Zen Circles

I've always liked the simple enso (zen circle) paintings. They symbolize the Buddhist idea of emptiness, the ultimate reality according to Mahayana. Most enso paintings are simple circles, but this one by Deiryu (top of the page) has a bamboo stalk in it. My off-the-cuff interpretation of Deiryu's enso is the harmonious interrelation between the phenomenal world and true reality (emptiness). Here, the empty space is "enhanced" by the bamboo, and yet, it is the empty space that allows the bamboo to be (or, emptiness "contains" the tree). In a way, both emptiness and phenomenal reality are dependent on each other, for the aesthetic beauty of the world is only possible when both are present. Another way of putting it is that "form is only emptiness, emptiness is no other than form...,"; this well known (in some circles) quote is from the Heart Sutra.