Zen Buddhist Philosophy in Japanese Death Poems

Zen Philosophy in Japanese Death Poems:

Dealing With Death

Each and every culture follows a certain set of distinct practices that are distinct and specific to each individual culture. The common Western perception of Japan's ambiguous practices stems from the extreme difference in views correlated with the widespread lack of knowledge concerning the ancient culture steeped in tradition. Japan's widely Buddhist population is known for their calm acceptance of death as a part of life. One particular, perplexing cultural practice is the tradition of writing jisei, or "death poetry" when on the verge of death. A thorough understanding of Japanese Death Poems provides an explicitly accurate depiction of the Japanese attitude towards death and the Zen Buddhist philosophy that helped form this attitude.

Buddhism stresses the importance of "seeing things in their suchness" and realizing that everything is subject to change. The basic doctrines of Buddhism are governed by "the four noble truths": the belief that existence is suffering, suffering is caused by physical attachment or worldliness, nirvana is the end to all suffering, which is attained by an "eightfold path" of views describing life in terms of process and relation, not speculation (Yahoo! Encyclopedia). Japanese poets constantly relate the human experience to the natural world; such as when seasons of the year represent stages in one's life. This representation explicates the transience of human nature, whish is the essence of this world according to Buddhist doctrine (Hoffmann 105). Autumn, the season right before the "death" of many living organisms, is often the period in ones life prior to death, which is often depicted as winter. Enryo's death p...

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...s to the spirit and not emotion (Yahoo! Encyclopedia). It is almost as Gensen is invoking readers to "Just Do It."

Buddhism is a beautifully complex religion that since its widespread introduction to Japanese culture by the end of the seventh century has made enormous impacts and direct influences on the government and cultural practices of society (Hoffmann 36). The Japanese death poetry composed by Zen monks and haiku poets, compiled by Albert Hoffmann, is an excellent literary explication of the Japanese attitude towards death. This attitude is most notably derived from Buddhism, the main religion of the Japanese people. Even Japanese citizens who are not literal Buddhists still embrace the philosophies that have now become instilled in the cultural history of Japan due to such a heavy Buddhist influence on government and education throughout the centuries.