A fallen flower
Returning to the branch?
It was a butterfly.
--HAIKU POEM. Japan.
by Moritake (14721549),
high priest of Ise
Shrine.
1
Mt. Fuji is a 10,000 year old still active volcano depicted by
2
Artist Hokusai in the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1831).
Japan
3
4
Suggestion
Perishability
Irregularity
Simplification
Utamaro. Woodblock printmaking.
5
From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the shapes of
things. When I was fifty I had published a universe of designs. but
all I have done before the the age of seventy is not worth
bothering with. At seventy five I'll have learned something of the
pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and
insects. When I am eighty you will see real progress. At ninety I
shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At a
hundred I shall be a marvelous artist. At a hundred and ten
everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before.
To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to
keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself
Hokusai, but today I sign my self 'The Old Man Mad About
Drawing. -Hokusai
Artist: Hokusai.1760-1849, Tokugawa period)
6
Perceptions
7
Hokusai. Great Wave. 1823-39.
8
Great Wave, reversed.
9
Vincent van Gogh. Starry Night. 1889.
10
Portuguese Jesuits, merchants and
African slave arrive in Japan, 1542.
11
Edgar Degas (French,
19th c., Dancer
Hokusai, peasants dancing
12
Utamaro. Three Beauties.
Cover, New Yorker magazine.
13
Seeking the Tao
In the Autumn
Mountains.
N. Song. 10th c.
By Juran.
Hanging scroll,
Ink on silk.
14
BUDDHISM:
ABOUT THE Laughing Buddha
In China he is known as "the
laughing Buddha" and is usually
represented as a rotund figure with a
happy disposition.
Originally a fertility figure, he
brought "goodies" in his bag to local
townsfolk, especially children.
In Japan, called Hotei, one of the
seven lucky gods.
Most people encounter this figure in
Chinese shops and restaurants and
confuse him for the historical
Buddha. The common tradition is to
rub his belly for good luck and
prosperity, this is because his big
figure is a sign of abundance.
15
BUDDHISM and spread
16
BUDDHISM.
A world religion or philosophy based on the teachings of the
Buddha* and holding that a state of enlightenment can be
attained by detaching oneself from worldly desires.
*Buddha: One who has awakened.
Founder of Buddhism:
Siddhartha Gautama (family name) (563?-483?)
meditation--> enlightenment-->nirvana
(recognize that atman and brahman are reunited in this life)
Practice:
Middle Way between extremes
knowledge of 4 Truths
8-Fold Path (right thoughts and actions)
17
EAST, Buddhism:
Nirvana
Moksha: release from Maya or
Samsara (daily life, lives)
WEST, Classicism:
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Things are not what they appear to be.
Cave: World of Illusion.
Karma: deeds
Dharma: the Way
Enlightenment (satori)
Emptiness
18
“right”: seeing and
acting in accordance
with things as they are.
The Four Noble Truths
1.
2
3.
4.
Life is full of "suffering".
This suffering is caused by our desires.
There is a cure.
The cure is the Eightfold Path.
enlightenment:
West: cognitive knowledge,
rational understanding.
East: awakening, transcending
desires and acceptance of the way
things are.
19
BUDDHISM
From HINDUISM
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama ca. 500 B.C.E.
Meditation
Other forms of Buddhism:
INDIA MAHAYANA
(Great Vehicle)
Bodhisattva
Prayers and rituals
CHINA KOREA JAPAN
Chan
JAPAN Shintoism
Future
ZEN
Paradise
THERAVADA/
TIBET: VAJRAYANA
HINAYANA (little vehicle)
skill-based method:
individuals must seek visualization exercises:
wisdom and nirvana
(Mandala)
on their own. Mostly CHINA:
monks and nuns
MAITREYA:
in SE ASIA
Buddha of the
AMITABHA: Buddha
of the Western
20
Dream of Maya,
Birth of the Buddha
The Buddha - biography + history
21
Capitals to Monumental
Buddhist Pillars, 3rd c BCE
22
Stupa at Sanchi, India
rd
3
c BCE
23
Torana (gate)
and Yakshi (fertility deity)
24
Stupa of Sanchi
ca. 3rd c BCE-1st c CE
Egg
Mandala
Jakatas vs.
aniconic representation
25
Kushan controlled Gandhara:
Gandhara Style
Shows
W->E
Greco-Roman
influence.
Robes,
Naturalism.
Terms:
Iconography
Wavy ushnisha
urna
mudra
26
Gandhara
Mathura Style
Gandharan:
Model of a Stupa. Grey schist, 2nd c.
Prana filled Buddha
w/ ushnisha top knot
Red sandstone 27
Buddhist Art in India & China
1st-7th centuries CE
28
East-West: Architectural and
Functional Similarities
Section + Plan: Chaitya hall,
Karli, India CE 50-70
Santa Sabina, Christian Church,
Rome, 423-432 Ce
29
Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India
late 5th c: ca. 450-500 CE
30
Ajanta Caves, late
th
5
c., India
31
Naturalistic Ajanta murals: Prince Distributing
Alms + Padmapani (Lotus Bearer).
Think of : rasa
32
Buddhist Expansion into China
nd
th
2 -7 centuries CE
Vairochana Buddha
Colossal Buddha ~40ft high, cave carving,
33
th
Yungang, China, ca 450 CE
Longmen, China, 6 centtury
Vairochana Buddhas.
7th c., China
49ft high
2-5th century Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
180 ft high.
34
Parinirvana of the Buddha, Sri
Lanka, 11th-12th c. 21’ x 46’
long.
35
36
Thailand: Emerald Buddha
(Buddha as King) 15th c.
37
USA: Nam June Paik (1932-2006)
TV Buddha, 1974
38
Seated Buddha, Senso-ji
Temple, Tokyo
39
Iconography (symbolism):
Meditation: act of concentrating mind on
something deeply and carefully.
Seated Buddha.
40
41
42
Tibetan Mandala
43
Map of
Thailand
Kowloon urban night scene
44
(samsara).
Wat (temple) Si Chum, Sukhothai, Thailand.
Access to Enlightenment => on path to
Nirvana
45
Sukhothai Buddha
Wat Si Chum, Thailand
46
Giant Buddha at Sukhothai, northern Thailand.
47
Nun praying next to gold-fingered Buddha.
48
Rooftop view of the Buddha. Sukhothai.
49
ZEN AND BUDDHISM
Origins
Hinduism
Buddhism
Taoism
Shintoism
Essence
Koan
practice
Mu Ch'i "Six Persimmons" Painting
Southern Song Later 13th c. Ink on paper. 14 1/4". Elemental.
50
ZEN BUDDHISM
zen (Japanese) <= ch’an (Chinese)<= India
Enlightenment sought via meditation to tap into reality
by means of intuition (non-mind).
Break through daily, conventional, worldly chatter (samsara)
Various Devices: koans (paradoxical riddles):
“What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
Bodhidharma->
brought Buddhism to China,
spread to Japan.
Ch’an --> Zen in Japan.
51
The moon
shines
without
being polished.
52
Hakuin Ekaku (1865-1908), Blind Men on a Bridge. Ink on paper.
53
Landscape
by
Sesshu Toyo
(1420-1506),
Dated 1495.
Hanging scroll;
Ink on paper.
Donald Keene:
Characteristics of
Japanese style
Suggestion
Perishability
Irregularity
Simplification
54
Buddhist Meditation
55
Tea Ceremony
56
Zen: Impact on West
Zen: most popular form of Buddhism for Westerners.
Mostly Unknown till modern times, ~ 50 years ago.
3 Channels:
1) Western scholars: Alan Watts (Beat Zen, Square Zen)
2) American servicemen and women after WWII, 1940s+.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Nagasaki, City Lights Bookstore,
SF
3) Arrival of Asian immigrants
(Japanese Tea Garden, SF, Golden Gate Park)
Most Western Buddhist practice is meditation.
Influenced NY and SF “Beat” writers, and artists.
57
Haiku and Imagist poetry.
Once again in love
HAIKU form:
3 lines:5-7-5 syllables
17 syllables total (in Japanese)
once again regrets, as fleeting
as cherry blossoms.
Ishikawa Toyonobu, 18th c.
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro.”
England
1926.
58
Much of admiration for Japanese art can be traced to
Zen influences on Japanese
Architecture, poetry, ceramics, calligraphy,
Gardening, tea ceremony, flower arrangements, crafts.
Qualities: Irregular, spontaneous, simple, suggestive
:
By Isamu Noguchi
59
Zen, admirable qualities:
Simplicity
Emptiness
Directness
naturalness
Characteristics of
Japanese style
Suggestion
Perishability
Irregularity
Simplification
Meditation Gardens
60
ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES: 101 STORIES
Apperception
Self-discovered person
“A special teaching without scriptures, beyond words and letters,
pointing to the mind-essence of man, seeing directly into one’s
nature, attaining enlightenment.”
61
ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES: 101 STORIES
1.
A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era
(1868-1912), received a university professor who came
to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full,
and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the
overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. "It is
overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own
opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless
you first empty your cup?"
62
ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES: 101 STORIES
14. Muddy Road
Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a
muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk
kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
"Come on girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his
arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they
reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain
himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan,
"especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did
you do that?"
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying
her?"
63
ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES: 101 STORIES
18. A Parable.
A man traveling across a field
encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him.
Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the
root of a wild vine and swung himself down over
the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above.
Trembling, the man looked down to where, far
below, another tiger was waiting to eat him.
Only the vine sustained him.
Two mice, one white and one black, little
by little started to gnaw away at the vine. The
man saw a luscious strawberry near him.
Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked
the strawberry with the other.
How sweet it tasted!'
64
ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES: 101 STORIES
49.The Black-Nosed Buddha.
A nun who was searching for enlightenment made a statue
of Buddha and covered it with gold leaf. Wherever she
went she carried this golden Buddha with her.
Years passed and, still carrying her Buddha, the nun came
to live in a small temple in a country where there were
many Buddhas, each one with its own shrine.
The nun wished to burn incense before her golden Buddha.
Not liking the idea of the perfume straying to the others,
she devised a funnel through which the smoke would
ascend only to her statue. This blackened the nose of the
golden Buddha, making it especially ugly.
65
Review
Early Buddhism founded by: Bodhidarma Siddhartha Chuang Tzu?
Where first? Spread?
Maya, samsara, cave: what have in common?
4 Noble Truths:
8-Fold Path: rightness standard?
Middle Way
Satori, Nirvana.
Enlightenment: West, East
Mandala
Mudra
Zen’s lineage:
Special qualities? ways of learning, achieving Enlightenment?
Spread to West via:
66
Koan.
10 Bulls
or
the oxherding
pictures
67
10 B u l l s
1. The Search for the Bull
Home
2. Discovering the Footprints
Transcended
3. Perceiving the Bull
Self Transcended
4. Catching the Bull
Source
5. Taming the Bull
6. Riding the Bull
7. The Bull
8. Both Bull and
9. Reaching the
10. In the World
metaphor spiritual journey
68
1. The Search for the Bull
In the pasture of this world,
I endlessly push aside the tall grasses
in search of the bull.
Following unnamed rivers,
lost upon the interpenetrating paths
of distant mountains,
My strength failing and my vitality exhausted,
I cannot find the bull.
I only hear the locusts chirring
through the forest at night.
69
10 Bulls.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Search for the Bull 6. Riding the Bull Home
Discovering the Footprints 7. The Bull Transcended
Perceiving the Bull
8. Both Bull and Self Transcended
Catching the Bull
9. Reaching the Source
Taming the Bull
10. In the World
70
2. Discovering the Footprints
Along the riverbank under the trees,
I discover footprints!
Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints.
Deep in remote mountains they are found.
These traces no more can be hidden than
one's nose, looking heavenward.
71
3. Perceiving the Bull
I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore,
Here no bull can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head,
those majestic horns?
72
4. Catching the Bull
I seize him with a terrific struggle.
His great will and power are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau
far above the cloud-mists,
Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.
73
5. Taming the Bull
The whip and rope are necessary,
Else he might stray off down some dusty road.
Being well trained,
he becomes naturally gentle.
Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.
74
6. Riding the Bull Home
Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones
through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody will join me.
75
7. The Bull Transcended
Astride the bull, I reach home.
I am serene.
The bull too can rest.
The dawn has come.
In blissful repose,
Within my thatched dwelling
I have abandoned the whip and rope.
76
8.
Both Bull and Self Transcended.
Whip, rope, person, and bull-All merge in No-thing.
This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.
How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?
Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.
77
9. Reaching the Source
Too many steps have been taken
returning to the root and the source.
Better to have been blind and deaf
from the beginning!
Dwelling in one's true abode,
unconcerned with that without -The river flows tranquilly on
and the flowers are red.
78
10. In the World
Barefooted and naked of breast,
I mingle with the people of the world.
My clothes are ragged and dust-laden,
and I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me, the dead trees become
alive.
79
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Search for the Bull 6. Riding the Bull Home
Discovering the Footprints 7. The Bull Transcended
Perceiving the Bull
8. Both Bull and Self Transcended
Catching the Bull
9. Reaching the Source
Taming the Bull
10. In the World
80
4-7
1-3
9-10.
8.
11.
81
82
Carl Andre. Sixteen Steel Cardinal 16. 1974.
Style: Minimalism.
83
Carl Andre
84
Donald
Judd (1928-94)
Woodcut, from portfolio
“Artists Against Torture.”
Sculpture
galvanized steel
85
Works by Robert Mangold, Anthony Caro, Robert Ryman
86
87
Zen meditation gardens
Characteristics of
Japanese style
Suggestion
Perishability
Irregularity
Simplification
Garden of Daisenin, Kyoto .
88
European monastery garden
Middle Ages
Views of
Japanese Zen
monastery garden,
1464-1548.
89
Katsura Palace pleasure garden, Japan
1615-1663
I
Taj Mahal, Agra, India
1631-1643+ 5 yrs: garden
90
Japan, India, France
Versailles Palace garden, France 1669-1685
Screen painting
and
Haiku
poem.
Once again in love
once again regrets, as fleeting
as cherry blossoms.
Ishikawa Toyonobu, 18th c.91
Haiku and Imagist poetry.
Once again in love
HAIKU form:
3 lines:5-7-5,
17 syllables (in Japanese)
once again regrets, as fleeting
as cherry blossoms.
Ishikawa Toyonobu, 18th c.
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro.”
1926.
92
Agnes Martin,
American.
I can see humility
Delicate and white
It is satisfying
Just by itself. . .
And Trust
absolute trust
a gift
a precious gift
93
94
Character for “Mu” for “no thing” “no”
By Tori Enji (1721-1792)
95
Villa Rotunda, Palladio,
Vicenza, Italy
Renaissance
96
Katsura Palace, Japan
97
Frank Lloyd Wright, American
Architect (1867-1959).
Falling Water, Bear Run, PA., 1936
98
Katsura Palace
Wright, Fallingwater, 1936.
99
100
101
102
Hakuin Ekaku (1865-1908), Blind Men on a Bridge. Ink on paper.
103
Pieter Bruegel, Christ’s Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind, 1568
“And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.”
104
7 Dwarves on a Log—
Inspiration? Parallels?
105