Beautiful, Noel. And here’s how his jisei, or traditional death poem, came to be:
Kozan Ichikyo, died February 12, 1360, at 77. A few days before his death, he called his pupils together, ordered them to bury him without ceremony, forbidding them to hold services in his memory. After writing this poem on the morning of his death, he lay down his brush and died sitting upright.
Empty handed I entered the world. Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going – Two simple happenings that got entangled.
KOZAN ICHIKYO
Beautiful, Noel. And here’s how his jisei, or traditional death poem, came to be:
Kozan Ichikyo, died February 12, 1360, at 77. A few days before his death, he called his pupils together, ordered them to bury him without ceremony, forbidding them to hold services in his memory. After writing this poem on the morning of his death, he lay down his brush and died sitting upright.