Tag - zen

 
 

ZEN

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2016
Hakuin's picture of Zen Buddhism
Zen, traced to the ancient teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni, took root in China via India around 1,500 years ago through the first Zen patriarch, Bodhidharma. Spread there by the priest Linji Yixuan (Rinzai Gigen, died 867), it was transmitted to Japan in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) and patronized by the elites — imperial family, nobility and warrior class.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Nov 7, 2015
'The Book of Tea' is a transcendent view of life, art and Japan
To those unfamiliar with his name, Okakura Kakuzo was a pivotal figure in trying to make sense out of the clash between Western innovation in Japan and Oriental tradition. Self-exiled from the emerging modernism of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Okakura traveled to India, China, Europe and, not without a degree of irony, found his most receptive audience in America, where he was appointed — some would say "anointed" — curator of oriental art at the Boston Museum.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 18, 2015
'Mystical Realist' Eihei Dogen's 13th-century writings
Eihei Dogen (1200-53), founder of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, is a key figure in the intellectual history of Japan, but for many centuries his work was not widely read. This changed in 1926, when the publication of Watsuji Tetsuro's "Shamon Dogen" ("The Monk Dogen") reframed him as a philosopher in the contemporary sense and inspired a new interest in Dogen's writings.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2015
Monk uses experience with acting to spread Zen teachings in Berlin
A 34-year-old Japanese Buddhist monk and actor who is living in Berlin is trying to teach his students there "how to apply Zen wisdom to modern life."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2014
Priestly pair set out to boost 'Buddhism 3.0' across Japan
A pair of Zen priests have been causing a stir with their campaign to spread a new interpretation of Buddhism in Japan that combines practices from separate branches of the ancient religion.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 24, 2013
Only in Japan could a sword be 'life-giving'
Few countries have broken with their past as sharply as Japan did. That was the price it paid for modernity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 24, 2013
Collection of American Zen koans for quiet contemplation
American Zen Koan No. 96: A student once asked Zen teacher Steve Allen, "If you were given a wish-fulfilling jewel, what would you wish for?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 2013
Zen master indulges Japanese sword myth
'The one who kills is empty, his sword is empty, and the one who is attacked is empty, too. Thus the one who attacks is not a person. And the sword that strikes is not a sword. For the one who is attacked, it is just like cleaving in a lightning flash the breeze blowing in the spring sky.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 19, 2013
Kyoto gardens give up all their secrets during intimate guided tours
How do you appreciate a Japanese garden? The typical temple visit — where you ponder a seemingly random assemblage of rocks and raked gravel or push your way through a throng of tourists jostling for camera angles — can leave one confused and underwhelmed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2013
Hakuin: The sight of one hand clapping
Most people know the famous riddle, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Many are also aware that it is connected with Zen Buddhism, and some will even know that it is a famous koan by the 18th-century monk Hakuin.
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Jan 30, 2009
An intoxicating temple in Kyoto
Emperor Go Mizuno reportedly loved fucha ryori, and likely partook of it at Kanga-an Temple in Kyoto as he gazed at the enchanting green and gravel garden.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces