⇒ To reach the gallery hall of Shōgondō, enter the gate, pass through the garden, and go up the stairs. As you go through the tunnel-like entrance, you’ll notice an image of a circle off in the distance. This is called “ensō” and symbolizes the universe and absolute enlightenment. The path of Zen Buddhism is sometimes referred to as a journey from “square” to “triangle” to “circle.” Everyone starts off as a rigid square, but practicing Zen will smooth off some edges to become a triangle, and in the end, you can become as smooth and fluid as a circle. The ensō image you see here was drawn by the Zen master named Hakuin.
Hakuin was a Buddhist high priest during the Edo period. A disciple of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, he was renowned for his raw and outstanding virtue, unlike anything anyone had ever known before.
The gallery hall of Shōgondō holds over 200 pieces of Hakuin’s paintings which change on a seasonal basis. If you’re lucky, you’ll see the Daruma Daishi, one of the most well-known paintings by Hakuin. It’s famous for being the inspiration for the traditional Japanese doll “daruma.” It’s often said that Hakuin drew the daruma image in order to spread and popularize Buddhism to the general public, who were already fond of the daruma even back then.
There’s a story about Hakuin and the evolution of his paintings. At first, he believed that in order to draw crowds of people and spread the teachings of Buddhism, he needed to practice and improve his penmanship. But when looking around him, he noticed that other people with even less artistic skills were able to draw larger crowds than he was. He couldn’t understand-- why? That’s when he realized that it wasn’t about the precision of the penmanship, but the meaning behind it that was most important. As long as what you want to convey in the painting can be communicated to the audience, the teachings of Zen can be passed down with it.
There’s a painting in the far back of Shōgondō hall that reads “shogon.” The original meaning of shogon is “to magnificently decorate a temple’s halls.” But Hakuin interpreted this differently; he understood the meaning of shogon as “to spiritually decorate a person with wisdom and virtue.” In other words, fill your heart with wisdom so that you can see the virtue in helping others. If you enter this hall with the intent of looking inward and reflecting on yourself, you will exit with a renewed sense of righteousness and a desire to help those in need. That is the meaning of Shōgondō.
The paintings on display are always on rotation, so you can see a different side of Hakuin with each visit. After seeing the pieces on display today, what kind of man do you envision him as?
A woman who’s worked at Shōgondō a long time shared with us her story.
“Sometimes, I would stare at his calligraphy in awe. The strokes are so light and fluid, I get in a trance just imagining the brush movements. But he didn’t just paint calligraphy, he also drew pictures like the famous daruma. He was smart-- he knew he could reach more people if he added images to his paintings. Then, even people who couldn’t read, or kids in school, could see these paintings and understand their meaning. Not only were they easy to understand, but they were also specifically made with an air of softness and intimacy. Even an image typically used to instill fear, like lions, Hakuin drew them as if they were an expression of love and affection.
It’s interesting-- there’s something about these paintings that makes it obvious they were made by monks, by people who weren’t concerned with competition. Their goal was to create something that speaks to many people and share the ideas of Buddhism.”
If you turn off the flash, you can take as many pictures as you’d like. Why don’t you find a painting that speaks to you and take a picture of it? That way you can “take it home” with you.
