themandalaland

WATER BASIN

— Study of the water basin at Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto

Ryōan-ji has a teahouse and tea garden, dating to the 17th century. Near the teahouse is a famous stone water basin, with water continually flowing for ritual purification. This is the Ryōan-ji tsukubai, which translates literally as “crouch;” because of the low height of the basin, the user must bend over to use it, in a sign of reverence and humility.

The flowing water represent the continual flowing of ideas or energy. Viewed from above, the water basin also has a fascinating inscription. Read clockwise from the left side, the characters mean arrow, five, short-tailed bird.

The final character, at the bottom, has no meaning on its own—and that’s the clue. In combination with the square opening of the basin, it forms the character for sufficient. In fact, the mouth of the basin is an integral part of the inscription. Each character combines with it to form a completely different one. If each is read in combination with 口 (kuchi), which the central bowl is meant to represent, then the characters become:

ware tada taru wo shiru

Roughly translated as: “I know only satisfaction” or “I am content with what I have.”

(吾 = ware = I, 唯 = tada = merely, only, 足 = taru = be sufficient, suffice, be enough, be worth, deserve, 知 = shiru = know).

This commission came to me at a very synchronous time in my life, struggling to be content with all that I have created and succeeded at manifesting in my life. Sometimes we get caught up with survival so much that we just want, want, want and we push to meet those expectations. After 6 years of pushing hard to try and start my Artistic career, trying to reach this or that, it never occurred to me, nor did I see that I was already there. Life has a funny way of bonking you on the head like a Zen Monk with a broomstick.

Through my artwork, this Dragon has found peace of mind.

Keith Prossick - Artist