The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau has worked to renovate the Mallette Room in their church located on Stewart Avenue West at Nassau Boulevard in Garden City. The room serves as the congregation's art gallery and was the result of a project envisioned by congregation member Terry Bartol and the church's minister, Dr. Charles F. Magistro. With the help of a hard working renovation committee, the $5,000 worth of donations from members of the congregation, and the work of individual members to bring the project together, the church now has a place open to the public to bring the international art scene to the heart of Nassau County, a goal Terry Bartol says was personally very important to her.

Bartol, as part of her desire to bring art and culture to Long Island via the Malette Gallery, invited Shodo Iwagaki, a Buddhist Monk and artist to display his Zen art and to speak about the connection between his spiritual life and his artistic expression. In a feature story in the Jan. 29 issue of Garden City Life, we told our readers about the enlightening art exhibit which opened Feb. 15 and invited the public to attend a lecture on Zen art and spirituality given by Shodo at the church on March 1. The 57-year-old monk and artist journeyed across the Pacific Ocean just to share his insights with the people of Garden City.

The lecture was delivered during the Unitarian Universalists' regular Sunday morning worship in lieu of a sermon. Families in the congregation, visitors interested in hearing the discussion of Buddhist spirituality and art, and practitioners of Buddhism from Shodo Iwagaki's temple who journeyed to hear him speak here in the United States, all gathered in the sanctuary of the church to hear Shodo Iwagaki explain the role that his spiritual life plays in the creation of the black-and-white ink printings with which he amazes art aficionados and lovers. Dr. Magistro introduced the lecture by explaining that "the more we are different the more we are the same" and drew the connection between the Buddhist's view of the interelationship of all things and the use of the circle to symbolize all living things with the same concepts in Unitarian Universalism.

Shodo Iwagaki's lecture, written in Japanese, was read in English by translator Mariko Sato. Shodo explained that there are seven principles of Zen art that all must be incorporated into an art work and work together to make a work a "Zen" piece. These are: 1)imbalance --the rejection of technical perfection; 2) simplicity; 3) aging or wilting --the idea of achieving a "bone-iness" of emotion, which Shodo explained is an important aesthetic and reflects the highest level of mastery in art; 4) unaffectedness --the ability to create in an unforced or effortless fashion; 5) modesty --which also incorporates the idea of divineness and gracefulness; 6) freedom from rules and the future --freedom from any kind of rules; and 7) silence and inwardness. Shodo says that he lives alone in a temple on a mountain and spends his days showing his art to people and creates his works at night when he is in isolation from all outside stimuli.

His subjects for his woodcut plate printings in Suki (black Asian ink) on Washi (handmade Japanese woodpulp paper) include mountains, the sun, the moon, trees, clouds, and concepts like rhythm. He also reaffirmed the importance of the abstract image of the circle in his work as the Buddhist symbol of the universe. Shodo expressed happiness that people have responded so well to his art and have journeyed to his temple just to view them and discuss them with him. He said that one common response to his art is that people say they felt as though their minds have been washed or purified, which makes him happy.

In addition to sharing his personal experiences of creating and sharing his artwork he also shared some of his spiritual practices as a priest with the congregation as he and two other monks, his brother and a monk from a neighboring temple who traveled with the Japanses speaking Shodo to help alleviate what he described as his insecurity about traveling to an English speaking nation alone, chanted in traditional Buddhist ceremonial fashion and walked in a circle through the sanctuary throwing elaborately decorated cards to the people as they were encouraged to pick them up and bring them home. They also demonstrated the proper posture for Zen meditation and laughed about strict enforcement of remaining perfectly still while in this position by the priests as they wield sticks with which to forcefully remind monks not to fidget.

Shodo also spoke about the role that Zen practice plays in Japanese culture and expressed pleasure at being aware that American interest in Zen continues to grow and to become included and integrated into other religious practices such as the Unitarian Universalist service that morning. Zen, the Japanese term used to translate Chan, the Chinese word for meditation, focuses on the use of meditation to achieve enlightenment, the ultimate goal in Buddhism. Morality and wisdom, the other two fundamental principles of Buddhism, are seen through Zen's adaptation of Buddhism, as obtainable through meditation. The founder of Buddhism was Guatama Siddharta, an Indian noble who spread his teachings through Asia in the 500s, who was even at one time named a saint in the Catholic Church, St. Josephat, until removed from the Roman calendar by the Jesuits. Bodhidharma, a sixth-century Buddhist master, brought the teachings of Buddhism to Japan and is considered the founder of Zen. He is credited with realizing and teaching that the entire religious strivings of Buddhism can be found simplified into meditation.

Shodo spoke of the incorporation of Zen teachings into Japanese culture through practices such as the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, Zen gardens, and certain athletic activities and the pursuit of the oneness of body and spirit through these activities. He stated pride that the principles of Zen have remained deeply inetegrated in the daily lives and living culture in Japan and expressed a certain sadness to see the political environment of areas in Asia such as China adversely impact the practices of Zen among the people.

Shodo's love of black-and-white and simple images reflects the traditional Zen art dating back as far as the Sung and Yuan dynasties of China. Zen priests studied this form of art traditonally and were inspired by the simple ink sketches of the Zen masters. Shodo Iwagaki is a self-taught artist who has achieved his level of mastery in the art through his own long meditation to gain his own understandings of the existential question of what life is and his becoming what in Buddhism is known as an enlightenment-being or one who has found his Buddhahood.

The show will be on display at the Mallette Gallery until April 17,1998 and is curated by Terry Bartol. The gallery will be open to the public from Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Individuals wishing to make a special appointment can call 248-8855.