Z E N B U D D H I S M

AN D ITS RE LAT IO N T O ART

B oo k s on the Far E ast often mention a sec t o f B uddh i s m

called Zen T h ey say that it was a s cho o l of ab stract medi
_
.

t at i o n and that it ex er ci s ed a p r o fo un d i nfluen ce upon art

and literature ; but they tel l us very little about what Z en
actual l y w as about its relation to ordinary B u ddh i s m it s
, ,

history Or the exact nature of its influen c e upon the arts

, .

The reaso n of this is that very little of the native literature

which deals with Z en has yet been translated perhaps because ,

it is written in early Chinese colloquial a language the study ,

of which has been almost wholly neglected by E uropeans and

also ( to judge by some of their attempt s to translate it ) b y the
Japanese themse l ves .

The present paper makes no attempt at p rofundity but it ,

is based on the study o f original text s and: fumi sh e s I h ope

°

, ,

some information not hitherto accessibl e

0 0
0 0 0

describing the origin s o f Z en itself I must give s ome

g eneral a cc ount of B uddhism At the time when it reached.

C h ina there were two ki nds of B uddhism called the L esser

1
,

V ehicle and the G reater The former P rimitive B uddhism

.
, ,

possessed scriptures which in part at any rate were genui ne ;

that is to say they re corded words a c tuall y used by S h aky a
,

muni The ordi nary adherent of this religion di d not h 0 pe to

.

b eco m e a B uddha ; B uddhas indeed were regarded as extremely

rare He o nly aspired to be c ome an Arhat th at is an ascetic
.
,

ripe for annihilation one who is ab out to escap e fro m the

,

whee l of rein carnation whose present in carnation is an ante

—

c hamber to Nirv ana To such aspirants the B uddha gives no

.

”
assistance ; he i s what children in their games c all home ,

and his followers must pant after him as b est they can .

Those who fo und this religion too comfortles s invented

another which be c ame kn own as Mah ay ana the Greater
'

, ,

Vehi c le P utting their do c trin es into the mouth of S h aky a

.

c —v—o — Q

( ) F i rst
1 c entur y AD
. .
muni they fabricated a d h o c sermons of enormous l ength
,
,

pre ac hed ( so they asserted ) by the B uddha himself l n h 1 s

se c ond period to those who were ripe to re c eive the whole
truth.

The great feature of this new B uddhism w as the i nt erven

tion of the merciful B o dh i s att vas i llum i nati who though fit ,
.
,

for B uddhahood voluntarily renounced it in order to help

,

mankind .

The first B uddhist bo oks to rea c h C hina emanated from

the L esser V ehicle B ut the Greater Vehicle or B odhisattva
.

B uddhism so on prevailed and by the sixth century A D over,

. .

two thousand wo rks most of them belonging to the Greater

,

Vehicle had been translated into Chinese

,
.

B UDDHI S T S E CT S .

There were already many se c ts in China the c hief of which ,

were
Th e Amj dzs ts .

of B uddhism which appealed to the

d
11 ne 51cat ed { I t ta
u g ht
. that a B uddha named A mida pre
s ides b v er P aradise where he will receive the
'

so uls of those that worship him The conception of this .

P aradise closely resembles the Christian idea of Heaven and

may have b een derived from it .

( 2 ) The T en dai S ect founded at the end of the sixth,

c entury Its teaching was b ased on a scripture of enormous

.

length called the S addh ar m a Pun dar zka S Etr a which is ’

,

translated by K ern in the S acred B ooks of t h e E ast It was .

perhaps the broadest and most representative sect It laid .

great stress on the ethical side of B uddhism .

We now come to Zen .

In the year 5 2 0 A D there arrived at Canton a missionary

. .

from S outhern India His name was B odhidharma and h e

.

appears to have been the younger son of an Indian Prince .

The reigning E mperor of China was a m uni ficen t patron of

B uddhism H e had built mo nasteries given alms distributed
.
, ,

scripture s defended the faith Hearin g that a B uddhist prince

,
.

had arrived from India he summoned him at on c e to his

8
Capital Th e fo ll owing c onversation took place in the Palac e
.

at Nanking :
E m p er o r Yo u
will be interested to hear that I have b uilt
:

many monasteries distributed script ures given ,

,

alms and upheld the Faith Have I not indeed

, .

ac q ui red merit ?
B o dh idh ar m a : None at all .

E m p er o r : In what then does true merit consist ?

B o dhidhar m a : In the obliteratio n of Matter throug h Ab s o
lute Knowledge not by external acts , .

E m p ero r : Which is the D ivine and P rimal Aspect of

Reality ?
B o dhi dhar m a : R eality has no aspect that is divine .

E m p ero r : What ar e you who have come before my ,

Throne ?
B o dh i dh ar m a : I do not k now .

The E mpero r could make nothing of him Monasticism .

,

a huge vested interest decried h im and after a short stay i n

, ,

Nankin g he started northward towards th e Capital of the Wei ,

Tartars who then r ul ed over a large part of C hi na Th e Wei

,
.

E mperor l i ke his Chinese confr ere was also a great patron of

, ,

B uddhism and he t o o desired an interview with the Indian

, , ,

priest .B ut B odhidharma had done with E mperors and ,

settled in a small co untry te mple where he lived till his death ,

nine years later S ome say that he tried to visit the Capital
.
-

of the Weis but was prevented by the intrigues of the monks

,

there.

He left b eh i nd him a few short tractates the sub stance of ,

which is as follow s :
There is no such person as B uddha B uddha is simply a .

S anskrit word meaning initiat e The Ab solute is imma

“
.

nent in every man s heart T his treasur e of the heart

’
.

is the only B uddha that exists It is no use seeking B uddha .

outside your o wn nature P rayer scripture reading fastin g

.
,
-
, ,

the ob servance of monastic rul es all are useless Those —

,
.

who seek B uddha do not find h i m Y o u may know b y heart

all the S utras of the t welve di visions and yet b e un able to ,
'

es c ape from the Wheel of Li fe an d D eath On e thing alon e .

9
 avails to discover the unreality of the Worl d by co nt em p l at
—

in g t h e Ab solute which is at the root of one s ow n nature“

’
.

S ome one asked him :

“
Why may we not worship the
B uddhas and B odhisattvas ? He answered :
Ogres
and hobgoblins can at will assume the outward
form o f B odhisattvas ; such are heretical and not of the true
B uddha There is no B uddha but your own thoughts
.
.

B uddha is the Way The Way is Z en Thi s word Z en . .

‘
cannot be understood even of the wise Zen means fo r a .

”1 ’
man to beho ld his fundamental nature .

The highest truths canno t b e written down or taught by

s p eech A man who cannot write a word can yet con
.
,

template his own heart and become wise l Kn o wl e dge of .

S utras and S hastras canno t h elp him to realise

the Ab solute within him .

“
He was asked : Can a layman with wife and children
one given over to the lusts of the flesh achieve B uddhahood ? ,

He answered :
P rovided he contemplate his own inner nature he will -
,

achieve B uddhahood It does not matter about his lusts . .

E ven a b utcher can achieve B uddhahood if he searches in ,

his own heart .

What cri ed his listeners

,
a butcher who lives by tak , ,

i n g life and h e achieve B uddhahood ?

,
The master replied
It is not a questio n of the man s trade If he h as ’
.

learnt to know his own nature he will be saved .

I have come from India only to teach you that B uddha

is Thought I care nothing for monastic rules or ascetic
.

practices As for walking on water or through fire climb

.
,

ing sword wheels fasting sitting upright for hours without

-
, ,

rest all such practices are heretical ; they b elong to the

—

World of B eing .

“
Tho ught Thought Thought " It is hard to se ek
, , .

E xpandin g it covers the whole world ; shrinking it is too

, ,

small to lodge a pin .

I seek the heart ; I do not seek B uddha For I have .

1
( ) Zen ( S a ns kr i t : d hy fina ) mea ns l i ter all y co ntemp l a tio n .

10
 l earnt to kn ow that the outer worl d is empty and un ten
anted .

S uch was the te aching of B odhidharma It was V edanti c 2

.

rather than B uddhist The terms thought B uddha .

, ,

etc used b y B o dhidharma correspond exactly to the br ahm an/

.
,

of the Upanish ads Mystic contemplation or y o g a had been .

l
u s ed by the B rahmin s and was not un kno wn to the early
B uddhists B ut B odhidharma was the first to insist upon it
. .

as the sole means of salvation .

f
Y et though his whole te aching turned on thi s m e di t a
tion or Z en he l eft behind him no ex act di rections for the
,

practice of it Having shown the end he left it to each indi

.
,

vidual to find his own me ans Rules dogmas and definitions .

,

we re precisely what he set out to destroy .

L ess than a hundred years after his death another Indian ,

B u ddh ap r i y a cam e to China and there defined with exactitude

, ,

and bl unt materiality the various forms of meditation .

The transit ion from the spirituality of B odhidharma to the

g rossness of his follower is however typical of religious , ,

history Th e poetry of Christ turns i nto the theolo gy o f

.

P aul ; the hovel of S aint Fran c is in to the mansion of B rother

E lias .

B UDDH AP RI Y A .

H e first describes the diff erent attitudes in which Z en may

b e prac tised with an exa c t account of the correct position for
,

hands feet head etc The normal attitude of meditation

, , ,
.
,

cross legged with upright back and hands locked over the
-
,

knees is familiar to every one .

Z en could also b e practised while walking and in cases of ,

sickness while lyin g down B uddh ap r i y a s in stru ctions are

’
.
,

Q
in the form of question and answer .

ues ti o n How does the Z en practised by hereti c s and

.
—

by the other schoo l s of B uddhism di fi er from our

Z en ?
Ans wer The Zen of the heretics is not imp ersonal The
—
.

Z en of the L esser V ehi c le i s material The Z en .

( ) D r Mc Go ve n te ll s me th a t Ze n wo u l d seem to be mo re i mmed i atel y

2 . r

deri ved from the N i h i l i s t i c S cho o l o f Na gar j una ( s t centur y

_

11
 of the Greater Vehicle only ab strac ts man and

Q
ph enome na .

ues ti o n i H o w ought o n e to set abo t pr c isi g

’
r
r u a t n Ze n ?
Ans wer First put far away fro m you all anger and alice
—

Q
,

and fill your heart with kindness and compassion

?
ues ti o n
E B od d
“

—
an the beginner at on c e pro c eed to the .

t e m p l at i o n o f non B eing ? -

Ans w er B y no means "He must by stratagems gradually

—

"
enter i ng I have never yet seen one who straight
way achieved the vision of non R eality If for -
.

example he were meditating in this r oo m he must

first banish from his mind every part of the world
except the city of Ch ang an Next every building ’
-
.

in the city except this mo nastery Next every .

,

room in the monas t ery except this cell every obj ect ,

but himself every part of himself except the end

,

of his nose Finally the end of his nose hangs in

.

space like a drop of dew and o n this nose end he -

concentrates his min d .

This is only a prel iminary exercise There are .

others o f t h e same kind For example persuade

. .
—

yourself that your navel is a minute rivulet runn ing

through the sands When this conception is firmly .

achieved you will see a bright light and ultimately

, ,

the body growing transpare nt you will behold the ,

workin g o f your bowels .

Or again regard your head as the top of a

,

hollow pipe which runs straight down through your

body into the earth Meditate upon the top of
.

your head that is to say upon the mouth of the

, ,

drain pipe and then gradually ascend in your

-
,

thoughts to a height of four inches above the head ,

and concentrate firmly on this conception Yo u .

will thus easily pass into the contemplation of non

B eing having performed the transition from ele
,
'

mentary to c omplete Zen as comfortably as a work

Q
man climb s the rungs o f a ladder .

ues ti o n —
Ar e there any signs whereby I may k now that
,

1 ‘

I h ave attained to S am adhi ?

( ) Co n ce n tr atio n
1
.

12
Ans wer — To b e sur e there are you wil l fee l
. S omet i m es
a se nsation as o f bugs or ants c reeping over your
s kin ; or again it wil l appear to you that a c loud
,

or mass of white co tton woo l is risin g i m m e di -

ately behind your b ack I n neither c ase must you .

b e discomposed or put out your hand S o metimes .

it will seem as t h ough oil wer e drippin g down from

your head and fa c e ; sometimes a light will shine
from out of the ground you are sittin g upon .

These are all pre l iminary sign s .

S ometimes when y o u have been sitting for a

l ong while and your ba c k is a c hin g you will s ud ,

den l y hear a sound of rappin g with the finger s or a

noise as of some one b umping again st the door .

Do not b e disquieted These are t h e Good S pirits

.

of Heaven c ome to warn you against sleep

, .

Again it may happen that you h ave an a gree

,

ab le sense of lightness and floating ; this is a good

sign B ew are however of a p ai nful sen s e of
.
, ,

l ightness ; for t h is may merely in dicate flatul en c e .

P at c he s of h eat o n the b ody are a si gn of Fiery

S am adhi A light filling the who l e room is a pre
.

moni to ry s ign of Z en ; to sme l l s trange fragr ances

not known on earth is a sign of who l e and utter
Ab strac tion .

S uch and m any more are the si gn s of Zen .

The prac ti c ant must not h eed them for if b y them

he b e en co uraged or dismayed all his work wil l be ,

Q
undone .

ues t i o n an Zen be pra c tised in a B uddha S hrine ?

C
—

Ans wer L No indeed " Z en should b e practised i n a quiet

s
-
,
L. o 0

roo m or under a tree or among tomb s or S l tt l n g on

Q
“

the dewy earth

ues ti on —
C an Z en b e practised by fnan y sittin g to g ether ?
Ans wer —
To be sure it may but each must fac e his neigh
’
bour s back They must not sit face to fa c e When
. .

t h ere ar e m an y sittin g together at ni ght a l am p or ,

cand l e may b e lit but when there are few together ,

it o ught not to b e used .

13
 Q ues ti o n
meditation s ?
—
Need I w ear monasti c vestments at my

Ans wer Vestments ? W h y you need wear

.
—
,
no clothes at
all if so b e you are al one,
.

LAT E R DE VE L OP M E NT OF ZE N .

Zen was at first a purely personal discipline non monastic ,

-
,

non ethical not demanding the acceptan c e of any S cripture

-
,

or any tradition In modern Japan it has to some extent .

regained this character I n China the habit of quoting written . i

authority was t o o strong t o be easily discarded The Z en .

masters soon began to answer di fficult questions by quoting

from the B uddhist S criptures Convenience dictated that .

r act i can t s of Z en should live in communities and monasticism

p

Q
was soon estab l ished in their sect as in every other sect of ,

B uddhism .uestions of co nduct arose and Zen was squared ,

'

with the co ntemporary ethical outlook ; though in mediev al

Japanese literature wicked and cynical persons are generally
depicted as adepts of Z en .

B odhidharma denied the existence of G ood and E vil ; but

it was po inted out by later apologist s that the Zen adept ,

having Viewed t h e Ab so lute is convinced of the unrealit y and ,

futility of those pleasures and phgses si o ns whi ch are the 1 ncen

tive to sin T he Zen pract i cant though he makes n o m
. or al ,

cfl o r t nev e rtheless i s c
,
ertain no t to sin b ecause he 1 s certain ,

not to b e tempted .

Finally Z en forged itself a tradition P rob ably during

,
.

1
the eleventh century a S cripture was fabricated which re co un t s
ho w o n c e when B uddha was preaching he plucked a flower ,

and smiled Only the di sciple K ashyapa understood the

.

significance of this act B etween him and the B uddha there .

passed a wordless communication of Ab solute Truth s This .

communi c ation was silently passed on by K ashyapa to his

disciple and so u
, lti mately to B odhidharma who b rought it ,

to China .

The method of teaching b ( su c h as t h e

m - 0 M M mu m»J mm
plucking o f a flo wer3was ex t en
“ s ea :

"
e Z en m as t er s g ‘
x

For example when a disciple asked E nkw an a question ab out

,

(1 ) D a z B a nt e r Mo n but s u K et s u g z K y o
’ ’

z .

14
the n ature of B uddha he answered B rin g me a cl ean b ow l
, , .

When the priest brought the bowl t h e master said No w , ,

put it ba c k w here you found it H e signified that the priest s

.
’

questionings must ret urn to their proper place the questio ner s ,
’

heart from wh ich a l one spiritual knowl edge can b e obtain ed

, .

The o bject o f the Zen teachers as of some ec c entri c school ,

masters who m I have known seems at first si g ht to have been

.
,

merely to puzzl e and surprise their pupils to the highest

possible degree A peculiar brusquerie was dev eloped in
.
-
,

Z en monasteries The literature of t h e sect consist s chiefly

.

'

in an endless s eries of anecdotes re cording the minutest

‘

happening s in the lives of famous Z en monks and their

( apparently ) most trivial sayings B ut behind these trifling .

acts and s ayings a deep meanin g l ay hid The interpretation

of su c h teac h in depends o n a co m plgtq : Kn
'

owledge of the l‘

g? V
.

s m bo l i s m use d I am not incl ined to agree with those

é
s ud ent s of Zen who assert that it s written teaching are
whol l y devoid of intellectual content or so c ompletely e s o t er i
7

a s not t o admit of explanation 1 n words

I L ike other B uddh ist .

philosophers the Z en masters were ch i efly co n cern e d with the

'

attempt to define the r elation b etween the On e and the Many fl

,

between the subj ective and o bj ective aspects of l ife f .

The idealism of Z en does not mean that the phenomenal

world has no importance To those who h ave not reached.

complete self realisation the ur g encies of that world remain

-

p aramount and are the only stepping stones upo n which he -

can c limb higher .

On
the day of his arrival at th e monastery a novice pre
sented himself before the abbot beggin g to b e allowed to begin ,
“
his spiritual exercises without further delay Have you had .

”
supper ? asked the abbot Y es Then go and was h
.
“
.

”
your plate .

T H E ZE N M AS T E R S fi e .
,

L et us begin with E n d a mast er of the seventh century He

,
.

lost his parents when he was young and earned his living by
gathering firewood On e day when he was in t h e market
.

1
place h e heard some one re ading the D iamond S ii t r a He
'

(1 ) T ra ns l ted by W
a Gemme ll .
9 2 I t s u se by Kan i n sho w s th a t Ze n
, 1 1 .

did no t l o n g a void the use of s criptur es .

15
asked where suc h books were to be had and was told From
”
Master Konin on the Y ellow Plum blossom Hill Accord -
.

i n gl y he went to Kon i n s Monastery in Anhui and presented

’

”
himself before the Master Where do you come from ? .

From the S outh B ah " In the S outh they have not

.

B uddha in th eir souls North and S outh

“
. repl ied E no , ,

are human distinctions that B uddha knows nothing of .

Konin accepted him as a lay brother and put him to po und -

rice in the bakery .

Konin was growing o l d and wished to choose h i s successor .

He th erefore instituted a n which each

mo nk was to m a the essence of Zen The .

favourite candidate was the warden S hinshu who sent in the ,

following verses :
Tb e bo d y i s f ire t r unk o f { b e B o d z i t r ee ;
‘
/ -

Tire m i nd i s t ire bri g in m i r r o r s s f a nd

’

S crub y o u r m i rr o r c o nt i nua l l y ,
Les t t b e d us t e cl i ps e i t s br i g h t nes s .

E no ,
as a l ay brother was not qualified to compete S ome
-
,
.

one told him o f S h i n s h u s quatrain ’

Mine would b e very .

difier en t ,
he exclaimed and persuaded one of the boys em
,

ployed in the bakery to go stealthily by night and ins c ribe the

following poem on the monastery wall : -

K n o w l ed g e i s no t a t r ee ,

ri s e a n d co ver if ?
The authorship of the poem w as discovered and the abbot
Konin visited E nd in the bakery Is your rice white or
'
.

no ? he asked White ?
. an swered E n o ; it has not yet
been sifted Thereupon the abbot struck three times on the
.

ric e mortar w ith his staff and departed E no un der s t o o d h i s

- .

meanin g That night at the third watch he came to Kon m s

’

cell and w as invested with the abbot s mantle thereby be co m

’

ing the Sixth P atriarch of the Z en Church H e d ed

1 m 7 1 2 A D .
. .
,

without having learned how to read or write .

F AS H I ONAB LE ZE N .

The warden S hinsh u had lost the P atriar c hate and with it
the spiritual headship of Z en B ut as a c ompe nsation Fate .

16
had in sto re for him worl dl y triumphs of the most dazz l ing
k ind. L eavin g the rural monastery of Konin he entered the ,

Temp l e of the Jade fount ai n in the great city of Ki ng ch au .

His fame soon spread over centra l China He was a man of .

”
huge stature bushy eyebro ws and shapely ears
,
The .

E mpress Wu Hou who had usurped the throne of C h ina

, ,

notoriously cultivated the society of handsome priest s About

,
.

684 A D she summoned him to the Capital

. . Instead of com .

mandin g hi s presence at Court she came in a litter to his lodgi n gs

and actually knelt do wn before him The friendship of this .

murderous and fi en di s h l y cruel woman procured for him

temporal dignities which in the eyes of the world complete ly
outshone the rustic piety of the S ixth P atriarch S hin sh u at .

the C apital became as it were the Temporal Father of Z en ,

while E I 16 at his country mo nastery remained it s spiritual

pope The successors of E n d became kn own as the Fathers
.

of the S outhern S chool ; while the courtly and so cial Z en of .

S hinshil is called Z en of the North .

Was it in sin c ere goodwill or with the desire to dis c redit

i rs rival that S hinsh u invited E n d to j oin him at the Capital ?

In any case E no had the good sense to refuse I am a man .

of low stature and humble appearance he replied ; I fear ,

'

that the men of the North wo ul d des pise me and my doctrine s

—
thus hinting ( with j ust that touch of malice which so often
_

spices the unworldly ) that S h i n s h fi s pre eminence in the ’

-

North was due to outward rather than to spiritual graces .

S hinsh u died in 7 06 outliving his augu st patroness by a

,

year. To perpetuate his name a palace was turned into a

’
memorial monastery ; the E m peror s brother wrot e his
epitaph his ob sequies were ce l ebrated with stupen dous po mp .

His successor Fuj aku at first remained at the Ki n gch au

, ,

monas t ery where he had been S h in s h u s pupil B ut in 72 4 the ’

.

irresolute E mperor Min g huang who had proscribed B uddhism

-
,

ten y ears b efore summoned Fujaku to the Imperial City

,
.

Here princes and grandees vied with one another in doing him
1
honour The se c ret of his success
.
says the histo rian , ,

was that he seldom spoke and generally looked cross Hence .

his rare words and occasional smiles acquired in the eyes of his
( ) 1 Ol d T
’
a ng H i s t o ry , 1 91 .

17
adm irers an unmerited va l ue H e died at the age of 89 On . .

the day of his in terment the great streets of Ch ang an were ’

-

empty The whole c ity had j oi ned in the funeral processio n

. .

The Governor of Honan ( one of the greatest functionaries in

the S tate ) together with his wife and c hildren all of them
, ,

clad in monasti c vestments followed the bier mingling with , ,

the promiscuous crowd o f his admirers and disciples .

R eligion was at that time fashionable in the high society

’
of Ch ang an as it is to day in the great Catholic capitals of
-
,
-

Munich Vienna or S eville When I read of F ujaku s burial

, .
’
.

another scene at on c e sprang into my mind the funeral of a ,

great B avarian dignitary where I saw the noblemen of Munich

,

walk hooded and barefoo t through the streets .

I shall not refer again to the Nor thern S ch o ol of Zen .

On e wonders whether the founders of religions are forced by

fate to wat c h the po sthumous developmen t of their creeds If .

so theirs must be the very blackest pit of Hell

,
.

L et
us return to the S outhern S chool always regarded as ,

the true repository of Z en tradition .

OB AK U .

Obakulived at the b egi nn in g of the n i nth century and was ,

thus a c ontemporary of the poet P o Chu i He enjoyed the -

.

patronage of a distingui shed statesman the Ch ancellor Hai

Ky u of whom the E mperor said
,
This is indeed a true Co n ,

fuci an It is to the Ch ancello r that we owe the record of

.

Ob aku s c onversations which he wrote down day by day I

’
.
,

will make a few extracts from this diary :

Hai Kyfi E n o could not read or write How c ame it that
.
-
.

he succeeded to the Patriarchate of Konin ? The

warden S hinshu was in control of 5 00 monks gave ,

lectures and co uld discourse upo n thirty two

,
-

diff erent S utras and S h astras It was certainly .

very strange that he was not made Patriarch .

Obaku ( replying ) S h i n s h 11 s conception of Thought was

’
’
—

too material His proofs and p ractices were too

.

positive .

The master told me that when he was studying with

E nkw an the E mperor Tai Chun g c ame dressed as a monk
,
.

18
 The m aster h app ened to b e i n the c hape l pro stratin g himself
before an im age of B uddha The E mperor w ho thought he .
,
‘
had learnt the lesson of Z en idealism said to him : There ,

is nothing to b e got from B uddha nothing from t h e Chur c h , ,

nothin g from Man ; for nothing exists What do you m ean .

by prayin g at your age ? ’

Obaku answered him : I seek no thing o f B uddh a the ,

’
Church or of Man I am in the habit of p rayin g
,
. The .

‘
E mperor said : What do you do it for ? Obaku lost
’

‘ ’
patien c e and struck him with his fist
,
Yo u rude fellow .
,

cried the E mperor S in c e nothing exists w h at diff erence

.
,
’
does it make to you whether I am rude or po lite ? an d
”
Ob aku struck him aga i n The E mperor retreated hastily .
- .

In his o l d age Obaku visited his native v

'

illage and stayed

a year in h i s mother s house without revealing his identity
’

, ,
.

After he h ad s et out agai n fo r his monastery his mother sud ,

denly realised that he was her son and went in pursuit of him
“

S h e re ac hed the sho re b f a c ertain river on l y to see him di s e m

'
,

barkin g on the other side Thereupon she lost her reason an d .

fl ung herself into the water .

Obaku thre w a l ighted torch after her and re cited the fol l ow
ing verses

Ma y t b c wi d e r i ve r d ry at its s o urce , t o i t s ve ry bed

I f b er e t / im
z e cr f m a t ri ci d e bas been d o ne ;
e o

W b en o ne s o n beco m es a p ri es t t h e zo b o l e f a m i l y i s bo r n , ag ai n

i n H ea r/
en ,

I f t ba t i s a li e, al l l ka t B ud d ba p r o m i s ed i s a l ie .

Henceforward the throwin g of a l ighted torch into the bier

became part of the Z en funeral ceremony it was a c companied
by the re c iting of the above verses P rob ably formula ritual .
, ,
r

and sto ry alike belong to a period much more ancient than

B udd h ism .

1
In the seventeenth century a Chinese priest named Ingen
c arried the teachin g of Ob aku to Japan where it now possesses ,

nearly 700 temples .

1 673 A
( ) 1
59 2 -
1 . D .

19
B AS O .

B aso was a master of the ninth century One day he was .

sitting with his feet across the garden path A monk c ame -
.

”
along with a wheel barrow -
Tuck in your fee t
. sai d the ,
”
monk . W hat has been extended c annot b e retracted ,

answered B aso What has been started c annot be stopped

.
,
’
cried the monk and pushed the barrow over B aso s feet The .

master hobbled to the monastery and seizing an axe called out

Have any o f yo u seen the rascal who hurt my feet ? The
monk who had pushed the barrow then came out and stood
with craned head The master laid down his axe
. .

To understand this story we must reali s e that the wheel

barrow is here a symbol of the Wheel o f L ife and D eath which , ,

though every spoke of it is illusion cannot b e disregarded till

,

we have destroyed the l ast seed of phenomenal perception in us .

B I NZ AI .

Ob aku ,
as we have seen taught wisdom with his fists
,
.

When the novi c e B inzai came to him and asked him what
'

was the fundamental idea of B uddhism Obaku hit him three ,

times with his stick B inzai fled and presently met the monk
.

D ai gu .

Dai gu : Where do you c ome from ?

Bi nz ai : From Obaku .

Dai g u An d what stanza did he le c ture upon ?

:

Ri nz ai I asked h i m thrice what was the fundamenta l

doctrine of B uddhism and ea c h time he hit me with
his sti c k Pl ease tell me if I did something I
.

ought not to have done ?

Dai gu Y o u go to Obaku and torture him by your questions ,

and then ask if you have done wron g "

At that moment B inzai had a G reat E nlightenment .

’
B inzai sub stituted howling for Ob aku s manual violen c e .

He shouted meaningless syllables at his disciples ; roared like

”
a lion or bellowed like a bull This howling became a
.

regular part of Zen practice and may be compared to the yell

,

ing o f the American S hakers Upon his deathbed B in zai sum

.

m o n e d his dis c iples round him and asked w hi c h of them felt

20
 i l o gi cal c onditions under which art is produced than has pre
vai
k
i fi
i n any other civilisation

l /
L PW was regarded as a ki n d f Z en as a delving down into
g
Ar t ’
,

the B uddha that each of us unknowingl y carries within him i

as B enj amin carried Joseph s cup in his sa c k Thro ugh Ze r

'

we annihilate Time and see the Universe not split up into

m yri ad fragments but in its pri m al unity Unless says t h e
, .
,

Z en ae sth e tician the artist s work i s imbued with this vision

’

Q
Q
,

of the subj ective non phenomenal aspect of life his produc

,
-
,

o n s will be mere toys .

I do not mean to suggest that Chinese artists found in Zen

a s h o r t cut to the pro duction of b eauty Z en he s .

annihilation of consciousness
M M M m
whereas art i an ,
W M pM w W
W A

interact i on of co n s cl o u s an unconscio us faculties How far .

such an interaction can be promoted by the psychic discipline

of Zen no layman can judge ; moreover the whole question of
"
’
the artist s psychology is controversial and ob scure .

P erhaps it is not even very important that the artist himself

should have a sound aesthetic ; but it is of the utmost import
ance to the artist that the p ublic should have some notion o f
the conditions under which art can be produced s hould have —

some key to th e vagaries of a se ct ionof hum anity which will .

in any case always be found troublesome and 1 r r i t at 1 wg

‘
’

S uch a key Z en supplied and it 1 s m the langu a ge of Zen ,

that after the twelfth century art is usually discus sed i n

, ,

“
C hina and Japan .

T H E R OKUT S UJI S CH OOL .

institutio n about which till recently very little was

On e ,

known seems to have b een an important factor in the p r o p a

,

g a tion of Z en art and ideas About 1 21 5 A D a Z en priest . . .

came from the far so uth west of China to Hangchow the .

-
,

Capital and there refounded a ruined monastery the Ro kut s fi ji

,
“
, ,

which sto od o n the shores of the famous Western L ake His .

name was Mokkei He seems to have been the first to practise o

.

the swift ecstatic type of monochrome which i s associated

,

with Z en I n hurried swirls of ink he so ught to record before

they fa ded V isions and exaltations produced wh ether by the
frenzy o f wine the stupor of tea or the vacancy of ab sorption
, , .

22
« S o m etimes his desi gn is tangl ed an d c haoti c ; sometimes as
”1
i n his famo us Persimmons passion h as c ongealed 1 nto a ,

stupendous c al m .

Of his fellow workers the best known is - a painter of

birds and flowers Ry okai on c e a fashionab l e pain ter l eft the
.
, ,

C o urt and wi th his pupil Ri kaku wo rked in the manner of

Mokkei .

E xamples of Ry okai s work before and after his c onversion

are still preserved in Japan .

Final ly ab out the middle of the fourteenth century a

, ,

Japanese priest c ame to China circ ums t anc e s w h ic h -

Lehali desc s il w i n an ap p en di x r co nfus i n gl y became Mokk ei II

—
- — —
.

It may be that it was he who sent back to his own coun try
some of the numerous pictures signed Mokkei which are now
in Japan Which of them are by Mokkei and which by
.

Mokuan is a problem which remains to b e solved .

This Z en art did not flourish long in China nor i n all proba ,

bi l i t y do many specimens of it survive there B ut in Japan .

it was a prin cipal sour c e of inspiration to the great painters

of the fourteenth an d fifteenth centuries ) S e s sh i b h i m s elf is
" '

the direct descendant of Mokkei ; as in fad ecaden t W W ar e ~ ~

r
- - —

K ano m as ter s s uch as T s un eno bu

y , “
.

Z fi
f fl ifl
ffi fim
l e of two
k in ds ( 1 ) .

anim ate birds and dea a e f ih whi c h the

i deri tify hi ihhe w
,

it t 3o j e ct depicted to ex t ern i s e its inner

i h
“ “

/
_ ,

B uddha These were a chieved not by study from the life as

.
,

the early S ung nature piece s h ave b e en but by intense an d -

,

concentrated visualisation o f the subj ect to be painted This .

menta l picture was rapidl y t ran sferred to paper b efore the spell
of concent rat i on ( sam adhi ) was broken (2) Illustrations of .

express the
characters to reveal the
grandeur of soul that lay hidden behind apparent uncouthness
or stupidity Typical of this kind of paintin g are the picture s
.

”
of Tank a burning t he Image .

On e night Tanka a Z en priest stayed as a guest at an ordi

, ,

nary B uddhist m onastery There was no firewood in his c ell

1
. .
 As the night was cold he went into the chapel seized a w o oden
,

statue of S h akyamuni and chopping i t up made himself a , ,

comfortable fire To him the idol of B uddh a was a mere block .

of wood his indignant h osts took a di ff erent View Th e .

controversy is the same as that which o c cupies the c entr al

place in the N

c o n s cmu s n e s s ,

c
"
” M o o -
n 0 4 N
Ma y “ ‘
n p

"if

ence t he co nnection of the passionate love Zen with l

u'm w U' ub

1 n F ar Ea st ern
m
I

1 0 r
“4
«

an
x

1s
po w
w m m m « M m
v ug w M m :

g
'
g

B e r s o n al l y I believe that t 1 s pass 1 on for

m ore favourably on literature than on painting

ure worked
The typical .

Zen picture dashed o fl in a moment of exal t ation perhaps a ,

—

m oonlit river expressed in three bl ur s an d a flo ur i s h belongs _

—

rather to the art of calligraphy than to that of

In his more elaborate depictions of nature the Z en artist
i s l e d by his love of nature in to that common pitfall of lover s
The forms of Nature tend with him " to

hing resembling the mysti c b elief which Zen

embraces is found in many countries and under many names .

B ut Z en diff ers from o ther re l igions of the same kind in that

‘

it admits o nly mone mean s by which the p erc ept ion of Truth
w -v m ~ - -a ~ m ‘
h w h “ t . m o m -s A

c an be atta i ne d
w ~ ob
q 1

Pr a 1 e r fa s t m g as cet 1 c1 s m all are Md1 s m 1 s s e d

.

—
.

, ”
7"
, ‘
as n an M
- N “ Vi W M n e W

as useless giving p ace to one s 1 n gl e resoWu ,

rce the method of
M W M M W ’

I have here de scribed .

omitted any mention o f an m

important ‘u -o « a 4-
“2 -1

1 namely w h 1 ch w a ant a
ad
Hju ugt £ 3
of
5 flW gm s cus
a o ,
t
"
a m - J u v
w fi ‘ ‘ ,

feat ure 1 n the f s as here l n the r e g 1 m e

.

fi
‘ l if e
-u
o fi urnq p a m
c
H M fl 'A
s k fl
1 t 1
l
s 1” ,
fi r fi hfi u s fi ‘
q‘

of ch arw o m en and girl clerks I have not space to describe - .

T h e ten dency of m o n a e ge s was

t h e various tea ceremonies gt r
- .
"
w - ‘‘
w,
"
M i riam “ 5 -46 a

of h ail y l if e a more an
o
h e n
eu r -i l p

t o c reate m them as m every more

a

‘ part ” ‘ A " ‘‘sfl e r i h

n ‘n
fl " fi f t h?
’

4 o i 1 “a " J r. g a l "I
a
v
a l p
'
y
f
“ i
.
r
1 W A oh “
'
S a h
.

24
 el a
bp ritua l c
r at ea lc u l ated to give so m e pattern
,
t o da y s other

wise dev 0 1 0 any in cident We possess m inute des c riptions .

of every ceremo ny the initiation of novices the ce l e b ration of —

,

birth and deat h anniversaries of t h e Patriarchs the procedure ,

in c ases of si c kn ess madness disob edien c e disappearance or , , ,

death o f monk s ; the sele c tio n and investiture of abbot s the

l ectur es liturgie s and s essions which c onstituted the curr i cu
,

lum of Z en instruction .

— ~ . —M m m ~‘ -g
” M M D p

m o n ast erl e s T al most i n distinguishable from those o

e cam e
f
popular idolatrous B uddhism I g j apap on the other hand
,
.
, ,

2 0
.

out both missionaries and pamphlets B ut I b elieve that .

Q
Z e n wug lé fi ad m ap x converts in E ng land
s w
S omething rather i .

near it we already possess uakerism like Z en is a non

Q
.
, ,

dogmatic religion laying stress o n the doctrine of Immanence ,

.

t he u kggg seek commu ni on with t h e Di vi ne

“

a
S park in corporate meditation and deliberatel y ex ploit the
m
w w

n
g

ad sp
'

h
mysterious Mo t en ci e s mo wf crow
n- M d m t e en
fi x W f‘

pro es 1 1:1 s o 1 tud e zor at least without reference to 5 1 s neigh

15 “ l iy
i a
bs t a ray s.»
n ~ab
’
x n.re x

bour ) for the B uddha within him

Q
.

In cas es where a uaker meeting passes in silence the ,

members having meditated quietly for a whole hour a very ,

near approach to a Z en gathering has been made B ut more .

often than not the Holy S pirit choosing his mouthpiece with ,

an apparent lack o f di scrimination quickly descends upon some ,

member of the meeting The i n elf abl e which Z en wisely .

,

refused to express is then drowned in a torrent of pedestrian ,

oration
Q
.

S ome then may turn to Z en as a purer uakerism Others

, ,
.
_

wi l l be attracted to it b y the { r es emblance of its doctrine s to the

h ypotheses of recent psycholo gy The B uddha consciousness .

of Z en exactly corresponds to the Universal Consciousness

w
W
hi ch acco r d
i p g to c ertain modern in vest 1 a fors M d
“ w w m w ‘“ M
“
W W r

ben e ath t he p ers o n al Co n s ol o us n e s s

m
m j
Su c h co n ve
fl m m n
i
s w rll prob w NW n un -
.

ably use a kin d of ap p lié d Z en much as the Japanese have

,

done ; that is to say they wil l not seek to spend their days in ,

25
 "
g mm h ma
fk
;
li Za fi
“

m f g/ l t /
y
'

t
A” l
5 1 6
6 1 3 é s
j ya 0
e

h
.
M 6 01 i a

c omplete S am adhi but wil l dive o cc asionally fo r rest or

, ,

encouragement into the deeper re c esses of the sou l

,
.

It is no t likel y that they will rest content with the tradi

(
“

t i o n al E astern methods of self hypnosis If c ertain states of -

.

consciousness are indeed more valuable t h an those with which

we are familiar in ordinary life then we must seek them —

un fl i n ch i n gl y by whatever means we can devise I can .

’
imagine a kind of dentist s chair fitted with revolving mirrors ,

flashing lights sulphurous haloes expanding and contractin g

,

i n short a mech anism that by the pressure o f a single knob

should whirl a dustman into Nirv ana .

Whether such states of mind are actually more valuable

than our ordinary consciousness is di fficult to determine .

Certainly no one has much right to an opinion w ho has not

experienced them B ut something akin to S am adhi a
.
—

sudden feeling of contact with a unity more real than the

apparent c omplexity o f things is probably not an uncommon
'

experien c e Th e athlete the creative artist the lover the

.
, , ,

philo sopher all I fancy get a share of it not when seeking

—
, , ,

to escape from the visible world ; but rat her just when that
world was seeming to them most sublimely real
To seek by contemplation of the navel or of the tip of the
nose a repetition of spiritual experiences such as these seems
to us inane ; and indeed the negative trance o f Z en is ver y
diff erent from the p ositive ecstasies to which I have just
referred I say that it is different ; but h o w do I know ?
.

“
1
Z en said B odhidharma
,
cannot be described in words nor ,

chronicled in books and I have no other experience of Z en .

If I kn ew I might transmit to you my knowledge but it would

, ,

have to b e by a direct s pi r l t ual co m m un1 cat 1 o n s ym bowh s e d M m" k i

ck m g o
n i.

smile a g”esture
m - g
or the
u
p l u ,
m
f a fl o wer kW “ N ” “ hf-

I need not therefore apologise fo r having g1 ven a purely

external and historical account of Z en a creed whose inner ,

mysteries are admittedly beyond the s co pe of w o r ds fi

26
 APP E ND I" I .

of Zen Paintings in Japanese art pub l ic a

R eprodu c tions
tion s ( The Ko kka and the other publications here referred
.

to may b e seen at the Ar t L ibrary Victoria and Al bert ,

Museum ; an d at the P rint Ro om of the B ritish Museum ) .

M OKKE I . Ko kka 37 , 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 7 7 1 85
~—
.
, , , , 2 38, 2 4 2 , 265 ,
2 68
2 9 1 2 9 3 31 4 , ,
.

R AS O .
—
S hi m bi Tai kwan "" .

M OKUAN ( Mokk ei II )
.
—
Ko kka 2 9 5 S hi m bi Tai kwan Vo l
—
,
.

I " ( No s 2 1 and 22 in the c ollection of Chinese

. .

P aintings at the B ritish Museum are pro b ab l y by

Mokuan ) .

RY OKAI .
—
Ko kka 4 0 1 1 4 1 45
, , ,
1 5 2 , 2 2 0, 2 2 7 , 2 2 9 .

RI KAK U .
—
Ko kka 2 69 .

M UJ UN .
—
( An important thirteenth c entury Z en writer ) .

Ko kka 2 4 3 .

I NDRA —
.
( A Hangchow priest ,
presumab l y an Indian ;
flouris h ed c . Ko kka 35 ,
1 1 0, 2 2 3, 31 0 .

S hi m bi T ai kwan I " .

27
 AP P E ND I" II .

MOKUAN .

The Ni kkas h fi a diary by the priest

l
has the following
,

entry under the year 1 37 8 ( month and day uncertain )

z
To day D o n fu came and we fell to talking of Mokuan
-
,
.

It seems that he was once known as Z e i t s u B u t on beco m -

.

ing a pupil of the priest K e nz an he changed h i s name to

z ’
,

Mokuan Afterwards he went to China and entered the

.

H o n k ak uj 1 where he b ecame the disciple of R yci an and

4 s ’

-
,

was made librarian Here he published at his own expense .

”
( lit selling his shoes ) the S eco n d Co ll ecti on o f S ayi ngs
.

by Kar i n .

S ub sequently he lived at the S h at en j r at S oochow and ,

"
was warden there under N anso dying soon afterwards .
,

When he first came to China he spent some time at t h e

J aji Mo nastery at Hangchow and from there visited the
Ro kut s fi j l on the shores o f the Western L ake This .

monastery was inhabited by the followers of Mokkei The

abbot greeted Mokuan with a smile sayi ng to him : L a s t ,

night I dreamt that our founder Mokkei came back again .

Yo u must be his reincarnation and he gave to Mokuan

Mo kkei s two seals white and red Henceforward he was
’

,
.

known as Mokkei the S econd .

(1 ) en n n
S e e m y N77 P l a y s o f a p a n ( All p 9 T h e p ass a g e
U wi , " . 1 .

here tr ns ted s t en not from the urrent

a la i ak h pter abr i d g ement of
c ,
t wo c a -

r from the ms e n the 5 t h cent ur y

K o k u ch o s hu, a
_

G i d o s D ia y , bu t i c lla y by
'
’
1

pr est
i uoted m n p ss es fr m the ost port ion of the Dia r y
Zu i ke i , w h o q a y a ag o l .

S ee Mr S a g a T os h fi , S h i na G a k u I , I
.
, . .

2
( ) I
31 384
-
1
4 .

D i ed th he Do n f u w ere Jap a nese pr iests i site d

? ) 1 32 3 . Bo an d w ho v
C1 ma .

( 4) At Ch i a hsin g in Cheh ki an g -
,

5
( ) E ntered this te mp l e i n 1 334 .

6
( ) V isited Ja a n ; w as a t th e S h bte n i fro m
p j 1 34 2
-
1 34 5 .

28
 B I B LI OGRAP HY .

( 1 ) E UROP E AN .

The only writer who has made extr act s from the works
of B odhidharma is P é r e Wieger who se remarks ( in his ,

His to rr e des Cro y ances r eli gi eus es en Chi ne pp 5 1 7 5 28) show , .

-

a robust and likeable bigotry .

Of Zen literature he says : Nombre d in folio remplis de

’
-

réponses incohérente s insensées , Ce n e sont pas comme .

,
’
on l a s up po s e des allusions a des aff aires intérieures qu il
, ,
’

faudrait co nn ait r e pour pouvoir comprendre Ce sont des .

exclamations échappées a des abrutis momentanément ,

”
tirés de le ur coma .

’
For the tea ceremony in Japan see Okakur a s B o ck of T ea
-

( F o ul i s
, The military Z en of Japan is well
described by Nukar i ya Kai t en in his T h e Reli gi o n o f t h e
S am ur ai , 1 9 1 3 .

2 ) NAT I VE .

Most of this paper is derived from the section on Zen

( S eries II Vo l 1 5 seq ) in the
,
. S upplement to the Co ll ec
,
.

tion of B uddhist S criptures Dai Ni h on Zo ku Z5 Ky o

,
.

Much of the information with regard to the Ro kut s fi j 1

S chool is taken from the article by Mr S aga to which I have .

already referred For the Ro ku t s fi ji ( Temple of the S i x

.
“

”
P enetrations ) see Hs i en S h un Li n an Ch i h ( To pography -
“

of Hangchow 1 2 65 1 2 7 5
,
ch 7 8 f 9 recto
- .
,
. .

'

I have al s o used Y am ada s Z ens h ii Ji t en ( D ictionary of

’

Zen ) and the Heki ganr o hu edited by S ayen 1 9 2 0 , ,

.
 S H ORT I NDE " .

( C hinese pron unciations g iven i n b r ac kets ) .

Amida 8 . .

B aso ( Ma Tsu ) 20 . .

B odhidharma ( Ta mo ) -
. 8 s eq .
,
29 .

B odhisattvas . 8 .

B uddh ap r i y a ( Chio ai ) 11 -
. .

Dai B o n t en Mo n buts u h ets ugi Ky o - .

D ai gu ( Ta-y ii ) 20 . .

D iamo nd S utra 1 5 . .

D hy ana see Z en Also 1 0

, . .

E ka ( Hui 29 .

E nkw an ( Y en -
kuan ) . 14 .

E n c) ( Hui nhn g ) 1 5 29
'

-
. .
,

Fuj aku ( P u chi ) 1 7 ’

-
. .

‘
H aikyfi ( P ei Hsiu ) 18 . .

H o hh ekyb see S a ddh ar m a etc

, ,
.

H o nk akuji ( P En chio 28 -
.

Joji ( Ching 28 .

K ern . 8 .

Kan i n( Hung j en ) -
. 15 .

K orin ( E u lin ) ; 2 8 - .

Mah ay ana 7 . .

Mokkei ( Mu 22, 27 .

Mujun ( W u chun ) -
. 27 .

Nanso ( Nan 28 .

Obaku ( Huang P 0 ) . 18 .

Okakura 30 . .

Ras r) ( L o 2 3, 2 7
'

Ri kaku ( L i Ch ii eh )
’
27 . .

B inzai ( Li n chi ) 2 0 -
. .

Ro kut s fi ji ( L i u t ung s s u)
’
22 - -
. .

R ya an ( L iao an )
- 28 -
. .

Ry ak ai ( L iang K ai )
’
23 27 .
,
.

S a ddh ar m a P un dafl ka S h t r a 8 . .

S ag a T 2 8 30 .
,
.

S am adhi ( S an mei ) 12 -
. .

S ansh a ( S an s hEn g ) 21 -
.

31
S h akyam un i 7 . .

S hi na Gaku 2 8, 30 . .

S hinsh a ( S hen -h siu ) 16 . .

S hat enji ( Ch eng t ien - s s ii )

’ ’
-
.

Tan ka ( Tan -hsia ) 2 3, 2 9 . .

T en dai ( T ien
’
8 .

Tokusan ( TE- shan ) 2 9 . .

Wieger 30. .

W u Ho u .17 .

Zen 7 , et c .
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