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RichardH
09-27-2017, 03:40 PM
I would like to begin a series of Art Forum investigations into Buddhist Mythology and Symbolism. There is a beautiful and rich history to look into, and even though most people (especially in “the west” ) no longer take these myths literally, it would be a shame to overlook them as “mere’ myths, because they offer valuable insights into ourselves, and into the cultural origins of our tradition.

Since we are now in Ango, and preparing for Jukai, it would be a good idea to keep this light, so I am only asking for a simple response on this thread... a few words, a picture, whatever suits you, would be great.


I’ll start with the Bhavacakra, or Wheel of Samsara. The Bhavacakra depicts the six symbolic abodes of life. It is a big topic with a lot of ground to cover, so lets start with a brief overview and then look at one of these abodes each month. We can slowly work our way around the rest of the wheel. The first abode is “Heaven”

A traditional view of “Heaven” and a Bhavacakra overview.

Accoding to Buddhist tradition there are Heavens... called the Tusita heavens, or Devaloka, realm of the Devas. These Heavens are relatively happy states-of-being, enjoyed by the gods. They are different from Heaven as concieved in non-Buddhist traditions in one very important way, they are impermanent. Heaven is one of the worlds we pass through as we circle the wheel of life. It is also good to keep in mind that in the Buddhist view a state-of-consciousness and a “world” are one and the same phenomena. The terms are interchangable here.

There are also unhappy and even hellish worlds on this wheel. As in all cultures artists have taken relish in depicting those. I do not think this is due to sadism, but because, as Alan Watts noted with humor...Heaven tends to be visually boring and Hell is visually interesting. A riotous demon can be more fun to paint than peaceful Deva. Like heaven these hellish states are also impermanent. Each world/state lasts as long as karmic conditions support it, but all states are impermanent. This is where the term Samsara comes from. Samsara is a wandering of perpetual becoming, perpetual me-ing, perpetual world-ing. We wander in circles as we “chase our tail” seeking permanent fullfillment in impermanent conditions.

In popular culture “Nirvana” tends to be equated with heaven as a blissful transcendent state, but nirvana does is not mean the same thing as heaven. In the traditional Buddhist understanding “Nirvana” means to extinguish, as in to extinguish a fire. Fuel for the fire of consciousness dries up when all the states of Samsara, including the most heavenly, are deeply understood to be impermanent, empty of inherent existence, and unsatisfatory. When the practitioner is no longer chasing his/her tail, he/she is no longer bound by the wheel of becoming. This is the view of Nirvana still held by many Buddhists today.

In our practice, the way of Zazen, which is a later evolution of the Buddhist way, we do not reject samsara, but seek to realize “nirvana”, unconditioned peace, amidst and within the fire of consciousness, amidst and within All states-of-being, both happy and unhappy. This evolution of view and doctrine is big topic that I hope we can look at down the road.


Descriptions of Heaven.

Just as in most other religious traditions, in Buddhism there are both literal and symbolic understandings of “heaven”. I think it would be wrong to assume that the symbolic understanding is modern, and the literal one is “old world”. Both these view have always existed, in the same way that Christianity has always had its “exoteric” and “esoteric” streams. The “exoteric”, or literal view, is that there are “places” up in the sky, or beneath the crust of the earth, populated by Devas and Demons. Most students today do not have that world-view, but I do not think it is helpful to jettison the poetic visual language of the past. It is better to appreciate it as a cultural treasure, and as potent symbolism.


Here follows some descriptions of “esoteric” and Non-literal heavens in Buddhism....

Heaven realms always involve some form of absorption that transcend time and space. This is true in both the mythical accounts of gods, and of practitioners today. This may sound way out, but please bear with me because I will describe something everyone has more or less experienced.

First let’s look at the traditional monastic experience of heaven. These are the so called Jhanas. Today much is made of them, and some people treat the subject as a matter of achievement.
In the monastic setting where much time is devoted to meditation, the activity of the mind can become very quiet, and the practitioner can enter into states of absorption....of deepening stillness and silence, where the more coarse sense-of-being falls away. These experiences can be very subtle, very expansive, blissful, and “timeless”. In some non-Buddhist traditions they are described in terms of divine essence, Godhead, and so forth. The important thing to know from a Buddhist perspective is that these absorption experiences are also Samsara. They are impermanent, empty of inherent existence, and ultimately unsatisfactory. I remember a conversation I had once with the abbot of a monastery, where he described a novice monk who was not allowed to meditate because he could easily slip into absorption. Every time he sat he entered into absorption, and he had become addicted, literally addicted to heaven. The solution? ...when other monastics were in the mditation hall, he was assigned physical work.


Then there are the heaven experiences we can all relate to, and enjoy. This past weekend my wife and I had a little getaway to mark an anniversary. At one point we were walking ankle deep along the shore of a busy beach. Along the way we came to a sand bar with a little lagoon, and all along that sand bar were children with buckets digging. We stopped and watched for a long time. The sun was bright and the water around them was sparkling. The soundscape was a vast sea of joyful voices, birds, waves, and the distant thrum of a boats. One child was clearly immersed in this floating world, yet also clearly absorbed in creative play. We can all remember being a child joyfully lost in play on a summer day that seemed to last forever. That is a mark of this kind of “heaven” experience, and a feature of creative play. To be child-like, forgetful of time, and engaged in creativity (or any wholesome activity) is the real Heaven experience. We can all know and enjoy it.

Those are some thoughts on Heaven. Next month we will look at the next abode on the Bhavacakra, the Asura realm.

Would you like to share your thoughts on Heaven?

.........a few words, a sketch, a photo, anything at all... please feel free.


Gassho
Daizan
sat today/LAH

Just a note...I’m out and about right now, but will post a traditional image of the Wheel of Life when I get home. :)

Khalil Bodhi
09-27-2017, 04:23 PM
4620

I actually end most of my morning sits with chanting with an aspiration to be reborn in my next life in the Tusita realm to learn from Ariya Mettaya (Maitreya) and eventually ordain under him when he takes his final birth as the next Buddha. Sure, it may seem strange but I find it a useful part of my practice and view (samma ditthi). In fact, the Lord Buddha recommended contemplating the Devata or heavenly beings as a way of brightening the mind. Here's a modern take on this meditation by Ajahn Achalo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb076_dsL8c

Metta and deep bows,

Mike
st

Eishuu
09-27-2017, 04:27 PM
When I think of visual experiences that seem heavenly, I think of that moment in summer in the garden when suddenly there is so much light around that even the shadows reflect the blue of the sky, and everything feels like it's transparent and less solid than normal. Or, that moment at dusk on a beach when for some reason I've never understood the sea suddenly turns a luminous light blue as though made of light and you are not sure what is water and what is sky. Both experiences make me feel elated.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

Sekishi
09-27-2017, 04:50 PM
I’ll start with the Bhavacakra, or Wheel of Samsara. The Bhavacakra depicts the six symbolic abodes of life. It is a big topic with a lot of ground to cover, so lets start with a brief overview and then look at one of these abodes each month. We can slowly work our way around the rest of the wheel. The first abode is “Heaven”


In a wonderful bit of synchronicity, Domyo Burk just finished a three part series on the six-realms and the Bhavacakra on her Zen Studies Podcast:

https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms1/
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms2/
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms3/

The first part covers the heavenly realms, but the whole series may be inspiring for both creative and practice endeavours. She talks about the imagery and mythological elements in detail.

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

Mp
09-27-2017, 04:53 PM
In a wonderful bit of synchronicity, Domyo Burk just finished a three part series on the six-realms and the Bhavacakra on her Zen Studies Podcast:

https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms1/
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms2/
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms3/

The first part covers the heavenly realms, but the whole series may be inspiring for both creative and practice endeavours. She talks about the imagery and mythological elements in detail.

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

I just finished listening to these, was a very nice talk. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

Khalil Bodhi
09-27-2017, 05:02 PM
In a wonderful bit of synchronicity, Domyo Burk just finished a three part series on the six-realms and the Bhavacakra on her Zen Studies Podcast:

https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms1/
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms2/
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms3/

The first part covers the heavenly realms, but the whole series may be inspiring for both creative and practice endeavours. She talks about the imagery and mythological elements in detail.

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat


Awesome! Thank you

Metta gassho1,

Mike
st

Meishin
09-27-2017, 05:02 PM
4619

Gassho
Meishin
Sat Today LAH

Meishin
09-27-2017, 05:03 PM
Thank you, Daizan

Gassho
Meishin
Sat Today LAH

Sekishi
09-27-2017, 05:17 PM
4618
Gassho
Meishin


Is that a Paraguayan harp? It looks like it to me because of the pegs on the soundboard (allowing for some finger techniques that are almost guitar-like and absent from European harps).

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

Meishin
09-27-2017, 05:25 PM
Is that a Paraguayan harp? It looks like it to me because of the pegs on the soundboard (allowing for some finger techniques that are almost guitar-like and absent from European harps).

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

Ha! I have no idea, but I'll certainly Google it, Sekishi.

Gassho
Meishin
Sat today LAH

Post-Google. Looks like you're right! Good eye.

Sekishi
09-27-2017, 07:07 PM
Post-Google. Looks like you're right! Good eye.

Not really, my wife plays and loves the bright sound of the Paraguayan harps. There has been one in our house for almost 20 years now. [happy]

Paraguayan harpist for anyone who is interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR7UcQ8R7M0

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

RichardH
09-27-2017, 10:23 PM
Great posts!, thank you.

Here is an image that shows the traditional Tibetan representation of the Bhavacakra on the left, and my own digital painting of the same subject on the right. There is a lot of very interesting iconography in the traditional image that I hope we can touch upon in this series..

https://i.imgur.com/8wxyzQm.jpg

And.... thank you for the talk Sekishi. I'll be listening to it tonight while painting.... sweet.

Gassho
Daizan

sat today/ LAH

Jakuden
09-27-2017, 11:31 PM
Oh my gosh that's amazing Daizan, you are so talented! I am partway through those podcasts so I found this assignment timely as well! Funny how the heaven realm seems to engender childhood images for so many of us. For me, it was the distant memory of having all immediate needs met, feeling safe, secure, and loved. I will think about how to elaborate on that in some fashion.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatTodayLAH

Joyo
09-28-2017, 01:31 AM
Being out in nature away from the hustle and bustle of modern society is my idea of heaven. It always gives me the larger than life feeling, whether watching a bug crawl or observing a squirrel up in a tree. It makes me feel very much in touch with Indra's net, in a much more personal way.

I guess from an artistic point of view, that is why I like to draw and paint animals and nature.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today/lah

Seishin
09-28-2017, 03:37 PM
The peace and tranquility of the high Alpes.

Thank you Daizan, this is all new to me, (the Buddhist perspective and mythology of course) and a welcome education.

STMIZ / lah

RichardH
09-29-2017, 12:32 AM
The peace and tranquility of the high Alpes.

Thank you Daizan, this is all new to me, (the Buddhist perspective and mythology of course) and a welcome education.

STMIZ / lah

Thank you Seishin-Do. I am very happy to be an creative inspiration, but would ask you to look to other sources for an education. There are very good writings on the Bhavacakra, in all the traditions, and by many wonderful teachers. Interpretations vary from the very mystical to the psychological. The mythology of the wheel of Samsara goes well with the teachings on dependent origination.. I always found these two parts of the Buddha Basics very helpful.

Gassho
Daizan

sat today/LAH

Jundo
09-29-2017, 12:54 AM
Great posts!, thank you.

Here is an image that shows the traditional Tibetan representation of the Bhavacakra on the left, and my own digital painting of the same subject on the right. There is a lot of very interesting iconography in the traditional image that I hope we can touch upon in this series..

https://i.imgur.com/8wxyzQm.jpg



Hi,

Just to make it clear that this kind of depiction of the Bhavacakra (Wheel of Life) at the above link is very common in Tibetan and other flavors of esoteric Buddhism, but I have never seen it in a Japanese Zen setting. That does not mean that it cannot be found in Japan (and I bet you might find this some places in China and Korea, where there was esoteric Buddhist influence and mixing with Chan from time to time), as for example, many Soto Zen temples in Japan used to be Shingon Buddhist esoteric temples that were converted over, and some still retain esoteric iconography. Also, over the centuries, even in Japan, many Soto Zen priests mixed and matched and dabbled in esoteric teachings.

As well, the "Wheel of Life" and the "Six Worlds" and doctrines such as the "12 Links of Dependent Origination" and the like are found in Zen that it depicts was standard teaching in all Mahayana schools, including Zen, although in various specific interpretations.

However, this particular depiction with the fierce being holding the wheel (to symbolize the fierce power of the whole process, in my understanding), and much of the other symbolism, is purely Tibetan in style, in my understanding, and would not be considered a standard depiction in Soto Zen Buddhist art. As far as I can find, this particular of the Bhavacakra is Tibetan, and not found in Japan even within the traditional art of the Japanese Shingon esoteric school. I note that just as a point of art history. It is beautiful and powerful nonetheless, as Daizan is explaining in this wonderful lesson.

Daizan wrote ...


Heaven is one of the worlds we pass through as we circle the wheel of life. It is also good to keep in mind that in the Buddhist view a state-of-consciousness and a “world” are one and the same phenomena. The terms are interchangable here.

...

Just as in most other religious traditions, in Buddhism there are both literal and symbolic understandings of “heaven”. I think it would be wrong to assume that the symbolic understanding is modern, and the literal one is “old world”. Both these view have always existed, in the same way that Christianity has always had its “exoteric” and “esoteric” streams. The “exoteric”, or literal view, is that there are “places” up in the sky, or beneath the crust of the earth, populated by Devas and Demons. Most students today do not have that world-view, but I do not think it is helpful to jettison the poetic visual language of the past. It is better to appreciate it as a cultural treasure, and as potent symbolism.

I wish to emphasize that many folks in Asia, and many folks in the West in some flavors of Buddhism, do continue to look at these realms as actual places inhabit by fantastic beings, not merely as symbols of human nature or representations of inner states of mind.

At Treeleaf, I wish to emphasize that I am very much in the "symbol of human condition and inner state of mind" camp. I am a great skeptic of overly literal interpretations who does not believe in these places, nor in the fantastic beings, as more than that.

However, I also wish to emphasize that the "human condition and states of mind" that they represent are as real as real can be in our hearts and lives, are they not? As I often say, I do not know about "hells" in the next world, but I have seen countless people create "hells" for themselves in their hearts, and for the people around them through their words and acts, in this life and world through their excess desires, anger and division. In that way, these "hells" (and the other realms) are real and powerful things.



First let’s look at the traditional monastic experience of heaven. These are the so called Jhanas. Today much is made of them, and some people treat the subject as a matter of achievement.
In the monastic setting where much time is devoted to meditation, the activity of the mind can become very quiet, and the practitioner can enter into states of absorption....of deepening stillness and silence, where the more coarse sense-of-being falls away. These experiences can be very subtle, very expansive, blissful, and “timeless”. In some non-Buddhist traditions they are described in terms of divine essence, Godhead, and so forth. The important thing to know from a Buddhist perspective is that these absorption experiences are also Samsara. They are impermanent, empty of inherent existence, and ultimately unsatisfactory.


I dig Daizan's description so much. I just want to underline, of course, that in Shikantaza Just Sitting as we Practice in Soto Zen, we do not seek to experience the Jhanas. We do not seek to experience special or unusual states of mind. On the other hand, sometimes they happen, sometimes other experiences happen. We neither run towards them, nor run away. What happens happens, and we are thoroughly allowing and whole with what happens ... including Jhana states should they happen. Dogen wrote a bit on this, but it is a topic for another time.

Now, back to your easels. gassho1

Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH