Quote by Ikkyu Sojun: “If you are alive, you are in hell. If you die, you are in paradise. Such is the world.”

This cynical yet profound statement offers a stark view of existence, suggesting that worldly life is inherently suffering while death offers release. It critiques the human condition and conventional notions of afterlife, embracing a radical Zen perspective on dualism.

Ikkyu lived through periods of war, famine, and plague in Japan, which could have fueled such a grim perspective. His views were often shaped by a direct engagement with suffering and the impermanence of life, leading him to challenge common religious comfortings.

Fifteenth-century Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, poet, and calligrapher who became as famous for his iconoclasm and eroticism as for his spiritual depth. Born allegedly the illegitimate son of Emperor Go-Komatsu, he rejected the formalism of institutional Zen and spent years as a wanderer. His poetry collection Crazy Cloud challenges the distinction between sacred and profane life with radical directness.