Wu Wei; Action in Non Action

In Zen painting it is important to learn a practice which puts one in the best possible position to relax.  If we are in a relaxed and free attitude then our painting will reflect this. They will have a spirit of calm and spontaneity, freedom and abandonment.  Also the painting will take on a childlike innocence sometimes because we have not worked from our ego. 

If one works to Zen principles of letting go, non attachment, thankfulness, appreciation and being in the moment then our art will take on a new quality free from ego.  Having said this it not an easy task because we often start from a standpoint of wanting to fulfill some goals and desires.  This is not necessarily bad but it often gets us in conflict with the goal of living in the moment and being NOW, prime Zen principles of living fully.

So when we start to paint we have to give up ourselves and our painting efforts from the very beginning.  We have to act with abandon, do without trying like a naught boy or girl.  Most of all one has to enjoy being in the moment and do what we are doing now regardless of anything before or after this moment, free of any ulterior reason for not being here and now.  It takes a disciplined mind to be like this.  That is why my teacher always said SumiE is a powerful mental training. 

The Taoists often use the idea of Wu Wei or doing by not doing.  It does not mean that one doesn’t try but one has to let go of the tension in our mind and body while we are doing and to do the task with little mental of physical tension.  There will always be some tension needed but it will be a well directed and focused energy full of creativity and joy.

Lao Tsu used to use the metaphor of the baby who cries all night and still can get up in the morning and smile at his mum.  It can do this because the Ki is not obstructed from flowing up and down the spine and in the Tanden or Hara (below the navel) freely. Also the child only knows the NOW. If the Hara is relaxed then the mind will be also and the body too.  If the breath is flowing freely the Ki will flow around the body well in the channels of energy called meridians. 

If we work from this empty position in relation to our ego then our spirit will change and our True Nature will be revealed.  The technique we learn will be useful and the mind is needed to focus but the most important development is that of the spirit or character within.  In Zen its called our True Nature.  Each person has his or her special Nature.  This will give our art a special taste or flavour like nothing else in the universe.  Most of all we can appreciate the joy of action for the sake of themselves only.  This is very childlike but also wise.  As Jesus said, “Be like a little child and the kingdom of heaven awaits.”

Sumie Painting Books

Sumie Books

Sumie An intro to ink painting;
Momiyama, Nanae, Tuttle 1967

The Art of Sumie Appreciation Techniques and application
Sato Shozo, Kodansha Tokyo1984

Sumie Appreciation in Ink
Suidinsky Paul, Drake NY 1976

Japanese Brush Painting Techniques
Suidinsky Paul, Drake NY 1983

Complete Sumie Techniques
Yamada S, Japan Pub 1966

Intro. to Sumie; The Zen way of the Brush
Andre Sollier, Humphrey and Formul Press Vic Aust 1972

The Wandering Brush
Andre Sollier, Wilke & co Vic Aust 1977

Sumie
Hiriyama Hakuho
Kodansha Tokyo 1979

Ink Painting
Matshushita Takaaki, Weatherhill N.Y.

Lets Try Sumie
Mikami T. Shifunotomo Tokyo

Japanese Ink Painting
Saito R. Tuttle Pub.Tokyo

Sumie; the Art and technique of Japanese ink painting
Kay Morrissey Thompson, Tuttle Tokyo

Japanese Ink Painting; the Art of Sumie
Naomi Okomoto, Sterling N.Y.1995

Haiku

One hundred rose petals

Dancing in a pond

Rays of morning sun

To watch a video on Haiku and Basho go Jane Reichhold

Yoga means Union & Mantra is sacred sound

Hatha Yoga

Private classes and groups
Payment  Private lesson $60 for 2 persons
Cost $15 / $12 per class


Contact me with your expression of interest

This is suitable for new students. It is a general hatha yoga class.

A minimum group of 6 needed. I will ring or email to discuss further.

It will focus on the general yoga principles including asana, pranayama, bundha, meditation.

See my general attitude plus my teachers concepts at www.gobindsadan.org

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gmenzel@hotmail.com
Ph.0407734479

Mantra or Naam in Punjabi

We will use this mantra to cool our mind and create a state of calm so practice it in your Yoga time.

Mantra

Ek Onkar Sat Nam Sirre Wahe Guru

Translation and meaning;
one world Truth is its name praise the dispeller of darkness

Anecdote
Baba Virsah Sing passed away on 25.12.07
His students would assemble in a beautiful garden with flowers,trees,lawns and ponds near his residence and often listen to his teachings in the warm evenings at Gobind Sadan South of Delhi. Here is a clip of one of those precious moments that one can only dream of when onemeets and is touched by an enlightened being, one of the rare opportunities one has in ones karmic cycle of birth and rebirth.

Baba was a totally selfless being whose one goal was to teach love and give love.
The stories of his positive interventions in thousands of peoples loves are endless. Although he has left his body his power is still available to those who can focus on his love just by giving love to him and love to the whole of creation.








Here is the Nam or mantra.

Tabla, harmonium and vocals Gerard Menzel Copyright

3. Ordinary everyday enlightenment

Looking at Sumie we see that often simple everyday things are the subject, a fly on the table, a kettle on the stove, women strolling in the rain, a mountain with cloud, in fact everyday events and things.

This is the real topic of the study of Zen in as much as we begin to note and observe, take interest in and witness in a fresh and new way our daily life. We realize that our normal and repetitive life can be a fascination and a source of spiritual enlightenment only if we take the time to observe it and see it in a way consistent with the teaching of Zen.

For example Sumie teaches one to observe and appreciate, to respect and to interact without judgement or demanding from our immediate environment. If we do this we start to share more and feel much more as we slow down, steady our rattling mind and think clearly by focusing without distractions.

Sumie asks one to pay attention to the subject and to drink with our eyes, draw it up with our pores, breathe in as one inhales, to listen to it sing and touch it with our skin. We are not afraid to experience the world around us because there are no longer barriers to this experience of viewing the world AS IT IS. This way of seeing and experiencing the world is called SUCHNESS. As we do this we also begin to know ourselves and our TRUE NATURE as well.

How does this process of seeing the world Just as it is, work?
Well as with sumie and painting everyday things we no longer feel the need so much to think and idealize spiritual experiences outside our normal environment or range of experiences. Why? Because we know that every tiny thing is imbued with the same life ESSENCE called KI. Our mind and body only exists due to that same Ki that enters our body at birth. There are fewer and fewer divisions in our preferences as we view the world and our experiences.

The categories of our mind diminish for example there is no need to have special, precious, holy, intellectual or boring and normal ideas and experiences because we realize life is one. Our mind no longer needs to categorize the world into segments. We see that CHANGE and seeing the whole rather that the segment is needed and useful. In our painting we attempt to make the horse run and the river flow and the flower glow as we recreated the world around us in black and white images.

That is the difference between ordinary unenlightened painting and Zen painting. I often watched my teacher Andre whose kindness and love flowed to all his students just like the ink from his brush, produce time and time again such works of art that were always alive with the spirit of the object. My observation of him was to witness a man who took great care and who profoundly enjoyed what he did and did it very well.

Andre summed up ordinary everyday enlightenment when he wrote in The Wandering Brush (Pub.Wilkie and Co. 1977)

Does a snail meditate?
Does a stone take exercise?
Does a tree recite sutras?
Is wisdom the fruit of man?



When I look at the cartoons of Michael Leunig and Mr Curly whose duck is ever present in his cartoons bringing him back to reality and the real.

2. Yin and Yang

Yin and yang are the two forces of the universe in change and motion. They are the creation of the void. In this world of change and phenomena these two mutual forces interact to make change. In sumie these forces are worked with in the form of black ink and the white paper.

Although black is the opposite of white one would not exist without the other so they are interdependent and exist within the relativity of our universe. In sumie we are encouraged to use our imagination to feel and see colour within the painting. For example if we paint a rose the petals are often done with a light grey color so when we look at the art our mind imagines a colour. The symbolism of black and white in sumie relates to Zen and the above forementioned relativity of life in all its forms.

When we see the truth of this relativity then we touch on the heart of Zen and road to realization. This philosophy of the Tao Yin and Yang is accepted by Buddhists, Taoists alike with few differences of nuance. If we accept that Yin and Yang exist then although the world appears to be dualistic in reality it can not be within the relativity of Tao. For example if love exists also hate will exist. If movement exists then stillness will follow. The point to remember is that one is interdependent not exclusive of the other. This brings our mind to the point of unity within the Void or Sunya. Any differences / contrasts within our universe are relative and subject to change and time. This knowledge allows us to have a very Big mind, a mind which embraces everything. It also shows us the way to moderation and the middle way.

1 Sumie & Zen The Void

The idea of the void or Shunya was first put forward by an ancient Indian scholar called Nargajuna, (AD 200) Madhyaminka the middle way or the philosophy of the void. In sumie the white paper is emptiness. The ink is used and we fill in the void with the movement of yin and yang. ( moving right and left, big and small, front and back, left and right, male and female, high and low, dark and light, inside and outside.) All living forms and creatures in the world coming from the movement of yin yang are what the Taoist Lao Tzu called the myriad things. He states that the mother of the universe is TAO and in the creation of that universe we live in the Ten thousand things was created with the attributes of Yin and Yang.

The void can teach us and is the inspiration for creativity. It is the source of everything seen and unseen. Essentially the source is free of movement and displays an aura of peace, transparency and is vacant. Similar to a Black Hole due to its inherent non physical nature it can not be named, added to nor destroyed. But it has infinite power. The practice of Zen as well as many other Asian arts is to understand that Void and to become one with it.

The scholar Kakuzo Okakura author of The book of Tea says this about what he calls Lao Tsu's idea of the vacuum. To read go here.

This Laotse illustrates by his favourite metaphor of the Vacuum. He claimed that only in vacuum lay the truly essential. The reality of a room, for instance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and the 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 pitcher or the material of which it was made. Vacuum is all potent because all containing. In vacuum alone motion becomes possible. One who could make of himself a vacuum into which others might freely enter would become master of all situations. The whole can always dominate the part. See The book of Tea


For more links to Sumie and the warrior spirit go here and an article on Shunya or the empty space go here.