Ikkyū and the Crazy Cloud Anthology: Then and Now

This lecture will explore selected translations of the Kyōunshū 狂雲集 (Crazy Cloud Anthology), an anthology of poems in literary Chinese by medieval Rinzai monk Ikkyū Sōjun 休宗純 (1394-1481). The readings will concentrate on poems from Ikkyū’s later years spent during the catastrophic Ōnin War (1467-1477). Ikkyū’s experience as a refugee watching the world crumble around him are encapsulated in poems that are as poignant and instructive now as ever.

This lecture is part of the “The Dharma-Ending Age: The Climate Crisis through the Lens of Buddhist Eschatology, Past and Present” international conference (https://frogbear.org/the-dharma-ending-age).