Hakuin

Dōgen returned to Japan in 1227 or 1228, going back to stay at Kennin-ji, where he had trained previously. Among his first actions upon returning was to write down the Fukan Zazengi (普観坐禅儀; 'Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen'), a short text emphasizing the importance of and giving instructions for zazen, or sitting meditation. Hakuin was greatly respected and had many disciples. At one time in his life, he lived in a village hermitage, close to a food shop run by a couple and their beautiful, young daughter. One day the parents discovered that their daughter was pregnant. Angry and distraught, they demanded to. Hakuin Ekaku (白隠慧鶴, January 19, 1686 - January 18, 1768) was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, refocusing it on its traditionally rigorous training methods integrating meditation. Zen Master Hakuin's Letter in Answer to an Old Nun of the Hokke Nichiren Sect The 25th day of the Eleventh Month of Enkyo 4 (C.E. In this essay, translated from Japanese, D. Suzuki presents his evaluation of three pivotal figures in the history of Japanese Zen. The essay provides a valuable look at the approach to zazen taken by Dōgen, Hakuin, and Bankei, while comparing their views of awakening. The essay also reveals much about Suzuki’s views concerning Japanese spirituality (reisei).

Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) is widely acknowledged as the most important Zen Buddhist master of the past 500 years. He was also the most influential Zen artist of Edo-period (1615-1868) Japan, but unlike the highly studied monk painters of earlier centuries, he received no formal artistic training beyond the basic skills in handling brush, ink, and paper that were required for everyday writing.

Hakuin’s self-taught, spontaneous, yet masterly and inspired painting and calligraphy, just like his teachings and writings, expressed the mind and heart of Zen for monks and lay followers alike. With the aim of reaching out to people of all social and economic classes, rather than just the élite, he invented a new visual language for his religion, depicting everyday subjects and themes from other Buddhist sects, as well as Zen patriarchs and masters.

For this first exhibition in the West devoted to Hakuin, nearly 80 of his scrolls will be gathered from collections in the United States and Japan. Organized in collaboration with New Orleans Museum of Art, and curated by Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Professor Stephen Addiss. The Los Angeles presentation is made possible by LACMA’s East Asian Art Council.

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art

The Los Angeles presentation is made possible by LACMA's East Asian Art Council.

Hakuin Ekaku Paintings

Incomplete - Highlighted Objects, Links

Image: Hakuin Ekaku, Japan, 1685 1769, Daruma, 18th century, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Image: 44 1/2 x 19 3/4 in. (113.03 x 50.17 cm); Mount: 77 3/4 x 25 in. (197.49 x 63.5 cm), Gift of Murray Smith. M.91.220.

May 22–Aug 14, 2011
Pavilion for Japanese Art
This exhibition is shown in two parts.
Part 1: May 22–June 28, 2011
Part 2: July 1, 2011–August 14, 2011

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art

The Los Angeles presentation is made possible by LACMA's East Asian Art Council.

Incomplete - Highlighted Objects, Links

Hakuin Song Of Zazen

Media

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin

Hakuin Monkey Painting

Curator Rob Singer talks about the exhibition The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin, on view through August 14, 2011.

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Hakuin's Song of Zazen

Hakuin's Song of Zazen
Translated by Norman Waddell
All beings by nature are Buddha,
As ice by nature is water.
Apart from water there is no ice;
Apart from beings, no Buddha.
How sad that people ignore the near
And search for truth afar:
Like someone in the midst of water
Crying out in thirst,
Like a child of a wealthy home
Wandering among the poor.
Lost on dark paths of ignorance,
We wander through the Six Worlds,
From dark path to dark path--
When shall we be freed from birth and death?
Oh, the zazen of the Mahayana!
To this the highest praise!
Devotion, repentance, training,
The many paramitas--
All have their source in zazen.
Those who try zazen even once
Wipe away beginning-less crimes.
Where are all the dark paths then?
The Pure Land itself is near.
Those who hear this truth even once
And listen with a grateful heart,
Treasuring it, revering it,
Gain blessings without end.
Much more, those who turn about
And bear witness to self-nature,
Self-nature that is no-nature,
Go far beyond mere doctrine.
Here effect and cause are the same,
The Way is neither two nor three.
With form that is no-form,
Going and coming, we are never astray,
With thought that is no-thought,
Singing and dancing are the voice of the Law.
Boundless and free is the sky of Samádhi!
Bright the full moon of wisdom!
Truly, is anything missing now?
Nirvana is right here, before our eyes,
This very place is the Lotus Land,
This very body, the Buddha

Hakuin's Song of Zazen
Produced by the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun
From the beginning all beings are Buddha.
Like water and ice, without water no ice, outside us no Buddhas.
How near the truth, yet how far we seek.
Like one in water crying, 'I thirst!'
Like the son of a rich man wand'ring poor on this earth we endlessly circle the six worlds.
The cause of our sorrow is ego delusion.
From dark path to dark path we've wandered in darkness,
how can we be freed from the wheel of samsara?
The gateway to freedom is zazen Samadhi.
Beyond exaltation, beyond all our praises the pure Mahayana.
Observing the Precepts, Repentance and Giving,
the countless good deeds and the Way of Right Living, all come from zazen.
Thus one true Samadhi extinguishes evils. It purifies karma, dissolving obstructions.
Then where are the dark paths to lead us astray?
The Pure Lotus Land is not far away.
Hearing this truth, heart humble and grateful.
To praise and embrace it, to practice its Wisdom,
brings unending blessings. bring mountains of merit.
And if we turn inward and prove our True Nature, that
True Self is no-self, our own self is no-self, we go beyond ego and past clever words.
Then the gate to the oneness of cause-and-effect is thrown open.
Not two and not three, straight ahead runs the Way.
Our form now being no-form, in going and returning we never leave home.
Our thought now being no-thought, our dancing and songs are the Voice of the Dharma.
How vast is the heaven of boundless Samadhi!
How bright and transparent the moonlight of wisdom!
What is there outside us? What is there we lack?
Nirvana is openly shown to our eyes.
This earth where we stand is the pure lotus land!
And this very body, the body of Buddha.

Hakuin Is That So

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