Zen and the Japanese Arts An Article by David Lay   In Japan most endeavors are called "ways". This is revealed by the frequent use of the word ending "do" in words such as kendo, the Way of the sword, chado, the Way of tea, and bushido, the way of the warrior. Endeavors identified as Ways are potential methods to achieving Zen insight which should be regarded not so much as a religious experience, but perhaps more accurately as the the acquiring of a new point of view. In the most inclusive extension, anything, any activity, any practice, can be a Way. Because of the strong influence of Zen in Japan, all traditional activities have become Ways in some measure.  Zen is part of their foundation. Zen came to China in the sixth century with the arrival of Daruma (Bodhidarma). He is known as the first patriarch of Zen. He is the character represented by a scowling doll without arms or legs. His scowl shows his great determination to achieve enlightenment. His determination in meditation was so great that his arms and legs are said to have fallen off. He was seeking the Zen point of view. It is from this same point of view that the artist hopes to achieve his greatest perfection.      Zen lives in facts and hates abstractions. It therefore hates all concepts, as so many cages in which the flow of life is foolishly confined.                                    Humphreys Words and concepts are abstractions of real things. Zen dislikes words. In contrast, our western culture loves words and abstractions. Abstractions are at the heart of out scientific/analytic understanding of the universe. To aid in communicating an understanding of Zen, what follows is a western author1s mind model of the Zen point of view. This model is a contradiction, of course, because Zen reputedly cannot be know by an abstraction.   Zen says your mind alone exists.                                    Callaway To explain this statement, the same author continues with a description of a hypothetical person reared within the confines of a controlled stimuli laboratory. The only reality known to this individual is that of a motion picture viewed within the confines of the lab. The movie, this person1s reality, would necessarily be prewritten by someone, but the viewer would not know that. His future would be whatever was on the unwound spool not yet viewed. His past would be what was in  the take up spool. Anything he might do would not change either. From the Zen point of view, we all live in such a laboratory and our senses tell us only that the film is running. Out mind is the projector.  All that we can sense is presented by out mind alone. Nothing exists to us except the movie. To realize that all is only a projection of the mind is to be enlightened. When it is completely understood that the external world is nothing but manifestations of one1s own mind, a turning over occurs which strikes at the heart of the process of discriminating between things. These things are not destroyed but one has an attitude of freedom toward them.                                    Lankavatara Sutra   In the Zen point of view, since the movie is written, you might as well sit back and watch. Additionally, you cannot possibly guess what is in the reel yet to unwind, not can you do any more with the past than remember. There is no fast forward or reverse.   The past exists only in out memories, the future only in out pans. The present is our only reality. The tree that you are aware of intellectually, because of that small time lag, is always in the past and therefore is always unreal. Any intellectually conceived object is always in the past and therefore unreal. Reality is always the moment of vision before intellectualization takes place. There is no other reality.                                    Pirsig   But it is more than just sitting back and watching the show. You  must find that nothing future or past has any meaning and so you have only to invest yourself totally in the present. There is only the frame in front of you; there is nothing else. It is all that is. It is reality and  and anything else is dreaming. Analysis, anticipation, memory  are all dreams. Only your intuition can sense  the present quickly enough to keep up with the movie. Any other kind of thought is of something other that the present.      Intellect is never able to completely express what man actually knows; it can only be a part  instead of a whole, or a concept instead of an idea, or a theory instead of a reality, i.e.,  it is apt to obscure and limit knowing.                                    Engel   It is important to understand that this means that whatever you are doing in the present moment, whatever is on the movie screen, is infinitely important. Your attention has nought but this moment to consider. Because of this, every moment must be savored as a vacation costing  $300 a day would be. Every moment is all that is at that moment. If you succeed in focusing on the present with intensity, the performance of every activity becomes an artful endeavor. The artist, the swordsman, the janitor, if he has this point of view, can focus upon what he is doing without distraction. This swoop of the brush, this sword cut, this sweep of the broom is the only one now. There is no hoping, no regretting, only swooping, cutting, and sweeping.   The mind that stays fixed in one place does not work freely. A wheel turns precisely because it is not fixed. If it is still in one place, it will not turn. The mind will not work if it is fixed in one place.                                    Takuan   Brush practice is Zen practice, as is sword practice and broom practice.   When nothing remains in your mind, everything becomes easy to do. You learn the way of everything in order to brush aside whatever may be in your mind. At first, because you know nothing, you do not have doubts or any such thing in your mind.  Only after you begin learning do things come into your head that prevent you from doing anything with ease. When the things you have learned leave your mind completely, forms and the like disappear, and as you perform each skill in your field, it becomes easy regardless of the form. Without violating the form, you perform it unconsciously, correctly.                                         Yagyu   The art in what you do enters in when you act without distraction, without analysis, without any desires. Your mind becomes as blank and clear as the mind of a great musician must be in order to let the music flow.   When you dance, the hand holds the fan, and the foot takes a step. When you do not forget everything, when you go on thinking about performing with the hands and the feet well and dancing accurately, you cannot be said to be skillful. When the mind stops in the hands and in the feet, note of your acts will be singular. If you do not completely discard the mind, everything you do will be done poorly.                                    Takuan   To achieve complete mastery over one1s natural inclinations, to attain unruffled serenity in utter adversity, not to exalt in triumph not to yield to sorrow, are the main objectives of bushido.                                    Singer   One speaks of a master, whether of an outer action or inner work, only when success is achieved not only now and then, but with absolute certainty. Certainty of success presupposes more than perfected skill alone. What is this more? It is the state of condition of the performer which makes his performance infallible. However well performed an action may be, however well controlled a technique, as long as the man using it is subject to moods and atmosphere, unrelaxed and easily disturbed, for example, when he is watched, then he is a master only in a very limited degree. He is master only of technique and not of himself. And if a man can do no more than he is his skill often fails him in critical moments. Real control over oneself can only be achieved by a special training, the outcome of which is not just technical skill, but an established frame of mind which ensures the required result. This practice is understood as exercise. Its purpose is not an outer visible result but an inner achievement. In practice of this kind the person developing, not the deed or the visible work as such, is what matters.                                    Durckheim   A master is detached from all external effects. He only does it.  In Japan, this point of view is fostered by the acceptance of traditional methods as perfect without analysis. The apprentice need not worry about being original or particularly 3talented2, he must worry only about acquiring the skills of his master so thoroughly that he too will be a master - so that he too will be able to work with detachment.   To the craftsman, tradition is both the savior and the benefactor. When he follows it the distinction between talented and untalented individuals all but disappears; any craftsman can unfailingly produce a beautiful work of art. But if he loses sight of the long tradition behind him, his work can only be that of a bumbling idiot. A beautiful work of art, as it is understood by Zen Buddhism, is the work of man who is not in bondage of any kind, either to beauty and ugliness or even to himself.                                    Yanagi   The traditional ways evolve and improve, but this also comes from intuition. Only a master however, is capable of such advanced intuition.   Myo is a certain artistic quality perceivable not only in works of art but in anything in nature or life. The sword in the hands of the swordsman attains this quality when it is not a mere display of technical skill patiently learned under the tutorship of a good master, for myo is something original and creative growing out of one1s unconscious. The hands may move according to the technique given out to every student, but there is a certain spontaneity and personal creativity when the technique, conceptualized and universalized, is handled by the master hand.                                    Suzuki   The most revered traditional Japanese art pieces are the products of a certain point of view. We in  our culture also respect artists and athletes who have practiced their art so well that creation or action can be intuitive. Sometimes their words even suggest the Zen point of view.   How can you think and hit at the same time?                                    Yogi Berra   In the Zen point of view, everything depends upon your perception.    A fallen flower    returning to the branch?    It is a butterfly.                                    Moritake   References: Callaway, Tucker N., Zen Way Jesus Way, 1996. Engel, Heinrich, The Japanese House, 1964. Durckheim, Karlfried, Hara, The Vital Center of Man, 1962. Humphreys, Christmas, The Buddhist Way of Life, 1969. Pirsig, Robert M., Zen and the Way of Motorcycle Maintenance, 1974. Sato Hiroaki, trans., Yagyu Munenori. The Sword and the Mind, (1632) 1985. Singer, Kurt Mirror, Sword and Jewel, 1973. Suzuki Daisetz T., Zen and Japanese Culture, 1959. Wilson, William S., trans., Takuan Soho,  The Unfettered Mind, (17th C.) 1986 Winokur, Jon, Ed., Zen  To  Go, 1990. Yanagi Soetsu, The Unknown Craftsman, 1972.