Ikkyu, a 15th century Rinzai poet-monk, was born the son of the Japanese emperor and was exiled from the royal court along with his mother when he was still a young boy. Both mother and son became ardent students of Zen. In the letter she left for him upon her death, Ikkyu’s mother urges him “to see your own nature.” In his Teisho on this letter, Nyogen Roshi touches on Dogen’s writing on prajna, the Buddha’s empirical quest and the reality of the experience of enlightenment.
