Examples of Zen in the following topics:
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- Zenga is the Japanese term for the practice and art of Zen Buddhist painting and calligraphy, which developed during the Edo period.
- The calligraphy denotes a poem or saying that teaches some element of the path of Zen; the brush painting is characteristically simple, bold, and abstract.
- Though Zen Buddhism had arrived in Japan at the end of the 12th century, Zenga art didn't come into its own until the beginning of the Edo period in 1600.
- In Zen Buddhism, an ensō is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.
- This Japanese scroll calligraphy of Bodhidharma reads: "Zen points directly to the human heart, see into your nature and become Buddha".
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- Zen dry rock gardens were created at temples of Zen Buddhism during the Muromachi Period to imitate the intimate essence of nature.
- These zen gardens were designed to stimulate meditation.
- The Buddhist monk and zen master Musō Kokushi transformed a Buddhist temple into a zen monastery in 1334 and built the gardens.
- The most famous of all zen gardens in Kyoto is Ryōan-ji, built in the late 15th century where, for the first time, the zen garden became purely abstract.
- The most famous of all zen gardens in Kyoto is Ryōan-ji, built in the late 15th century where for the first time the zen garden became purely abstract
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- During the Muromachi period (1333 - 1578), Zen Buddhism played an influential role in the development of Zen ink painting in Japan.
- During the Muromachi Period, Zen Buddhism rose to prominence—especially among the elite Samurai class, who embraced the Zen values of personal discipline, concentration, and self development.
- The establishment of the great Zen monasteries in Kamakura and Kyoto had a major impact on the visual arts.
- Because of secular ventures and trading missions to China organized by Zen temples, many Chinese paintings and objects of art were imported into Japan, profoundly influencing Japanese artists working for Zen temples and the shogunate.
- The painting and accompanying poems capture both the playfulness and the perplexing nature of Zen buddhist Koans, which were supposed to aid the Zen practitioner in their meditation.
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- Japanese calligraphy in the Kamakura Period was influenced by the principles of Zen Buddhism.
- Japanese calligraphy of the Kamakura Period both influenced and was influenced by Zen thought.
- With the rise of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, a less technical style of calligraphy appeared, representative of Zen attitudes.
- Zen calligraphy is practiced by Buddhist monks and most shodō practitioners.
- Calligraphy by Musō Soseki (1275–1351, Japanese zen master, poet, and calligrapher.
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- The art of the tea ceremony flourished during the Momoyama period and was influenced by Zen principles of imperfection and transience.
- Zen Buddhism was a formative influence in the development of the tea ceremony.
- Murata Jukō is known as an early developer of the ceremony as a spiritual practice; he studied Zen Buddhism under the monk Ikkyū, who revitalized Zen in the 15th century, and this is considered to have influenced his use of the Zen concept of wabi-sabi in the aesthetic of the tea ceremony.
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- Kamakura was the age of the great popularization of Buddhism, and the reestablishment of cultural ties with China spawned the growth of Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdo shū Shinran) as the two major branches of Japanese Buddhism.
- Zen was not introduced as a separate school until the 12th century, when Myōan Eisai traveled to China and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which eventually perished.
- The Sōtō school was further expanded by Keizan: Sōtō priests say that if Dogen is the father of Japanese Sōtō Zen, Keizan Jokin (1268-1325) is its mother.
- Others say that Dōgen gave Sōtō Zen "high religious ideals" while Keizan ensured Sōtō's survival.
- Describe the painting, sculpture, and calligraphy of Zen Buddhism during the Kamakura Period.
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- The idea of simplicity appears in many cultures, especially the Japanese traditional culture of Zen Philosophy.
- Zen concepts of simplicity transmit the ideas of freedom and essence of living.
- Ryoan-Ji Temple is a Zen temple that exemplifies the minimalism and simplicity that is typical in Japanese design.
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- From the 12th and 13th centuries, art in Japan further developed through the introduction of Zen art, which reached its apogee in the Muromachi Period (1337 - 1573), following the introduction of the faith by Dōgen Zenji and Myōan Eisai upon their return from China.
- Zen art is primarily characterized by original paintings (such as sumi-e) and poetry (especially haikus) that strive to express the true essence of the world through impressionistic and unadorned representations.
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- This period saw the introduction of the two schools that had perhaps the greatest impact on the country: the Amidist Pure Land schools and the more philosophical Zen schools.
- The more philosophical Zen schools were promulgated by monks such as Eisai and Dogen and emphasized liberation through the insight of meditation.
- Compare and contrast the art of the Pure Land, Zen, and Kei schools of the Kamakura period.
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- This Japanese scroll calligraphy of Bodhidharma reads "(from up to low, left to right) "Zen points directly to the human heart, see into your nature and become Buddha".