Word: zenning
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During the first stage of my absorption in Tapies' tricky abstract art form, I could have sworn that his work suggested merely a "well-raked garden" in an ordinary Buddhist temple, as distinguished from a "Zen Buddhist temple," as he described it. Finally, however, I caught the subtle clue to Tapies' entire revelation. I saw that had Tapies but an ordinary Buddhist temple to suggest, he would have used only eleven parallel lines against a background of mud. Actually, he employed twelve such lines, the twelfth line, of course, signifying the Zen...
Their myopia is especially strong when they envision Harvard as a completely cosmopolitan college. This contention rests upon the dual claims of unreserved acceptance of large numbers of foreign students, and eager susceptibility to international influences ranging from Austin-Healy's to Zen Buddhism. Both these claims are more attractive than true. Foreign students are accepted on the same basis as all others, more often despite than because of their foreign origins and customs. The college community is liberal enough not to be suspicious of outsiders, but it is not particularly interested in them either. The typical foreign student...
...austerity" in his dark art. The predominantly grey coloring of his pictures does not give a colorless effect but, like a pebble in a stream bed, hints at a glistening multitude of hues. Grey Borders (see cut) reminds Tàpies of a "well-raked garden in a Zen Buddhist temple," but he is quick to point out that he saw a photo of such a garden only after finishing the picture. Certainly it is both austere and serene; if it also seems pretty empty, it is the emptiness of contemplation, of waiting for enlightenment...
...sneers and jeers were caused by the worst scandal in the temple's 300-year history. Last June Photographer Mikio Tsuchiya got permission to record life in the temple, planned impressive exhibits in the U.S., where enthusiasm for Zen's ego-smashing techniques has become a semi-religious phenomenon (TIME, Feb. 4, 1957 et seg.). Tsuchiya expected to find the temple's 30 pate-shaven novices undergoing the most Spartan life imaginable, for Zen is the harshest branch of Buddhism, and Shofukuji itself has a reputation as one of Zen's most austere temples...
...matters worse by loud self-justification (in itself an unZen act). Wailed one: "When we sit long hours in meditation, the blood tends to collect around our loins. It's natural for us to seek outlets." That was no surprise to some cynical Japanese, who say that novice Zen priests often slip anchor at night after the temple supervisor goes home. Many steer straight for the local brothel, where the madam courteously bundles them inside without obtrusive haggling at the door. Others hold frequent cookouts near the temple, wolfing down undercover banquets to fatten a temple diet of soybean...