. The editors in this work succeed in breaking through to a complex portrait of an ordinary man who has inspired generations by the way he lived his life, and by his strikingly beautiful art. While many biographical details are still sketchy, the reader of this volume still comes away with an image of a monk who was probably curmudgeonly as well as generous, intellectually gifted as well as naive, happy as well as pained. The inclusion of some of Ryokan's essays was especially helpful in allowing the reader a comprehensive view of the man. The essays that begin the book are interesting and insightful, and worth giving an additional look. I wish these authors had taken on the translation and annotation of the rest of Ryokan's known poems. I want more. Highly recommended.

Ryokan,a great zen monk who dubbed himself"the great fool" is one of the most revered figures in all Japan. As a wandering begging monk{one robe, a bowl and walking stick} Ryokan celebrates the quotidian,whether a stong pot of tea, sake,playing ball with village children,or the warming embers of a dying fire in the midst of Winter,he makes these images come alive,with vibrancy and suppleness. This volume conatins remembrances of Ryokan from contemporaries,disciples,students and those he met along the way. Along with his Reflections on Buddhism,this volume also contains a very helpfulessay, a poetics of mendicancy by ryuichi abe`,and another essay by ab`,commemorating ryokan. the introductory essay by peter haskel, ryokan of mount kugami puts ryokan in his historical perpective. However, above all, it is the pure airy poetry of the master himself.Cleansing and wonderful...

Received as promised in excellent condition.

Very good book on the attitude of poetry and a life of less.

perfecto

Something about Ryokan just captures the imagination. An eccentric Zen monk living in a hut in the mountains, dashing off fine poetry and refined calligraphy after making the rounds in the towns below with his begging bowl, playing ball with the kids and sipping sake with the farmers along the way. Living a life free of the many conventions and responsibilities that hem us in, Ryokan seems to speak directly to us with a straightforward, friendly, unpretentious eloquence. Apparently this is a voice we find greatly appealing, and there are a great number of fine books about him and his poetry in English.Still, of these, "Great Fool: Zen Master Ryokan" really stands out as an excellent scholarly treatment of Ryokan and his art. Special attention is given to the nature of his religious orientation and his place in late Tokugawa literary society. His relationships with sponsors and fellow literati (of both Confucian, Kokugaku, and Buddhist persuasions) are fleshed out through translations of his letters, his role and image in local society exemplified by Kera Yoshishige's firsthand biography (one of the earliest), and his strict Soto Zen religiosity are revealed in several sermonistic essays on Buddhism--these latter especially reveal a very different Ryokan, strident and very critical of the state of institutional Buddhism in his day, erudite in the difficult writings of Dogen and the canonical Mahayana sutras, whose practice of seclusion and begging turn out to be highly unusual in his own context and thus a very intentional manifesto of his firmly-held religious principles. And of course there are the poems, lots and lots of them, both kanshi and waka, all of which have been specially selected with a view to shedding light on many of these same questions--for what they tell us about Ryokan the literatus, Ryokan the local weirdo, Ryokan the Soto Zen monk, and hence Ryokan the man living during late Tokugawa Japan.The three scholarly essays at the beginning of the book by Haskel and Abe outline these same themes as well as discussing perceptions of Ryokan in modern and contemporary Japan, his role as a kind of household name and folkloric culture hero and the very divergent academic takes on him by his different Japanese interpreters. Much consideration is given too to the evolution of Ryokan studies over time and of the nature and reliability of the sources we use to understand him. All of this makes this book extremely useful, almost indispensable really, for anyone who wants to study Ryokan in-depth, and this more than makes up for the fact that the translations of the poems themselves seem just a tad prosaic sometimes. Highly recommended to anyone interested in late Tokugawa Buddhism and its relation to literature as well as to all diehard Ryokan fans, of course.

yes lovely book from my favourite poet. I am very happy with my item because it took me a while to find it. Great purchase. Great book.

One of the great masters of japanese poetry.The book is a comprehensive selection of the zen masters writings.

My go to poet.