Ox Herding

Zen Art: Mayumi Oda

The printmaker, Mayumi Oda, produces lush, sensuous works that celebrate our interdependence with the earth, animals, and plants. Her depictions of gardens, vegetables, and insects describe a natural world that flows easily with spiritual beings.

Mayumi Oda was born in Japan and later emigrated to the United States with her family. She later spent a year in Tokyo, where she began Zen practice in 1978. Upon her return to the U.S., she lived and trained at the San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. She currently lives with her family in Hawaii at the Ginger Hill Farm and Retreat Center.

In addition to her work as an artist, she has worked diligently against nuclear proliferation. She founded Plutonium Free Future in 1992 and organized WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday) in 1999.

Here are a few examples of her colorful, playful work:

Breath I

Heart Sutra with Sea Turtle

Kannon and Golden Dragon (Green)

Zen Art: Anita Feng, JDPSN

Anita Feng, Ji Do Poep Sa Nim (Dharma Master), is a teacher in the Golden Wind Zen Order with whom I've had the good fortune to practice (off and on) for at least a decade. She is also an accomplished poet, potter and sculptor.

About two years ago, Anita began creating buddhas and bodhisattvas in clay and then firing them using the raku method. The resulting figures are simultaneously earthy and magical, with iridescent glazes overlaying rough, natural clay.

Anita writes an interesting blog at Raku Buddha and she sells her work at The Buddha Builder at prices that enable many people to practice with one of these beautiful statues. Here's a sampling:

Half Buddha Under the Bodhi Tree

Kwan Yin/Goddess/Buddha Emerging from a Golden Stream

Redheaded Buddha With Silver Chain

Zen Art: Jakusho Kwong Roshi

This week, Ox Herding will focus on American artists who are also Buddhist practitioners. This short survey makes no attempt to be exhaustive; rather, it's quite personal. Either I have a direct connection with the artists or feel a strong affinity with their work.

Jakusho Kwong Roshi, a dharma heir of Suzuki Roshi, serves as guiding teacher of Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. He is one of nine Western teachers to receive the title "Dendo Kyoshi," or Zen Teacher, from the Soto School in Japan.

Kwong Roshi was also a close dharma friend of Zen Master Seung Sahn and I first met him during a tour of Korea in 1993. I was charmed when he turned a scrap of orange peel into an incense burner. Several years later I did a three-week solo retreat at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center and Kwong Roshi very generously offered me an interview.

Among his accomplishments, Kwong Roshi has pioneered an approach to Zen calligraphy that combines traditional Asian brush technique with English characters. His calligraphy, playful and energetic, mirrors my experience of him. Here are a few examples:

You can see more of Roshi's calligraphy here. And you can order t-shirts and other products with his calligraphy here.

Shenpa

Tibetan Buddhism incorporates a teaching known as shenpa - the velcro that hooks us over and over.

In this short video, Pema Chodron introduces the concept of shenpa in a way that opens it up for study.

For a more complete discussion of shenpa, check out this article on Pema Chodron's website.

Best wishes for your weekend. May you not get hooked!

Thanks for reading Ox Herding.

Barry

The Pain of Enlightenment

Last week, Dosho Port published this story on Wild Fox Zen, reprinted here with his permission:

At a sparsely attended introductory session led by Katagiri Roshi, person after person asked about the physical pain of zazen. Roshi took some time to arrange himself, adjusting his robes and his sitting cushion.

Finally, he cleared his throat and stared at the floor a few feet in front of his cushion. Then Roshi said, "You won't know how much pain you're in until you are enlightened."

This story reminded me about an encounter between a student and Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. Apparently a student was expressing to Roshi his great desire to attain enlightenment. Roshi shot back:

Why do you want enlightenment, anyway? You may not like it!

I suspect we all bring ideas to practice - ideas about how wonderful our life will become once we awaken.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Photo by John Wigham

Get Your Own Buddhist Name

Need a Buddhist name? Or want to refresh your tired old Buddhist name?

Now it's easy to get a new name. Just visit My Buddhist Name, enter in your birth name, and you'll instantly receive a wonderful name to inspire your practice.

My tired old name is Kwan Sam, which means "perceive three."

When he gave me this name, Zen Master Seung Sahn asked, "How do you perceive three?" Good question . . . no wonder I'm tired!

My new, improved name is:  Dharma Teacher Upholder Practices (unlikely, unlikely).

You can call me Barry. I usually answer to that.

Photo by Carl Parkes

Taming Poisonous Dragons

The T'ang Dynasty Chinese poet, Wang Wei, wrote:

I didn't know where the temple was,
Pushing mile upon mile among cloudy peaks;
Old trees, unpopulated paths,
Deep mountains, somewhere a bell.
Brook voices choke over craggy boulders,
Sunrays turn cold in the green pines.
at dusk by the bend of a deserted pond,
A monk in meditation, taming poisonous dragons.

Shih-t'ou, a Zen master and contemporary of Wang Wei, wrote:

I've built a grass hut where there's nothing of value . . .
The person in the hut lives here calmly,
not stuck to inside, outside, or in between . . .
Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world
In ten square feet, an old man illumines forms and their nature.

I can imagine Wang Wei getting a glimpse of Shih-t'ou as he tamed his poisonous dragons. Moment after moment, not stuck to inside, outside, or in between . . .

Source: Opening a Mountain, by Steven Heine
Photo by Bianca Polak

The Web

On Saturday morning the first of the autumnal rains came to Seattle. To be honest, I didn't welcome the heavy, soaked greyness, even though we needed the moisture. I'd be content with another two months of warmth and sun.

In the mid-morning, Susann and I headed to the farmer's market and returned with early autumn squashes and late summer tomatoes.

As we came through the front gate, I noticed a large spider's web illuminated by hundreds of delicate water droplets.

And I realized, once again, how unwelcome situations can open my eyes.

It's how the unseen becomes seen.

A photo that doesn't do justice to the moment.

You Have To Live It!

In this Friday's video, Zen Master Bon Soeng discusses the insight that brought him to Zen practice:  How can we live a life based on someone else's idea?

His teaching focuses on how our mind-habits govern so much of our daily activity. These habits reflect our certainties about ourselves and the world around us. But, as Zen Master Bon Soeng says, "The biggest wisdom really comes from not knowing, because if you admit you don’t know, then you’re willing to look."

Zen Master Bon Soeng (Jeff Kitzes) guides the teaching at Empty Gate Zen Center in Berkeley, California. Over many years, he's cultivated a wonderful community of practitioners.

Thank you for reading Ox Herding. Best wishes for a great weekend!

Barry

The Tangled Web

From Robert Aitken Roshi's recent book, Miniatures of a Zen Master:

Walter Scott wrote: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, / When first we practice to deceive." You and I aren't practicing deception deliberately, but we are content to let our minds fall into a deceptive mode. That's the problem in a nutshell. It presents itself with every breath. We forget our role as the Bodhisattva Kanzeon. We allow our self-concerns to obscure the way. But really, "Mu" is simply "Mu" - nothing more.

That's the problem in a nutshell.

Photo by Torben Worm