bLOGOS/HA HA: Wakey-wakey!

David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.

21 September 2020

Wakey-wakey!

Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. In Japan, he is known as Daruma. His name means "dharma of awakening (bodhi)" in Sanskrit.[1]

Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend and unreliable details.[2][note 1]

The biographical tradition is littered with apocryphal tales about Bodhidharma's life and circumstances. In one version of the story, he is said to have fallen asleep seven years into his nine years of wall-gazing. Becoming angry with himself, he cut off his eyelids to prevent it from happening again.[36] According to the legend, as his eyelids hit the floor the first tea plants sprang up, and thereafter tea would provide a stimulant to help keep students of Chan awake during zazen.[37]

Wikipedia

Daruma, Hakuin (1686-1769) collection FIAPCE

見性成佛

look within to become a buddha

Hakuin brushed a variety of different messages on his pictures of Bodhidharma, perhaps the most common being four Chinese characters 見性成佛 that convey a clear and essential teaching of Zen: "Look inside yourself to become a buddha."

- Daruma by Hakuin, The Met.

"The four characters above are from a poem, attributed to Bodhidharma himself, that gets at the central teaching of Zen, that all individuals already possess a buddha-nature and that through focusing inward through meditation, one may realise this and gain enlightenment."

- Daruma by Hakuin, MIA