Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) John Cage And ZEN

1. Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) John Cage And ZEN

2. Cage and Daisetz Suzuki, Japan, 1962

3. Three Facts Suffering Dukkha 苦 Ku Impermanence Anicca 無常 Mujo No-Self Anatta 無我 Muga

4. Four Noble Truths There is suffering Dukkha Suffering has a cause Tanha There is an end of suffering Nirodha There is a way to realize the end of suffering Magga

5. I =? Body? (at 12? 21? 40? 86?) Feelings? (While falling in love? While breaking up?) Mind? (When you thought x? When you thought y?) All these are inconstant and change. They are impermanent (anicca). I = a delusion to which we cling, the source of suffering.

6. Dependent Origination as Addiction/ Selfishness IGNORANCE “The First one’s free!” This makes me sick. I bottom out. Consciousness “I could try this” Becoming: I am this… Contact “The moment of truth” Grasping: I need it. Feeling I like this… (candybar, cigarette, Beer, joint, pizza, car, girl, life. Craving: I want this “Once is NOT enough”

7. No SELFishness ------ No Craving -------- No Dukkha -------- Nibbana No-Self Buddha Nature Bodhicitta 無我 菩提心 Wuwo putixin Muga bodaishin

8. SUNYATA ----- EMPTINESS 空

9. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE SHINGYO When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was engaged in the practice of the deep Prajnaparamita, he perceived that there are the five Skandhas;[2] and these he saw in their self-nature to be empty.[3] "O Sariputra, form is here emptiness,[4] emptiness is form; form is no other than emptiness, emptiness is no other than form; that which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness is form. The same can be said of sensation, thought, confection, and consciousness. "O Sariputra, all things here are characterized with emptiness: they are not born, they are not annihilated; they are not tainted, they are not immaculate; they do not increase, they do not decrease. Therefore, O Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no thought, no confection, no consciousness; no eye,[5] ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no form,[6] sound, colour, taste, touch, objects; no Dhatu of vision,[7] till we come to[8] no Dhatu of consciousness; there is no knowledge, no ignorance," till we come to there is no old age and death, no extinction of old age and death; there is no suffering,[10] no accumulation, no annihilation, no path; there is no knowledge, no attainment, [and] no realization, because there is no attainment. In the mind of the Bodhisattva who dwells depending on the Prajnaparamita there are no obstacles; and, going beyond the perverted views, he reaches final Nirvana. All the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, depending on the Prajnaparamita, attain to the highest perfect enlightenment. "Therefore, one ought to know that the Prajnaparamita is the great Mantram, the Mantram of great wisdom, the highest Mantram, the peerless Mantram, which is capable of allaying all pain; it is truth because it is not falsehood: this is the Mantram proclaimed in the Praynaparamita. It runs: 'Gate, gate, Paragate, parasamgate, bodhi, svaha!' (O Bodhi, gone, gone, gone to the other shore, landed at the other shore , Svaha!)"

10. 坐禪 Zazen Zuochan (Chinese)

11. Rinzai Rinzai shu 臨濟宗 Founder Chinese monk Linji (9th century) ‘sudden enlightenment’

12. Soto Soto shu 曹洞宗 Founder Japanese monk Dogen (1200) ‘just sitting’ Shikantanza 只管打座 See his most important work, the Shobogenzo Zuimonki http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/common_html/zuimonki/index.html

13. 公案 Koan Gong-an (Chinese) A problem/riddle that cannot be solved/understood by rational means. What is the sound of one hand clapping?

14. Every Day Is a Good Day Unmon said: "I do not ask you about fifteen days ago. But what about fifteen days hence? Come, say a word about this!" Since none of the monks answered, he answered for them: "Every day is a good day." Note the beginning of Cage’s Composition as Process, Lecture III: Nichi nichi kore ko nichi: Every day is a beautiful day.

15. A Philosopher Asks Buddha A philosopher asked Buddha: "Without words, without silence, will you tell me the truth?" The Buddha sat quietly. The philosopher then bowed and thanked the Buddha, saying, "With your loving kindness I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path." After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked Buddha what the philosopher had attained. The Buddha commented, "A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip."

16. Manjusri Enters the Gate One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to him, "Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?" Manjusri replied, "I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?"

17. The western distinction between fine and applied arts does not apply In Japan, where everyday forms of practice can be means to spiritual realization. Thus we have cha-do, the way of tea; ka-do; the way of poetry, etc. Zen enlightenment stories often locate the moment of enlightenment in the Practice of some mundane act – cleaning the toilet, sweeping, weeding, dusting, etc. This coincidence of ‘high’ and ‘low’ was very appealing to Cage and his notion of ‘sound come into its own.’

18. Mono no aware – the pity of things Wabi-sabi Wabi – austerity, refined poverty Sabi – loneliness Yugen – elegant mystery Kirei -- cutting

19. Spontaneity, Chance, Asymmetry

20. Yuriko Saito Japanese Aesthetics of Imperfection and Insufficiency Available through JSTOR at http://www.jstor.org/view/00218529/ap020219/02a00040/0

21. Kirei – Cutting Garden at Ryoanji Ikebana – flower arrangement

22. Wabi-sabi – the tea hut

24. Yugen? Chez Mondrian, by Andre Kertesz

25. Shakuhachi flute http://www.komuso.com/