Bubble Tea Ceremony

Yesterday I visited an art event related to Butoh and Japanese Tea Ceremony. During a long introduction the two Western speakers confessed having no idea about Japanese culture and the Way of Tea in particular, while the Japanese artist let us know she just discovered her Japanese roots after studying Western art for decades, and now wanted to present her Japanese culture to the West.

The event itself I found not worth much further comment, but it brought an idea to my mind ...

What if, after almost three decades of studying Zen, Japanese fine and martial arts and (to a certain extend) the Japanese language, I'd suddenly discover my "western roots" and go to Asia to teach, say, German football, F1 car racing or playing the violin ... ?

Ridiculous! my friends would say,  you have no idea about it! Right. It is not your home country's "cultural background", it is not your DNA or your passport which qualifies you for expertise and skill in this or that art. It is years of study and training, of spending long time with good teachers and eventually finding your own creative way after becoming fully immersed in your art and it's environment.

Alas, we are too easily put off the scent by "qualification through nationality" and mislead by experts whose expertise is mainly based on being born in a country they struggled to leave behind most of their adult life, especially when it comes to Japanese art. What can they present to us? Another iteration of the cliché spread about their country in the West, since this is all what their understanding is based upon.

Said that ... years ago when I saw this job advert in Tokyo looking for a German barbecue expert, I was tempted to respond to the staff immediately ... coming from Nuremberg, I must have the Grilling Expert's DNA without any doubt. I much regret I didn't, since this would now allow me telling a nice story of finding back to my roots to a delighted Japanese audience.

Zen Ken Sho - Sesshin Announcement

Next month I will teach a 3 1/2 days Sesshin at Benediktushof Holzkirchen (near Wuerzburg/Germany). We will practise a combination of Zazen, Hitsuzendo (Zen-Calligraphy with brush and ink) and Aikiken (Aikido-based exercises with a wooden sword).

The combination of Zen-Meditation, Calligraphy and exercises with a sword was practised already by old masters like Musashi Miyamoto, Yamaoka Tesshu and Oomori Sogen (my former teacher's teacher).

I believe that silent meditation (even if it is dynamic and strong) improves a lot when practised in combination with creative art and physical exercise.

Through our art we can express ourselves, our Zen-experience, and eventually realise who we are. In the trace of ink we leave behind on the paper we can see our own character, our own Zen-mind.

Physical exercise is not just healthy and creating a good balance with the periods of sitting. Especially in martial arts we practise the unification of body and mind through our breathing. Decisiveness and social interaction play a stronger role than in the more solitary practise of Zazen.

Zen-Ken-Sho no Michi is a Zen-Way of exercise where we equally practise Zazen, Hitsuzendo and Aikiken.

A few places are still available, if you are interested please register for the Sesshin via Benediktushof Holzkirchen.

Shazendo 写禅道 (Zen Photography V)

I have been writing much about Zen and Photography in this blog without actually showing some pictures.

My recent research on the photographer Hiroshi Moritani gave me the inspiration to develop my approach of taking pictures towards a Zen Way of Photography. I want to call it Shazendo (写禅道), in analogy to Hitsuzendo (筆禅道), the Way of Zen Calligraphy with brush and ink.

To avoid this Zen blog becoming too crowded with photographies, I started another site to show some samples of my work here: http://shazendo.blogspot.de/.

Participating Eyes (Zen Photography IV)

Photography is a great way of communication. One can tell a long story with all it's circumstances, atmosphere and emotion in just one picture, without words.

Last December I found an old book at the Temple in Kameoka with fascinating pictures taken at a Zen Monastery. It was not just a documentary of the Monks' daily life, the photographies transmitted an atmosphere of participation, as if seen through one of the fellow Monk's eyes instead of being taken from a safe distance through a camera's lens.

I learned that the photographer, Hiroshi Moritani  (森谷洋至), after being granted permission to shoot at the Monastery showed his initial series of work to the Master, but was turned down with "your pictures reflect you do not understand anything of our life!". So Moritani decided to join the temple for a longer period, participate the Monks' life and demanding daily routine, and then produced a new series of photographies, now full of understanding and compassion.

This style of Zen Photography is not observation and documentation from a safe outside position. The camera, too often creating a distance or barrier between the artist and the object, completely disappeares. Once the photographer is totally immersed in a situation, fully part of it, pictures can be taken from inside out, as looking through your eyes.

No surprise that Hiroshi Moritani is convinced that Sha-do (写道), derived from Shashin (写真, the Japanese word for photography) will be practised and accepted as an art or Way (道) similar to Shodo (書道), the art of writing with brush and ink, or Kado (華道), the art of flower arrangement (also known as Ikebana). And the same way Hitsuzendo (筆禅道) was developed from Shodo (書道), I believe a Shazendo (写禅道), a Zen Way of Photography, can emerge from Hiroshi Moritani's Shado.

Zen Calligraphy (Hitsuzendo) - 2

Lesson 2 - DO / michi 道

Eventually I continue with instructions for self-study of Hitsuzendo (筆禅道), a Zen-exercise with brush and ink I teach and occasionally wrote about in my blog. Before continuing to exercise with the below sample, you might want to read what I suggest for practising Hitsuzendo here and here.

Today's character is one of my favourite, pronounced DO (in the Japanese interpretation of the original Chinese "Dao") or michi, in kun-yomi, the Japanese way of reading it. It refers to the "way of practice" as in ShoDO (the way of calligraphy), AikiDO, KenDO, IaiDo or KyuDO (some martial arts), KaDO (the way of formal flower arrangement, also known as ikebana) or ChaDO (the way of tea, also called cha no yu).

To prepare for today's exercise, please follow my previously posted suggestions.

The character is written in one breath, one stroke from the top left to the bottom right. The lines and numbers 1-2-3 indicate the direction, no start or stop.

DO / michi (道) - click to enlarge

Some points to consider:

• write slowly, with breath-power, not with muscle force
• exhale deeply and fully while writing
• don't rush, from start to end you might need as much as 5 seconds
• don't accelerate towards the end to produce and artistic effect - instead, put energy in your stroke and extend beyond the end
• compare your writing to the sample: thick and thin, rhythm, balance, over-all impression
   

Today's example is written in gyosho or cursive style, which does not much resemble it's (more complicated) standard form.

I will post more samples later ... for hands-on instructions please consider my seminars in June and November at Benediktushof Holzkirchen (near Wuerzburg/Germany).

Mushin

Thoughts over thoughts ... I must prepare my lectures on supercomputing, the tax-declaration is overdue, I need to settle an appointment with the dentist, plan family holiday ...

It is impossible to forget or push away all these thoughts, even during Zazen. I remember when I started practising Zazen half a life ago, sitting on my pillow often was the time when problems and thoughts hit me most severe. But with some experience, Zazen can help us not being crushed by the million issues of every day life.

During Zazen, there is no need to push thoughts away or actively stop thinking, no effort required to achieve some special state of mind. It is sufficient to sit properly, concentrate on breathing and not being bothered by the thoughts coming and going. No need to follow any idea, think about a solution for any problem coming up during Zazen. It is not necessary to concentrate on a thought in more detail, or even to ignore it.

Practising Zazen while not being the slave of my thoughts and worries is a big freedom, though it is also not a selfish ignorance of the world around me at all. When my brain stops worrying about all the issues around and inside myself, my heart can open.

I do not just sit alone with myself or with the Buddha. I sit with my partner or family maybe still asleep next door, with the birds starting to sing outside, with the early morning light and with the wind and the rain. The sounds from nature or from the street are no more different from the thoughts inside my head, coming and going. I connect to the world not by thinking about it, but by just being there, inhaling, exhaling, a bit like a kid playing or a musician .... sounds simple, but requires some praxis to work, though.

In the old scriptures this state is sometimes called Mushin (無心), which is not even half way accurately translated into "empty heart" or "empty mind". Maybe the quaint German expression "selbstvergessen" comes closer than any English equivalence?

Zazen at Dawn

I love the quiet morning hour before dawn. My first Zazen experience in Japan, almost 15 years ago, was joining the "Gyouten Zazenkai" (暁天座禅会, Dawn Zazen Gathering) at Engakuji-Temple in Kita-Kamakura.

After one hour train-ride from Tokyo entering the Butsu-den (仏殿) in the surrounding nature's cold air at dark night, and leaving the hall in early dawn after two rounds of Zazen and Sutra chanting is a very unique experience.

I remember one special morning in December, when after Zazen everything was covered with snow, and the whole Engakuji was reflecting the early morning light in a beautiful soft white. Instead of immediately leaving the Temple after Zazen, I traded in a severe scolding from the Monk at the gate for some time wandering around in the silent beauty.

Still today, I enjoy doing Zazen at dawn whenever possible. Starting a busy day with an hour of silent activity means great freedom, and it makes an enormous difference compared to rushing out of bed last second just to reach office in time.