The Ensō and Me
Listen, child of God…Attend to the message you hear until it pierces your heart.”
The Ensō is the Chinese circle of enlightenment. It is a one stroke painting cut down to its very essence. It is the essence of simplicity but is very complicated to reach. The student of the Ensō paints it again and again and again. It is a process, a commitment that is often filled with doubt. Each time the student shows a new painting to the teacher the teacher questions. Why did you do this? Where will you put the calligraphy? That’s the wrong calligraphy for that painting. Those are the wrong words. Where will your stamp go? Each time the student returns to do it again until she begins to question why she ever signed up for this. Perfectionism is not helpful, if you want to paint an Ensō .
The Ensō student must shed any pretense of excellence and stay close to the core of what the painting of the Ensō teaches; put the attention on what you are doing. Do not let the mind go ahead of the brush in anticipation or look back in criticism. Judgment is suspended and for a moment the student forgets the small self. When the brush is lifted off the paper, the Ensō is finished and there is the realization that what is there is good enough.
Yesterday evening I listened to a presentation by my former Chinese brush painting teacher on his experience of painting the Ensō . As I listened to him speak I was deeply moved by his commitment to his art and by what he went through to remain faithful to his practice. It was an invitation to look at my own commitment and practice as I train to become a monk. I hear my teacher’s questions and challenges, her pointing out places of blindness of which I am completely unaware. There is the going back to look at something again and again, the bouts of discouragement and encouragement too, often enough to want to chuck the whole thing. And still there is something that says this is what I need to do even though I am not quite sure why. I don’t rule out a bit of stubbornness. There is a set of cards in my bathroom and each morning a new one is turned over. There is one that reads, You Will Continue. And so I continue.
“Listen” is the first word of St. Benedict’s Prologue to his Rule. I have heard it translated also as, Listen with the ear of your heart. So what am I to listen for in the painting of the Ensō ? What does it teach me? What do I hear?
Painting an Ensō is meant to train the mind to STAY with the moment and realize ultimate Reality. It calls for determination and unwavering dedication, but not stubbornness. Stubbornness grits the teeth and hardens the heart. Unwavering determination is steady. When you get discouraged and want to give up, STAY. Recommit. Make it wholehearted and don’t hold a bit back for oneself. Commitment is not a one time thing. It is a daily practice in daily living. Like an Ensō, living has plenty of wobbles and uncontrollable and unexpected ‘flying white’ (white streaks from the brush) which makes us pay attention.
Don’t criticize and don’t judge. Accept what is.
I have been practicing looking into the center of the Ensō , that empty space, whether in its painted form or seeing it in my mind’s eye. That center is a place of rest and not only a place of rest but becomes Rest Itself. The Ensō says BE with what shows up. This is what Listen means for me.
Here comes the Sun!
Author: Ho Getsu Sen Gen
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