PDA

View Full Version : Shikyaku monks??



Uesugi Kenshin
9th July 2003, 21:20
Hello, does anyone have any information about shikyaku monks(i think thats what theyre called) they wear the baskets on theyre heads and play a flute like intrument...thats about all i could find after searching on a few different search engines...if anyone knows about this, any info. would be appreciated, thanks.
Cheers :toast:

Soulend
9th July 2003, 22:11
I may be wrong, but I thought 'shikyaku' meant 'thug' or possibly 'assassin'(?).

The monks I know of who wore the basket (called a tengai, and believed to suppress the ego) and played the shakuhachi flute were those of the Fuke-Shu sect.

These monks were in Pre-Tokugawa times called komosô, which means "straw mat monk", because they were beggars. Many were apparently former ronin.

During the Edo period many of these mendicant monks banded together and formed a formal religious sect claiming ties back to Fuke, an eccentric Zen monk who lived in China during the 9th century. The Fuke-Shu was later recognized by the Tokugawa regime as a branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, and was granted the sole right to beg for alms by playing the shakuhachi flute. Around this time the komosô changed their name to komusô (monks of empty nothingness), as opposed to "the monks of full nothingness", I guess :).

Perhaps the "shikyaku" thing stems from the fact that during the Tokugawa era, spies and assassins often would disguise themselves as komuso, because they could wander around unmolested and disguised by the basket. There is even a short piece for the shakuhachi flute which is played in greeting from one komuso to another - and if the latter didn't respond correctly on his own flute, the real monk would know that the former is not a true monk, but a spy. By the Meiji Restoration these spies in monks' clothing were everywhere, and this led to the abolishmentment of the sect and the abandonment of their temples.

Hope this helps,

StanLee
10th July 2003, 08:47
When I was in Tokoyo last summer, I happen to passby a monk who was standing outside shops and restaurants until the owners gave him some money.

Stan

Tripitaka of AA
10th July 2003, 12:37
David, if that isn't the fullest reply to any question I've ever seen on here then I'll eat my tatami.

Are you sure you didn't sneakily log on Uesugi Kenshin just to ask yourself the question ;)

Seriously though, that was a fascinating bit of history. I've seen the image of the "basket monk" but never thought to ask about it. Incidentally, Tripitaka (The boy Monk in the "Monkey" Legend) translates as "three baskets", does that mean I should be wearing three at once?!

Soulend
10th July 2003, 14:17
I think the three baskets represent the three parts of the Buddha's teaching: Vinaya, the Suttanata, and the Abhidhamma. Perhaps we could form our own 3-basket wearing sect to symbolize this! At least we'd have strong necks and our ears would be warm! :D