EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Matsuo Basho

Matsuo Basho was one of the most famous Zen poets of Japan, who alerts us to the neglected beauty and interest of everyday life, and thereby reconciles us with our own circumstances.

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Produced in collaboration with Mad Adam

[MrMalibujunkies]

I am here because I just read the best quote I have ever read and it belonged to this man. "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

[Smoker]

Done watching..
Reads comments
laughs outloud

[nebojsagalic]

When reading Basho, knowing nothing about Japanese poetry at the time, I felt a as though the man didn`t want so ``say`` anything.
More like he wanted to perfectly capture an instant of pure experience.
When you read the guy`s poetry you sort of get back into the mindset of a child which is still just perceiving the world and is just getting around to connecting empirical input with abstract concepts.
Having seen this video I can tell you, it really does its job...

[gavloft]

Wise video
sitting with tea
very happy

[k_bbibi]

Wow. I really enjoyed this. I love Basho's idea of simplicity and being able to escape the "tyranny of being ourselves".

[danbondarenko]

This video was very enjoyable, as well as enlightening. These kinds of truths need constant reminding - that's why these videos are so very important and dear to me. Thank you, The School of Life.

[zmoon]

What to write
Oh no I am already
on the last line

[siddharthbatra]

At first I didn't get the poetry. Then I closed my eyes and imagined and I really liked the glimpses that I saw. I get it now.

[asdmla]

I love this channel, and I want to give a shout out to the editor's which make these videos even more fun. Thank you school of life for letting me feel as a part of the people who would like to learn more and find knowledge intersting.

[marianushn]

Basho is one of my favorite Eastern poets. His haikus are beautiful.

[tamago]

Growing up in Japan, I knew some of Basho's haiku. But I did not know that there were drawings to go with haiku. Simplicity reminds us not to take things of granted, as I often are indifferent about things around me. I thought that being able to accept who we are and be ourselves is important and the only way to happiness. To forget and escape from our individualities, we can reach the state of 無我 and appreciate what we have. Thank you for your video, which nurtures my spirituality.

[littnate]

How cruel
A grasshopper trapped
Under a warrior's helmet
-Matsuo Basho

This is one of my favourite pieces of poetry. Thank you for teaching me more about Basho and his legacy.

[Dantick]

I feel relieved, I really needed this commentary right now. I am once again at peace :3

[AveryMorrow]

My personal take on this video -- although this is a nice introduction to the deeper meanings of haiku, it's strongly colored by the speaker's modern-day existentialism. 17th century Japanese would not have considered the immediacy of haiku as an "escape" from personally imposed "tyranny, " because they did not have that specific conception of the individual's use of his mind and his place in the universe. What Basho was aiming for is similar in effect, but conceptually different: like most Buddhist thinkers, he would have imagined the mind as a perfect mirror covered in dust, and poetry as a way to clean off the dust of ideology and biases and see what's in front of your own eyes. This is also how haiku came into being as its own genre of poetry -- despite what this video says, it was yet not known as "haiku" when Basho wrote his poems.

Also, it's important to know that Basho's poetry was not confined to the seriousness of Zen, although Zen and Confucianism were well known as serious pursuits in his day. In fact, he was extremely playful and it seems he felt that humor was as effective a weapon to disarm the ego as striking imagery. The famous "old frog" poem that this video opens up with is not only aesthetically pleasing but also has a twist on the way Japanese poetry had traditionally employed frogs which would have been found amusing at the time. Instead of going "ribbit ribbit", the frog maintains a solemn silence and lets the water speak instead. If people really want to get into haiku I recommend reading ancient Japanese poetry and literature (like the Tale of Genji) in order to get a feel for how it developed a certain aesthetic to its height.

[willieluncheonette]

"Basho has tremendous respect in my heart. He is not only a mystic, a master, he is also a poet, a painter, a sculptor; he is a creative phenomenon. Nobody can compare with him as far as his multidimensional personality is concerned.

He has the fragrance which only a flower can have. That fragrance is manifested in his poetry, in his small statements, in his every gesture. Even in his ordinary talks with people he cannot be other than Basho.
Basho is far more refined, perhaps the most refined Zen master up to now. His refinement is in his cultured, meditative spaciousness. Out of that spaciousness many flowers have showered on the world. It does not matter wherever he is and whatever is going on, Basho is going to make it a Zen state of affairs. That uniqueness will not be found again.

Basho is one of the greatest poets of the world, but he has written only haikus — very symbolic but very miraculous, very simple but very mysterious. They are all to be understood through visualization, because Zen does not believe in words. Visualize and perhaps you may have some understanding.

A meditator, according to Basho, will go on searching deep within himself, but that does not mean that he should lose contact with the outside world. Once in a while he should open his eyes. With all his emptiness he should mirror the outside world. Those reflections are collected in these haikus. They don’t mean anything, they simply depict a picture.

Basho is the greatest haiku poet of Japan, the Master haiku poet. But he was not just a poet. Before becoming a poet he was a mystic; before he starting pouring out with beautiful poetry, he poured deep into his own center. He was a meditator.

It happened when Basho’s master died — Basho is a buddha, a buddha who writes poetry, a buddha who paints beautiful pictures, a very aesthetic buddha. His master died, thousands of people gathered. His master was very famous; more famous because of Basho, because Basho was a famous poet and painter and he was Basho’s master. Thousands of people gathered and they were very much surprised when they saw Basho crying, big tears rolling down his cheeks.

A few close disciples of his master came to Basho and said, “It does not look right. Thousands of people are coming and they are getting confused. They don’t think a buddha should be crying and weeping, and you are the man who has been saying to them again and again: There is no death and the innermost core lives forever. Then why are you weeping? Your master is not dead, he has only moved from the small body to the universal body of God. So why are you weeping?”

Basho wiped his tears and he said, “Listen! This is nobody’s business. I live according to my inner feelings, I cannot pretend. When my innermost core has disappeared into the universal. don’t care whether people think it right or not. If they don’t think that I am enlightened it’s okay, but I cannot pretend. I cannot do something which is not really there. And yes, I have said that the soul is immortal and my master has not died, he has disappeared into the universal. That’s why I am crying, not crying that he is dead but crying that now I will never be able to see his form. Now he has become formless — and his body was beautiful. I will never be able to look again into those deep eyes, I will never be able to hold his hand and touch his feet. I have lost his form — I am crying for his body, for his form; I am not crying for the formless soul. And I am not concerned whether people think me enlightened or unenlightened, that is their business. Who cares?”

A silent sigh
On my lips---
Lost in wilderness

[AnotherGradus]

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[ancbi]

In my garage,
Lamborghini here,
knowledge.

[Willmolloy]

Finally! Don't know why this was taken down two hours ago </3 love you guys dearly.

[nathanraymond]

I lived in Ogaki. It was Basho’s final stop of his journey, yet not one could explain to me anything about him. Thanks to you I will be explaining things to them. I am infinitely more aware, thanks to you. I give thanks!!! Bravo!!!!