The Korinji Center for the Contemplative Arts
Practice in Korinji's Rinzai Zen lineage, coming down to us from the great master Omori Sogen Roshi, is described as
Zen-Ken-Sho: "Zen-Sword-Brush," that is, the unity of Zen practice, physical culture (like martial arts), and fine arts (like calligraphy).
This is a training that develops the whole human being: the liberative wisdom of Zen, expressed with embodied vitality and refinement. In many cultures, East and West, the simultaneous cultivation of spiritual insight, the body, and aesthetic sensitivity was the mark of true nobility: the ideals of the samurai as well as European chivalry affirm this. It remains a remarkably powerful approach to self-development, and a special quality of our lineage to which our students commit wholeheartedly.
THE KORINJI CENTER FOR THE CONTEMPLATIVE ARTS was established in 2023 to promulgate arts complementing Buddhist practice in this way. By doing so, we hope that a vital, embodied spiritual path — less conceptual, practical in its applications, aesthetically uplifting, and permeating daily life rather than divorced from it — may become more widely accessible. Following an extraordinary donation to the Korinji Foundation, the Wagner Fund for Spiritual Arts was created to fund this work. We have also been pleased to receive a grant for arts programming development from the Community Foundation of South Central Wisconsin.
Please read below to learn more about the arts we practice and teach.
Sacred Calligraphy & Buddha Drawing
(Shittan and Shabutsu)
Sacred Calligraphy refers to the writing of shittan (siddham or bonji: Sanskrit mantric characters used in Buddhist practice).
Visualizing these characters is an important part of mikkyo practice. Bonji are also used on protective talismans (omamori and ofuda) created by Zen priests, such as those offered by Korinji each year. The characters representing various buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deities are not thought of as merely symbolic, but rather visual manifestations of those very figures. The practice is thus approached with great reverence and meditative mind.
Buddha Drawing (shabutsu) is an art of tracing images from Buddhist iconography using brush and ink.
It requires great concentration and calmness, and for the artist to join with the image by entering the meditative state. The goal is not merely to produce a beautiful image on paper, but to arise oneself as the very figure being brushed.
Please see the Calendar for upcoming classes in these arts.
Tea Ceremony (SADO/CHADO)
Sado, the "Way of tea," is Japanese tea ceremony. At Korinji we are practicing tea of the Kogetsu Enshu school.
This school retains the principles of Buke-Sado, the "tea of warrior households," rather than the "merchant tea" way of practice that developed later in history. As a style of tea ceremony connected to the samurai and preserving that original manner of practice, it can be said to stress body usage, body-mind unity, sharp vitality, and human connection over aesthetic affectation, socializing, or ornate form. The goal is the integration of tea into one's life as a source of peacefulness and spiritual fulfillment, in unity with Zen. It may be said that the main emphasis in our Sado is the heart-connection between people sharing a bowl of tea together.
Please see the Calendar for classes at which you can begin to learn.
Ceramics
Ceramic arts have a long connection with Buddhist temples: for example, vessels used on an altar to hold incense and flowers, and articles used in tea ceremony.
We are fortunate at Korinji to have abundant deposits of high-quality clay in our valley stream. Ceramics at Korinji are hand-built from this native clay, and fired using both archaic and modern methods.
Please see the Calendar for events at which you may begin to explore ceramic arts with us.
Bladesmithing
Korinji houses a forge, which is used to create items of both beauty and practical use for the monastery.
Few activities reveal principles of our meditative path as well as the forging of metal into a blade: a kitchen knife, a tool for outdoor use, or even a sword. Engaging bodily with the five elements - earth, water, fire, air, and space - and unifying one's body-mind with each stroke of the hammer, something of use is slowly shaped and purified. It is then quenched, a watershed moment not unlike that of awakening. Following this is a process of tempering and polishing, a refinement that results finally in something of use.
Korinji conducts periodic weekend retreats for those wishing to explore this art unity with meditative practice: our ZenForge weekends. Please see the calendar.
