The second large wave of Chinese influence on Japan

It was during the Kamakura era (1185-1336) that the second large wave of Chinese influence reached the shores of Japan. Both the shoguns - the new political rulers - and the influential samurai welcomed the arrival of Chinese Zen Buddhism, in part for its emphasis upon meditational discipline, and in part for the magnificent Sung dynasty works of art it brought with it, which they first collected and later imitated as a conscious means of documenting their new power and wealth. "Modern art" quickly came to mean Chinese art, such as tea utensils, paintings, incense burners and lacquerware. The main vehicles in this process of cultural importation were Japanese Zen monks returning from China, where they had gone in search of purer schools of Buddhist thought owing to their dissatisfaction with the Pure Land Buddhism and smaller esoteric sects patronized by the imperial court. A number of Chinese monks had in turn come to Japan following the invasion of the Mongols. Thus the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism was founded in Japan by the monk Eisai (1141-1215) and the Soto sect by the monk Dogen (1200-1253).

The name Zen is derived from the Sanskrit dhyan, meaning "meditation". Zen meditation is based on the belief that the only means to enlightenment is ji-riki, "power from oneself", and thus contrasts sharply with Pure Land Buddhism and its hope for salvation by means of external aid, or ta-riki, "power from outside".

Meditation is neither concentration nor contemplation, two activities which rely on the mind, on thought. Meditation means passing beyond the limits of mind ти-shin, "no-mind". But no means implies mindless-ness; ти-shin is accompanied by full awareness. But the thinking, questioning and judging self has gone. For Zen Buddhism, the "experience" of thus disbanding the self (which can hardly been termed an experience, since the personality experiencing it has disappeared) is enlightenment.

Occidental language has no adequate name for this "experience" of enlightenment, apparently unknown in the West, where there are no records of anyone having achieved ти-shin. Nor have any methods been devised with which enlightened masters may help their pupils to achieve such an experience. But although this "experience" remains almost impenetrable to the West, it forms the essence of Eastern-Asian spirituality. The reports of men and women who have attained enlightenment in India, China and Japan are legion. It is this tradition, this understanding of meditation, which represents Eastern Asia's greatest contribution to the development of human consciousness.

It was not the case, however, that Zen temples and their gardens led Zen adepts, through contemplation of their art and architecture, to enlightenment. The reverse was sooner true: garden architects and their creations were profoundly influenced by the enlightenment and psychological insights gained through meditation.