Half-Seated Daruma Painting and Calligraphy by Nakahara Nantenbo

[Iaido dude]

 

Nakahara Nantenbo (1839-1925), Buddhist name Toju Zenchu (Complete Devotion), was in the last 17 years of his life the Exalted Master of the main temple of Moyoshin-ji of the Rinzai sect.

 

 

The inscription is the second half of the quatrain traditionally attributed to the First Patriarch of Ch'an known as Daruma, who brought Buddhism from India to China:

 

It's simple: pointing directly at mind. There, (jikishi ninshin 直指人心)

seeing original-nature, you become Buddha (kenshō jōbutsu 見性成佛)

 

Of course kenshō is the Japanese Zen phrase for enlightenment which resides within us. That is perhaps the major distinction between the "prayer" and "meditation" type of spirituality. In the former, the dialogue is directed within in order to awaken the already enlightened original-nature/true Self. In the latter, the dialogue is directed outward towards a deity. Suzuki and other Japanese intellectuals introduced Zen to the West as a philosophy in order to cater to the Western European tradition. In truth, if you visit a Zen monastery in Japan, you will find a deep and profound practice of spirituality (God within) that is indistinguishable from that of a Catholic Trappist Monastery.

 

This depiction of Daruma is one of my favorites--a testament to Nantenbo's irreverence and Zen humor. I can't quite imagine an artist during the Italian Renaissance producing any form of iconography that portrays one of the disciples of Jesus Christ or of a Catholic saints in this manner.The work was done when he was age 86 (the last year of his long life).

 

 

Translation: David Hinton, The Blue-Cliff Record, Shambala Publications, Inc (2024), pg. 226

 

Edited February 11 by Iaido dude