Ikkyu and Rennyo: The Odd Couple

Years ago, when I was part of the local Jodo Shinshu Buddhist community, my minister told me a story about how Rennyo and Ikkyu, two famous Buddhist monks from 15th century Japan, were both good friends and would frequently test one another in their grasp of Buddhism. They were an unlikely pair of friends, given that they belonged to two very different Buddhist traditions, and yet they clearly had a rapport that you rarely find in Japanese-Buddhist history.

To be honest, I thought the story of them being friends was embellished, but I got curious recently poked around some Japanese sources on the Interwebs, and sure enough there were a number of famous anecdotes between Ikkyu and Rennyo. These anecdotes aren’t necessarily historically accurate, but they have been passed down through the generations and even show up in Japanese TV today.

But first, let’s introduce Ikkyu and Rennyo.

Ikkyu Sojun (一休宗純, 1394 – 1481) was a monk of the Rinzai Zen tradition,¹ which was politically dominant at this time due to the Five Mountains System in Kyoto. He was disillusioned with the pomp and grandeur of the Zen community at that time, and left to live a more “authentic life” among the people. He is famous for his flashes of genius, and his artistic talents, but also his unorthodox behavior, including partying and sleeping with girls. Ikkyu left behind many excellent poems, paintings, and his genius image has made him a popular figure even in modern Japan.

Rennyo (蓮如, 1415–1499) was the eighth head of the ancestral Honganji Temple in Kyoto,² which ostensibly was the head temple of the Jodo Shinshu sect. Trouble was, the movement was very fractured, with regional groups, rival powers, etc. And then there were the warrior-monks of Mount Hiei (head of Tendai sect) that wanted him dead. Rennyo had to flee Kyoto for a long while to the provinces, but used the time to unify the Jodo Shinshu groups into a more cohesive sect for the first time. His Letter on White Ashes, is a particularly inspired piece of writing.

Ikkyu was 20 years older than Rennyo, but in many anecdotes, they are making jokes with one another, or testing each other’s wisdom.

In one famous story (used in the “Ikkyu-san” cartoon), Ikkyu had put up a sign near a really crooked pine tree. The sign read whoever can see this pine straight, I will give them a kanmon of gold.

People were stumped, and brought this to Rennyo’s attention. Rennyo said, “pfft, more of Ikkyu’s mischief. I see this pine straight. I’ll get the cash.”

When Rennyo confronted Ikkyu about it, Ikkyu said, “Oh, it’s you. You don’t count. Look at the back of the sign.”

Sure enough, on the back of the sign was painted “EXCEPT RENNYO”.

When people ask Rennyo how he was able to see the crooked pine straight, Rennyo said that he saw it for what it was: a crooked pine. By seeing it for what it really was (a crooked pine), he saw it “straight”.

In another anecdote, for which I could find the original Japanese, Ikkyu had read the Amitabha Sutra and commented:

阿弥陀には　まことの慈悲はなかりけり　たのむ衆生のみぞ助ける

Amida Buddha has no true compassion; he only helps those who ask.

Source

To which Rennyo wrote back:

阿弥陀にはへだつる心なけれども　
蓋（ふた）ある水に月は宿らじ

Although my heart is not estranged from Amida Buddha,
the moonlight does not reside where water has a lid.

Source

Rennyo is invoking the imagery of Amida Buddha’s compassion as moonlight, which we’ve seen before, and how it shines everywhere. But if water is in a container (has a lid on it), the moonlight will not reflect back.

Ikkyu tested Rennyo again:

極楽は十万億土と説くなれば　足腰立たぬ婆は行けまじ

If the Pure Land of Amida Buddha is indeed 10,000,000,000,000 lands away [as described in the sutras], then an elderly woman who is unable to stand cannot go there.

Source

To which Rennyo replied:

極楽は　十万億土と説くなれど　近道すれば南無のひと声

It is taught that the Pure Land is indeed 10,000,000,000,000 lands away, but if you’re looking for a short-cut, recite the nembutsu.

Source

In another story, Ikkyu attended the 200th memorial of the founder of Jodo Shinshu (and Rennyo’s ancestor), Shinran. Of Shinran, Ikkyu wrote the following verse:

襟巻の　あたたかそうな黒坊主　こやつが法は　天下一なり

That black[-robed] monk with the warm [as in “kind”] head and scarf,
his Dharma teachings are peerless.

Source

Ikkyu was referring to a famous portrait of Shinran depicts him as wearing his black clerical robes, and shaved head:

There are a lot of other stores too, and I’ll try to share more as I find them, but I thought these were neat. Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are often treated as separated teachings, and separate sects, but I suspect that as with any Buddhist path if you get far enough along, you’ll start to run into people of the same mind.

That, in my humble opinion, is the power of the Lotus Sutra and its many gates.

¹ Zen in Japan is divided into 3 schools: Soto, Rinzai and Obaku, all imported from China at various points in history. Rinzai and Obaku both have the same “ancestral lineage” in China, but arrived in Japan at different points. Soto comes from a different lineage entirely in China.

² A few generations after Rennyo, the Honganji split into two temples: Nishi (West) Honganji, and Higashi (East) Honganji after a family split, plus politics. They are effectively equal, but different sub-sects.