The House of the Rising Sun

Visit Japan

This image I got off Pinterest is a replica of a vintage travel poster advertising travel to Japan.  Japan is a series of islands off the eastern coast of Asia, and the sun rises in the east every day.  So some people call Japan, the House of the Rising Sun.

The thing I like about Japan, besides sushi, judo, and minimalistic art, is their ability to weave complex zen culture and modern technology into one harmonious civilization.  They are the most advanced Asian nation, and east Asians are pretty advanced to begin with.

Zen Buddhism did not begin in Japan, and the founder Daruma, was not Japanese.  He wasn't even Chinese.  He was an Indian Buddhist monk named Boddhidharma, and he came to China in 500 AD or so to spread Buddhism in China.  Chan Buddhism, the predecessor of Zen, started when Boddhidharma, or Daruma, came to China and found Taoist monks to be overly meditative, and lacking physical strength, stamina, and focus.  He single handedly invented Chan, or Zen Buddhism, Kung Fu, and Qi Gong.  These three things alone were a great innovation and boon to not only East Asia but to all mankind.  Boddhidharma was considered to be the avatar of the boddhisatva of compassion in his time.  

Chan, or Zen, Buddhism combines Chinese Taoism and early Indian buddhism into one religion that focuses on the here and now.  Attaining enlightenment so one can be happy and free right here and now, regardless of wealth, honor, fame, or children.  A Zen Buddhist who attained sartori, or enlightenment, is happy regardless of his circumstances, because he knows he possesses nothing, and even his physical body is merely a tool or vehicle for his mind/body/spirit trichotomy.  Everything is transient, so cling to nothing.  Zen Buddhists are different from other types of Buddhism, with altruistic intents, complicated philosophies, grand temples, and secret practices.  Just meditate on the emptiness of reality and the moment will come.  The moment of zen is when suddenly, in a flash, all things are revealed to you and there is no more need to return to the cycles of birth and death.  It all is just a game.

Kung fu is  martial art that imitates the movements of animals in attack and defense, and the shaolin monks have gained tremendous notoriety for their strength, stamina, agility, speed, and physical training since then.  

Qi Gong is related to tai chi and kung fu, it is a practice for maintaining the health of the human body, and may be the greatest thing the Chinese culture has to offer the world.  Health is our real wealth, and a Qi Gong master can maintain his own perfect health and heal others, sometimes even just with his cheerful presence.

So Boddhidarma, or Daruma, as Chan later spread to Japan and became Zen, was known as the father of the religion Japan would cling to, while China later would abandon.  At one point, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucionism flourished in China, but later religion declined with the advent of Communism.  Japan latched onto Zen Buddhism and it flourished, unadulterated and unperturbed, until now.

So when people think of Japan, they may think of Toyota cars, Sony electronics, sushi, a liberal and quirky culture, or even practical, rugged martial arts like karate, judo, and jujutsu.  But I think about Zen Buddhism, and the spiritual legacy and strange paradox of a modern nation with roots in the philosophy of IndoChina.