Blossom Awakening: The Life and Poetry of Wandering Monk Saigyo

Pause, breathe, and savor the quiet beauty of Saigyō, one of Japan’s most quintessential poets, in this celebration of nature and Buddhist insight.

Born in the twelfth century during a time of great political upheaval and warfare, Saigyō made the unusual decision in his youth to resign from his respectable post as a guard to the emperor’s family and pursue a life of Buddhist renunciation, wilderness wandering, and poetry. Over the course of his lifetime, he became one of Japan’s most celebrated poets. Today, his spare poems of spiritual longing and aching identification with the natural world continue to inspire fathomless, ineffable emotion in readers all over the world.

With 193 poems on 11 themes like the moon, journeys, mountain abodes, love, and the dreamlike world, Blossom Awakening reveals Saigyō as a spiritual seeker who gave his life to the artist’s path. Translators Peter Levitt and Kazuaki Tanahashi present their English renderings with the original Japanese text and offer commentary that illuminates the political, religious, and literary dimensions of Saigyō’s life and work.

KAZUAKI TANAHASHI is a world-renowned calligraphic artist, a Zen teacher, author, environmentalist, peaceworker, and translator, particularly of the works of Eihei Dogen. He is author or translator of numerous books, and his art has been featured in shows throughout the world.

PETER LEVITT is a poet and Zen teacher who lives in British Columbia. He was authorized to teach in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki by Norman Zoketsu Fischer. He is the author or translator of several collections of poetry and is the recipient of the prestigious Lannan Foundation Award in Poetry. He also teaches creativity in writing and other endeavors in various venues.