ese aesthetics is not something that transcends daily life, it is in daily life. Artistic creativity and sensibility are not set apart from but penetrate the ordinary person’s routine. Yet interestingly, all Japanese art forms are inextricably linked and influenced by religion. Any discussion of Japanese aesthetics omitting the link with religion is an incomplete one. This paper seeks to examine the influence Zen Buddhism and Shinto have on two specific art forms – namely the tea ceremony and Japanese landscape garden design.

THE NOTION OF IMPERMANENCE

One of the most salient teachings of Zen Buddhism is the notion of impermanence. Life is transient because nothing lasts forever. This is reflected in the famous rock gardens in Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. The rock gardens have been there for centuries, without any change in design. The garden is permanent, yet the viewer is impermanent. This is a paradoxical hint at the impermanence of human beings. Ironically, even the rocks are not permanent, as they are covered with moss or get weathered away after thousands of years. Also, the trees in the garden change colour during the four seasons. In spring, the freshness of green beckons. Summer heralds the multiplicity of even greener leaves. This is in stark contrast in autumn when most leaves turn to red. In winter, snow falls and covers the entire place.

Similarly, the Japanese prize a tea bowl that has been cracked and mended more highly than a brand new one. Perhaps, it attempts to call attention to the cracks, suggesting the long chain of people who have held it in their hands. This certainly is more human than a recently made bowl. Yet this work of art is made of nothing more extraordinary than humble clay.

CONCENTRATION IN HERE AND NOW

Secondly, Zen teaches one the art of concentration in here and now. The maintenance of focus in one’s life is important, the present moment being especially so. There need not be any illusion about the past not the future as this is an unnecessary worriment. The practicality of Zen Buddhism was especially useful to the samurais as it helped them to be better prepared in their fighting. One cannot fight well unless he focuses his concentration deeply on every moment. The practice of meditation gave the warrior greater control of his weapon and more importantly, emphasises the unimportance of death. And the warrior who is ready to die is a formidable opponent. The Japanese landscape gardens, with its simple design is the most suitable place for the samurais to meditate, focusing on here and now.

In the tea ceremony, once one steps into the tea room, every action taken is an art of concentration. In the sacred space, the visitor sits motionlessly, watching in silence the course of the smoke from the incense. He is certain to hear the cries of a bird flying by or the dripping of the water or the rustle of the wing. Because these sounds are so fleeting, so transitory, the presence of silence is felt all the more profoundly. A moment has communion with eternity when sound meets silence to create music. In the actual preparation of tea, the host must pay special attention to four things – the fire, the water, the spoon and the bamboo whisk. The spoon to measure the powdered tea and the whisk to stir it, requiring delicacy and care in order to ensure a perfect balance. By engaging in such activities, the Japanese improve themselves, emphasising the overlapping of both secular and religious practices.

TRUTH VIA NATURE

Thirdly, as Zen is a practical religion, the focus is not on the abstract or metaphysical. One meditates and expresses the truth via nature and natural objects, for example via the beauty of rocks, trees and mountains. The Japanese extol harmony with nature, yet they bring it down to their own level by miniaturising it in boxed gardens, bonsai and dry landscape gardens. The essence of Japanese naturalism seems to lie in an appreciation of the interaction and affinity between humans and nature. For instance, the fifteen stones of the Ryoanji Temple, irregular in shape and position allows us to participate in the creation of the garden and may move us even more. In sum, nature stirs our imagination.

SIMPLICITY

Fourthly, one is able to detect the idea of simplicity in the art forms. In Zen, meditation is a way of self-understanding. Every man has a Buddha-nature and to realise it, he need only look within himself. This subdued taste is reflected in the tea ceremony, where qualities of wabi and sabi are highly valued. The taste for the rustic can be explained by the preference for a rusty-looking kettle as opposed to a gleaming new one. Tea utensils are not made of exquisite porcelain but of coarse pottery, often a dull brown or black and imperfectly formed. One will also be surprised at the simplicity found in the tea room itself. The tea room is spartan, consisting of only the tatami mats, the tea utensils and the incense. In some tea rooms, a vase with a solitary stalk of flower and a black-ink scroll painting can also be round. But these are optional. When one participates in the tea ceremony proper, one must also be dressed in a simple, subdued designed kimono to blend in with the simple ambience.

Similarly, the notion of simplicity is witnessed in the Japanese landscape garden. In a Japanese dry landscape garden, one only sees a few rocks and white gravel substituting for water. It is a simple design. Yet in order to produce this supposed simplicity, one needs to employ complex ideas and there is enormous human manipulation involved behind it. Because the rocks are the backbone of the entire garden, every choice one makes of the arrangements and positions is vital. This also includes the colour of the wall behind the landscape. Again, owing to the fact that the landscape is so white, what kind of clay should one use?

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELFLESSNESS

Lastly, Zen teaches one to overcome one’s individual desires. Buddhahood cannot be sought after or obtained for oneself; but only for its own sake. The preoccupation with zazen, “sitting in mediation” emphasises the importance of selflessness, without any thought of achieving an end apart from the means. The selflessness of the elements in the tea garden are a testimony to this. The stepping stones, the stone basin and the stone lantern each silently teaches its lesson in selflessness. The flag-stones are willing to remain below to be stepped on. The water basin, where every visitor washes himself before entering the tea hut may awaken the thought that the cleansing of the hands is made possible only by the willingness of the water to take away the dirt, the second example of selflessness. Interestingly, the use of the dipper to purify oneself before the tea ceremony bears an uncanny resemblance between the indigenous Shinto tradition (where ritual purification with the help of the water contained in the dipper before one enters the Shinto shrines gives purity to body and soul) and the tea ceremony. Lastly, there is a stone lantern which sheds a pale light. A little thought may lead to the realisation of the wick, which is willing to be consumed in flame in order to illuminate, however faintly, a dark corner of the tea garden.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, by participating in both the tea ceremony and the Japanese landscape garden design, one has unknowingly been put on an eye-opening journey into the world of Japanese aesthetics, a journey which also includes the embedded influence of religion.

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