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Words: | Submitted: Mon Dec 22 2003
... An enlightened being actions are inherently ethical, because enlightenment carries within it the supreme knowledge of good and evil and the ability to do only good. According to Ives "actions springing from satori are inherently good and hence if the person has been designated as a roshi on the basis of an acknowledged satori - that is, has received inka, the certification of satori in a Zen lineage - then that action will certainly be good" (113). Because Ikkyu was a certified enlightened being his actions could not have evil intent. His enlightenment guaranteed that any action he took was moral. An enlightened person his beyond good and evil, his actions are correct. Those without the prajna of enlightenment are incapable of judging the actions of an enlightened being. Since the monks of the times questioned Ikkyu's actions show their own lacking of enlightenment. Ikkyu's enlightenment was his guarantee of ...
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