Sebenta

* Julia Manach

Sebenta

an alchemy melting-pot

December 3 , 2003

Zen - Indian roots

Posted at 05:58 EST

A special transmission outside the scriptures;
No dependence upon words and letters;
Direct pointing at the soul of man:
Seeing into one's nature and the attainment of Buddhahood.
(Bodhidharma definition of Chan/Zen Buddhism)

Zen as we know it comes to us through the Buddhist religion. Buddhism was founded in India, but its roots extend back to the 17th century BCE, when Aryans from what is now Iran invaded the Indus Valley in central India. They imposed their religious ideas, which are found in a collection of verses known as the Rig-Veda. At that time, people believed in a multitude of gods. In their travels eastward, the Aryans found a well developed Vedic culture and the meeting of the two cultures leaded to a belief system contained in the Dravidic books. They were written between 3000 and 1500 BCE and there we can find the word dhyana, which translates as "meditation". Also, some of the artifacts of that period present a meditator in the lotus position.

By the eighth century BCE the old Vedic religion was no longer relevant, however, the old Indian practice of Yoga (the yoking of the powers of the mind by concentration) became popular. The ideal of personal transcendence was embodied in the yogi. About 538 BCEm a young prince from the warrior cast became obsessed with the mystery of pain. He left everything to find the reason for suffering and a way out of it. He became a mendicant ascetic and for about six years he followed several gurus and underwent fearful penances. This only brought him fatigue and dispair. Therefore, he accepted food wich renewd his strenght and gave him the insight that a middle way was to be preferred. He continued his meditation practice and he "awaked".

The name Buddha refers to an awakened being. A Buddha is someone who is awakened to his or her very nature.

Apparently, Gautama did not want to start a religion. He taught his followers that they should come to realization themselves, and then live their life of right living by what they had experienced. He said: "I have seen an ancient Path, an ancient Road, trodden by Buddhas of a bygone age." It had objective reality, not because it could be demonstrated by logical proof, but because anyone who seriously tried it found that it worked.

We are told that Buddhism came to China throught the Indian Buddhist Master known as Bodhidharma, to some, a more mythical figure than a real one. More certainly, the work of establishing Zen in China from India was the result of the work of many people. The exact date remains unknown. The Chinese made no attempt of changig the sanskrit word dhyana (meditation), but their efforts at pronouncing it resulted in something like "ch'anna", which was shorted to chan. The ideogram that symbolize this word is a combination of the characters for "infinite" and "simple" with the suggestion of "offering". In other words, Chinese Buddhist religion was a simple offering with and to the Infinite.

Quiet sitting was used as the meditation method leading to the experience that is in the core of Buddhism, enlightenment (or "awakening"). Documents tell us that already in India teachers revered silence, althought the enlightenement experience is there often described as having 52 steps. When Zen met Chinesse Taoism, whose meditative experience could be instantaneous, just as the Buddha experienced, this would change.

In the seventh century CE a Korean emperor sent to the Japanese emperor the gift of some Buddhist priests. The Japanese felt attracted not only to their ideas, but also to the fact that they could make marks on papyrus that could be later read. So the Japanese quicly went to the source of both Chinese Buddhism and Chinese written system. Their effort to pronounce Channa or Chan sounded like Zenna or Zen.

October 10 , 2003

Hakuin self-portrait

Posted at 08:58 EST

Hakuin's disciple, Torei, describes him as having "the heavy, deliberate motions of an ox and the penetrating glare of a ferocious tiger." What a cap/scorpio!

Wildy Ivy

Posted at 05:41 EST

"Why doesn't the fellow inside the hermitage know what's going on outside?" a Calligraphy by Hakuin

Reading Wild Ivy, "The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin". In the page where the notes begin, there is already a marker. João left it there, obviously. Footsteps in the sand.

The sound of raindrops pattering on the fallen autumn leaves,
though sobering to the soul,
Cannot compare to the splendid rich intimacy of sunset clouds
casting a warm glow over fields of yellowing grain.

Tranlation:
The autumn melancholy depicted in the first line evokes the feeling of wordly impermanence; the second line, the joy and affirmation experienced upon passing through the perception of impermanence and death and emerging into the enlightened realm of ultimate wisdom.

Fallait le dire! *S*

October 8 , 2003

Hakuin's chart

Posted at 04:41 EST

Of course, I was delighted to notice that I was in possession of all Hakuin's birth data. He was born on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of 1685 (January 19, 1686, by the western calendar) in the village of Hara, situated near Mont Fuji. And according to his own sayings, his mother told him once he was born at the first crow of the cock - two in the morning.

I made his chart at Astrodienst. There are two Hara places in Japan, so for the time being I choosed the first one, but I must check on this later. Anyway, here it goes: Hakuin's Chart. A Capricorn, Scorpio rising, and also a conjunction of Moon and Jupiter close to his Scorpio ascendant. Not surprising, huh? His life is a perfect combination of the rightenousness, strictness and determination of a Capricorn and the extremism of a Scorpio. His self-harshness also comes from here. The gentle Pisces can stand for his visions and his art! With such a combination, he did went to "hell", the hell of his "Zen sickness"... and that he could heal himself from it. The compassionate Pisces also explains that he was not all strictness and severity and that his willingness to "save people" was tireless. He used at some point his artistic talents as he tried to devise new ways of spreading teachings.

October 7 , 2003

Hakuin

Posted at 07:49 EST

Hakuin's calligraphy: Parents
(amazing calligraphy!)

Hakuin Ekaku is one of the greatest Zen Masters from all times... and a rather unique and exuberant personality. During his lifetime he was respected for its courage and determination, and for its uncompromising independence. He left behind an uncommon literary and artistic legacy. In his journal, he quotes some verses from Master Ta-hui:

Lotus leaves,
perfect discs,
rounder than mirrors;
Water chestnuts,
needle spikes,
sharper than gimlets.

As he puts it, he attained one of his eighteen satoris when he penetrated those verses. "It was suddenly seeing a bright sun blazing out in the lets. Overcome with joy, I tripped, stumbled, and plunged headlong into the mud." Crazy Monk! people said. I just can see in them the Yin-Yang principle. And, of course, the equanimity of sweetness and harshness. Suppose one should go beyond this. He did! *S*

Ok, part of my admiration comes from the fact that he was a wonderfully gifted artist and poet, a "one pointed mind" seeker, and had a very special humor.

His surrender to the quest is just not from our times: "When the resolve to seek the Way first began to burn in me, I was drawn by the spirits of the hills and streams among the high peaks of Liyama."

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