Takuan Sōhō | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Takuan Sōhō, by Kimura Tokuō, 17th century | |
| Title | Rōshi |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1573-12-24)24 December 1573 |
| Died | 27 January 1645(1645-01-27) (aged 71) Edo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Rinzai |
Takuan Sōhō (沢庵 宗彭; December 24, 1573 – January 27, 1645) was a Japanese Buddhist prelate during theSengoku and earlyEdo Periods of Japanese history. He was a major figure in theRinzai school ofZen Buddhism. Noted for hiscalligraphy, poetry,tea ceremony, he is also popularly credited with the invention of thetakuan pickled radish.
Takuan Sōhō was born as the second son of Akiba Tsunanori, asamurai and senior retainer of the Yamana clan in the town ofIzushi, inTajima Province (present-dayToyooka, Hyōgo). When he was eight years old, theYamana clan were defeated by the forces ofOda Nobunaga led byHashiba Hideyoshi, making his father aronin. In 1582 Takuan entered the temple of Shōen-ji in Izushi as an acolyte, and in 1586 he was sent to the temple of Sōkyō-ji, also in Izushi, to further studies. In 1591,Maeno Nagayasu, the lord of Izushi Castle during this period, invited Kaoru Sotada a disciple ofDaitoku-ji'sShunoku Sōen to administer Sōkyō-ji and Takuan became his disciple. When Kaoru was transferred back toDaitoku-ji in 1594, Takuan accompanied him toKyoto. There, he studied also directly under Shunoku Sōen at the temple of Sangen-in. In 1599, whenIshida Mitsunari built a memorial temple for his mother inSawayama Castle, Shunoku and Takuan relocated to Sawayama and remained into the following year. However, after the fall of the castle subsequent to theBattle of Sekigahara and the death of Ishida Mitsunari, Takuan escaped. He was able to recover the body of the executed Ishida Mitsunari and assisted in his funeral services at Sangen-in in Kyoto. After his mentor, Kaoru Sotada died, Takuan relocated toSakai inIzumi Province. He took the name of "Takuan" in 1604, having used a number of names up until this point as assigned by various of his teachers.
In 1607, Takuan returned to Daitoku-ji and in 1609 was appointed its 154th head abbot. However, he left after only a few days for a prolonged period of traveling, claiming that he neither sought nor wanted the responsibility. Throughout his journeys, Takuan raised and collected funds for the renovation ofDaitoku-ji and other Zen temples. In 1620, he returned to his home town of Izushi where the temple of Sukyo-ji had recently been restored by the newdaimyo ofIzushi Domain, Koide Yoshihide.
Under theTokugawa shogunate, the government imposed strict regulations on Buddhist temples, and in the case of influential temples such as Daitoku-ji, sought to weaken or break their relationship with theImperial Court. In the case of Daitoku-ji in particular, it had been tradition that the priesthood was appointed by imperial decree, but now the shogunate declared that such appointments would need to be approved first by theShogun inEdo. In what later came to be called the "Purple Robe Incident" (紫衣事件,Shie Jiken), in 1627,Emperor Go-Mizunoo awarded the purple robes of priesthood to senior monks at Daitoku-ji. The shogunate promptly declared this action to be illegal and ordered theKyoto Shoshidai to confiscate the robes. Takuan, together with the senior priesthood of Daitoku-ji andMyōshin-ji protested this action, and were arrested. They were tried forsedition atEdo Castle in front of ShogunTokugawa Hidetada and Takuan was banished toKaminoyama inDewa Province. In 1632, after the death of Hidetada, a general amnesty was proclaimed. Takuan returned to Daitoku-ji and was received in an audience arranged byYagyū Munenori andTenkai in Kyoto byTokugawa Iemitsu, who was very much impressed by Takuan's intelligence and insights. At Iemitsu's invitation, he returned to Edo, where he gave many lectures to Iemitsu, who eventually rescinded the "Purple Robes decree" in 1641, restoring Daitoku-ji to its original honors. In the meantime, Iemitsu had the temple ofTōkai-ji constructed inShinagawa at the outskirts of Edo in 1639 especially for Takuan, so that he could draw on Takuan's counsel at any time.
Takuan refused to giveDharma transmission, preferring instead to cut off his line. He felt the Dharma was not something which could be passed on, and thus, did not depend on an unbroken transmission from teacher to disciple.[1] His final instructions were, “I have no disciple who has succeeded to my Dharma [i.e., teaching]. After I am dead, if anyone says he is my heir, that person is a Dharma thief. Report him to the authorities and see that he is punished severely!”[2] According to Haskel, Takuan's view was that "Zen mind exists any time a dedicated practitioner experiences realization, with orwithout a teacher's sanction and support."[3]
Takuan died in Edo in 1645. In the moments before his death, he wrote thekanji for "dream" (夢,yume), and laid down his brush. He also left behind a will stating that a "tombstone must not be built" and that he should be buried without any ceremony in an unmarked grave. His disciples promptly erected gravestones at the temple ofTōkai-ji (東海寺) and also at the temple of Sukyō-ji (宗鏡寺) in Izushi. His grave at Tōkai-ji was proclaimed aNational Historic Site in 1926.[4]
Takuan taught that the Right Mind, which he also called theMind of No-Mind, is not placed anywhere, but rather moves about freely in all directions, and "neither congeals nor fixes itself in one place."[5] For Takuan, for the mind to have some place of abiding and stopping is the mind of delusion and the affliction of abiding in ignorance.[6] According to Takuan, the mind that fixes itself in one place is not able to function freely.[7] For instance, Takuan points out that if the mind is placed in just one direction, it will be lacking in nine others. But if the mind is not placed in any one direction, it will be in all ten simultaneously, or as Takuan says, "Put nowhere, it will be everywhere."[8]
To illustrate this point, Takuan gives the example of gazing upon a tree. He says if, when looking on a tree, the eye is fixed upon a single leaf, then all the other leaves will be as though they were not present at all. But if the eye is not detained by any one leaf, the entire tree with all its leaves will be taken in simultaneously. He likens this ability to that ofAvalokiteśvara's with a thousand arms, for whom all thousand arms are simultaneously useful because Avalokiteśvara's mind is not detained by any one of them.[9]
Takuan appeals to this principle to also critique such practices as placing the mindbelow the navel in concentration. He says, "...viewed from the highest standpoint of Buddhism, putting the mind just below the navel and not allowing it to wander is a low level of understanding, not a high one. [...] If you consider putting your mind below your navel and not letting it wander, your mind will be taken by the mind that thinks of this plan. You will have no ability to move ahead and will be exceptionally unfree."[10]
Takuan taught that one's mind should not be detained by thoughts, for in that case, though one listens, one will not hear; and though one looks, one will not see. On the other hand, Takuan pointed out that to try to remove one's thoughts is to become preoccupied with the thought of removing them. Instead, he says that if one does not think about it, the mind will remove these thoughts on its own and come to the condition of No-Mind by itself.[11]
Takuan advised and befriended many people, from all social strata. Some of these included:
Takuan remained largely unaffected by his popularity and famed reputation. Known for his acerbic wit and integrity of character, Takuan exerted himself to bring the spirit of Zen Buddhism to many and diverse aspects ofJapanese culture, such asJapanese swordsmanship,gardening,sumi-e,shodo, andsado.
His collected writings total six volumes and over 100 published poems, including his best known treatise,The Unfettered Mind. His influence permeates the work of many present-day exponents of Zen Buddhism andmartial arts. He has been credited with the invention of the yellow pickleddaikon radish that carries the name "takuan".
Of the three essays included inThe Unfettered Mind, two were letters
Takuan's morality has become the object of scathing criticism. Brian D. Victoria in "Zen at War" argues that Takuan is among the chief culprits of Zen Buddhism that created a religion unrecognizable as Buddhist. It is because Takuan repeatedly makes reference to the emptiness of opponents who may be murdered without consequence. Victoria understands Takuan to have transgressed the first grave Buddhist precept of 'Do not kill.' This revisionist view is controversial.[13]
He is featured as a character inVagabond, amanga series, which is largely based onEiji Yoshikawa's equally successful book,Musashi.
Director/writerYoshiaki Kawajiri in his popular animated filmNinja Scroll created one of main characters Dakuan as a homage to Takuan Soho.
In directorHiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy (Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto,Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple andSamurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island), Takuan is played by Kuroemon Onoe and is portrayed as the mentor ofMiyamoto Musashi.
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