“Mr. Bon, are you going to worship at Ishiyama Temple?”¹

It is not entirely clear why Hakuin chose this bonseki, a miniature planted landscape in a tray, as a subject, since it is not a traditional subject of Zen painting. This painting may have been a commission or served a kind of talismanic purpose, as implied by the humorous inscription: the name “Bon” is a homophone for “monk,” and Ishiyama Temple, a Shingon Buddhist temple located in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, was very close to the city’s red-light district. As such, the inscription could be read as “Mr. Monk, are you going to Ishiyama Temple to play with ladies?”

 

The notion of a monk frequenting a brothel may also reference the eccentric Rinzai Zen monk Ikkyū Sōjun (1394–1481), who famously opposed the religion’s celibacy mandate, believing that spirituality and sexual congress—of all sorts—offered a path to enlightenment. A popular cultural figure as well, Ikkyū was believed to have spent the night with the Hell Courtesan (Jigoku Dayū), helping the demon’s consort achieve enlightenment.

 

Given the ribald pun in the inscription and the associations of Ishiyama Temple, it has been suggested by John Stevens that the shape of the bonseki, if rotated 90 degrees, alludes to a cloaked monk with a massive erection, meaning that this painting may have been made as some kind of protective or sexual talisman.²

 

—Bradley Bailey