Zazen and man caves
Kyūdō, Japanese archery
http://www.ikyf.org/mental_attitude.html
Tea ceremony, ikebana and calligraphy
Mai Mai Murasaki
Kata (型 or 形 literally: "form"), a
Japanese word, are detailed choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs. The term
form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese
martial arts in general.
[1] Kata are used in many traditional Japanese arts such as theatre forms like
kabuki and schools of tea ceremony (
chado), but are most commonly known for the presence in the martial arts.
The do of reverse parking?
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Early one morning, we departed for a session of
zazen, seated meditation, at the Jorinji Zen Buddhist temple. We received some instruction in the practice of
zazen, including the use of the 'encouragement stick' to clarify one's focus. The monk spoke no English however, which obscured some of the finer points a bit. We sat several sessions of increasing duration in silence, counting our breaths, trying to slow and control our breathing. Zen at the beginner level could be said to be mainly about breathing. It is difficult however not to become distracted by one's own thoughts during a meditation session. The smallest things intrude and disrupt the sense of peaceful serenity that one is trying to achieve. After the session we had a dharma talk in which the monk tried to explain the more advanced aspects of Zen, but it largely boiled down to repeated variations on the theme that 'everything is connected.' Later he took us on a tour of his 'man cave' and showed us his home theater system and newly installed Bose speakers.
We had a number of opportunities to explore facets of Zen during our stay in Japan. Zen is a practice that infuses many of Japan's traditions and activities. During a visit to the girl's high school, we were introduced to the traditional practices of
kadō,
sadō and
shodō. Dō is the Japanese term for Way or a Way, deriving from the Chinese word Dao. Zen is considered to be a synthesis of traditional Buddhism which began in India with the Chinese practice of Daoism. A Way is like a path or practice that leads one toward
satori, or Enlightenment. By engaging in a practice that requires mindfulness (or mindlessness), repetition, stillness and reflection one can begin to achieve the state of mind associated with becoming enlightened. Japan has incorporated Zen into many traditional arts and produced many different Ways.
The Japanese Way of tea is called
sadō (or
chadō). It is a specified practice of ritualized movements and articles associated with the act of preparing and drinking tea. We had the opportunity to see it in a formal setting at the school, but also experienced it in much more relaxed settings at both the Matsumura House museum and the home of the Noh mask craftsman. The tea ceremony is a quintessentially Japanese activity, although like so much of Japanese culture, has its roots in China. I had even partaken of a tea ceremony before departing for Japan at the Japan House, a cultural center on the campus of UIUC. We also experienced
kadō, the Japanese art of flower arranging, also known as
ikebana. This practice also features mindfulness, deliberation and artfulness to create an expression of peace, balance and composition in a collection of flowers and plants placed in a bowl or vase. The result is a point of contemplation on nature, beauty and impermanence. Lastly, we put our hand to Japanese calligraphy, or
shodō. With ink and brush, one attempts to artistically depict a kanji character, in essence a one word poem. Again the point of the practice is to attain a state of mid conducive to enlightenment by achieving a certain kind of perfection in the artfulness of the work. These formal ways require much study and preparation and I felt that my attempts were clumsy at best.
On another day we were introduced to yet another kind of Way, more physical than the previous three; Japanese archery or
kyūdō. One is presented with a target and engages in a prescribed set of meticulous moves to place the arrow on the target. A Westerner would immediately assume that the goal it to hit the bulleye and the highest score wins. In fact, hitting the target is of only tangential importance to the practice. In fact, you could hit the target and have very poor form. Like other kinds of Way, it is more about achieving a state of mindfullness and through repeated attempts hone your movements toward a kind of contemplative perfection. Yet I was still pleased that on my first attempt I was able to hit the target close to the center. The mistake of keeping score however became immediately clear, since my mind became clouded and I became so distracted by my early success that all of my subsequent shots were much worse.
Like many other martial arts, kyūdō relies on what is called a kata, or form of movements. These can be practiced over and over to create a sort of muscle memory. This is why athletes and dancers practice there movements in very repetitious cycles. I found an interesting example of a kata in a very unexpected place, the video game arcade that we visited some evenings. One of the students enjoyed playing 'rhythm games' such as the venerable dance, dance revolution. A more recent example of which is Maimai murasaki. I had the opportunity to watch several Japanese teenagers playing this game at an almost superhuman level of proficiently such that even on the hardest levels they were able to achieve perfect scores, they hands exactly mirroring the blazingly fast cues on the screen. I also watched a pair of boys play in 'sync' mode, their movements perfectly synchronized simultaneously across two adjacent machines. It is hard to watch this and not think of a modern equivalent of a martial art or a Way; one in which the perfection of the form and execution is monitored by the machine and immediately scored. One wonders what the state of mind of the players is at that moment. Are they attaining some kind of mindfulness? Is this yet another way to enlightenment?
