For more information about South Korea poet Ko Un, please look here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ko-un-56d207070306a
“Ignorant Man” by Ko Un read by Sher Schwartz
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3 responses to ““Ignorant Man” by Ko Un read by Sher Schwartz”
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This is one I have to think about for a while. I’m interested in what you may know about the original (assuming it was in Korean) and any cultural connotations associated with the word he used for ignorant. Of course, in the US ignorant has pretty negative connotations. In the context of the poem though – it seems more like the concept of not having conceit or acknowledging and embracing that there is way more that one does not know, than one knows.
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Thank you for your questions and comments. First off this collection is in translation as you suspected. The translators are Clare You and Richard Silberg. Ko Un has a long and eventful biography. He spent 10 years in a Zen monastery as a monk, but his mind and body was so restless, he couldn’t stay longer. I am hesitant to explain what I think Ko Un’s position is, but I can explain how I interpret this poem from a Buddhist perspective. The first man believes he knows it all, and he proclaims he does. And yet, he “is so far from the sounds of the waves.” This “know it all” is not in touch with the comings and goings (waves in and out) of reality — constant change and impermanence. To proclaim one knows it all is to proclaim — there is something certain and solid — the absolute way it is. The “ignorant” man is perhaps ignorant only in the ways of the world in the ways of knowledge, but who really is the ignorant man? I believe it’s a play on words–perhaps. The first man has to be right, and the second man lives simply , gently, honestly “with the same face he was born with.” His life unadorned by proclamation and striving. His family “beautiful,” and his “ancestors rest quietly.” The man who knows everything cannot rest quietly for he is always trying to maintain his position. So, who really is the ignorant man? I hope this helps. 🙂
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