Zen Buddhism
Religions in Japan
• Shinto: the indigenous Japanese religion
• Zen: an anti-intellectual school of Buddhism
inherited from China
• Pure Land (Jodo Shinshu): a devotional school
of Buddhism from China focusing on a “savior”
Buddha, Amida
• Soka Gakkai: a philosophical, utilitarian religion
founded by Makiguchi in 1937 but tracing its
roots to Nichiren in the 13th century
Zen Buddhism
• 10 million adherents in Japan
• Essential teaching: direct experience of
satori
• Anti-dualism, anti-intellectual, anti-logic
• Exemplary teaching: the Buddha’s
“lecture” on Vulture’s Peak
• Canon? Texts? Communication: ART
Zen Arts
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Martial Arts
Gardening
Tea Ceremony
Calligraphy
Flower arranging
Painting
Sculpture
Poetry
Satori can occur in any moment.
All of life is a meditation.
All of life is a meditation.
Even washing the dishes.
The Zen aesthetic
seen in paintings and poetry
Simplicity, momentariness, detachment,
and humor
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)
Oh, ancient pond
Frog jumps in
Plop!
(Basho is a pen name. It means “banana tree.”)
• Sengai (1750-1837)
“Frog Beneath a
Banana Tree”
Should there be a pond
I would jump in
I want Basho to hear my
plop!
Sengai, “A Contented Man in
the Summer Evening”
Just because we are
In the midst of good and evil
We enjoy this cool
Yoshi “good” and “reed”
Ashi “bad” or “evil”
“Bodhidharma”
A.k.a., Daruma, Damo
• Japan, by Chikanobu
Shushin (1660-1728)
• early 18th century
• Ink and colors on silk
• Pacific Asia Museum
Collection
Japanese sumi–e painting
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Bold strokes in ink on fragile paper
Each line must be final
In-the-moment
Focused
No planning, spontaneous
No overexertion
Not contrived (non-rational)
Nonattached (no ego!)
Tohaku
Sumi-e painting
Edo (Tokyo) 1780
With Mt. Fugi
From Bradley Smith’s
Japan: A History in Art
1964