Spring is the season for love, as they say. It’s also considered the time when cats get their groove on. Issa had some thoughts on that when he observed it two hundred years ago.
山寺や祖師のゆるしの猫の恋
yamadera ya soshi no yurushi no neko no koi[1]
mountain temple—
with the blessing of the founder
cat’s love
—Issa[2]
Issa may have been making an observational haiku here. He was at the temple and spied some cats having a bit of fun, perhaps. There is a bit of a double-meaning, however.
Issa followed True Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdo Shinshū, 浄土真宗). The priest who created this sect, Shinran, got rid of the requirement for priests to remain celibate. His argument was that humans no longer had the ability to achieve enlightenment through their own efforts alone and could only do so by the grace of Amida, the cosmic Buddha. In other words, he made his flavor of Buddhism into a faith-based religion. Because salvation was solely granted by faith in Amida, remaining celibate was no longer necessary. He also criticized the established monastic system, calling it corrupt and out-of-touch.
So, then, back to the haiku: you can see how in his sect of Buddhism, cats are free to make love with the founder’s blessing. No wonder Pure Land Buddhism became the most popular sect of Buddhism in Japan![3]
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Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdoshū) and True Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdo Shinshū) are a little different. Jōdo Shinshū promotes the idea that faith in Amida alone is sufficient for salvation, while Jōdoshū emphases practice and the nembutsu chant a little more. The pure faith-based approach makes Jōdo Shinshū a little more popular in Japan. That said, they are both similar enough that people often group them together. ↩