Meditative Drawing in Pen & Ink by Armida Stickney

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010

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―First thought, best thought‖—Vidyadharma Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010

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Dedicated to The dignity of every artist who seeks to bring out the goodness and essential quality of the situation he or she reflects -- dignity that comes from the artist's interest in the details of life and sense of appreciation for experience.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 / Dedication 3/ Table of contents 5 / Introduction and matters of administration Intention / good in the beginning 6/ Activities of the workshop / good in the middle 7/ Overview 8 / Doodling 9 / Zentangle as an artwork Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010

10 / Zendoodle sampler 11 / Zandala as an art form 12 / Zen-Tango as an art form 13 / As a Zen practice 15 / Imagery exercise 16 / How to create the art form 17 / Symbolism in doodling 20 / Uses of doodles, zentangles, zendalas, and Zen-Tangos As a gift or commission 21 / Resources 21 / Examples, more 26 / Zen-Tango exercise – ―ecological awareness‖ 27 / Gratitude & closing intention / good in the end APPENDICES A / Article on facilitator B / Mandala template C / Zen tenets or principles D / The Flower Sermon E / ―The Groom‘s Arrival‖ by Paul Klee F / Yin Yang symbol 36 / Notes and doodles

28 30 31 32 34 35

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 INTRODUCTION AND MATTERS OF ADMINISTRATION Introducing others and self / reprint of article about facilitator (Appendix A) Interest in workshop - feedback Restroom locations Payment to Sponsor Supply needs if any INTENTION / good in the beginning

Acknowledging that creativity takes courage (Henri Matisse quote), we are here to be with our awareness, being aware of our awareness, as we enter into the quiet, meditative zone of transmission and of receptivity of creative insights for the benefit of all beings.

“Gathering Love from above and below”

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 ACTIVITIES OF THE WORKSHOP / good in the middle Expectations expressed Quick review of content of folder Purification breathing (mind and breath as an experience of mindfulness) Centering to quiet the mind, listening to space music – find the central beat, focus your awareness there as you expand the awareness to the surrounding instrumentation Right-brain, left-brain, concentrated focus? Exercise: Visualization (creating new visions in imagination) Doodling, Zentangles, Zen-Tango explained Exercise: Scribble and doodle as pure contouring with pen and ink Explaining the Zen aspect of the workshop, balance, visualization Quick review of 15 Zen tenets, focusing on i, iii, vii, viii, ix, xi, xiv. xv (in italics) Illustratiojn: In pencil, section paper into small squares or rectangles to create sampler / illustrate – for example, circles, squares, lines, variations of these Exercise: Zendoodle sampler Exercise: Zentangle creation Exercise: Excursion into nature or observing surroundings for patterns Exercise: Zendala (to create and to observe signature style of each participant) Exercise: Zen-Tango, drawing a chalice as the focal object Final product(s): Artist Trading Card to exchange here and Greeting Card to take home

As facilitator, my expectation is to have the participants relax and open themselves to the phenomenal world, allowing them to bring out the goodness and dignity of each that comes from their interest in the details of life and sense of appreciation for experience.

Symbol of spirit or soul; the idea of essence

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 OVERVIEW

Anyone can create beautiful images from repetitive patterns. This method is easy to learn and easy to do. And even though it is a specified series of steps, it results in a creative expression that transcends its own rules. As an art form, it is an unusual approach to art because you have no idea what its result will be when you begin, for your creation is not restricted by your expectations. The method is not limited by technology although it can be. There are a lot of tools on the internet you can use. Non-technically speaking, your creativity is not directed by how someone else wrote a particular software program, nor does it need batteries or electricity, computers, mice, screens and keyboards. It simply returns us to that fundamentally human behavior of manipulating symbols and putting marks on paper. You will discover that you can deliberately relax and intentionally direct your attention while creating beautiful works of art, thus making it an empowering and uplifting experience. All it requires is a pen, paper, and you. You can experiment with any pen and nib until you find the pens you like. You can try different weights and surfaces of paper. You can spend hardly little or can buy a kit worth about $50.00 and purchase Pigma Micron pens for about $2.70 each. For spontaneity, I recommend you carry with you a flip note mini notebook to capture patterns throughout a day of exploration.

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 DOODLING Americanism defined, as a verb, to draw or scribble idly, to waste time in an aimless or foolish activity. As a noun, a design, figure, or the like, made by idle scribbling. Archaic: a foolish or silly person. Page | 8

About creative doodling: To encourage this creative process, Dr. Jonathan Schooler, Psychiatrist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, says, it may help if you go jogging, take a walk, do some knitting or just sit around doodling, because relatively undemanding skills seem to free your mind to wander productively. But you also want to be able to catch yourself at the Eureka moment. ―For creativity you need your mind to wander, but you also need to be able to notice that you‘re mind wandering and catch the idea when you have it. If Archimedes [Einstein or Leonardo Da Vinci] had come up with a solution in the bathtub but didn‘t notice he‘d had the idea, what good would it have done him?‖

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 ZENTANGLE AS AN ART FORM

A zentangle is a ―doodle‖ drawing using repetitive patterns. It is usually structured within Page | 9 a certain shape. Also referred to as a zendoodle.

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 ZENDOODLE SAMPLER A collection of individual patterns for reference (creating a thumbnail booklet or reference cards). Page | 10

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 ZENDALA AS AN ART FORM

A zendala is a mandala hybrid of a zentangle or Zen-Tango drawing using repetitive patterns within a circle. The word mandala itself is derived from the root manda, which means essence, to which the suffix la, meaning container, has been added. Thus, mandala is a container of essence. As an image, it may symbolize both the mind and the body. The center can be symbolic manifestation of self. Appendix B is a template to create a mandala. In workshop, to share with others oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s signature (characteristic style).

Inner Waves

As sacred art, MANDALA thangha representing the Buddha

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 ZEN-TANGO AS AN ART FORM A Zen-Tango has been coined by me to reflect the phenomenon of tango physics, a quantum physics concept, Namely, by introducing a conceptual object into a space—like a shoe or chalice or human face—to the field of strings within the space, we are creating a relationship between two types of elementary particles: The tanguera (f) and

its complementary tanguero (m) particle. Simply stated, one charges the other and creates a field of attraction. The quantity of charge is directly proportional to the shape of the object. There is a constant interaction and introduces a potentially unstable effect—you simple have no idea how it will look when finished. It takes two fields to tango.

Begin Where You End (left) Adapting Zen-Tango to a larger painting, Holding the Space‖ (40x18 inches) (right)

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 AS A ZEN PRACTICE Because of the simplicity of creating a ―sophisticated‖ doodle, anyone can enter the 'zone' and be relaxed and focused at the same time. An authentic Zentangle, Zendala, or Zen-Tango relies on certain ritualistic steps that, similar to more conventional forms of meditation, require minimal preparation: a thought and an intent. Preparing for ―Zentangling,‖ ―Zendalaing,‖ or‖ Zen-Tangoing‖ requires that a pen and paper are comfortably in hand. Each line/stroke is deliberate, intentional. If disciplined, 'meditate,' using the ―Zentangling‖ anywhere. You draw each stroke consciously and deliberately. We are always making "strokes" with thoughts, words, deeds in our life. In fact, by brining awareness to each deliberate stroke, you may be able to understand how those apparently small and insignificant "strokes" of our moment-to-moment lives contribute to one‘s conditioned responses as simply energy patterns. The deliberate focus of each pen stroke focuses your attention as in meditation or as in being "in the zone." As your eye follows your pen strokes, your attention shifts to a state that allows fresh thoughts, new perspectives, and creative insights to flow unhindered by anxiety or effort. This concentration focus integrates both left and right hemispheres of the brain. Quoting from The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart, author of The Field, “until recently, scientists believed that the two sides of the brain work more or less independently. The left side was depicted as the “accountant,” responsible for logical, analytical, linear thinking, and speech; and the right side as the “artist,” providing spatial orientation, musical and artistic ability, and intuition. But Peter Fenwick, consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital gathered evidence to show that speech and many other functions are produced in both sides of the brain and that the brain works best when it can operate as a totality. During meditation, both sides communicate in a particularly harmonious manner.” Furthermore, concentrated attention not only enlarges certain mechanism of perception, it also tunes out “noise,” freeing the brain to focus on a single thought: an awareness of what is happening at the present moment.” This all happens in the act of meditation.

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 See Appendix C for 15 Zen principles one of which is ―the realities of life are most truly seen in everyday things and actions.‖ Those principles typed in italics apply to the process of ―Zen-Tangoing.‖ The following two Haikus, each made to be read in one breath, focus on the essence of Page | 14 the Zen-Tango process:

Experience mind Instant Presence, body-breath Lines fade into one Experience mind Here and now body and breath Lines becoming one It was at the Flower Sermon in India, given by the Buddha, that “ZEN” had its beginnings as a concept and philosophy. Though some may say that Zen is a religion, it is not. A religion requires a deity, and there is no deity in Zen. See Appendix D for a brief description of its effect to the development of mind experiences.

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 IMAGERY EXERCISE

To create new visions in imagination, you will be guided to visualize mirrors to reflect changes in your mind. Both spheres of the brain will be exercised. You will be noting movement from the right to the left—this pushes things into the past. You will notice movement from the left to the right—this pushes things into the future. Opening your eyes, will you be present? Close your eyes. Breathe out three times—full and noisy if necessary. Counting backwards from three to one, as you breathe out each time, it is count 3, count 2, and count 1. At one (1), breathe out once more to see the one (1) become a zero (0). See the zero (0) growing in size and becoming a circular mirror. Looking into the mirror, see a disturbing, damaging, or destructive situations happening in your community, the nation, or the world. Breathe out once, and wipe the image away—off the mirror, from right to left, with your left hand. Now, turn the mirror over to see a positive change, movement or development happening in your community, the nation, or the world. Breathe out once, and wipe the image away—off the mirror from left to right, with your right hand. Breathe out once more before you open your eyes. Reflect on your first thought. Write it down or draw it. Source: Healing into Immortality by Gerald Epstein

Then, let it go. Note: o

From left to right (hemisphere): future thoughts

From right to left (hemisphere): past thoughts

Focus inwardly at the Third Eye (the pineal gland): Present thoughts or emptiness? It is held that when the pineal gland becomes activated, it activates the line of communication between self and higher planes.

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 HOW TO CREATE THE ARTFORM

Draw a border outlining the shape of the zentangle, zendala, or Zen-Tango. It is very common to use a square shape. The shape can be any size or shape. At the beginning, the shape is usually relatively small (about 3-5 inches wide) as most are completed in one sitting. Option is to tape off the areas to remain blank. Draw strings. Strings are lines that divide the shape into individual cells. Draw curved lines, zigzags, and/or some straight lines to section off each cell. Option is to draw one continuous line. See Appendix E to view a famous doodle painting plus one more. You can start out with pencil and then go over it with pen and ink. Use a good gum eraser to remove the pencil marks.

Fill one cell at a time with a repetitive pattern. Just draw. The purpose is to let your mind/hand connection flow with patterns that already stored in your mind. There is no need to plan a pattern; planning is optional. Repeat with each cell another repetitive pattern. Change the pattern within each cell. Add another pattern within a cell. Build several patterns within a cell. Tip: Use contrasting patterns of design between adjacent/contiguous cells patterns for balance. Balance dark and light elements. White space should be employed so that there is a flowing quality to the drawing. Some can get heavy and or dark if that is not your intention. Fill in areas with a more porous point pen. Add color or shading as desired.

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 SYMBOLISM IN DOODLING They tend to represent the early development of visual vocabulary. Some images tend to characterize gender propensitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for example, favoring circles over straight lines or flowers over arrows, or drawing three-dimensional boxes. Doodles of flowers indicate a gentle personality, a love of nature, sometimes childlike innocence or wistfulness. They represent the feminine, passive aspect of the universe. Some flowers, with a star-like structure, represent the sun or the masculine. Doodles of arrows indicate an active personality, moving forward, exploring, having keen time awareness of the future. They represent ambition, sometimes aggression, desire for action. As a careful outline, they indicate a desire for progression or advancement, especially if it is pointed upwards. Traditionally, arrows have a masculine connotation.

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 Doodles of boxes and perspective forms are considered quite an advanced stage in artistic development. They can hark back to our experience of artistic training— drawing class, technical drawing. It can indicate an ordered mind and love of routine. People with a good sense of spatial relationships engage in 3-D boxes. A stack of boxes might indicate great stress, especially if the stack looks as if it can topple. Artists, designers, and others who use technical drawing or geometry are often interested in three-dimensional drawing and enjoy experimenting with its forms. Drawing these shapes may be motivated by a requirement to experiment with design, or an experience of interesting three-dimensional illusions, such as in an Escher drawing.

In any event, it is a creative expression of your present energy-stillness or your energy in a given point in “time.” To decipher, go to— http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/tipsandideas/a/doodle.htm Excerpt:

Doodling is also an outlet for frustrated artistic expression. The arts in our society have become 'spectator sports' reserved for the talented, while the rest of us are too embarrassed to sing (except in the shower), dance (except for some foottapping) or draw (except for doodling). These fundamental outlets for creative expression have been stymied by a combination of social pressure (fear of inadequacy) and lack of training (our overfull school curriculums leaving little room for the arts, combined with a flawed view of artistic developments innate and not to be 'messed with' by education.‖ Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney © 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010

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Invest in a copy of Dictionary of Symbols by Carl. G. Liungman, c 1991, a reference work in Western ideograms. Or go to http://www.symbols.com/encylopedia--

Symbol 2:22

02:22 · Turn back and fetch itis the significance of this clothes sign from Ghana.

It is synonymous with

as a combination

sign

inGroup 1. The sign can be analyzed

, for the direction back, and

for capture, capturing. See also

for a return, with the

in Group 20.

For the ultimate symbol, go to Appendix F. Viewed mentally in 3-D, it is a double helix— a space curve of intertwined helices having the same axis.

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 USES OF DOODLES, ZENTANGLES, ZENDALAS, & ZEN-TANGOS Practically, there is no limit to its uses. To unblock  To meditate  To gift  To explore  To analyze  To experience  To serve as backgrounds for artwork  To abstract  To journal  To relax  To heal  More….Quilting, scrapbooking, playing, making polymer-clay zentangles, stitching, mind wandering (daydreaming) Can you think of any other uses no one has thought of yet?

Young Amrit

AS A GIFT OR COMMISSION As a gift or commission, always start by making a list of things you associate with the person who is to receive your drawing. After completing the drawing, look to see how many symbols are represented in your list of things. As an Artist Trading Card: ATC, 2.5x3.5 inches in size, collectible art. Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney © 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 RESOURCES http://www.onlinesketchpad.com/  Use the online sketch pad to draw, scribble or doodle. Features include several brush options, a wide selection of colors and the tools to create shapes and the like. Page | 21 http://www.drawinggames.net/paintball.html  Offers different online drawing games. http://software.informer.com/getfree-doodle-block-drawing/  Some freeware downloads as well as commercial software. http://doodlewall.com/  Create your doodle wall online and share with an international community of doodlers. http://swap-bot.com  You could join an art-swap group at http://swapbot.com/ http://www.milliande.com/Zendoodle-Sampler-Zentangle-Pattern-StylesTutorial.html  Milliande, a mixed media artist and biologist from East Germany living in the United Kingdom, offers a tutorial of patterns and styles Magna Doodle toy, created in 1974, is the magnetophoretic display panel, filled with a thick, opaque white liquid containing tiny dark magnetic particles and a stylus to draw on its surface. http://zentangle.com  Claim to have ―developed‖ zentangle, Maria and Rick of Zentangle, Inc., expertly market Zentangle by offering classes, certificate of completion, kits, newsletters. Problem is that they have copyrighted Zentangle, making it their property in the United States, when it is a universal art form. http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/tipsandideas/a/doodle.htm  Good site to get doodle symbolism.

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 EXAMPLES, more

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Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010

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Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 ZEN-TANGO EXERCISE - Ecological Awareness (Alan Watts) Using the chalice as the form to tango with, create the space around it, keeping in mind the following: The chalice is an invitation to perform the biggest taboo in our society: To know thyself (enlightenment). As you glance into the chalice of water or wine, what do you see other than a reflection of yourself. The water or wine becomes a mirror in which it merely reflects what comes before it. It is neutral, it is non-judgmental, it is timeless. That is the nature of mind. And in knowing thyself, i.e. the nature of your mind (not mind itself), you will experience potentiality. It requires time. You may experience it in a moment or in years, perhaps lifetimes, to come. There is this being who once said, ―Though it seems that I know that I know, What I would like to see is the ‗I‘ that knows ‗me‘ When I know that I know that I know.‖

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 "In the present state of the world, it is evident that the control we have gained of physical energies, heat, light, electricity, etc., without having first secured control of our use of ourselves is a perilous affair. Without the control of our use of ourselves,our use of other things is blind; it may lead to anything." â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spoken in 1920 by Professor John Dewey, Father of American Education, in 1920.

Has anything changed? Have you changed?

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 GRATITUDE & CLOSING INTENTION / good in the end

Write down 10 of your favorite words: Page | 26 1.

10.

Through these exercises, may I feel happiness, wishing everyone happiness and the causes of happiness. To all the artists who give of their art freely without credit to their names, a heartfelt thank you. Your essence is herein.

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010

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APPENDICES

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 APPENDIX A / Article on Armida Nagy Stickney

A Personal Renaissance by GEORGE WILKENS, The Tampa Tribune Published June 19, 2007

she mixed acrylics for a colorful painting for an upcoming exhibition of large works. Indeed, several seemingly complete paintings in her studio are not - at least in the eye of their creator. It is said that an artist can push a painting until it is ruined, or make it perfect, she said.

her body turned to the east, where the new day begins. Some find other, often opposite Page | 28 meanings in the painting. Stickney said her watercolors and acrylic paintings contain much symbolism - some not so

For four years, she has 'been tinkering with' one of her larger paintings. So how does she know when a painting is completed? LAND O' LAKES - The artist inside Armida Nagy Stickney emerged as a commercial success only after a lengthy career with the federal government. Her longtime love of art and subsequent degree in art history did not evolve into disciplined dedication until 2001, when she envisioned painting 'as a transition' into retirement. Today, the 62-year-old 'transpersonal visual artist' works in a studio carved from the garage of her Lake Padgett home. Her paintings are exhibited and sold locally and through her Web site internationally. Her budding career is a work in progress. 'I don't know if I ever feel a painting is perfect,' she said as

'You have to feel satisfied it works,' she said. Sources of inspiration vary, and her unique paintings sometimes undergo metamorphosis during the creative process. 'Sometimes, these forms just show up,' she said of a pair of green images in an upper corner of 'The Man With the Blue Guitar,' inspired by the Wallace Stevens poem of the same name. 'So, I'll keep it,' she said of the leaf-like shapes.

'I just felt it would be a blue guitar and a man,' initially giving little thought to the background. 'A lot of it grows.' Gazing upon the illuminated Miami skyline from elevated Interstate 95 inspired 'Spirit Mother and Child Looking South.' Stickney's intent was to paint an American Indian woman gazing to the south with

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

obvious - so she explains it upon request. 'I hope you'll understand the symbols; I hope the symbols will ring true,' she said. Among those who have seen the skyline-inspired work, some offered greatly differing interpretations. Transpersonal art has several definitions. Stickney simply says: 'There are two aspects of us, the inner and the outer. What I try to bring into my painting is the inner.' Born in Panama and raised in Balboa, in the Panama Canal Zone, Stickney is a member of the North Tampa Arts League, which selected her as June's artist of the month. Some of her

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 work is on display this month at the New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. When not painting, Stickney helps coordinate arts league events and volunteers with Hernando-Pasco Hospice.

and Explosives. Her schedule is now somewhat more relaxed. 'Generally, I like to paint three hours, every other day,' she said. 'Sometimes, I'll paint until I drop; then I have to rest for a day or two.'

During much of her 30-year career, she worked in Washington as a program and management analyst for federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

INFORMATION: Visit www.armidaart.weebly.com www.armidaeditions.com Reprinted 7/16/10

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 APPENDIX B / MANDALA TEMPLATE

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Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 APPENDIX C / 15 ZEN TENETS OR PRINCIPLES

i. ii. iii. iv. v.

vi. vii.

viii.

ix. x.

xi. xii. xiii. xiv. xv.

The realities of life are most truly seen in everyday things and actions. Everything exists according to its own nature. Our individual perceptions of worth, correctness, beauty, size, morality, and value exists inside our heads, not outside them. Everything exists in relation to other things. The self and the rest of the universe are not separate entities but one functioning whole. Humans arise from nature and get along most effectively by collaborating with nature rather than trying to master it. There is no ego in the sense of an endlessly enduring, unchanging private soul or personality that temporarily inhabits the body. True insight does not issue from specialized knowledge, from membership in coteries, from doctrines, or dogmas. It comes from the preconscious intuitions of one’s whole being, from one’s own code. In emptiness, forms are born. When one becomes empty of the assumptions, inferences, and judgments one has acquired over the years, one becomes close to his or her original nature and is capable of conceiving original ideas and responding freshly. Being a spectator while one is also a participant spoils one’s performance. Security and changlessness are fabricated by the ego-dominated mind and do not exist in nature. To accept insecurity and commit oneself to the unknown creates a relaxing faith in the universe. One can live only in the present moment. To think otherwise is to not live in the present moment. Living process, and word about it, are not the same and should not be treated as equal in worth. When we perceive the incongruity between theories about life and we feel intuitively to be true on the nonverbal, non-judging plane, there is nothing to do but laugh. Zen art has this characteristic quality—that it can fuse delight in a work of visual art, knowledge of life, and personal expression and intuitions into one creative event. Each of us develops into a unique individual who enters into unique transactions with the world as it exists for him or her.

Source: Zen Art for Meditation by Steward W. Holmes and Chimoyo Horioka

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 APPENDIX D / The FLOWER SERMON

The meaning of ―Zen,‖ as jargon, To figure out something by meditation or by a sudden flash ofenlightenment. There is tendancy to apply the term to applied to problems of life. For example, "How'd you figure out the buffer allocation problem?" "Oh, I zenned it." There is truth to this jargon, and its concept is aptly demonstrated in ―The Flower Sermon‖ given by Gautama Buddha. It is said that the Buddha gathered his disciples one day for a dharma teaching. When they gathered together, the Buddha was completely silent. Some speculated the Buddha was either tired or ill. He then silently held up and twirled a flower.

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 Several of his disciples tried to interpret what this meant, but none of them were correct except for one. Buddha's disciple Mahakasyapa silently gazed at the flower and broke into a broad smile. Acknowledging Mahākāśyapa's insight, the Buddha said,

I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.

Mahakasyapa experienced pure awareness – the pristine nature of mind. Thus, through Mahakasyapa‘s disciples, Zen (Chan in Chinese) spread to China (520 C.E. by Bodhidharma and to Japan (1191 C.E.) and elsewhere by others. Wisdom was passed, not through words, but through the careful practice of mindfulness….the direct observation of mind and reality…just as things really are. To understand Bodhidharma’s saying is to understand Zen: Buddhas don't save Buddhas. If you use your mind to look for a Buddha, you won't see the Buddha. As long as you look for a Buddha somewhere else, you'll never see that your own mind is the Buddha. Don't use a Buddha to worship a Buddha. And don't use the mind to invoke a Buddha. Buddhas don't recite sutras. Buddhas don't keep precepts. And Buddhas don't break precepts. Buddhas don't keep or break anything. Buddhas don't do good or evil. To find a Buddha, you have to see your nature.

As used in the workshop, ―zen‖ is as follows: A way of being here and how.

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Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 APPENDIX E / “The Groom’s Arrival” by Paul Klee

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The Groom’s Arrival Paul Klee, Swiss-German artist, known for his draftsmanship and colors, was involved in various movements—Expressionism, Surrealism, Bauhaus, and Cubism. Paul Klee‘s ―The Groom‘s Arrival‖ is a doodle with a continuous line drawing of crossover lines for the body. Hat, eyes, mouth, arms, feet were added. The drawing was filled with different colors offset by a solid background.

Viaduct

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 APPENDIX F / Yin (Female/Black) Yang (Male/White) A TAO / ZEN Symbol In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin yang is used to describe how polar or seemingly Page | 35 contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world and how they give rise to each other in turn. The concept lies at the heart of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine. It has many applications, and as a symbol or ideogram, it often refers to many natural dualities—e.g., dark and light, female and male, low and high, cold and hot, manifesting yin and yang (respectively). Yin yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, although yin or yang elements may manifest more strongly in different objects or at different times. Yin yang constantly interacts, never existing in absolute stasis. They share the same boundaries, and each boundary represents the inner and outer world of each.

―Getting to know you is gettng to know me, interdependently‖

Zen-Tango Workshop 2010 NOTES & DOODLES

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Compiled, Edited, and Written by Armida Nagy Stickney ÂŠ 2010