Buddha-mind is the heart of Buddhism, encompassing the resolve to seek the Way, training of the body and spirit, and ultimate enlightenment. It is the core of wisdom and the source of compassion.
About the Artist
Nakano Eiken is one of the famed Tendai monks of Mount Hiei who engage in death defying ascetic practices. Eiken did the hundred-day "mountain marathon," the "ceaseless prostration practice," and then made the extremely severe twelve-year retreat at Jodo-in*. During the retreat, all intercourse with the world is cut off. Only one thin robe and one thin bedcover are allowed for winter and summer; meals consist of leftovers from the main monastery; and there is time for just three hours of sleep a day. The ascetic spends his days chanting, meditating, and, above all, keeping the temple and the surrounding grounds spotlessly clean. This retreat is known as the "Sweeping Hell of Mount Hiei;" of the 115 candidates since 1699, over thirty have died midway through the retreat. After successfully completing the retreat, Eiken became an activist, teaching widely both in Japan and overseas, and serving as the head of various Buddhist organizations.
For more details about the monks of Mount Hiei, see The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei by John Stevens (Boston: Shambhala, 1988).
* The temple that enshrines the remains of Saicho, the founder of Tendai Buddhism in Japan.
