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Book: An Overview
of The Buddhadharma
- Book: An Overview of The Buddhadharma
- Title: Seeing the Mountain as a Non-Mountain
- Written by: Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated by: Janny Chow
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Seeing the Mountain as a Non-Mountain
We know that, as soon as one enters the door of the Buddhadharma,
one's perception of the world will undergo a transformation.
In the past there was a Zen Master who explained it this way. Before,
his entrance into Buddhism, he saw a mountain as a mountain and
water as water. After entrance, he saw a mountain as a non-mountain
and water as non-water. After a while, he achieved Realization and
he again saw a mountain as a mountain and water as water. What do
these three stages mean? One has to contemplate and experience them.
Recently I have started to learn Chinese painting. My teacher is
Mrs. Au Moolan from San Francisco. Mrs. Au learned painting from
Chao Shao-an, a very good Ling-nan style painter who has had many
teachers himself. I have taken up lessons so I can paint when I
get old and have nothing else to do. [audience laughter] The two
activities I have decided on are music and painting. I can entertain
myself with a musical instrument and my own voice - which probably
will not generate any income. [audience laughter] Painting is better.
I can exhibit the paintings and publish albums of my paintings.
Mrs. Au came and stayed for a week to teach me.
We know that we see a mountain as a mountain and water as water
but, after I started painting, I found that a mountain was not a
mountain and that water was not water! [audience laughter] Water
could become a mountain in my painting and vice versa. [audience
laughter] You could also say that in my paintings a cow becomes
a horse and vice versa. [audience laughter] In the process of painting,
one's consciousness undergoes transformations. When
one enters the door of the Buddhadharma, one also sees with a different
perception. Therefore, I am not learning the "meticulous"
style of painting, which takes a long time and much study. I am
learning the "essence" style, which creates renderings
that do not look exactly like the objects portrayed but which capture
their essence. In "essence" painting, one is painting
with one's mind. If an exact reproduction is wanted,
one can learn to use a camera instead of learning to draw. Why would
one want to draw in an exact manner that does not express any spirit?
When one draws an object, one wants to express the unique quality
and the invisible spirit of that particular object. A really good
painting does this. What I am learning from Mrs. Au are her techniques
of brush strokes and mixing colors. In the future, I hope you will
come and lend me support. [audience laughter and applause] "Essence"
style paintings are very simple, with the essence of a painted object
sometimes expressed in one or a few strokes.
The practice of Buddhadharma is the same as the art of painting.
Before beginning, one sees a mountain as a mountain and water as
water. One knows that a mountain is stationary and water is fluid.
A painter who captures the fluidity of a mountain and the stillness
of water is one who is able to see into other dimensions. It is
the same with practicing Buddhism. After practicing Buddhism for
a period of time, one no longer sees a mountain as a mountain and
water as water. Why? This is because one becomes awakened to the
fundamental essence of all beings.
One day I came upon an album of paintings by the painter Yang Shan
Sheng. After looking carefully through it, I passed it to Mrs. Lu.
Mrs. Lu also looked through it and then remarked to me, "About
his paintings, I'd rather have a slice of toast."
What she meant was that she thought one could get more flavor out
of a piece of bread. This was because Mrs. Lu does not understand
paintings [audience laughter] We cannot blame her. Yang Shan Sheng
does not have to be offended by her as she really cannot understand.
[audience laughter] His paintings have the essence of "seeing
a mountain as a non-mountain and water as non-water," although
there is also in them the more conventional element of "a mountaing
as a mountain and water as water." What struck me, however,
was that the paintings of a skillful and experienced painter such
as he could resemble those drawn by me, a kindergartner in painting.
[audience laughter] Several of my exercise sheets had such terrible
paintings on them that I had to reapply ink to erase what I had
originally drawn. When I perused Yang Shan Sheng's album,
I found that there was no difference between those few scrawlings
of mine and some of his work! [audience laughter] I told myself
that I should not throw away those few precious sheets, as such
works were also found in Yang Shan Sheng's album. [audience
laughter] When I ran into Master Lian-teng, I commented to him,
"Yang Shan Sheng is a great painter. It is strange that
his album contains painting that look like a few big brush strokes
or just pouring ink onto papers and allowing them to dry."
Master Lian-teng said insightfully, "This is because
at the stage of Ultimate Realization, a mountain looks like a mountain
and water looks like water again." [audience laughter
and applause]
We have here Master Lian-jun of Indonesia who is also a painter
of ink and color. The subjects of her paintings are shrimps, crabs,
swallows, pines, cranes, flowers, and birds. At my house I have
some of her paintings. She paints very well and some of her paintings
have garnered her awards. She studies her subjects every time before
she draws them. For example, if she wants to draw a painting of
crabs, she will buy many crabs and observe them crawling around
before drawing them. One time her husband said to her, "Fortunately
you don't draw tigers. We would be in trouble if you
bought a tiger." [audience laughter]
Whether one enters the door of the Buddhadharma through "theory"
or "practice," there will ultimately be
the awakening to the realm of "as-is-ness."
After crossing the threshold, transformations starts to occur which
lead to the realization of one's "innate
freedom" and the entering into "as-is-ness."
In the realm of Emptiness, when one's ego expands to
embrace all, there will be a spontaneous manifestation of one's
Original Face. The Original Face will also manifest itself in such
a person's paintings. There is an important link between
practicing Buddhism and painting! Have you heard of "Zen
paintings"? When a Zen master paints, he or she enters
completely into the state of total purity wherein the egotistical
consciousness and mind are transcended. Such a non-strategic painting
is an excellent rendering reproduced from within, and it transcends
both time and culture.
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