Zen Characters of Living

Many years ago, I borrowed a video tape from the public library. It was about Zen Buddhism, a practice that I was just entering into. It covered the history of Buddhism, monastic practice and aspects of Japanese culture influenced by Zen. I was intrigued by what was described as the “seven Zen characters of beauty,” aesthetics that have come to be the hallmarks of the art and craft of Japan:

• Asymmetry (Fukinsei) - not adhering to perfection or purposely breaking away from formed perfection
• Non-attachment (Datsuzoku) - to be open-minded and detached: this is freedom because being without form is of every form
• Naturalness (Shizen) - that which is artless in its natural form; without pretense
• Simplicity (Kanso) - neither complicated nor gaudy; artless simple beauty
• Silence (Seijaku) - limitless silence; the inward looking mind
• Wise Austerity (Koko) - wizened, solitary and stern; dignified like an old tree
• Profound Subtlety (Yugen) - a lingering memory hidden deep inside; limitless implication

These are the exact descriptions from the video. The images of artwork and craft that accompanied the narration were especially haunting. Three years later, I participated in a Jukai ceremony, where I formally became a lay Zen Buddhist practitioner. There one “receives” the Bodhisattva precepts, the precepts being guidelines of sorts that help the Zen student in their training toward enlightenment. Further, it provides a common reference for one's daily conduct and the spiritual evolution of the Zen community.

At some point I felt that the community stopped talking to me. Maybe I stopped listening to it. It is many years later and while I still value the Buddhist precepts, it is no longer a preferred language of understanding. I'm finding that it's useful understand many languages because you never know who you are going to meet and how they would prefer to communicate. What I've noticed is that most people at least have a feel for the language of art aesthetics.

So when I consider the Zen characters of beauty, it is like I'm considering precepts. Not as guidelines per say, but as a way by which I can recognize that I'm growing toward the light and not simply aiming at a reflection.

I would like to think of my life as artwork of the kind described by these characters, or at least moving toward it. It doesn't require that I be a follower of a specific belief system (although I'm not like those would fear religion). Instead, it asks me to become an artist…and there is great stimulation in talking and sharing about art with other artists of all types.

The community I connect to is now a little bit larger; it's a little easier to hear them.

© Richard Aquino, 2007