Ikkyu: Crow With No Mouth: 15th Century Zen Master

by Stephen Berg

Overview

When Zen master Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) was appointed headmaster of the great temple at Kyoto, he lasted nine days before denouncing the rampant hypocrisy he saw among the monks there. He in turn invited them to look for him in the sake parlors of the Pleasure Quarters. A Zen monk-poet-calligrapher-musician, he dared to write about the joys of erotic love, along with more traditional Zen themes. He was an eccentric and genius who dared to defy authority and despised corruption. Although he lived during times plagued by war, famine, rioting, and religious upheaval, his writing and music prevailed, influencing Japanese culture to this day.

Stephen Berg is the Editor and founder of American Poetry Review.

Also available by Stephen Berg
Steel Cricket
PB $16.00, 1-55659-075-X • CUSA
New&Selected Poems
PB $12.00, 1-55659-043-1 • CUSA

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619320765
Publisher:	Copper Canyon Press
Publication date:	12/04/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	80
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Stephen Berg, founding editor of American Poetry Review, is the author of two dozen books of poetry and translations. He is a professor of English at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.