Vincenzo Pane Bansō

THE WAY OF THECLOUDS

Translated by J. Olpecre

Collana I RomanziISBN: 978-88-98750-2-21

FontanaEditore

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In the clouds a shapeappears

And just as quicklydisappears

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First Cloud

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Magical Sicily andthe Zen Monastery

That summer Sicily was magical.

The house in the woods, the goat’smilk and the honey, the cowbells andtheir music.

The dynamic meditation led by Nirgiowith its explosive energy.

The kundalini, the splashing into thesea, the swimming, running, dancing,the sweat, the relaxation, the eveningmeals, the stars at night and the moon.

I felt reborn.

Back in the city, I ran into a goodfriend and resumed a relationship thathad ended of its own accord.

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A couple of days later I left forScaramuccia, the Zen monasteryspoken of by a friend.

I arrived at the house up in the hillsnear Orvieto in my blue two-horsepower Citroën and parked infront.

And the first feeling I had is that I hadbeen there before.

No one was outside. I decided to goin: there was a room and twopractitioners were inside meditating.

I went back outside and waited. Alittle later Ghencho appeared and toldme that if I wanted, I could participatein the session; he quickly explainedwhat to do inside in the room and wewent back in together.

At the entrance of the zendo(meditation room) there are woodencrates for the practitioners to set their

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belongings on and, set off by acurtain, a room with tatami mats onthe floor. Opposite the entrance thereis a small altar where the Mastermeditates; and to each side of him areplaces for the practitioners. Thejikjgitzo (acolyte in charge of thezendo) marks time with a bell. Fourchimes signal the start of the period ofzazen (sitting meditation); the samenumber signals the end.

During that first experience I glancedmany times at the bell, hoping thatGhencho who was holding it wouldsignal the end of the session. It wasespecially difficult for me to maintainthe cross-legged position and to staystill.

At afternoon tea I met the Master andimmediately felt at ease: it was as if Ialready knew him and was on thesame wavelength.

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After tea it was time for a dip in thefountain baths.

Every day at Scaramuccia followingafternoon tea, the acolytes put clothesto be washed in a backpack alongwith a towel, and together with theMaster, run down a mountain paththree kilometers long to a natural poolconnected to a mountain spring.

I was surprised the first time I sawthese people calmly take off theirclothes and bathe in the rocky tub intheir underwear. Later it becamenormal for me to bathe in this water,which especially in winter is verycold. At the monastery, the clotheswashed at the fountain are hung todry. The tenzo (the acolyte who runsthe kitchen) prepares dinner and at 6o’clock dinner is served; from 7 to 9is zazen. Then at 10, it is time tosleep, which takes place inside of

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sleeping bags laid out on the tatami inthe zendo.

At 4:30 the alarm sounds and afterpersonal washing, the meditationsession begins at 5.

Sutras are recited together with theMaster, who afterward goes to a smallroom to wait for the acolytes to comeand give the answer to the kōan.

After the meditation session, the tenzoprepares a breakfast of rice boiled inplenty of water and takes it to thezendo.

Each practitioner has three bowlswhich are arranged one inside theother and wrapped in a cloth neatlyfolded.

These bowls are placed behind eachpractitioner; when it is time to eatthey are laid out in a row on the floorin front.

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The tenzo comes with a pot full ofrice and a container bearing olives; infront of each practitioner he stops andfills one small bowl with rice and inanother bowl he puts four olives.

They eat in silence and when finished,the tenzo comes by and pours tea intothe final remaining bowl.

When the tea is drunk, the cups aredried with the cloth and put againbehind each practitioner ready for thenext meal.

At 8 the work commences andcontinues until 10:30.

At that point one has tea with theMaster and talks casually about avariety of subjects.

At 12 o'clock lunch, and then restuntil 2:30 p.m.

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Work resumes and continues until teaat 3:30. Then down to the fountain.

I kept these unusual rhythms forseveral days and then I returnedhome.

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Second Cloud

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Cesar the Messenger

After returning from Scaramuccia Imet a friend and together she and Iwent to a concert to hear Cesar, a sitarplayer, perform at the PsycherosAssociation.

There he was in the center of theroom, dressed in white, playing hissitar.

I liked the music and recorded theconcert.

When it was over we had dinner at theAssociation and I asked him if hewanted to continue the evening at myhouse. He gladly accepted.

At my house, Cesar set down his sitarand sat in the wicker chair next to my

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only piece of artwork (Gogò) situatedon an easel.

We talked about music, yoga, andother things. I came to realize thatCesar had deep knowledge and askedhim if he could teach me what heknew.

He answered by saying that if Iwanted the key that would open everydoor he would give it to me.

In the morning I woke up and madecoffee.

We did exercises together. Heexplained the Sun Salutation to mealong with some breathing exercises.

Cesar had spent ten years in Indiastudying the sitar while on hisspiritual journey. He was headed toCalifornia, where he intended to starta school teaching yoga and sitar.

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Because of bureaucratic problemswith a lost passport he was going tobe in Italy for at least a month andplanned a series of concerts in variouscities.

I offered the hospitality of my houseand he gladly accepted.

In the evenings Cesar would play thesitar and tell us of his experiences inIndia. My friend Gaia and I listenedquietly, filled with joy andadmiration.

At one point he said: "Life is alabyrinth with an infinite number ofdoors to open. The key is theawareness of breath."

It was the key I had asked for at ourfirst meeting.

Cesar told us he learned tantric yogafrom an Indian master whom hadbeen following in India.

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One evening he taught us reversebreathing, the basis of the practice oftantric yoga.

There was a light, free-floating energyto those evenings that made us feelgood.

Cesar would leave periodically to dothe concerts and then return after afew days.

One evening we got together andstarted doing yoga, and immediatelyan enormous heat started to build inthe room.

At the end of the exercises we beganto meditate. Cesar chanted the mantraom.

After the meditation, Cesar played thesitar as we sat there excited, lettingourselves be enveloped by thepositive vibe: at this moment I had the

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clear feeling that everything is perfectjust as it is.

One weekend we went to the thermalbaths in Saturnia to learn how to doIndian massage according to Cesar’stechnique.

We left on Saturday morning in thecar of a friend of mine who wasinterested in coming along, and inSaturnia we met up with a friend ofCesar’s who had come from Rome.

We stayed in a small hotel near thethermal baths.

In the afternoon, Cesar startedteaching us how to do the Indianmassage.

Before dinner we went to the streamwith hot water where there are alsosmall waterfalls.

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After dinner Cesar played the sitar inthe hotel lounge and entertained theguests.

Sunday morning we returned to thestream and continued the massagelesson.

On one of the last evenings that Cesarspent with us, he dispensed somethoughts in English for me:

"Dear Vincent, you know your life,your light, you know how to value thegood gifts that we were given. Life isa journey into infinity.

We are creators of our reality.

The small space we have spinningaround on this globe can explode atany moment.

The secret of creation is within us.

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We must strip ourselves bare to lookinto the depths of our being."

To Gaia he devoted these thoughts:

"Dear Gaia, I wish you all the best inthe world. God has created some trulywonderful things.

Be ready to face the light of all thisenergy, the magical and mysteriousworld.

You know for sure that love andfeeling depend entirely on us.

We will be full of the world and theinfinite universe."

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Credits

THE WAY OF THE CLOUDSby Vincenzo Pane Bansō

Translated by J. Olpecre

Cover Design by Rocco Fontana

© 2015 Fontana Editore, CorsoAusugum, 98, 38051 BorgoValsugana (TN)

editore@fontanaebook.it

www.fontanaebook.it

ISBN 978-88-98750-2-21

All rights reserved. No part of thisbook shall be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or trasmitted, by anymeans, electronics, mechanicalphotocopying, recording, or otherwise

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without written permission fron thepublisher.

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Vincenzo Pane Bansō

Vincenzo Pane Bansō was born inSicily in 1954, and lived from 1977 to2010 in Tuscany. Today he lives inSicily and spends much of his time onthe beautiful beach in Cefalù. Withhis smartphone he photographs theclouds above which appear and thendisappear, expressing impermanence.

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In the clouds a shape appears andjust as quickly disappears.

The Way of the Clouds is the way ofliberation that he has worked out overthirty years of inner searching.

In reality it is a non-way, because,like the clouds, it is ever changing.

Vincenzo had the good fortune ofpracticing Zen Buddhism for manyyears at the Buddhist Temple ofZenshinji at Scaramuccia (Orvieto)directed by Master Engaku Taino,from whom he received the Japanesename Bansō, meaning: Ban (tenthousand), So (idea, images). He thusentered into a teaching transmittedfrom master to student down fromBuddha himself.

Thanks to this fundamentalexperience, he was able to choose a

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path after a serious illness which ledto a miraculous recovery.

In this book, he describes the Way bywhich he reached the realization thateverything is perfect as it is.

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Indice

In the clouds a shape appearsAnd just as quickly disappears 3

First Cloud 4Magical Sicily and the ZenMonastery 5

Second Cloud 12Cesar the Messenger 13Third Cloud 20Poetry, Ginsberg, andCastelporziano 21

Fourth Cloud 27The Poetry Festival inMontepiano 28

Fifth Cloud 33Scaramuccia and Zen Practice 34Sixth Cloud 45Skiing and the Wall of Ice 46Seventh Cloud 53Illness 54

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Eighth Cloud 64Climbing the Glacier 65Ninth Cloud 74Paths of Healing 75Tenth Cloud 88The Roar of the Year The Chanof a Lifetime 89

Beginning the Journey 102International Festival of Poetry -Castelporziano 1979 - 1 103

International Festival of Poetry -Castelporziano 1979 - 2 104

International Festival of Poetry -Castelporziano 1979 - 3 105

Master Engaku Taino in zendo atScaramuccia 107

Master Yamada Mumon 108Master Yamada Mumon and MasterEngaku Taino at ShofukujiMonastery in Kobe

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The Fountain Baths nearScaramuccia 110

Skiing in Abetone 111Skiing in Abetone - 2 112

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Climbing in Chamonix 113Vincenzo Pane Bansō - On the beachin Cefalù 114

Credits 115Vincenzo Pane Bansō 117Catalogo 2015 120

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