So, what was he?

Buddhist, Shinto, Tao — the question often asked is, what religion did Matsuo Basho follow?

Matsuo Basho studied Buddhism and Buddhist like to claim him for their own, saying he studied under Butcho. And Basho emulated the Buddhist monk Saiygo in his travel and reclusive lifestyle. But that is not to say that he was curious about the world about him. Often he visited Shinto shrines as well as Buddhist ones.

古人の跡をもと めず、古人の求たる所を.もとめよ
kojin no ato wo motomezu, kozjin no motometaru tokoro wo motomeyo

“Don’t follow in the footsteps of the old masters’ footsteps,
seek what they sought.” Basho said.

Funny thing, it appears Basho borrowed this from an older friend, Kōbō-Daishi (774-835), and (in 1693) imparted it to his disciple Kyoriku, in what has come down to us as “Words of Farewell to Kyoriku.” All this is out there, in books and online.

This makes it more Confucian like, for one needs to learn. Basho’s advice on how to learn might go like this:

Travel widely,
While carrying as little as you can
Write down a word or two

Bashō no yōna, 2024

And then go back.

Leaving us back at the beginning of the circle, Tao-like. Finding, that if you walk long enough, one day, to your surprise, you’ll find yourself among the very wise. And even if you don’t, you’ll have fun from the beginning to the end.

One can find many of these ideas expressed in Toshiharu Oseko’s book, Basho’s Haiku.

Note. It was Kyoriku who provided the cottage on Lake Biwa for Basho’s retreat after Oku no Hosomichi, the Journey into the Northern Interior. In that, there is another lesson.

“Step back to see what is close to you.”