Hakuin and Hermit Cloud by Aleksy James (2015)

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Description This is a painting of one of my favourite Zen Legends- Hakuin Ekaku and his famous encounter with Master Hakuyu or Hermit Cloud the mountain sage. Master Hakuyu lived in a small cave high in the mountains of Kyoto and was said to be between a hundred and eighty to two hundred and forty years old.After many years of intense and single focused devotion to the path of enlightenment Hakuin acquired a bad case of Zen sickness. This is a sickness that results from a meditation practice that is so severe and single-minded that it results in the forsaking of food and sleep. His heart fire was out of whack and resulted in a serious case of energy imbalance. He was in pretty bad shape when he encountered a mysterious stranger who suggested he should visit the mountain sage.No one had been able to help him so far. Acupuncture and medicines were of no use. No one seemed to know what was going on with him. Luckily Master Hakuyu who was able to cure him by teaching him the secret technique of Naikan meditation.This simple practice involves imagining and lump of soft butter the shape of a ducks egg on the top of ones head and melting slowly. Permeating and soothing the entire body.Slowly it begins to melt, imparting an exquisite sensation as your head becomes moistened and saturated both within and without. It continues oozing down, moistening your shoulders, elbows, and chest, permeating your lungs, diaphragm, liver, stomach, and bowels, then continuing down the spine through the hips, pelvis, and buttocks.At that point, all the congestions that have accumulated within the five organs and six viscera, all the aches and pains in the abdomen and other affected parts, will follow the mind as it sinks down into the lower body. You will hear this distinctlylike water trickling from a higher to a lower place. It will continue to flow down through the body, suffusing the legs with beneficial warmth, until reaches the arches of the feet, where it stops.- Master Hakuy

Aleksy James, Edinburgh
Member Since May 2015
Artist Statement Coming soon..