Eastern Journeys

 I encountered the work of obscure eighteenth-century landscape artist Yuan Yao after meandering through many virtual museums and looking at hundreds of different artworks.  What struck me about this artist's work is that it seems to incorporate many elements of Buddhism, arriving at a final state of nirvana: tranquility, perspective, proportion, transcendence.  The specific work of his that I chose is a landscape of Kunming Lake from around 1740.  It is typical of his work in that Yao's landscapes come from areas along the coast of the Yellow Sea, scenes of classic Chinese landscape elements--water, trees, and islands--near where he was born in Yangzhou.  "Album of Figures, Landscape and Architecture: Leaf D, Kunming Lake", Phoenix Art Museum Not much is known about his life or even when he was born, but I was able to find a few things.  He was the nephew and student of Yuan Jang, who served at the imperial palace during the Yongzheng era so that it's likely that

If we were to stay at a Zen monastery, what would we expect to find there and how might our experience grow if we were to extend our stay there? The answer to this first lies in the definition of what a Zen monastery is.  In his book Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, author Patrick Bresnan defines a Zen monastery simply as "a community of monks living and working together under the guidance of a roshi ...in the shared belief that the communal way of living offers the within which to follow Buddha's path leading to Enlightenment. The roshi, an already enlightened man or woman, will oversee the life of the community and personally guide the development of each of the monks." (Bresnan, 502)  Whether the Zen monastery is located in a busy city or somewhere remote, it is "a place of great tranquility and beauty" where "one has the feeling of entering another realm" and "everything-grounds, buildings and other structures-all

    This blog entry compares and contrasts the approach of two sources covering cultural and religious development in China along the Silk Road during its early and middle stages, emphasizing the impact that foreign travelers had in bringing ways of life and faith that would otherwise have taken much longer to reach China.  A broad overview from author Patrick Bresnan in Chapter Sixteen of   Awakening: A History of Eastern Thought   covers several varieties of Buddhism that developed in China's Tarim Basin near the Silk Road . A less detailed approach covering the history of the Silk Road and its mix of cultures and religions in China is the subject of the video   The Silk Road: Where East Met West, which is much more greatly focused on the culture and its elements of trade instead of its religions.  For example, the video covers several influences the Muslims left behind that remain thriving in places like Xi'an.  ( Silk , 7:47-8:46)   Bresnan does not cover this at all in Cha

 When we look at Confucianism and consider its common ground with Daoism as well as its differences, we see history, core ideas and similar objectives that tie the two philosophies together. Both arose from the desire for order, peace and harmony after long periods of war and chaos. Both parted ways in how they approached the idea of whether people should treat each other as equals, and how that approach affects basic human interaction. To understand both philosophies better, we first need to look at a concept that preceded them: the Mandate of Heaven. As described by author Patrick Bresnan in Awakening: A History of Eastern Thought , "The Mandate of Heaven refers to the belief that the earthly king presides as something of  a steward to the gods. His rule is legitimate only so long as he fulfills the will of heaven, which is to say, to govern wisely and well, in the interest of all. If he allows selfish interest to replace concern for the common good, he will lose the Mandate of

Buddhism began in a way that was easily accessible, through Buddha's storytelling and teachings from his mouth to his followers' ears.   Buddha's followers needed only to listen to the stories  that they were being told, then apply the lessons of those stories to their everyday lives.  Of course Buddha was a master storyteller who inspired a great many followers.  Following Buddha's death in the early fifth century BCE, several Buddhist traditions flourished.  Of these traditions, only Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism, sharers of the basic concepts of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, survived with any strength and prevalence.  However, this was not something that developed easily or without consternation and disagreement, and it took from Buddha's death until 80 BCE for the schools to converge and reach some sort of consensus at the Great Council and then reach an accommodating eventual coexistence: "The old Hindu ways were making a strong

 In The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners (New World Library, 2001), author Jack Hawley takes us masterfully through the greatest of Hindu scriptures.  He ponders and interprets the deepest questions asked and answered about life and death and everything beyond and between in the 700-verse poem originally written in Sanskrit, The Bhagavad Gita , the heart and soul of the epic Mahabharata .  Through Hawley's lens it's crucial to read not just his interpretation of the text of Gita itself. We must also read Hawley's preface, introduction, epilogue and afterword to get a better idea of how the Gita  has guided Hawley through the most difficult questions we have about our existence in this sphere: What is our purpose here?  Is there an infinite source of knowledge and wisdom?  Is this source God and how do we come to know God and reach our purpose?  What is this painful cycle of birth and death and how do we grow beyond it and find transcendence?