Suizen

The flute brought from China at the end of the 7th century was endowed with sacred properties immediately after its appearance in Japan. Mentor Ennin (794-864) used shakuhachi to perform sutras and prayers, which, according to him, better expressed their essence ^[3] .

In the 15th century, master Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) practiced playing the flute ^[4] . He attached great importance to the sound, with the help of which, as he pointed out, the human consciousness was awakened: "When playing shakuhachi, you see invisible spheres, in the whole Universe there is only one song." Therefore, Ikkyu accompanied his sermons with playing the flute, but often the students did not understand this form of teaching ^[3] .

Flutist monks, according to surviving sources, first began traveling around Japan and asking for alms by playing shakuhachi in the first half of the 16th century ^[3] .

In the 17th century, homeless flutist monks and samurai Rinzai joined together in the Fuke school, in which each follower became known as the komuso. According to the school’s chronicles, the first patriarch of the school in Japan, Kakushin (1207–1298), appeared at the school long before its unification. His successor, Kitiku , traveling around the country, sang the tune "Bell of the Void" near every house he passed. Once in a dream, he heard two new tunes: Mukaiji (“Flute in the foggy sea”) and Koku (“Flute in the empty sky”). He then performed these melodies to those who liked The Bell of the Void ^[3] .

During the Tokugawa dynasty , the entire daily life of Fuke adherents was closely linked to the practice of suizen. Kakurei-sei melody was performed in the morning to awaken the monks. After that, the monks sang Choka (The Morning Song) near the altar, and then alternated zazen , martial arts, suizen and charity. At the last lesson, the tunes Kadozuke (“Crossroads”), Tori (“Passage”), Hatigaeshi (“Return of the Chalice”) were performed. Before going to bed, the Bank was performed ("Evening Song"). If a monk wanted to stay in another temple of his school, he performed the melody Hirakimon (“Opening the gates”) ^[3] .

For the novice komuso, the shakuhachi flute was the epitome of the middle path . She did not make too quiet or too loud sounds and at the same time displayed many nuances of different tones. The long sounds of the flute required concentration of breath and pure consciousness. The finest modulation of the melody, according to the teachings of the school, showed how far the adept was able to comprehend the state of non-duality and connect himself to the universe.

The musician’s breath was considered a single whole with the melody. Inattentive game “ikinuki” (“breathlessness”) signaled the imperfection of practice, but the free nature of the game and improvisation were not considered mistakes.

For practice, there were three formal poses:

1. zazo - a sitting posture in which a person bends his legs under himself;
2. risso - a standing pose;
3. isuzo - sitting posture on a chair ^[3] .

• Zazen

• Druz V. A. On the Origin of the Iconography of a Monk with a Flute in Japanese Art // Scientific Communications of the State Museum of the East. - M. , 1996. - No. 22 .
• Dumoulin G. History of Zen Buddhism. - M .: CJSC Centerpolygraph, 2003 .-- 317 p. - ISBN 5-9524-0208-9 .
• Deeg M. Komuso and Shakuhachi-Zen // Japanese Religions. - 2007. - No. 32 (No. 1 & 2) . - S. 7-38 .