Shakyamuni Descending from the Mountain. 15th century, Japan. © Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
A Taste of Zen: Daju Huihai
Vinaya master Yuan asked Great Pearl, “When you practice the Way, do you use a special skill?”
Great Pearl said, “I do.”
Yuan asked, “What is it?”
Great Pearl said, “ When I’m hungry I eat. When I get sleepy I sleep.”
Yuan said, “Everyone does these things. Do they not have the same skill as you?”
Great Pearl said, “They do not have the same skill.”
Yuan said, “Why is it not the same?
Shakyamuni and Attendant Bodhisattvas
The intimate scale, informality of the figures’ poses, and landscape setting link the painting to Chan-style depictions of Shakyamuni — the human origin of the Buddha — as an ascetic descending from the mountains just prior to achieving Buddhahood…
Mishima Pass, Mount Fuji, and the Towering Cypress, by Katsushika Hokusai
Even Mount Fuji in the distance is dwarfed by the monumental tree…
What really works? By Ajahn Sumedho
Question: An academic friend of mine has done some research and come up with the theory that the historical Buddha didn’t really live, that the Buddhist teachings were of a later period. Is the personality of the Buddha important for… Read More ›
A taste of Zen: Heze Shenhui
Shenhui thus founded what became known as the Heze (in Japanese, Kataku) school of Zen. The branch largely died out during the early ninth century and is not remembered as a major school. Nevertheless, the doctrine of sudden enlightenment remained a central characteristic that defined the teaching styles and cultural flavour of later Chinese Zen…
Virtue, Calligraphy by Hakuin
This oversize rendition of the character for “virtue” (toku 悳) reflects the exuberant spiritual energy projected by Hakuin Ekaku, who was one of the foremost proponents of the revival of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in late Edo Japan. Originally composed by Chinese historian and scholar of Confucianism Sima Guang (1018–1086), the inscription reads:
Two Levels of Truth, by Lama Chime Rinpoche
It is said that for the absolute, one has wisdom, and for the relative, one has compassion. After his enlightenment Buddha did not need to teach people in order for them to become essentially wiser; he did so in order to try to help people, to provide them with a means by which some of them could come to the same understanding that he had reached…
