In his classic book "Zen in the Art of Archery," Eugen Herrigel makes it clear that trying too hard to hit a target is a sure way to miss it. One wonders whether, conversely, the easiest way to achieve one's aim is to take a roundabout route to it. That would certainly seem to be the case with the art and artifacts of Kyoto's 800-year-old Kenninji Zen Buddhist temple, now on display at the Suntory Museum. This exhibition is, perhaps surprisingly, less about the didacticism and preaching of religion than the aesthetics of pure artistic enjoyment, which can nonetheless lead to enlightenment.
"For most Buddhist sects, the goal was to make people believe that Buddhism would save them," explains curator Nobue Mito. "What distinguished Zen monks from the other sects is that they didn't think that directly saving people was the most important thing."
Rather than the short route of proselytizing, Zen monks preferred to take a longer, more scenic road to spiritual redemption; one that involved study, poetry composition, the tea ceremony and the creation and collection of beautiful works of art. All these activities are well-represented here, with examples of calligraphy, poems and other texts such as letters, as well as beautiful paintings executed on various surfaces.