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5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Medicine Tastes Bitter, April 10 2002
Norman Waddel has made an excellent job of this translation. Rare as they are, autobiographies of Zen monks pose special difficulties - yet the translator has surmounted these, leaving us with a powerfully moving and inspiring document. Hakuin Ekaku the great reformer of Rinzai Zen in the Tokugawa,was a towering figure, a religious genius, whose rich spiritual insight expressed itself in countless ways - not only in his many Dharma talks and commentaries, but also in art. The overall impression one gets from Hakuin's teachings - is that of a formidable spirit, for whom all barriers and impediments had melted away. As such, it is easy to imagine Hakuin lacked human vulnerability. The rewarding thing about reading Hakuin's autobiography, is that reveals the trials and tribulationa the Master had to negotiate, to find that 'place of final rest.' Hakuin didn't shrink from revealing the weaknesses and foibles of his own character, and if the mature Hakuin - the accomplished Master, seems daunting, it is because he presented to others - by way of teaching and instruction - the same tasks he took upon himself. This work - the 'Itsumadegusa' shows us this process - in a detailed and exacting way. Quite evidently - going by some readers' comments, Hakuin's rather arduous path doesn't appeal everybody. There is a tendewncy to translate Zen into a kind of 'soft' option, but Hakuin was well aware of this trait - known in his day, also - and he was uncompromising about combatting it. Hakuin's severity is often contrasted with Bankei's 'easy way' - his 'Unborn Zen,' but in truth, even Bankei had to exert himself - and did exert himself. Suzuki Daisetz made this point. Besides, if Hakuin is judged according to the methods of his predecessors - in Chinese Ch'an, the Chinese biographies reveal a similar pattern.
In fact, despite being regarded as a figurehead of 'Rinzai Zen' - and therefore a champion of what is these days deemed the 'hard school' of Zen, Hakuin saw himself as a successor of the great Ch'an schools and masters of the T'ang, including the Ts'ao-tung (Soto) school, using its 'go-i' (wu-wei) or 'Five Ranks' teaching to cap his own training methods. As such, it is a distortion of Hakuin's teaching to confine to a kind of 'closed' Rinzai system. The idea would have meant nothing to Hakuin, who drank freely from the resources of the whole Zen tradition. Moreover, he was also open to certain Taoist disciplines (the 'nai-kan'), which he
utilised to restore his energy and strengthen his practice of Zen. Hakuin was, if anything - versatile. His artistic gifts enabled him to reach the people, with a Zen art style entirely his own, at once pithy, profound, humerous, striking images which could convey deep truths.Please, please - don't underestimate this wonderful figure - by trying to confine him to a sectarian box, when the man was so much alive, in the deepest sense possible. 'Itsumadegusa' gives us the 'blood, sweat and tears' of the Zen quest - and the eventual Dharma-joy, brought one man's way - by dint of following the path, the fruits of which he then dedicated to sharing with others - throughout a long life. Hakuin's autobiography is a preciouas document. It may well scare away the faint-hearted. But so be it! Those who feel bidden to tread the same way, will find an echo in it,and be enrichened thereby.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
It is easy for even the exalted to become lost..., Nov 15 2000
By A Customer
...in the trappings of religion, and religious sectarianism. Hakuin sounds more like a partisan and less like a simple zen monk. See Bankei or Huang Po for the cure.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Count satoris and grains of rice..., Oct 15 2000
By A Customer
...if you must, Hakuin, but you just couldn't sink your teeth into Bankei.
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