September 2, 2025 • 20 mins
The Book of Tea, written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century, is a profound exploration of the art and philosophy surrounding tea in Japanese culture. First published in 1906, this timeless work has captivated readers across generations. Kakuzo introduces the concept of Teaism, illustrating how tea has permeated nearly every aspect of Japanese life, from thought to aesthetics. His unique background‚being born and raised in Japan yet fluent in English‚allows him to bridge cultural gaps, making the book accessible to Western readers. Within its pages, he delves into the intersections of Zen, Taoism, and the secular dimensions of tea culture, emphasizing the simplicity that Teaism imparts. This simplicity, he argues, has profoundly influenced Japanese art and architecture. The book culminates with insightful reflections on the Tea Masters, particularly Sen no Rikyu, and his pivotal role in shaping the Japanese Tea Ceremony. (Summary from Wikipedia)
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information are to volunteer, please
visit www dot LibriVox dot org. The Book of Ta
by Okakuda Kakuzo, Part two, Daoism and Zenism. The connection
(00:27):
of Zenism with Ta is proverbial. We have already remarked
that the tea ceremony was a development of the Zen ritual.
The name of Laotsei, the founder of Daoism, is also
intimately associated with the history of Ta. It is written
in the Chinese School Manual concerning the Origin of habits
and Customs that the ceremony of offering tea to a
(00:47):
guest began with Kwan Yin, a well known disciple of Laotsei,
who first at the gate of the Han Pass, presented
to the old philosopher a cup of the golden elixir.
We shall not stop to discuss the authenticity of such tales,
which are valuable, however, as confirming the early use of
the beverage by the Daoists. Our interest in Taoism and
(01:08):
Zenism here lies mainly in those ideas regarding life and
art which are so embodied in what we call Teaism.
It is to be regretted that, as yet there appears
to be no adequate presentation of the Taoist and Zen
doctrines in any foreign language, though we have had several
laudable attempts. Translation is always treason, and, as a Ming
(01:31):
author observes, can at its best be only the reverse
side of a brocade. All the threads are there, but
not the subtlety or the color of the design. But
after all, what great doctrine is there which is easy
to expound? The ancient sages never put their teachings in
semantic form. They spoke in paradoxes, for they were afraid
of uttering half truths. They begin by talking like fools,
(01:55):
and ended by making their hearers wise. Laots say himself,
with his quaint humoor sais as if people of inferior
intelligence hear of the Tao, they laugh immensely. It would
not be the Tao unless they laughed at it. The
Tao literally means a path. It has been severally translated
as the way, the absolute, the law, nature, supreme, reason,
(02:18):
and mode. These renderings are not incorrect, for the use
of the term by the Taoist differs according to the subject.
Matter of the inquiry. Laotsay himself spoke of it. Thus,
there is a thing which is all containing, which was
borne before the existence of heaven and earth. How silent,
(02:38):
how solitary, it stands alone and changes not. It revolves
without danger to itself, and is the mother of the universe.
I do not know its name, so call it the
path with reluctance. I call it the infinite. Infinity is
the fleeting. The fleeting is the vanishing. The vanishing is
(02:58):
the reverting. The Tao is in the passage rather than
the path. It is the spirit of cosmic change, the
eternal growth, which returns upon itself to produce new forms.
It recoils upon itself like the dragon, the beloved symbol
of the daois. It folds and unfolds, as do the clouds.
(03:19):
The Tao might be spoken of as the great transition. Subjectively,
it is the mood of the universe. Its absolute is
the relative. It should be remembered in the first place
that Taoism, like its legitimate successor, Zenism, represents the individualistic
trend of the Southern Chinese mind, in contradiction to the
(03:39):
communism of Northern China, which expressed itself. In Confucianism, the
Middle Kingdom is as vast as Europe and has a
differentiation of idiosyncrasies marked by the two great river systems
which traverse it. The yang Si Kiang and the huang
Ho are, respectively, the Mediterranean and the Baltic. Even today,
(04:02):
in spite of the centuries of unification, the Southern Celestial
differs in his thoughts and beliefs from his northern brother,
as a member of the Latin race differs from the Teuton.
In ancient days, when communication was even more difficult than
at present, and especially during the feudal period, this difference
in thought was most pronounced. The art and poetry of
(04:25):
the One breeds an atmosphere entirely distinct from the other.
In Laotsei and his followers, and in Kutsugen, the forerunner
of the yang Tsi Kiang nature poets, we find an
idealism quite inconsistent with the prosaic ethical notions of their
contemporary Northern writers. Laotzey lived five centuries before the Christian era.
(04:48):
The germ of Taoist speculation may be found long before
the advent of Laotzei. Surnamed the Long Eared, the archaic
records of China, especially the Book of Change, foreshadow his thought.
But the great respect paid to the laws and customs
of that classic period of Chinese civilization, which cumulated with
(05:09):
the establishment of the Choo dynasty in the twelfth century BC,
kept the development of individualism in czech for a long while,
so that it was not until after the disintegration of
the Choo dynasty and the establishment of innumerable independent kingdoms
that it was able to blossom forth in the luxuriance
(05:29):
of free thought. Laotsei and Shoshi chuang Shi were both
Southerners and the greatest exponents of the New School. On
the other hand, Confucius and his numerous disciples aimed at
retaining ancestral conventions. Daoism cannot be understood without some knowledge
(05:50):
of Confucianism, and vice versa. We have said that the
Taoist absolute was the relative. In ethics, the Taoist railed
at the laws and the moral codes of society, for
to them, right and wrong were but relative terms. Definition
is always limitation. The fixed and the unchangeless are but
(06:12):
terms excessive of a stoppage of growth, said Kutsugen. The
sages move the world, our standards of morality are begotten
of the past needs of society. But as society to
remain always the same, the observance of communal traditions involves
a constant sacrifice of the individual to the state. Education
(06:35):
in order to keep up the mighty delusion encourages a
species of ignorance. People are not taught to be really virtuous,
but to behave properly. We are wicked because we are
frightfully self conscious. We never forgive others because we know
that we ourselves are in the wrong. We nurse a
conscience because we are afraid to tell the truth to others.
(06:58):
We take refuge in pride because we are afraid to
tell the truth to ourselves. How can one be serious
with the world when the world is so ridiculous? The
spirit of barter is everywhere, honor and chastity. Behold the
complacent salesman retailing the good and the true. One can
even buy a so called religion which is really but
(07:20):
common morality, sanctified with flowers and music, rob the church
of her accessories in what remains behind, Yet the truths
thrive marvelously, for the prices are absurdly cheap. A prayer
for a ticket to heaven, a diploma for an honorable citizenship.
Hide yourself under a bushel quickly, for if your real
(07:42):
usefulness were known to the world, you would soon be
knocked down to the highest bidder by the public auctioneer.
Why do men and women like to advertise themselves so much?
Is it not but an instinct derived from the days
of slavery. The virility of the idea lies not less
in the power of breaking through contemporary thought than in
(08:04):
its capacity for dominating subsequent moments. Daoism was an active
power during the Shin dynasty, that epoch of Chinese unification
from which we derived the name of China. It would
be interesting, had we time to note its influences on
contemporary thinkers, the mathematicians, writers on law and war, the
(08:24):
mystics and alchemists, and the later nature poets of the
Yang Si Kiang. We should not even ignore those speculators
on reality who doubted whether a white horse was real
because he was white or because he was solid, nor
the conservationalists of the Six dynasties, who, like the Zen philosophers,
(08:45):
reveled in discussions concerning the pure and the abstract. Above all,
we should pay homage to Taoism for what it has
done toward the formation of the celestial character, giving to
it a certain capacity for reserve and refinement as warm
as jade. Chinese history is full of instances in which
(09:06):
the votaries of Taoism, princes and hermits alike, followed, with
varied and interesting results, the teachings of their creed. The
tale will not be without its quota of instruction and amusement.
It will be rich in anecdotes, allegories, and aphorisms. We
would fain be on speaking terms with the delightful Emperor
(09:29):
who never died because he never lived. We may ride
in the wind with litse and find it absolutely quiet,
because we ourselves are the wind, or dwell in mid
air with the aged one of the huang Ho, who
lived betwixt heaven and earth, because he was subject to
neither the one nor the other. Even in that grotesque
apology for Daoism which we find in China at the
(09:51):
present day, we can revel in a wealth of imagery
impossible to find in any other cult. But the chief
contribution of Daoism to Asiatic life has been in the
realm of esthetics. Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism
as art of being in the world. It deals with
the present, ourselves. It is in us that God meets
(10:14):
with nature, and yesterday parts from tomorrow. The present is
the moving infinity. The legitimate sphere of the relative relativity
seeks adjustment. Adjustment is art. The art of life flies
in constant readjustments to our surroundings. Daoism accepts the mandate
as it is, and, unlike the Confucians and the Buddhist,
(10:38):
tries to find beauty in our world of woe and worry.
The sung allegory of the Three Vinegar Tasters explains admirably
the trend of the three doctrines. Sakyamuni, Confucius, and Loutsay
once stood before a jar of vinegar, the emblem of life,
and each dipped in his fingers to taste the brute
(11:01):
the matter of fact, Confucius found it sour, the Buddha
called it bitter, and Laotsay pronounced it sweet. The Taoist
claimed that the comedy of life could be made more
interesting if everyone would preserve the unities, to keep the
proportion of things and give place to others without losing
one's own position. Was the secret of success in the
(11:22):
mundane drama, we must know the whole play in order
to properly act our parts. The conception of totality must
never be lost in that of the individual. This Loutsay
illustrates by his favorite metaphor of the vacuum. He claimed
that only in vacuum lay the truly essential. The reality
(11:45):
of a room, for instance, was to be found in
the vacant space enclosed by its roof and walls, not
in the roof and walls themselves. The usefulness of a
water pitcher dwelt in the emptiness where water might be put,
not in the form of the picture or the sus
material of which it was made. Vacuum is all potent,
because all containing in vacuum alone, motion becomes possible. One
(12:09):
who could truly make himself a vacuum into which others
might freely enter, would become master of all situations. The
whole can always dominate the part. These Taoist ideas have
greatly influenced all our theories of action, even to those
of fencing and wrestling jiujitsu. The Japanese art of self
(12:30):
defense owes its name to a passage in the Taoche
King and jiujitsu, one seeks to draw out and exhaust
the enemy's strength by non resistance vacuum, while conserving one's
own strength for victory in the final struggle. In art,
the importance of the same principle is illustrated by the
value of suggestion. In leaving something unsaid, the beholder is
(12:53):
given a chance to complete the idea, and thus a
great masterpiece irresistibly rivets your attention until you seem to
become actually a part of it. A vacuum is there
for you to enter and fill up to the full
measure of your aesthetic emotion. He who had made himself
master of the art of living was the real man
(13:15):
of the Taoist. At birth, he enters the realm of dreams,
only to awaken to reality. At death, he tempers his
own brightness in order to merge himself into the obscurity
of others. He is reluctant, as one who crosses the
stream in winter, hesitating, as one who fears the neighborhood.
Respectful like a guest, trembling like ice that is about
(13:38):
to melt, unassuming, like a piece of wood not yet carved,
vacant like a valley, formless, like troubled waters. To him,
the three jewels of life were pity, economy, and modesty.
If we now turn our attention to Zenism, we shall
find that it emphasizes the teachings of Taoism. Zen is
(13:59):
an aim derived from the Sanskrit word danya, which signifies meditation.
It claims that through consecrated meditation may be attained the
supreme self realization. Meditation is one of the six ways
through which buddhahoud may be reached, and the Zen sectarians
affirm that Sakyamuni laid special stress on his method in
(14:22):
his later teachings, handing down the rules to his chief
disciple Kashyapa. According to their tradition, Kashyapa, the first sen patriarch,
imparted his secret to Ananda, who in turn passed it
on to successive patriarchs until it reached Bodhidharma, the twenty
eighth Bodhidharma came to northern China in the early half
(14:44):
of the sixth century and was the first patriarch of
Chinese Zen. There is much uncertainty about the history of
these patriarchs in their doctrines. In its philosophical aspect, Early
Zenism seems to have affinity, on one hand to the
Indian negativism of Nagarjuna and on the other to the
(15:05):
non philosophy formulated by Sancharacharya. The first teaching of Zen
as we know it at the present day must be
attributed to the sixth Chinese patriarch Yeno six seventy three
to seven thirteen, founder of the Southern Zen, so called
from the fact of its predominance in southern China. He
(15:26):
is closely followed by the great Baso died seven eighty eight,
who made of Zen a living influence in celestial life.
Hakujo seven nineteen eight fourteen, the pupil of Baso, first
instituted the Zen monastery and established its ritual and regulations
(15:47):
for its government. In the discussions of the Zen school
after the time of Baso, we find the play of
the yang Tsi Kiang mind causing an accession of native
modes of thought in contrast to the former Indian idealism.
Whatever sectarian pride may assert to the contrary, one cannot
(16:07):
help being impressed by the similarity of Southern Zen to
the teachings of Laotse and the Taoist conversationalists. In the
taut taking, we already find allusions to the importance of
self concentration and the need of properly regulating the breath,
essential points in the practice of Zen meditation. Some of
(16:27):
the best commentaries on the Book of Laotsay have been
written by Zen scholars. Zenism, like Daoism, is the worship
of relativity. One master defines zen as the art of
feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can
be reached only through the comprehension of opposites. Again, Zenism,
(16:48):
like Daoism, is a strong advocate of individualism. Nothing is
real except that which concerns the working of our own minds. Yeno,
the sixth Patriarch one saw two monks watching the flag
of a pagoda fluttering in the wind. One said, it
is the wind that moves. The other said, it is
(17:09):
the flag that moves. But Yeno explained to them that
the real movement was neither of the wind nor the flag,
but of something within their own minds. Hiakujo was walking
in the forest with a disciple when a hare scurried
off at their approach. Why does the hair fly from you,
asked Hiakujo, because he is afraid of me, was the answer. No,
(17:31):
said the master. It is because you have a murderous instinct.
This dialog recalls that of Soshi chuang Shi, the Taoist.
One day Soshi was walking on the bank of a
river with a friend. How delightfully the fishes are enjoying
themselves in the water, exclaimed Soshi. His friend spake to him, Thus,
(17:52):
you are not a fish. How do you know that
the fishes are enjoying themselves? You are not myself, returned Soshi.
How do you know that I do not know that
the fishes are enjoying themselves. Zen was often opposed to
the precepts of orthodox Buddhism, even as Daoism was opposed
to Confucianism. To the transcendental insight of the Zen, words
(18:14):
were but an encumbrance to thought. The whole sway of
Buddhist scriptures only commentaries on general speculation. The followers of
Zen aimed at direct communication with the inner nature of things,
regarding their outward accessories only as impediments to a clear
perception of truth. It was this love of the abstract
(18:36):
that led the Zen to prefer black and white sketches
to the elaborately colored paintings of the classic Buddhist school.
Some of the Zen even became iconoclastic as a result
of their endeavor to recognize the Buddha in themselves rather
than through images and symbolism. We find Tankawosho breaking up
a wooden statue of Buddha on a wintry day to
(18:57):
make a fire. What sacrilege, said the horror stricken bystander.
I wish to get the shali out of the ashes,
calmly rejoined the Zen. But you certainly will not get
shali from this image, was the angry retort to which
Tanka replied, If I do not, this is certainly not
a Buddha that I am committing to sacrilege. Then he
(19:18):
returned to worm himself over the kindling fire. A special
contribution of Zen to Eastern thought was its recognition of
the mundane as of equal importance with the spiritual. It
held that in the great relation of things, there was
no distinction of small and great, an atom possessing equal
possibilities with the universe. The seeker for perfection must discover
(19:43):
in his own life the reflection of the inner sight.
The organization of the Zen monastery was very significant to
this point of view, to every member except the abbot,
was assigned some special work in the caretaking of the monastery,
and curiously enough, to the novices committed the lighter duties,
while to the most respected and advanced monks were given
(20:05):
the more irksome and menial tasks. Such services formed a
part of the Zen discipline, and every least action must
be done absolutely perfectly. Thus, many a weighty discussion ensued
while weeding the garden, pairing a turnip, or serving tea.
The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of this
(20:27):
Zen conception of greatness. In the smallest incidents of life,
Taoism furnished the basis for esthetic ideals. Zenism made them practical.
This is the end of part two of the Book
of Ta biococrodac Acuzo
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information are to volunteer, please
visit www dot LibriVox dot org. The Book of Ta
by Okakuda Kakuzo, Part two, Daoism and Zenism. The connection
(00:27):
of Zenism with Ta is proverbial. We have already remarked
that the tea ceremony was a development of the Zen ritual.
The name of Laotsei, the founder of Daoism, is also
intimately associated with the history of Ta. It is written
in the Chinese School Manual concerning the Origin of habits
and Customs that the ceremony of offering tea to a
(00:47):
guest began with Kwan Yin, a well known disciple of Laotsei,
who first at the gate of the Han Pass, presented
to the old philosopher a cup of the golden elixir.
We shall not stop to discuss the authenticity of such tales,
which are valuable, however, as confirming the early use of
the beverage by the Daoists. Our interest in Taoism and
(01:08):
Zenism here lies mainly in those ideas regarding life and
art which are so embodied in what we call Teaism.
It is to be regretted that, as yet there appears
to be no adequate presentation of the Taoist and Zen
doctrines in any foreign language, though we have had several
laudable attempts. Translation is always treason, and, as a Ming
(01:31):
author observes, can at its best be only the reverse
side of a brocade. All the threads are there, but
not the subtlety or the color of the design. But
after all, what great doctrine is there which is easy
to expound? The ancient sages never put their teachings in
semantic form. They spoke in paradoxes, for they were afraid
of uttering half truths. They begin by talking like fools,
(01:55):
and ended by making their hearers wise. Laots say himself,
with his quaint humoor sais as if people of inferior
intelligence hear of the Tao, they laugh immensely. It would
not be the Tao unless they laughed at it. The
Tao literally means a path. It has been severally translated
as the way, the absolute, the law, nature, supreme, reason,
(02:18):
and mode. These renderings are not incorrect, for the use
of the term by the Taoist differs according to the subject.
Matter of the inquiry. Laotsay himself spoke of it. Thus,
there is a thing which is all containing, which was
borne before the existence of heaven and earth. How silent,
(02:38):
how solitary, it stands alone and changes not. It revolves
without danger to itself, and is the mother of the universe.
I do not know its name, so call it the
path with reluctance. I call it the infinite. Infinity is
the fleeting. The fleeting is the vanishing. The vanishing is
(02:58):
the reverting. The Tao is in the passage rather than
the path. It is the spirit of cosmic change, the
eternal growth, which returns upon itself to produce new forms.
It recoils upon itself like the dragon, the beloved symbol
of the daois. It folds and unfolds, as do the clouds.
(03:19):
The Tao might be spoken of as the great transition. Subjectively,
it is the mood of the universe. Its absolute is
the relative. It should be remembered in the first place
that Taoism, like its legitimate successor, Zenism, represents the individualistic
trend of the Southern Chinese mind, in contradiction to the
(03:39):
communism of Northern China, which expressed itself. In Confucianism, the
Middle Kingdom is as vast as Europe and has a
differentiation of idiosyncrasies marked by the two great river systems
which traverse it. The yang Si Kiang and the huang
Ho are, respectively, the Mediterranean and the Baltic. Even today,
(04:02):
in spite of the centuries of unification, the Southern Celestial
differs in his thoughts and beliefs from his northern brother,
as a member of the Latin race differs from the Teuton.
In ancient days, when communication was even more difficult than
at present, and especially during the feudal period, this difference
in thought was most pronounced. The art and poetry of
(04:25):
the One breeds an atmosphere entirely distinct from the other.
In Laotsei and his followers, and in Kutsugen, the forerunner
of the yang Tsi Kiang nature poets, we find an
idealism quite inconsistent with the prosaic ethical notions of their
contemporary Northern writers. Laotzey lived five centuries before the Christian era.
(04:48):
The germ of Taoist speculation may be found long before
the advent of Laotzei. Surnamed the Long Eared, the archaic
records of China, especially the Book of Change, foreshadow his thought.
But the great respect paid to the laws and customs
of that classic period of Chinese civilization, which cumulated with
(05:09):
the establishment of the Choo dynasty in the twelfth century BC,
kept the development of individualism in czech for a long while,
so that it was not until after the disintegration of
the Choo dynasty and the establishment of innumerable independent kingdoms
that it was able to blossom forth in the luxuriance
(05:29):
of free thought. Laotsei and Shoshi chuang Shi were both
Southerners and the greatest exponents of the New School. On
the other hand, Confucius and his numerous disciples aimed at
retaining ancestral conventions. Daoism cannot be understood without some knowledge
(05:50):
of Confucianism, and vice versa. We have said that the
Taoist absolute was the relative. In ethics, the Taoist railed
at the laws and the moral codes of society, for
to them, right and wrong were but relative terms. Definition
is always limitation. The fixed and the unchangeless are but
(06:12):
terms excessive of a stoppage of growth, said Kutsugen. The
sages move the world, our standards of morality are begotten
of the past needs of society. But as society to
remain always the same, the observance of communal traditions involves
a constant sacrifice of the individual to the state. Education
(06:35):
in order to keep up the mighty delusion encourages a
species of ignorance. People are not taught to be really virtuous,
but to behave properly. We are wicked because we are
frightfully self conscious. We never forgive others because we know
that we ourselves are in the wrong. We nurse a
conscience because we are afraid to tell the truth to others.
(06:58):
We take refuge in pride because we are afraid to
tell the truth to ourselves. How can one be serious
with the world when the world is so ridiculous? The
spirit of barter is everywhere, honor and chastity. Behold the
complacent salesman retailing the good and the true. One can
even buy a so called religion which is really but
(07:20):
common morality, sanctified with flowers and music, rob the church
of her accessories in what remains behind, Yet the truths
thrive marvelously, for the prices are absurdly cheap. A prayer
for a ticket to heaven, a diploma for an honorable citizenship.
Hide yourself under a bushel quickly, for if your real
(07:42):
usefulness were known to the world, you would soon be
knocked down to the highest bidder by the public auctioneer.
Why do men and women like to advertise themselves so much?
Is it not but an instinct derived from the days
of slavery. The virility of the idea lies not less
in the power of breaking through contemporary thought than in
(08:04):
its capacity for dominating subsequent moments. Daoism was an active
power during the Shin dynasty, that epoch of Chinese unification
from which we derived the name of China. It would
be interesting, had we time to note its influences on
contemporary thinkers, the mathematicians, writers on law and war, the
(08:24):
mystics and alchemists, and the later nature poets of the
Yang Si Kiang. We should not even ignore those speculators
on reality who doubted whether a white horse was real
because he was white or because he was solid, nor
the conservationalists of the Six dynasties, who, like the Zen philosophers,
(08:45):
reveled in discussions concerning the pure and the abstract. Above all,
we should pay homage to Taoism for what it has
done toward the formation of the celestial character, giving to
it a certain capacity for reserve and refinement as warm
as jade. Chinese history is full of instances in which
(09:06):
the votaries of Taoism, princes and hermits alike, followed, with
varied and interesting results, the teachings of their creed. The
tale will not be without its quota of instruction and amusement.
It will be rich in anecdotes, allegories, and aphorisms. We
would fain be on speaking terms with the delightful Emperor
(09:29):
who never died because he never lived. We may ride
in the wind with litse and find it absolutely quiet,
because we ourselves are the wind, or dwell in mid
air with the aged one of the huang Ho, who
lived betwixt heaven and earth, because he was subject to
neither the one nor the other. Even in that grotesque
apology for Daoism which we find in China at the
(09:51):
present day, we can revel in a wealth of imagery
impossible to find in any other cult. But the chief
contribution of Daoism to Asiatic life has been in the
realm of esthetics. Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism
as art of being in the world. It deals with
the present, ourselves. It is in us that God meets
(10:14):
with nature, and yesterday parts from tomorrow. The present is
the moving infinity. The legitimate sphere of the relative relativity
seeks adjustment. Adjustment is art. The art of life flies
in constant readjustments to our surroundings. Daoism accepts the mandate
as it is, and, unlike the Confucians and the Buddhist,
(10:38):
tries to find beauty in our world of woe and worry.
The sung allegory of the Three Vinegar Tasters explains admirably
the trend of the three doctrines. Sakyamuni, Confucius, and Loutsay
once stood before a jar of vinegar, the emblem of life,
and each dipped in his fingers to taste the brute
(11:01):
the matter of fact, Confucius found it sour, the Buddha
called it bitter, and Laotsay pronounced it sweet. The Taoist
claimed that the comedy of life could be made more
interesting if everyone would preserve the unities, to keep the
proportion of things and give place to others without losing
one's own position. Was the secret of success in the
(11:22):
mundane drama, we must know the whole play in order
to properly act our parts. The conception of totality must
never be lost in that of the individual. This Loutsay
illustrates by his favorite metaphor of the vacuum. He claimed
that only in vacuum lay the truly essential. The reality
(11:45):
of a room, for instance, was to be found in
the vacant space enclosed by its roof and walls, not
in the roof and walls themselves. The usefulness of a
water pitcher dwelt in the emptiness where water might be put,
not in the form of the picture or the sus
material of which it was made. Vacuum is all potent,
because all containing in vacuum alone, motion becomes possible. One
(12:09):
who could truly make himself a vacuum into which others
might freely enter, would become master of all situations. The
whole can always dominate the part. These Taoist ideas have
greatly influenced all our theories of action, even to those
of fencing and wrestling jiujitsu. The Japanese art of self
(12:30):
defense owes its name to a passage in the Taoche
King and jiujitsu, one seeks to draw out and exhaust
the enemy's strength by non resistance vacuum, while conserving one's
own strength for victory in the final struggle. In art,
the importance of the same principle is illustrated by the
value of suggestion. In leaving something unsaid, the beholder is
(12:53):
given a chance to complete the idea, and thus a
great masterpiece irresistibly rivets your attention until you seem to
become actually a part of it. A vacuum is there
for you to enter and fill up to the full
measure of your aesthetic emotion. He who had made himself
master of the art of living was the real man
(13:15):
of the Taoist. At birth, he enters the realm of dreams,
only to awaken to reality. At death, he tempers his
own brightness in order to merge himself into the obscurity
of others. He is reluctant, as one who crosses the
stream in winter, hesitating, as one who fears the neighborhood.
Respectful like a guest, trembling like ice that is about
(13:38):
to melt, unassuming, like a piece of wood not yet carved,
vacant like a valley, formless, like troubled waters. To him,
the three jewels of life were pity, economy, and modesty.
If we now turn our attention to Zenism, we shall
find that it emphasizes the teachings of Taoism. Zen is
(13:59):
an aim derived from the Sanskrit word danya, which signifies meditation.
It claims that through consecrated meditation may be attained the
supreme self realization. Meditation is one of the six ways
through which buddhahoud may be reached, and the Zen sectarians
affirm that Sakyamuni laid special stress on his method in
(14:22):
his later teachings, handing down the rules to his chief
disciple Kashyapa. According to their tradition, Kashyapa, the first sen patriarch,
imparted his secret to Ananda, who in turn passed it
on to successive patriarchs until it reached Bodhidharma, the twenty
eighth Bodhidharma came to northern China in the early half
(14:44):
of the sixth century and was the first patriarch of
Chinese Zen. There is much uncertainty about the history of
these patriarchs in their doctrines. In its philosophical aspect, Early
Zenism seems to have affinity, on one hand to the
Indian negativism of Nagarjuna and on the other to the
(15:05):
non philosophy formulated by Sancharacharya. The first teaching of Zen
as we know it at the present day must be
attributed to the sixth Chinese patriarch Yeno six seventy three
to seven thirteen, founder of the Southern Zen, so called
from the fact of its predominance in southern China. He
(15:26):
is closely followed by the great Baso died seven eighty eight,
who made of Zen a living influence in celestial life.
Hakujo seven nineteen eight fourteen, the pupil of Baso, first
instituted the Zen monastery and established its ritual and regulations
(15:47):
for its government. In the discussions of the Zen school
after the time of Baso, we find the play of
the yang Tsi Kiang mind causing an accession of native
modes of thought in contrast to the former Indian idealism.
Whatever sectarian pride may assert to the contrary, one cannot
(16:07):
help being impressed by the similarity of Southern Zen to
the teachings of Laotse and the Taoist conversationalists. In the
taut taking, we already find allusions to the importance of
self concentration and the need of properly regulating the breath,
essential points in the practice of Zen meditation. Some of
(16:27):
the best commentaries on the Book of Laotsay have been
written by Zen scholars. Zenism, like Daoism, is the worship
of relativity. One master defines zen as the art of
feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can
be reached only through the comprehension of opposites. Again, Zenism,
(16:48):
like Daoism, is a strong advocate of individualism. Nothing is
real except that which concerns the working of our own minds. Yeno,
the sixth Patriarch one saw two monks watching the flag
of a pagoda fluttering in the wind. One said, it
is the wind that moves. The other said, it is
(17:09):
the flag that moves. But Yeno explained to them that
the real movement was neither of the wind nor the flag,
but of something within their own minds. Hiakujo was walking
in the forest with a disciple when a hare scurried
off at their approach. Why does the hair fly from you,
asked Hiakujo, because he is afraid of me, was the answer. No,
(17:31):
said the master. It is because you have a murderous instinct.
This dialog recalls that of Soshi chuang Shi, the Taoist.
One day Soshi was walking on the bank of a
river with a friend. How delightfully the fishes are enjoying
themselves in the water, exclaimed Soshi. His friend spake to him, Thus,
(17:52):
you are not a fish. How do you know that
the fishes are enjoying themselves? You are not myself, returned Soshi.
How do you know that I do not know that
the fishes are enjoying themselves. Zen was often opposed to
the precepts of orthodox Buddhism, even as Daoism was opposed
to Confucianism. To the transcendental insight of the Zen, words
(18:14):
were but an encumbrance to thought. The whole sway of
Buddhist scriptures only commentaries on general speculation. The followers of
Zen aimed at direct communication with the inner nature of things,
regarding their outward accessories only as impediments to a clear
perception of truth. It was this love of the abstract
(18:36):
that led the Zen to prefer black and white sketches
to the elaborately colored paintings of the classic Buddhist school.
Some of the Zen even became iconoclastic as a result
of their endeavor to recognize the Buddha in themselves rather
than through images and symbolism. We find Tankawosho breaking up
a wooden statue of Buddha on a wintry day to
(18:57):
make a fire. What sacrilege, said the horror stricken bystander.
I wish to get the shali out of the ashes,
calmly rejoined the Zen. But you certainly will not get
shali from this image, was the angry retort to which
Tanka replied, If I do not, this is certainly not
a Buddha that I am committing to sacrilege. Then he
(19:18):
returned to worm himself over the kindling fire. A special
contribution of Zen to Eastern thought was its recognition of
the mundane as of equal importance with the spiritual. It
held that in the great relation of things, there was
no distinction of small and great, an atom possessing equal
possibilities with the universe. The seeker for perfection must discover
(19:43):
in his own life the reflection of the inner sight.
The organization of the Zen monastery was very significant to
this point of view, to every member except the abbot,
was assigned some special work in the caretaking of the monastery,
and curiously enough, to the novices committed the lighter duties,
while to the most respected and advanced monks were given
(20:05):
the more irksome and menial tasks. Such services formed a
part of the Zen discipline, and every least action must
be done absolutely perfectly. Thus, many a weighty discussion ensued
while weeding the garden, pairing a turnip, or serving tea.
The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of this
(20:27):
Zen conception of greatness. In the smallest incidents of life,
Taoism furnished the basis for esthetic ideals. Zenism made them practical.
This is the end of part two of the Book
of Ta biococrodac Acuzo
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