340 Part IV: East Asian Civilization
period of the formation of Zen as a warrior’s religion, the four large Kyoto tem-
ples and five large Kamakura temples were given first-rank status. A second-
level class of 60 temples was then established, and there were 200 additional
temples scattered elsewhere. Monks and warriors who had achieved enlighten-
ment were given written certificates in proof of their status!
The Zen monastery is a severe place to which one does not easily gain
admission, and the discipline practiced there bears traces of the warrior culture
it was once linked to. In The Training of the Zen Buddhist Monk, Suzuki describes
what it is like (with another series of parable-like illustrations). The would-be
monk arrives and begs to be let in but is told to go away. He spreads out his cloth
near the door to meditate and wait. Sometime later, maybe in the middle of the
night, they let him into the lodging room. He spends the night inside in medita-
tion. The rejection and humiliation may go on for days. Finally he will be given
a place in the zendo (meditation hall) and given initiation into the brotherhood.
But he has still to meet the master (roshi). Finally he is taken to meet the roshi
and allowed to join the other monks in evening zazen (seated meditation). Medi-
tation may be overseen by a monk with a whip to give a warning lash to the nov-
ice whose back slumps in sleep. The real beginning of his Zen life is when the
master gives him his first koan. But the relation between him and the master
may be filled with tension, for the master’s task is to monitor the breakdown,
sometimes compared to a psychological breakdown, of the false structures of
the mind. The time not spent in meditation is devoted to simple, menial, real-
life tasks like sweeping, carrying water, chopping wood, and gardening.Zen Culture: Zen and the Arts
The interwoven culture of Bushido and Zen produced corresponding
expressions in the arts for the aristocratic samurai class. If the soul is identified
with the entire universe, then one has, or should develop, a close affinity to a
hummingbird hovering at a spring blossom or to a length of bamboo under a
new fall of snow. Looking closely at the small, the insignificant, the fleeting,
brings you closer to yourself and your own impermanence, linking your death
to myriad small deaths of all beings and all moments, and gives you tranquility
in its contemplation. Zen painters aimed to capture such moments in spontane-
ous ink on silk paintings known as sumi-e.
The Zen garden is not like any other garden style in the world. Forget the
luxurious density of flowers in an English country garden; forget even Japan’s
own glorious landscapes of coast and hillside; a Zen garden may be three care-
fully arranged stones in the middle of a bed of raked gravel. The most famous
Zen garden is one created at Ryoanji in Kyoto in 1499 for monks to view while
meditating. It consists of 15 rocks of immense value (huge sums can be paid for
the perfect aesthetically shaped rock) arranged in five groups in a “sea” of per-
fectly raked white sand.
An aesthetic value came to the fore during the feudal period that gives con-
ceptual unity to the various cultural strands coming down to the present: the