''Unsui'' (), or ''kōun ryūsui'' () in full, is a term specific to

Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...

which denotes a

postulant A postulant (from , "to ask") was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a Christian monastery or a religious order for the period precedi ...

awaiting acceptance into a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

or a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

monk who has undertaken Zen training. Sometimes they will travel from monastery to monastery ( angya) on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

to find the appropriate Zen master with which to study.Baroni, 365

Etymology

The term ''unsui'', which literally translates as "cloud, water" comes from a Chinese

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

which reads, "To drift like clouds and flow like water."Snyder, 44-45 Helen J. Baroni writes, "The term can be applied more broadly for any practitioner of Zen, since followers of Zen attempt to move freely through life, without the constraints and limitations of attachment, like free-floating clouds or flowing water." According to author James Ishmael Ford, "In Japan, one receives unsui ordination at the beginning of formal ordained practice, and this is often perceived as 'novice ordination.'"Ford, 55 According to the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism,Dictionary of Buddhism, 316 the term ''unsui'' is also used for Therefore, the translation of itinerant monk found on several Japanese-English online dictionaries. Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Jeffrey Friedl'
Jeffrey's Japanese<->English dictionary server
/ref>

Etymology

See also