We work on the assumption that art is a spiritual practice. We are also interested in the idea that spiritual practice is an art. Our idea of beginning an arts lineage in Zen is based on the Fuke tradition of Rinzai Zen in which flute playing and koans were both used. The legend of the founding of that line is that a general was resting on a beach after a battle with the invading forces of Ghenghis Khan. He heard a shakuhachi being played and had satori, hearing the sound. He went and studied koans and became the founder of a line in which you played the flute as a practice as well as studying koans. We have generalized this notion to other arts. Ikkyu is considered to be a fuke master as well as a koan master, so he is an ancestral guardian of any project involving Zen and the arts.

There are several PZI Zen & The Arts programs in the works, and as details are available they will be posted here.

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