A few years ago, I was very honored to receive the order for about ten decorative panels to adorn the main altar of the SokukoJi Zen Monastery in Michigan, USA. I had not shared much about it because it is often delicate for me to openly present creations responding to private requests.
I am evoking this work today because the panels have been in their place for a while. They now resonate harmoniously with the space where they are displayed, the forms and the Sangha, and they have been visible many times on Youtube and elsewhere on the web.
* "Sakura and Vajra" evokes the meeting of two traditions: Japanese and Tibetan.
SOKUKOJI, BUDDHIST TEMPLE MONASTERY
SokukoJi was founded by Kyoun Sokuzan Brown , a direct student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and then of Kobun Chino Roshi.
I met Sokuzan at Shambhala New York while I was there for three months during the polar winter of 2015. Sokuzan was teaching an "Art and Meditation" seminar that, in addition to Shambhala, was held at the Metropolitan Museum and MoMA.
This teaching has completely and forever changed my relationship with the artwork — as an artist, creator or viewer. This is how I became Sokuzan's student; I then had the chance to do several retreats at SokukoJi and later with him again in Manhattan and Brooklyn, always between zafu and contemporary art museums.
I therefore knew the Monastery's zendo** pretty well, the space and its light, the orientation of the room, the altar furniture, the movements of the practitioners and the officiants... and this eased a global and detailed vision.
The influence of Vidyadhara*** on Sokuzan's teaching is strong and the Tibetan way brilliantly interpenetrates with the Zen lineage of the Monastery.
I contemplated this, and opened the studio as wide to the muses from the peaks of the Himalayas as to those from Japan.
Diving into this holistic project immediately thrilled me.
** Zendo: place where shikantaza, Zen meditation, is practiced.
*** *Vidyadhara: one of the honorary titles of Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche.
IMAGINARY MEETING
One of the panels shows Karma Pakshi, second Karmapa (first representative of the Kaguypa lineage), and first Tulku recognized in Tibet (1208 - 1283) exchanging with his contemporary, Dōgen Zenji, Japanese Zen master, philosopher and poet, founder of the Sōtō Zen School (1200 - 1253).
This meeting is not a historical fact but it evokes an imaginary dialogue between two major figures of the Dharma. Sokuzan is today a facilitator of this interconnection, moreover evoked by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in his book "The Teacup and the Skullcup".
QUEEN SRIMALA
The place of women in Buddhism is a subject that is dear to me. "The Mother Lineage" is a chant recited daily at SokukoJi to show gratitude and pay homage to the great matriarchs and women who have realized the Way of the Buddha. Queen Srimala — or Śrīmālādevī — is one of them.
I worked on all the panels for several months from my studio in Saint-Malo, Brittany, France. Completed at the time of the covid crisis, it was unfortunately impossible for me to deliver them personally. Transported by carrier, they were diligently mounted by resident monks (thank you Shodō ).
I hope to be able to fly to Chicago next year and continue my work at the Monastery.
LEARN MORE
More images in situation:
and
discover SokukoJi:
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To get the book " A Meditation Primer " by Sokuzan that I translated into French:
