About
Takuan Soho

Takuan Soho was a Japanese, Zen Buddhist monk. He was born in 1573 in Japan, entered a monastery at the age of ten and became the abbot of a major Zen temple in Kyoto at the age of thirty-five. He brought the spirit of Zen to every aspect of life that caught his interest, from calligraphy to the martial arts. He advised individuals from all social strata of life, including the third Tokugawa shogun, generals, swordsmen, and many, many others. He was apparently unaffected by his fame and popularity. At the moment before his death, he painted the Chinese character for dream, laid down his brush and died.

Buddhist Mysticism | Quotations drawn from Takuan Soho | Bibliographic references | ©1999 by D. Platt