Mugaku Sogen

Mugaku Sogen (無学祖元), also known as Bukko Kokushi (September 3, 1226 – September 22, 1286) was a prominent Zen Buddhist monk of the 13th century in Japan, an emigre from Song dynasty China. Quotes Cutting the Spring BreezeThroughout heaven and earth there is not a piece of ground where a single stick could be inserted;I am glad that all things are void, myself and the world:Honored be the sword, three feet long, wielded by the great Yüan swordsmen;For it is like cutting a spring breeze in a flash of lightning. Dumonlin Heinrich, ‎Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki. Essays in Zen Buddhism, first series. 2000.p. 255 Quotes about Mugaku Sogen Hogo acquired importance as a calligraphic art expressing the personality and the cultural attainments of the zen priest writer... Typical of such is the hogo written by Mugaku Sogen (1226-1286) and presented to Ichio Ingo, ( -1281). Japan Quarterly, Volume 17, 1970. p. 163 When the Japanese Zen priest Mugaku Sogen (1226-1286) was in China and threatened by invading Mongol troops, he composed a fourline poem. Years later another Zen priest, Sesson Yūbai (1290-1347), when he was in prison and threatened with death, took Mugaku's poem and, using each line as the opening verse of a new poem, Donald Keene. Anthology of Japanese Literature, from the Earliest Era to the Mid. p. 347 External links Category:1226 births Category:1286 deaths Category:Poets from Japan Category:Zen Buddhist monks