Jack Taylor is an artist from Los Angeles, CA.

jack@jacktaylor.info
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The Poetry of Ikkyū and Ryōkan, Angel City Zen Center, 2020

Discussion on the literature and poetics of Zen poets Ikkyū and Ryōkan with the sangha at Angel City Zen Center. 







I’m ashamed that my reputation has not yet disappeared
After all this dusty work practicing Zen and studying dao.
Ryōzen’s true dharma has been swept from the earth,
    extinguished.
A moment of inattention and the demon king is a hundred
    feet tall. 

—Ikkyu (1394-1481)


Sometimes I sit quietly,
Listening to the sound of falling leaves.
Peaceful indeed is the life of a monk,
Cut off from all worldly matters.
Then why do I shed these tears?

I’m so aware
That it’s all unreal:
One by one, the things
Of this world pass on.
But why do I still grieve

—Ryōkan (1758-1831)