Topic: Sen no Rikyu

[Definitive Journey]

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Sen no Rikyu, the founder of the Japanese tea ceremony, committed hara-kiri (ritual suicide by disembowelment) in 1591 at the order of his lord, Hideyoshi.  Just before Rikyu took his own life he said, "When I have this sword there is no Buddha and no Patriarchs."

He meant that when we have the sword of big mind, there is no dualistic world.  The only thing which exists is this spirit.  This kind of imperturbable spirit was always present in Rikyu's tea ceremony.  He never did anything in just a dualistic way; he was ready to die in each moment.  In ceremony after ceremony he died, and he renewed himself.  This is the spirit of the tea ceremony.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Shunryu Suzuki

I can certainly see these words in action, watching Sensei cut with the ken or work with the jo.

z

[lady.urania]

The ritual suicide has always been one of those deep issues of zen - course we dont do this but... still in exploration of the ritual itself, showing and demonstrating the moment of bushido, disembowelment is supposed to be excrusciatingly painful measure.

Id rather sit under the bodhi tree and watch the lotus petals floating in the breeze