As for the reputation of Nonin's Zen teaching at the time, it can easily be guessed from the fact that conservative people in waka (a 31-syllable Japanese poem) society criticized FUJIWARA no Teika, who created new style waka around the same time, by saying 'Shingihikyo no darumauta' (heresy of Daruma).
能忍の禅風に対する当時の世評については、同時期に和歌の新風を興していた藤原定家らの歌を、旧来の勢力が「新儀非拠の達磨歌」と揶揄したことにもうかがうことができる。