Zen of Creativity chapter 8
The Artless Arts
The Zen Aesthetic
[W]hen thought is in bondage, the truth is hidden...Master Jianzhi Sengcan
This line from Master Sengcan for me, sums up what this chapter is about.
In Chapter 8 John Daido Loori summarizes the components present in Zen art which generate from our zazen practice.
-No mind: this concept includes no expectation, following no rules, and a sparse aesthetic. A vital aspect of no mind is the moment the artistic act creates the alive relationship between the form, the medium and the artist. JDL asks how we can translate this into how we live our lives.
-No rank or ordinariness: this is reflected in the lack of extraneous-ness or superfluity of effort. Work is mature and seasoned. And experiencing the awe of the endless and infinite nature of creativity.
-Playfulness: the wonder of it all and the fun and magic of creativity expressed in beauty.
And finally, JDL explains the quality of suchness. Which he defines as the very nature of life itself. But ineffable.
In the classic book The Unknown Craftsman A Japanese Insight into Beauty (1972) Soetsu Yanagi’s offers his insight into the beauty of Zen art:
‘Let us look at a beautiful piece of pottery. Its provenance does not concern us. If the article is beautiful, we may say that it has achieved Buddhahood, for it is not man alone that may become a Buddha. A beautiful artifact may be defined as one that reposes peacefully where it aspires to be. A man [or woman] who achieves Buddhahood has entered the realm that lies beyond duality; by the same token, beauty is that which has been liberated-or freed-from duality.’
He goes on to make clear what the term beautiful means:
'True beauty exists in the realm where there is no distinction between the beautiful and the ugly, a realm that is described as ‘prior to beauty and ugliness; or as a state where beauty and ugliness are as yet unseparated’…
And a quote he attributes to the Buddha:
'If in the land of the Buddha there remains the distinction between the beautiful and the ugly, I do not desire to be a Buddha in such a land.'
These are provocative statements about the beautiful in art. Any thoughts?
Does your zazen practice help your creativity by instilling the traits JDL mentions in your artmaking? How do you understand suchness?
It seems to me that once we can make art from this pure, still, mindless place suchness will necessarily be part of the result. Art is then not separate from the artist and yet completely separate.
And now a word from Meitou!
Hello everyone and welcome to Prompt 8.
'Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler' Albert Einstein.
In this chapter John Daido Loori talks about the simplicity of expression in the Zen aesthetic, even though it could be argued that this simplicity contains within itself an unknowable depth and complexity.
He explains the idea of no-rank, aesthetically an ideal of beauty in which 'sensuousness disappears and in its place surfaces a poverty in which there is nothing superfluous.'
Moving forward from that, JDL gives us a wonderful teaching on 'suchness' or 'thusness', an expression used in Zen 'to suggest the ineffable.' He describes suchness as referring to the 'that', 'what' or 'it' that is self evident. 'It is essentially being as it is, the all inclusive reality that is manifested as a sense of presence.'
He goes on to say that this suchness, this sense of presence can be sensed in Muchi's ''Persimmons'', a beautiful rendition of six persimmons, all different, positioned in a line within a painting that has no contextual background. Just as they are. And again in Joyce Carol Oates' poem ''That''.
In the following chapters JDL will show us how these concepts relate to the various Zen arts, but for now I would like you to experiment with ways of expressing the suchness of something. This could be through photography, painting or drawing, video, poetry or prose, sculpture, music. Look at the examples in this chapter – the quotes, the poetry, the brush work – and think about how you might approach this prompt, remembering also the concept of no-rank – that lack of superfluous decoration which strips something right back to its suchness, its mysterious self. In prompt 5 we looked at expressing something for what else it is, or could be seen to be. Now we are attempting the exact opposite, expressing the presence of something, its being, all of its imperfect perfection, just as it is.
Have fun!
Gassho
Anne and Meitou
we both sat today.
A note from us both: Because we are in Ango, we will be posting less often, to allow time for everyone to do all the readings.
The Artless Arts
The Zen Aesthetic
[W]hen thought is in bondage, the truth is hidden...Master Jianzhi Sengcan
This line from Master Sengcan for me, sums up what this chapter is about.
In Chapter 8 John Daido Loori summarizes the components present in Zen art which generate from our zazen practice.
-No mind: this concept includes no expectation, following no rules, and a sparse aesthetic. A vital aspect of no mind is the moment the artistic act creates the alive relationship between the form, the medium and the artist. JDL asks how we can translate this into how we live our lives.
-No rank or ordinariness: this is reflected in the lack of extraneous-ness or superfluity of effort. Work is mature and seasoned. And experiencing the awe of the endless and infinite nature of creativity.
-Playfulness: the wonder of it all and the fun and magic of creativity expressed in beauty.
And finally, JDL explains the quality of suchness. Which he defines as the very nature of life itself. But ineffable.
In the classic book The Unknown Craftsman A Japanese Insight into Beauty (1972) Soetsu Yanagi’s offers his insight into the beauty of Zen art:
‘Let us look at a beautiful piece of pottery. Its provenance does not concern us. If the article is beautiful, we may say that it has achieved Buddhahood, for it is not man alone that may become a Buddha. A beautiful artifact may be defined as one that reposes peacefully where it aspires to be. A man [or woman] who achieves Buddhahood has entered the realm that lies beyond duality; by the same token, beauty is that which has been liberated-or freed-from duality.’
He goes on to make clear what the term beautiful means:
'True beauty exists in the realm where there is no distinction between the beautiful and the ugly, a realm that is described as ‘prior to beauty and ugliness; or as a state where beauty and ugliness are as yet unseparated’…
And a quote he attributes to the Buddha:
'If in the land of the Buddha there remains the distinction between the beautiful and the ugly, I do not desire to be a Buddha in such a land.'
These are provocative statements about the beautiful in art. Any thoughts?
Does your zazen practice help your creativity by instilling the traits JDL mentions in your artmaking? How do you understand suchness?
It seems to me that once we can make art from this pure, still, mindless place suchness will necessarily be part of the result. Art is then not separate from the artist and yet completely separate.
And now a word from Meitou!
Hello everyone and welcome to Prompt 8.
'Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler' Albert Einstein.
In this chapter John Daido Loori talks about the simplicity of expression in the Zen aesthetic, even though it could be argued that this simplicity contains within itself an unknowable depth and complexity.
He explains the idea of no-rank, aesthetically an ideal of beauty in which 'sensuousness disappears and in its place surfaces a poverty in which there is nothing superfluous.'
Moving forward from that, JDL gives us a wonderful teaching on 'suchness' or 'thusness', an expression used in Zen 'to suggest the ineffable.' He describes suchness as referring to the 'that', 'what' or 'it' that is self evident. 'It is essentially being as it is, the all inclusive reality that is manifested as a sense of presence.'
He goes on to say that this suchness, this sense of presence can be sensed in Muchi's ''Persimmons'', a beautiful rendition of six persimmons, all different, positioned in a line within a painting that has no contextual background. Just as they are. And again in Joyce Carol Oates' poem ''That''.
In the following chapters JDL will show us how these concepts relate to the various Zen arts, but for now I would like you to experiment with ways of expressing the suchness of something. This could be through photography, painting or drawing, video, poetry or prose, sculpture, music. Look at the examples in this chapter – the quotes, the poetry, the brush work – and think about how you might approach this prompt, remembering also the concept of no-rank – that lack of superfluous decoration which strips something right back to its suchness, its mysterious self. In prompt 5 we looked at expressing something for what else it is, or could be seen to be. Now we are attempting the exact opposite, expressing the presence of something, its being, all of its imperfect perfection, just as it is.
Have fun!
Gassho
Anne and Meitou
we both sat today.
A note from us both: Because we are in Ango, we will be posting less often, to allow time for everyone to do all the readings.
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