In the West, we learn mostly through explanations and specific instructions. In Zen and its arts, space is created for the process of discovery to take place. They are primarily taught through “body teaching.” The teacher becomes a tangible manifestation of the teachings.The students bring awareness to the moment and try to embody the example

The art of the inner work, which unlike the outer does not forsake the artist, which he does not “do” and can only“be,” springs from the depths of which the day knows nothing. EUGEN HERRIGEL, ZEN IN THE ART OF ARCHERY

Single-pointed concentration develops our intuition. We become more directly aware of the world. We notice in ways that are not clearly understood, but are very accurate. When the totality of our mind is focused on a single point, its power becomes staggering. Building concentration is just like any other kind of discipline. If we want to build

Its only purpose was to point to the nature of reality. It suggested a new way of seeing, and a new way of being that cut to the core of what it meant to be human and fully alive. Zen art, as sacred art, touched artists and audiences deeply, expressed the ineffable, and helped to transform the way we see ourselves in the world.

The creative process, like a spiritual journey, is intuitive, nonlinear, and experiential. It points us toward our essential nature, which is a reflection of the boundless creativity of the universe.

All creatures experience the universe through the senses. And at every moment, a different universe is being created by each being. A spider, for example, feels the universe through its legs, which touch the key strands of its web. It knows when it’s raining, or when food is available. It doesn’t think to itself, “That’s not a fly on the web.

In Zen practice, we touch the still point through single-pointedness of mind, which we gradually build by working on our concentration. First, we count the breath: inhale, one; exhale, two, and so on. When we reach ten, we start back at one. When we notice the mind wandering, we see the thought, acknowledge it, let it go, and start back at one.

what is the self that is expressed in self-expression? Zen’s answer would be that when the self disappears, the brush paints by itself, the dance dances itself, the poem writes itself. There is no longer a gap between artist, subject, audience, and life.This is not an accident or a chance occurrence. It is rather the result of personal training,

In terms of spiritual practice, seeing with the whole body and mind is to “reach the summit of the mystic peak.” This may seem like a profound achievement, but in Zen, this is not the endpoint.