Japanese Zen Buddhism and the Impossible Painting
Japanese Zen Buddhism and the Impossible Painting

Author: Yukio Lippit

Publisher: Getty Publications

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 1606065122

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Zen art poses a conundrum. On the one hand, Zen Buddhism emphasizes the concept of emptiness, which among other things asserts that form is empty, that all phenomena in the world are illusory. On the other hand, a prodigious amount of artwork has been created in association with Zen thought and practice. A wide range of media, genres, expressive modes, and strategies of representation have been embraced to convey the idea of emptiness. Form has been used to express the essence of formlessness, and in Japan, this gave rise to a remarkable, highly diverse array of artworks and a tradition of self-negating art. In this volume, Yukio Lippit explores the painting The Gourd and the Catfish (ca. 1413), widely considered one of the most iconic works of Japanese Zen art today. Its subject matter appears straightforward enough: a man standing on a bank holds a gourd in both hands, attempting to capture or pin down the catfish swimming in the stream below. This is an impossible task, a nonsensical act underscored by the awkwardness with which the figure struggles even to hold his gourd. But this impossibility is precisely the point.

Zen Garden Design
Zen Garden Design

Author: Mira Locher

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2020-08-18

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1462922171

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Zen Buddhist priest Shunmyo Masuno understands that today's busy world leaves little time or space for self-reflection, but that a garden--even in the most urban of spaces--can provide some respite. In his words, "The garden is a special spiritual place where the mind dwells." With this in mind, Masuno has designed scores of spectacular Japanese gardens and landscapes with the aim of helping people achieve a balanced life in the 21st century. This book explores Masuno's design process and ideas, which are integral to his daily Zen training and teachings. It features 15 unique gardens and contemplative landscapes completed in six countries over as many years--all thoughtfully described and documented in full-color photos and drawings. Readers will also find insights on Masuno's philosophy of garden design and a conversation between the designer and famed architect Terunobu Fujimori. Zen Garden Design provides an in-depth examination of Masuno's gardens and landscapes--not just as beautiful spaces, but as places for meditation and contemplation.

Presentation Zen
Presentation Zen

Author: Garr Reynolds

Publisher: Pearson Education

Published: 2009-04-15

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 0321601890

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FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

Flowing Traces
Flowing Traces

Author: James H. Sanford

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 0691603324

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According to the contributors to this volume, the relationship of Buddhism and the arts in Japan is less the rendering of Buddhist philosophical ideas through artistic imagery than it is the development of concepts and expressions in a virtually inseparable unity. By challenging those who consider religion to be the primary phenomenon and art the secondary arena for the apprehension of religious meanings, these essays reveal the collapse of other dichotomies as well. Touching on works produced at every social level, they explore a fascinating set of connections within Japanese culture and move to re-envision such usual distinctions as religion and art, sacred and secular, Buddhism and Shinto, theory and substance, elite and popular, and even audience and artist. The essays range from visual and literary hagiographies to No drama, to Sermon-Ballads, to a painting of the Nirvana of Vegetables. The contributors to the volume are James H. Foard, Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis, Frank Hoff, Laura S. Kaufman, William R. LaFleur, Susan Matisoff, Barbara Ruch, Yoshiaki Shimizu, and Royall Tyler. Originally published in 1992. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Lars Jonsson's Birds
Lars Jonsson's Birds

Author: Lars Jonsson

Publisher: Helm

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13:

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This is a new artbook from Lars Jonsson, being produced to coincide with a major exhibition of his work in Germany in autumn (followed by Denmark and Austria). It will include many fabulous reproductions of his recent work, together with short essays by Kent Ullberg (wildlife sculptor) and Adam Harris (curator of National Museum of Wildlife Art).

Zen Sourcebook
Zen Sourcebook

Author: Stephen Addiss

Publisher: Hackett Publishing

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 0872209091

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Introduction by Paula Arai. This is the first collection to offer selections from the foundational texts of the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Zen traditions in a single volume. Through representative selections from their poetry, letters, sermons, and visual arts, the most important Zen Masters provide students with an engaging, cohesive introduction to the first 1200 years of this rich -- and often misunderstood -- tradition. A general introduction and notes provide historical, biographical, and cultural context; a note on translation, and a glossary of terms are also included.

Painting Peace
Painting Peace

Author: Kazuaki Tanahashi

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2018-04-10

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1611805430

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A revered modern artist and Zen teacher offers an inspirational account of how his art has been the expression of a life of social activism. “Awakening,” says Kazuaki Tanahashi, “is to realize the infinite value of each moment of your own life as well as of other beings, then to continue to act accordingly.” This book is the record of a life spent acting accordingly: Through his prose, poetry, letters, lyrics, and art, Tanahashi provides an inspirational account of a what it’s been like to work for peace and justice, from his childhood in Japan to the present day. Included are fascinating vignettes of the seminal figures who refined his views--among them Daniel Ellsberg, Gary Snyder, Mayumi Oda, and Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido--as well as striking examples of the art he has so famously used to bear witness to the infinite value of life.

Zen at Daitoku-ji
Zen at Daitoku-ji

Author: Jon Etta Hastings Carter Covell

Publisher: Kodansha

Published: 1974

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13:

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The Zen temple Daitoku-ji is known as "The Temple of Great Virtue." It was founded in the early fourteenth century and its presitige allowed it to accumulate a treasury of Zen art. The daily practice of Zen goes on as it has since its beginning, with few concessions to modern living. This book looks at both aspects of the temple.

Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism
Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism

Author: Toshihiko Izutsu

Publisher:

Published: 1977

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780877737322

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Zen experience defies all thinking and linguistic description and simply affirms what is evidently real: " The ordinary way-- that precisely "is" the Way." After questioning the nature of reality, the Zen student discovers that what remains is what "is." Although it seems that Zen would not lend itself to philosophical discussion, that all conceptualization would dissolve in light of this empiricism, in this volume, the author demonstrates that the " silence" of Zen is in fact pregnant with words. A variety of topics are discussed: the experience of satori, ego and egolessness, Zen sense and nonsense, koan practice, the influence of Zen on Japanese painting and calligraphy and much more.