Kindness and Softness: The Highest Level of All Arts
The way I see it, all arts have three levels of learning. These are: 1. technical learning, 2. technical mastery together with basic training of the mind, and 3. mastery of both the art and the mind.
In the history of East-Asian arts and (zen) artists there are instances of stage 3 that transcends both technique and the self-based mind, and there are lineages that have particularly focused on getting to stage 3 and developed views and ways to get there. This is the realm of zen art or true spiritual art that developed into its own thing in Japan.
It has been made clear by many great masters of martial and fine arts, such as Miyamoto Musashi (17th century) and Yamaoka Tesshu (19th century) that after the initial stages of learning all arts boil down to the mind of the practitioner and that mastery of the art cannot be attained through technique alone. You could say that the art of the mind is the foundational art of all arts which is true because when an artist stops practicing or performing one's art, be it taichi, tea ceremony, running or basketball, one is left with one's body and mind. The art of zen, the art of being is definitely the heart and soul of all arts, even if most artists and athletes are unaware of it.
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| Wang Xizhi |
But most artists, including practitioners of traditional arts in East-Asian countries do not know this and have the view that mastery has to do with perfecting particular techniques and forms of one's art. That the whole dimension of mind and its effect on one's artistic performance is so poorly known is quite weird for the fact that we all have minds that affect everything in our lives, including the arts. Interestingly, the past two decades secular mindfulness practices have become popular in the field of professional athletic training but with its practices of attentiveness and relaxation, secular mindfulness is still far from what awakening/s (zen) makes possible and lacks the character development that comes with recognition of oneself as a perfectly wakeful being, or buddha.
The lineage I belong to through Terayama Roshi, originated from the calligrapher saint Wang Xizhi who lived in 4th century China but roshi was a representative of other arts and lineages too, namely rinzai zen-lineage and jikishinkage ryu kenjutsu-lineage of Omori Sogen Roshi. Throughout his life he studied many disciplines of Japan, China and Tibet, and many teachers of various arts came to study with him. Terayama Roshi was a very highly regarded specialist of zen arts in all of Japan. I remember studying calligraphy with Imao Toshio Shihan (8. dan) in a small village in Nagano prefecture who was astounded to learn that I was a student of Terayama Roshi, just to give you an example how famous he was.
Terayama Roshi, despite of him being a high level master and a teacher of masters of their own arts, was a very kind, humble and simple man. I knew him for the last 3 years of his life (when he was 66-69 years old) so I didn't know him when he was younger but I've been told by other students of Omori Roshi that despite of him being somewhat serious and fiery like martial artists usually are when they're less than 40 years of age, he was also very kind and considerate towards others. I have never heard a word of him being rude. He started practicing zen – zen buddhist meditation - when he was a teenager and did so for many decades. Practicing being present tends to mold a person's character but it also refines one's ethics and manners.
I remember once training at Budokan in Tokyo where he demonstrated a particular section of a kenjutsu kata, sword form, to me. I have seen dozens of other aged high ranking martial artists do similar demonstrations to really feel their self-importance in the air. I've seen people's, some of who are very well known teachers, egos getting triggered in similar situations. I never felt that from him which I am sure is because of his training in the art of awakening. He was soft and kind, and also a very realistic person.
Getting triggered is based on insecurity, uncertainty and fear that most often comes from trauma but this whole field, the way how one's mind affects one's level and mastery in the arts, is almost never discussed or if it is, it is superficial and incomplete.
To become a master in any art, one needs to master one's mind or at least have significant degree of clarity in terms of nonduality. One may be physically or artistically talented to be able to run faster, jump higher, punch harder or paint better than others but if the small self is in the mix, from the perspective of zen arts, this is still low quality art.
-Amrita Baba, 11 Jan 23
