Mystery Painting of Daruma with Inscription (need help with translation)

[Iaido dude]

I'm not quite sure how I came about having this front-facing Daruma, and I haven't been able to figure out the attribution of this likely likely 20th century work. It seems to have been done by a monk at the Zuigan-ji temple of the Rinzai sect, who was copying the Daruma rendering style of the Zen Master Seki Seisetsu. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

[Iaido dude]

Here is Seki Seisetsu's front-facing Daruma.

 

[SteveM]

Yours is a replica of an image drawn by Daikyū Sōkyū (1468-1549), which I think is/was property of Zuigan-ji (瑞厳比之大休筆寫)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大休宗休

 

The writing alludes to the Bodhidaruma's return to India with one shoe (隻履西帰), but I'm not sure of the preceding bits. The final four kanji are an idiom meaning "getting better little by little" 漸入佳境".

[Iaido dude]

Thanks, Steve. I can't find any calligraphy works of Daikyu Sokyu. Wiki doesn't mention him as an artist, although it does link him to Zuigan-ji in his later years.

 

I wonder if Seki Seisetsu's Daruma is a copy of a well-known work from a prior century.

[Iaido dude]

The story of Bdhidaruma's return to india with one shoe is a famous Zen koan (from Google AI). I'm searching to see if it is among a known collection of koans:

 

The legend of Bodhidharma's return to India with one shoe is a famous Chan (Zen) Buddhist koan, or story, that underscores the non-dual nature of enlightenment. It describes an encounter that occurred three years after Bodhidharma's death and burial in China. 

The legend of the single shoe

• The encounter: According to the tale, a Chinese emissary named Sung Yun was returning from the "Western Regions" (India and Central Asia) when he met Bodhidharma on the Pamir Mountains. The emissary was puzzled to see Bodhidharma walking barefoot with a single shoe hanging from a staff over his shoulder.
• The conversation: Sung Yun asked the master where he was going. Bodhidharma replied that he was "going home" to India. When asked about the shoe, Bodhidharma cryptically told him he would find out upon returning to the Shaolin Monastery and to tell no one of their meeting.
• The discovery: When Sung Yun returned to the Chinese court, he reported his sighting to the emperor, who had him arrested for lying, as Bodhidharma was known to be dead and buried. However, the emperor's curiosity was piqued, and he ordered Bodhidharma's tomb to be opened. Inside, they found nothing but a single shoe. 

Meaning of the koan

This enigmatic story is used to teach central Zen concepts, serving as a reminder that the true nature of reality is beyond conventional understanding and form. 

• A "special transmission": The legend embodies the Zen principle of a "special transmission outside the scriptures," meaning the true dharma (teachings) cannot be fully captured in words or texts. It must be directly and intuitively realized.
• The inadequacy of ritual: By leaving only one shoe, Bodhidharma showed the Chinese that the physical remains of a great master hold no special significance. It is his teaching, not his relics, that is the path to enlightenment.
• The true path is unattached: The shoe on the staff, instead of on his foot, symbolizes Bodhidharma's detachment from all worldly things, even the formal trappings of his own tradition. True wisdom is not bound by form or convention.
• Leaving a riddle: Ultimately, Bodhidharma turned his own death into a riddle, a final provocative act to challenge his followers to look past illusions and directly experience the profound truth. 

[Iaido dude]

My wife provided the kanji for this work:

 

起浪粱江飛雪魏嶺，只雁西歸漸入佳境

 

Waves rise on Liang River, snow falls on Weiling Mountain, the wild geese fly westward, and the scenery becomes better (Google translate).

[SteveM]

She has misread these two;

 

只雁 should be 隻履, which is part of the 4-character Buddhist idiom I mentioned. 

歸 is the old form of 帰, which is the one used here in this scroll. 

[Iaido dude]

Roger that. Thanks, Steve.

 

There is another famous poem referring to this koan by Zishou Miaozong (資壽妙總; 1095–1170), perhaps the most famous woman Zen Master:

 

東來黠兒落節

為法求人自作深孽

賴遇梁王是作家

有理直教無處雪

及乎隻履復西歸蔥嶺

無端重漏泄不漏泄

分明弄巧反成拙

 

Going east across the sea, the clever boy loses his discipline.

Looking for followers, he himself commits offences.

Only because of meeting the emperor does he emerge a founder,

Directly teaching what is right, nowhere to sweep snow.

Then he goes to the Pamirs with only one shoe;

For no good reason, the secret of non-leaking leaks out.

Skillfully manipulating but turning out to be clumsy.