Black and zen

[nine tailed fox]

I was wondering why zen monks wear black robes and even their  zafus are black  ? 

 

What does black color mean to zen ? 

 

Black is generally considered evil,  inauspicious and not good in any way ,  so why than zen monks use it 

 

And is this an innovation of Japanese zen or the black was also used in Chinese chan ? 

 

 do Chinese chan monks also use black zafus and zabutons  ? 

Edited December 17, 2015 by nine tailed fox

[Michael Sternbach]

Oh, were it so simple.

 

Not only this dude likes to dress in black...

 

 

...this one does it too.

 

 

Of course, which side of the Force the latter is serving is a matter of conjecture.

[Chang]

As regards monastic robes the colour black signifies repentance and simplicity in the Christian tradition.

 

The colour black can convey an air of mystery, sophistication and elegance. hence ladies and the little black dress. Men wearing black can be seen as powerful and masterful  but also unfriendly, intimidating and threatening. So we have the villain dressed in black as represented by Darth Vadar above.

 

My first metaphysical teacher described black as the absence of colour. It implodes upon itself.

[Michael Sternbach]

My first metaphysical teacher described black as the absence of colour. It implodes upon itself.

 

Which ties in with the state of 'emptiness' that the Zen practitioner seeks.

[Taoist Texts]

I was wondering why zen monks wear black robes and even their  zafus are black  ? 

 

What does black color mean to zen ? 

Nothing much it is simply a practical color because the robes were made from donated or begged or found cloth, the black is the most practical color to dye the diverse cloth to make the robes uniform.

 

The rakusu represents the garments that the Buddha put together to wear after he left his palace to seek enlightenment. According toBuddhist scripture, Siddhārtha left the palace where he was a prince, and collected rags from trash heaps, funeral pyres, and various other places.^[3] He then cleaned the rags by rubbing them in saffron, which gave his robes an orange-golden appearance.

In the Sōtō school, the rakusu's color is usually determined by the wearer's status.^[2] For example, lay practitioners frequently receive a blue rakusu and black ones are given upon ordination as a priest. A brown rakusu indicates that the wearer has received dharma transmission and is authorized to teach.

 

 

Japanese Buddhist Priest’s Mantle (Kesa), 1775-1825. LACMA textile collections.

 

 

 

Black is generally considered evil,  inauspicious and not good in any way 

Not in china or far east in general

 

 

And is this an innovation of Japanese zen or the black was also used in Chinese chan ? 

 

 do Chinese chan monks also use black zafus and zabutons  ? 

 

 

In India, variations of the kāṣāya robe distinguished different types of monastics. These represented the different schools that they belonged to, and their robes ranged widely from red and ochre, to blue and black.^[2]

Between 148 and 170 CE, the Parthian monk An Shigao came to China and translated a work which describes the color of monastic robes used in five major Indian Buddhist sects, called Da Biqiu Sanqian Weiyi (Ch. 大比丘三千威儀).^[3] Another text translated at a later date, the Śāriputraparipṛcchā, contains a very similar passage corroborating this information, but the colors for the Sarvāstivāda and Dharmaguptaka sects are reversed.^[4][5]

Nikāya Da Biqiu Sanqian Weiyi Śāriputraparipṛcchā Sarvāstivāda Deep Red Black Dharmaguptaka Black Deep Red Mahāsāṃghika Yellow Yellow Mahīśāsaka Blue Blue Kaśyapīya Magnolia Magnolia

In traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, which follow the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, red robes are regarded as characteristic of the Mūlasarvāstivādins.^[6]

 

In Chinese Buddhism, the kāṣāya is called jiāshā (Ch. 袈裟). During the early period of Chinese Buddhism, the most common color was red. Later, the color of the robes came to serve as a way to distinguish monastics, just as they did in India. However, the colors of a Chinese Buddhist monastic's robes often corresponded to their geographical region rather than to any specific schools.^[9] By the maturation of Chinese Buddhism, only the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage was still in use, and therefore the color of robes served no useful purpose as a designation for sects, the way that it had in India.

During the Tang dynasty, Chinese Buddhist monastics typically wore grayish-black robes, and were even colloquially referred to as Ziyi(緇衣), "those of the black robes."^[10] However, the Song dynasty monk Zanning (919–1001 CE) writes that during the earlier Han-Weiperiod, the Chinese monks typically wore red robes.^[11]

[nine tailed fox]

Hmm but  what about  zafus,  why are they black ? 

 

Did Chinese chan monks also use black zafus and zabutons  ? 

 

Is there any effect or significance of the color of the zafus or zabuton a practitioner use ? 

Edited December 17, 2015 by nine tailed fox

[Chang]

Zen temples and practice centers tend to use black or brown zafus. The aesthetic is earthy and dark. This goes along with the practice room etiquette of refraining from wearing bright or vividly patterned clothing, gaudy jewelry, or items with words printed on them. It's mainly to provide a very low-key, non-stimulating environment so there's nothing in particular for the mind to grasp at on the outside

 

 

Japanese Zen tends to be quite stark. Black is usually the chosen color for both zafus and robes. It is evocative of the depth of Unknowing.

[soaring crane]

Conjecture on my part but wouldn't the "evil" connotation be to at least some extent racist in origin?

 

Black is yin. Good for the kidneys, hence good for everything.

Edited December 17, 2015 by soaring crane

[Chang]

Conjecture on my part but wouldn't the "evil" connotation be to at least some extent racist in origin?

 

Black is yin. Good for the kidneys, hence good for everything.

 

I do not believe that the race element has anything to do with this question ( I have yet to meet a black person, the closest i have seen being a dark brown ) and the connotations regarding black go far deeper.

 

Colours do indeed effect our mood and the colour black is primal. We have only to consider how lack of daylight can lead to depression. Consider also the use of darkness in language to express emotion - "my mood darkened".

 

We do not need to know the science behind these things to be effected by them. Being primal in nature black is very much associated with darkness, power and authority. As regards it being  evocative of the depth of Unknowing, that is simply because we cannot see in the dark - it hides things from us.

[nine tailed fox]

Actually someone told me that the energy of black is not good and he asks to not wear it,  forget about using it as meditation seat

 

He asks to wear and use red, because it is good energy wise 

 

Now when I read about zen monks who wear black and even use black meditation seats,  it got me thinking 

 

Because I respect zen and it has produced many enlightened beings 

 

That got me thinking why zen use black zafus 

 

I think this black zafu is something which started with soto zen, i think the chan of China didn't use black zafus , but who knows maybe Chinese zen monks also used to have black zafus and zabutons 

[Michael Sternbach]

Red is good energy wise in the sense that it's the most passionate, physically vitalizing and aggressive colour. It definitely has its uses, but not for meditation, except maybe for certain specialised "wild" forms.