Art of Zen goes to New York

TOKYO -- Two bulging eyes are casting a piercing look at an inscription at the top of an ink painting depicting Bodhidharma, a sixth-century monk known in Japan as Daruma and credited with founding the Zen branch of Mahayana Buddhism.

The message conveyed by the artist, the Zen monk Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769), is serious, but difficult to translate. A loose translation would be: "Look inside yourself to become a Buddha." Tiffany Lambert, curator of a new exhibition of Japanese art at the New York-based Japan Society, prefers: "Direct pointing to the human heart, see your nature -- and become Buddha."