The first image I painted I think it gathers three of the ways depicted in the previous post, it seems easy, but actually beneath this simple appearance there is a lot more going on. Basically it’s made with a single unplanned calligraphy brush stroke, it is said to represent enlightenment or void, or just the "expression of a moment" that is always different for our impermanent nature.
Walking around I’ve seen it printed outside some houses in little signs with the family's name, is this a way of letting others know that they practice Zen Buddhism? Nowadays sometimes it's found in advertisement pieces such as a company logo (Lucent technology), or even in publicities; getting in the commercial world I wonder how much of its meaning has lost, how far away from its true escence it went?
Ensō (円相) is a japanese world meaning "circle" and one of the deepest symbols in Japanese Zen. Zen Buddhists believe that the character of the artist is fully exposed in how he paints ensō, and that only one who is mentally and spiritually whole can paint a true ensō. When man becomes empty of illusion, he appears to himself in the clearest light, it is this state what can be reflected in this single simple ink trace; or at least that's what every book I read says, but can you really tell in which state I was while painting this ensō? Maybe a zen monk would know just like they intuitively know if the student has the right answer to the given koan or not.
You can leave suggestions about how you feel about this ensō, if you sense anything, what do you think of it?
It is said that some artists will paint ensō daily, as a kind of spiritual diary due to the fact that It could be thought as an exteriorization of one's intimacy, a wordless discourse, a graphic demonstration of one's what... self? state? interior being? Does Dogen talk about images?, he does talks about language and how it is used for teaching purposes, he talks about wordless actions, gestures, maybe a painting could belong into this category.
Should the circle be complete? while I was writing the ensō, my shōdō sensei said that the circle shouldn't be close, that there should be a space between the beginning and the end, however I've seen different circles and some have an opening and others are totally completed; If I were to analyze this in a much more semiotic approach, considering some basic zen thoughts, I would have to say that the opening makes much more sense. Yes, life is suffering, is a vicious circle that never ends, we are born, pursue thousands of different things we'll never get and then we die, however if there is an opening... at least a couple of millimetres space between the point where it all start and where it all ends, then we could think about the enso not as something closer to the Ouroboros jurisdiction but as a possible definition for what is zen. So the begining and ending of this image doesn't symbolize neccesary life and death or an infinit continum but the moment when you engage the way or realize the truth, that moment is the stop, the void.
In my own personal opinion having painted quite a lot of this intimate circles, I realized that the most important thing about the whole brush stroke is that white little tinny space, that simple gesture one makes while reaching the beggining to stop before, and... white. Somehow, not being completed gives me the sensation of a profound pause, the feeling of being out, thinking only about the now, out of the conventional definition of time. To me this could be one graphic definition of what zen is.
Researching in the web about this matter, it is said that some artists paint ensō with an opening in the circle, while others complete the circle. For the former, the opening may symbolize various ideas, for example that the ensō is not separate, but is part of something greater, or that imperfection is an essential and inherent aspect of existence.
I would like to finish this post with a fragment of a text that I really liked about ensō, it's from a book called Zen Paintings and you can find it in the library in the reserve section of Prof. Swanson
"This form is also simplest representation of the experience of the absolut Void; it encompasses the universe with one endless line. As such, it also served the purpose of a Koan for the Zen initiate. This kind of simple circle would seem extremely easy to draw, but in fact is one of the most difficult of Zenga; it is not a product of chance, but expresses fully the enlightenment and profundity achieved by the artist. No deception is possible in painting an enso, for the character of the painter is fully exposed in its nakedness. The enso is the revelation of a world of the spirit without beginning and end, and can be said to transcend anything that qualifies as art in the ordinary meaning." - Zen paintings
Any ideas?,
Walking around I’ve seen it printed outside some houses in little signs with the family's name, is this a way of letting others know that they practice Zen Buddhism? Nowadays sometimes it's found in advertisement pieces such as a company logo (Lucent technology), or even in publicities; getting in the commercial world I wonder how much of its meaning has lost, how far away from its true escence it went?
Ensō (円相) is a japanese world meaning "circle" and one of the deepest symbols in Japanese Zen. Zen Buddhists believe that the character of the artist is fully exposed in how he paints ensō, and that only one who is mentally and spiritually whole can paint a true ensō. When man becomes empty of illusion, he appears to himself in the clearest light, it is this state what can be reflected in this single simple ink trace; or at least that's what every book I read says, but can you really tell in which state I was while painting this ensō? Maybe a zen monk would know just like they intuitively know if the student has the right answer to the given koan or not.
You can leave suggestions about how you feel about this ensō, if you sense anything, what do you think of it?
It is said that some artists will paint ensō daily, as a kind of spiritual diary due to the fact that It could be thought as an exteriorization of one's intimacy, a wordless discourse, a graphic demonstration of one's what... self? state? interior being? Does Dogen talk about images?, he does talks about language and how it is used for teaching purposes, he talks about wordless actions, gestures, maybe a painting could belong into this category.
Should the circle be complete? while I was writing the ensō, my shōdō sensei said that the circle shouldn't be close, that there should be a space between the beginning and the end, however I've seen different circles and some have an opening and others are totally completed; If I were to analyze this in a much more semiotic approach, considering some basic zen thoughts, I would have to say that the opening makes much more sense. Yes, life is suffering, is a vicious circle that never ends, we are born, pursue thousands of different things we'll never get and then we die, however if there is an opening... at least a couple of millimetres space between the point where it all start and where it all ends, then we could think about the enso not as something closer to the Ouroboros jurisdiction but as a possible definition for what is zen. So the begining and ending of this image doesn't symbolize neccesary life and death or an infinit continum but the moment when you engage the way or realize the truth, that moment is the stop, the void.
In my own personal opinion having painted quite a lot of this intimate circles, I realized that the most important thing about the whole brush stroke is that white little tinny space, that simple gesture one makes while reaching the beggining to stop before, and... white. Somehow, not being completed gives me the sensation of a profound pause, the feeling of being out, thinking only about the now, out of the conventional definition of time. To me this could be one graphic definition of what zen is.
Researching in the web about this matter, it is said that some artists paint ensō with an opening in the circle, while others complete the circle. For the former, the opening may symbolize various ideas, for example that the ensō is not separate, but is part of something greater, or that imperfection is an essential and inherent aspect of existence.
I would like to finish this post with a fragment of a text that I really liked about ensō, it's from a book called Zen Paintings and you can find it in the library in the reserve section of Prof. Swanson
"This form is also simplest representation of the experience of the absolut Void; it encompasses the universe with one endless line. As such, it also served the purpose of a Koan for the Zen initiate. This kind of simple circle would seem extremely easy to draw, but in fact is one of the most difficult of Zenga; it is not a product of chance, but expresses fully the enlightenment and profundity achieved by the artist. No deception is possible in painting an enso, for the character of the painter is fully exposed in its nakedness. The enso is the revelation of a world of the spirit without beginning and end, and can be said to transcend anything that qualifies as art in the ordinary meaning." - Zen paintings
Any ideas?,
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