Poems

Poems articulating the vow to carve one thousand Buddhas

1. #4 · W-004Inscription variant; cited in Yanagi 1925 kenkyū

   いくたびも　のみをあてては　いのるかな　千体之内の　仏みちびく

   Iku tabi mo / nomi o atete wa / inoru kana / sentai no uchi no / hotoke michibiku

   Again and again / I set the chisel and pray — / within the thousand: / the Buddha guiding.

   The phrase 千体之内 (sentai no uchi, "within a thousand") appears as both vow inscription and poetic motif throughout Mokujiki's career.

2. #7 · W-007Yanagi 1926 waka senshū

   よろずよの　神にいのりて　わが刻む　仏のかたち　世にのこれかし

   Yorozu yo no / kami ni inorite / waga kizamu / hotoke no katachi / yo ni nokorekashi

   Praying to the gods / of ten thousand ages — / may the Buddhas I carve / remain in this world.

   Expresses the votive intent behind the 千体之内 vow; Yanagi placed this poem as the epigraph to the 1926 selection.

Poems on the act of carving as devotional practice

1. #2 · W-002Yanagi 1926 waka senshū

   ゑがけども　ゑがけどもなほ　おもかげの　心にのこる　仏のすがた

   Egake domo / egake domo nao / omokage no / kokoro ni nokoru / hotoke no sugata

   Though I carve and carve, / still the image remains — / the face of the Buddha / lingering in the heart.

   On the inexhaustibility of the devotional impulse; Yanagi cited this poem as evidence of Mokujiki's mushin.

Poems from the road — Tōhoku, Michinoku, the mountain passes

1. #1 · W-001Yanagi 1926 waka senshū

   ふかくはいれる　山のおくにも　仏あり　木喰みちびく　心のままに

   Fukaku haireru / yama no oku ni mo / hotoke ari / Mokujiki michibiku / kokoro no mama ni

   Even deep in the mountains, deep within — / there is Buddha. / Guided by Mokujiki, / as the heart wills.

   Poem on the itinerant pilgrimage practice; the final couplet turns on the double meaning of michibiku (to guide / to be guided).

2. #3 · W-003Yanagi 1926 waka senshū

   みちのくの　おくのおくにも　はるきたり　木喰かたちの　仏にあいて

   Michinoku no / oku no oku ni mo / haru kitari / Mokujiki katachi no / hotoke ni aite

   Even to the depths of Michinoku / spring has come — / meeting a Buddha / carved in Mokujiki's form.

   Michinoku (陸奥) refers to the Tōhoku region; the poem dates likely from the northern pilgrimage period (1778–1779).

3. #6 · W-006Yanagi 1926 waka senshū

   きさらぎや　あしたのはなの　白雪に　木喰のすむ　峰の月よ

   Kisaragi ya / ashita no hana no / shirayuki ni / Mokujiki no sumu / mine no tsuki yo

   Kisaragi — / the white snow of morning blossoms; / where Mokujiki dwells, / the moon over the peak.

   Kisaragi (如月) is the old name for the second lunar month (approximately February). The poem appears in the closing section of the Nantan folk song cycle and was adapted into the 木喰さん folk song.

Poems on emptiness, mind, and surrender

1. #5 · W-005Yanagi 1926 waka senshū

   こころとは　もとをたずねて　みれば　むなしきものを　何かおもはむ

   Kokoro to wa / moto o tazunete / mireba / munashiki mono o / nani ka omowamu

   If you seek the heart / to its very root — / seeing emptiness, / what is there left to think?

   A rare metaphysical poem; Yanagi read this as consonant with the Pure Land Buddhist concept of tariki — surrender rather than effort.