Zen, The Sword, The Brush and David Lynch

I have taken a break from writing for a bit so that I could do a little bit of research, reading, making art, playing music and celebrating Christmas.  But now I am back and want to spend a little time making some connections between what I have been reading and making art.  This is slightly off of the normal creative thinking topic that I normally write about, but it’s related and worth an examination.

I recently changed schools and classrooms and I share a very large space with two other teachers.  They have made a point of collecting old books that are heading for the recycle bin, particularly if they have an art slant to them.  The book I picked up is entitled Zen and Japanese Culture by Daisetz T. Suzuki published in 1973.  I have, in the past read several text about Zen, some I’ve retained, others I haven’t and this one I am hoping I retain for a while to come, this is in part why I am writing this article.  To date I have only finished the first four chapters, the nature of what Zen is and its relation to sword play.  If possible I will attempt summarize nearly three hundred pages of material into a short paragraph.  The sword is an instrument of life.  It administers justice but puts its bearer the in the position where if not executed properly will result in death.  The swordsman trains the techniques, learns them by heart, puts himself to the utmost physical challenge.  Why?  because the swordsman must get to the point where no mind is used to execute his maneuvers.  When the mind stops to rest on a thought during a fight it will hesitate, it will not flow it will think and that brief pause of thinking is enough gap for an opponent to strike one down.  Beyond just knowing the maneuvers a swordsman must learn to let go of his thoughts and allow his subconscious to make the right moves, to be aware of the body’s actions but not allow the conscious mind to control them.  To say that the swordsman needs to be fearless is not stating the situation strongly enough.  He must have no concept of death, he must be beyond life and death so as to not interrupt the subconscious mind at work.

Aside from physical training the mind needs to be trained to access the subconscious.  Practice in not thinking while employing simple daily tasks is important.  Meditation is also of great importance.  By sitting and quieting the conscious mind one reaches into the areas of the subconscious, it creates a stronger link to the waking life we live everyday.  Through this conduit one can live one’s life beyond life and death.

If we are to substitute the sword for the brush I believe we will see that the same correct actions will come about.  The arm and the hand will move in correct, precise order.  The need to make decisions will be unnecessary because the subconscious knows what to do.  But to reach this state the same physical and mental training needs to be put into action.  The artist must train, push through strain and mental hardship.  I hate to use the word hardship because it sounds cliché, however, I believe we are all aware of the suffering artist stereotype and in this situation there is a valid connection.  Exactly what manner of hardship is difficult to say.  My opinion is that the artist push their skills far beyond what they believe is capable.  She must work tirelessly on things that are difficult, challenging, incomprehensible.  Also she must lean to reach into that subconscious, to lose herself in the painting, or sculpting or whichever art  form is being executed.  I believe not only the correct actions will come about, but also new ideas, ideas that cannot be accessed in the conscious state.

David Lynch talks about this, he describes it as “The real big fish”.  The great ideas/big fish are in deep water and to get one fishing line into deep water one needs to still the shallow.  I really like this metaphor and whether you like his movies or not I think most will agree that his ideas, stories and imagery are among the finest examples of creativity in the last fifty years.  I wrote an article a while back about the graffiti artist and movement and I still believe that this connection between movement and art is there.  The graffiti artist must know his art because it is executed on a grand scale.  The movements must be correct and precise and the body must not hesitate lest the line or the fill has a hitch in it that disturbs the entire work.

I will leave you with a verbal painting, something I have been meaning to work out visually.  One rectangle on top of two squares and another rectangle below the squares.  In the top rectangle a scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon where the two heroines are discussing the relationship between swordplay and calligraphy.  In the square to the left a graffiti artist at work, the square to the right a photo of Chinese brushes and a calligraphy workbook and in the rectangle at the bottom the following quote: “Therefore do not get your mind stopped with the sword you raise; forget what you are doing, and strike the enemy.  Do not keep your mind on the person who stands before you.  They are all of emptiness, but beware of your mind being caught up with emptiness itself.” Suzuki 1973

Far Too Long

Far too long since I have written, I am getting back into now. I have just been so busy doing that there has not been time to think, at least not about things that don't relate to work. But last night I was reading another book about Zen and I can across this passage:

To model yourself after the way of the Buddhas is to model yourself after yourself. To model yourself after yourself is to forget yourself. To forget yourself is to be authenticated by all things. To be authenticated by all things is to effect the molting of body-mind, both yours and others'. The distinguishing marks of enlightenment dissolve and causes the dissolving distinguishing marks of enlightenment to emerge continuously

At first, when you seek the truth, you have distanced yourself from its domain. Finally, when truth is correctly transmitted to you, you are immediately the primordial person.

There is a lot going on in here ad what I think I like most is the finding in past experience illustrations of what is being said. I suppose not writing for a while has lead me to have experiences so that I can come here today and write about events that correspond with intellectual pursuits. I won't go on and on, but here is one.

I have been studying Wing Chun Chuan recently. One of the exercises that our coach has us go through is a push and pull duel with another student. The students take a stance similar to that of sprinter's stretch and slowly play in and out of one another, looking for places that the other is falling off balance. Then taking advantage of that off balance feeling. After several minutes of the exercise one start not to feel like there is a person, just flowing of energy and one becomes in tune with the push and pull. This may sound kind of flakey, but I cannot think of another way to describe it. It's a rocking, a flowing, not looking for opening but feeling an opening.

I have read Zen and Tao texts for many years now and while I have understood intellectually the points, physically experiencing the points is a whole different way. I have similar experience riding a motorcycle, or swimming and surfing. Tomorrow I will hit the slopes for the first time in two years. I'll let you know how it goes.