Blossom Awakening: The Life and Poetry of Wandering Monk Saigyo

(Paperback)

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The essential introduction to Saigyo, one of Japan's greatest and most enduring poets. The essential introduction to Saigyo, one of Japan's greatest and most enduring poets. Born in the twelfth century during a time of great political upheaval and warfare, Saigyo made the shocking decision in his youth to resign from his respectable post as a guard to the emperor's family and pursue a life of Buddhist renunciation, wilderness wandering, and poetry. Over his lifetime he became one of Japan's most celebrated poets, and his aesthetics of spiritual longing and aching identification with the natural world left an indelible imprint on his country's literary culture for centuries to come. With 193 poems on 11 themes like the moon, journeys, mountain abodes, love, and the dreamlike world, Blossom Awakening collects Saigyo's most poignant and impactful work, revealing him as a spiritual seeker whose perceptivity and insight remains an inspiration to this day. Translators Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt present the poems with their original Japanese text and provide an introduction and commentary that illuminate the political, religious, and literary dimensions of Saigyo's life and work.

Reviews

Saigy has long been regarded as the ultimate Buddhist poet. Living a lonely life of wandering and renunciation during a period of great turmoil, Saigy was as often moved to tears by the beauty of flowers and the moon as he was by the pain of the violence of the world he lived in. Levitt and Tanahashis great translations carry across into English the elegant simplicity and quiet emotion of the original poems that have been loved for a thousand years in Japan and all over the world. Tanahashis extensive historical introduction gives us a strong impression of the confusing social and political passions that marked Saigys time.
Norman Fischer, poet and Zen priest, author of Selected Poems and Training in Compassion

What a beautiful book! A perfectly selected set of gorgeous, limpid translations by two contemporary masters. Full of feeling and clear awakening, these wonderful, brief poems of wandering Japanese poet-monk Saigy convey the depth and beauty of his vision of this fleeting world and life. A masterwork!
Henry Shukman, author of One Blade of Grass and Original Love

Even as Levitt and Tanahashi hear the sound of a storm murmuring in a trees branchesechoing social storms raging in Saigys times and oursthey dwell in mountainous depths. Like Saigy, they, too, know the moon in your mind becomes a clear mirror, and they see enlightenment all around. Feeling the sky in Saigys heart, they offer illuminating, aesthetically refined renderings of his poetry, enabling us to commune with nature, to hear the whispers of the moon, and to be serenaded by the cherry blossoms.
Paula Arai, PhD, author of Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart Sutra

This is a beautiful and haunting book. Saigy reaches across the centuries and reveals the intimate way for us today.
James Ishmael Ford, author of The Intimate Way of Zen: Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey

Author Bio

KAZUAKI TANAHASHI is a world-renowned calligraphic artist, a Zen teacher, author, environmentalist, peaceworker, and translator, particularly of the works of Eihei Dogen. He is author or translator of numerous books, and his art has been featured in shows throughout the world. PETER LEVITT is a poet and Zen teacher who lives in British Columbia. He was authorized to teach in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki by Norman Zoketsu Fischer. He is the author or translator of several collections of poetry and is the recipient of the prestigious Lannan Foundation Award in Poetry. He also teaches creativity in writing and other endeavors in various venues.