Customer Reviews

No Abode: The Record of Ippen (Rev) (Ryukoku-Ibs Studies in Buddhist Thought and Tradition)

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This is a fascinating account of Ippen (1239-1289) - a Japanese hijiri (holy man)who led an itinerant life, spreading the 'Pure Land' path among the people, reaching all levels of society. While well known in Japan, Ippen has - until of late, remained a relatively obscure figure in Western accounts of Buddhism. Dennis Hirota's book about Ippen will certainly alter that. The material here has been translated authoritively and yet sensitively, accompanied by some delightful illustrations. All in all, a very pleasing work.

It is worth noting that Matsuo Basho, the esteemed poet, saw figures such as Ippen and Saigyo as role models, their itinerant lifestyle, lived close to the elements, informing his own ideal of the 'furabo' - that of the homeless monk, with sleeves flapping in the wind. Thus, one might say that Ippen and Basho were fellow travellers on the pathless-path, their poetry informed by a kindred feeling.

Still, Ippen is primarily remembered for the way he propagated Pure Land Buddhism among the people, his poetry an unmistakable expression of his faith.

Say the Name (Amida)
And there is neither
Buddha nor self;
Namu Amida butsu,
Name Amida butsu.

- a paradoxical truth. Among other things, Ippen was noted for chanting the Nembetsu with a measured dance, rather like certain followers of Krsna. Ippen's Buddhism is by no means easy to categorize. On one view, Kamakura Buddhism comes over as a rather entrenched body of schools. However, there is nothing closed about Ippen's Budhism. While idiosyncratic, based on Pure Land ideas, advocating the nembetsu etc, Ippen's Buddhism had much in common with other Buddhist schools. The idea of 'yugyo' or 'travel as practice' tied in with certain Tendai/Shingon practices. Moreover, it is said that Ippen received 'inka' or approval from (Shinchi) Kakushin - a noted Zen master who had travelled to China.

The title of this book - No Abode,' can be taken in two ways. On one level, it alludes to Ippen's chosen mode of life as an itinerant monk, yet insofar as 'yugyo' or 'travel as practice'
necessarily involves the spiritual dimension, 'no abode' might also be said to signify the 'pure land' as the realm of prajna. Thus, despite its surface simplicity, Ippen's understanding of Pure Land reached directly into the heart of Mahayana Buddhism. As Hirota-sensei notes in his well informed introduction, even the adopted name of 'Ippen' (one-time/once) carries a number of meanings. 'Ippen-nembutsu' meaning 'one time nembutsu/one utterance nembetsu' - could be said to signify the temporal event, Ippen's exchange with a passer-by, at which time Ippen would hand out a fuda or printed inscription of Amida's name. But as Hirota sensei points out:

"One utterance, does not, however, refer to a numerical
count; rather, it indicates the instant of the
immediate present that becomes, through utterance,
the point in which the person's salvation and Amida's
enlightenment are both fulfilled simultaneously. The
'one utterance nembetsu' never becomes two or three
utterances, but is always the present moment rooting
itself in Amida's enlightenment that transcends time
. . .

Reading this account, the genius of the artisan who carved the famous statue of Ippen - on display in Kyoto, becomes even more evident. He had endeavoured to illustrate the 'ippen-nembetsu' by carving a succession of 'Amidas' linked by a single thread, thus suggesting a continuous presence and standing 'now.'

This rather bare review does scant justice to Dennis Hirota's
book. It is veritable treasure trove of material about a fascinating Buddhist figure. Besides Ippen's own material, his letters, poems etc., we also find 'Words Handed Down by Disciples' and 'Passages from Other Texts' - illustrating Ippen's life and teaching. The main text is supplied with copius notes and a map etc., but these are placed unobtrusively outside the main text.

A word about Dennis Hirota. Although a Professor with the best of academic credentials, Hirota-sensei comes from a family background which has enjoyed long-standing links with Buddhism. Thus, he writes as one familiar with Buddhism - from the inside. This has enabled him to pick out the subtle nuances of Ippen's poetry. But - unlike some Japanese Professors, Hirota- sensei has a perfect command of English and is a gifted translator - as the poems in this book will show. This text is a classic. It is not just another, dry study, but conveys the living spirit of a whole tradition.

With his gaunt features and intense glare, the holy man Ippen is surely one of the more recognizable of Japan's Buddhist monks. Retroactively considered the founder of the Ji sect of Pure Land Buddhism (a variety historically important if relatively minor on the contemporary religious landscape), this zealously sincere wandering mendicant probed with uncompromising insight into the meaning of this evolving form of Buddhist piety. Or at least it seems like it. Shortly before his death, Ippen took his extensive writings on the subject and chucked them in the flames, vowing that all his work was "propagation for this lifetime only." Which is why this definitive translation of his complete writings is noticeably brief, patched together as it is from fragmentary passages preserved by his thankfully disobedient disciples.

Here permit me to confess that, regardless of my long and abiding interest in Japanese Buddhism, the Pure Land schools generally bore me to tears--this despite my best efforts and dutiful attempts to familiarize myself with them. "No Abode" shook this tendency in me. Ippen's religiosity as reflected here in his writings along with Dennis Hirota's explication of his theological (or Buddhological, if you will) innovations are compelling and indicative of a carefully considered and thoroughgoing spiritual nondualism in line with key Mahayana concepts. Not that Ippen's formulation isn't distinctive, for it decidedly is, but it also lends itself to association with related orientations as found in other forms of Buddhism. So this was, in short, a pleasantly eye-opening experience.

The book itself consists of roughly two parts, Hirota's detailed study of Ippen's life and thought (annoyingly paginated in Roman numerals) and then the actual translation, itself also subdivided into letters and poems in Ippen's own voice (the poetry in both kanshi and waka) and then recollections of his sermons and sayings on the part of his disciples and followers. Hirota's rendering of the text into English is scholarly and yet smooth, sensitive to the different genres included in this heterogeneous work. His discussion likewise is clear and elucidating, with his comparison of Ippen's thought with Shinran's particularly enlightening. The illustrations are a helpful addition even in monochrome, though flipping back and forth matching each one with the short explanations in the intro is a bit of a bother. All in all, then, this is a reliable and significant source on a remarkable individual and the version of Buddhism he pioneered. What else is left to say but "Namu Amida Butsu"?

This book was recommended by a friend. Not for the Shin Buddhist. Ippen was a student on Honen and this is evident in his teachings. Nice, pleasant and easy to read.

Despite having great interest in the subject, this book did not make much sense to me. Perhaps it was writing, perhaps the translation; just when one hoped for at least some anecdote to make sense, it got into some poetic pseudo-strain and so this reader was completely at sea. It surely was nothing comparable to Dogen Zenji.