Mujū

Mujū Dōkyō (Japanese: 無住道曉; 1 January 1227 - 9 November 1312), birth name Ichien Dōkyō, was a Buddhist monk of the Japanese Kamakura period. He is superficially considered a Rinzai monk by some due to his compilation of the Shasekishū and similar books of koans, but there is good evidence that he was also an eager student of the Tendai, Pure Land, and Hosso sects, and he is occasionally placed in the Shingon and Ritsu sects as well.

Born into the privileged Kajiwara family, he began his service by becoming a page at Jufuku-ji at the age of 13. He became a priest at the age of 18, in Hitachi Province, moving to Kanto for his studies. He founded Choraku-ji temple in Ueno as well as various other temples, and retired at the age of 80. His most important teacher was Enni, who practiced zazen as well as the engaged study of various traditions.

The only ideology Mujū disapproved of was intolerance, and he "was himself aware of, and intrigued by, the paradox of the position". (Morrell 1985:19) He was disdainful of contemporaries such as Nichiren Shonin who denounced all practices but their own, and he accepted all schools of Buddhism as having a useful teaching, writing in the preface to Shasekishū that "when a man who practices one version of the Way of Buddha vilifies another because it differs from his own sect, he cannot avoid the sin of slandering the Law."

Muj

Muj is a music duo from New York City formed in 2008, by members Allen Hulsey (born in Rochester, NY on February 8, 1985) and Emre Atabay (born in Istanbul, Turkey January 15, 1986). Muj songs span a wide variety of genres including pop, rock, dance, electronica, trip hop and acoustic. Muj has been a semi-finalist in a talent search from MTV named Music Universe Contest for their song "Elastic" from album 2012. This album was given rave reviews by a number of critics. Muj also won "Clash of the artists" event organized by Art for Progress, for live music. Both Allen and Emre have graduated from Berklee College of Music.

Band History

Band Formation

Allen and Emre met while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston where they formed the band Static Picture in 2006. Allen and Emre wrote the material for the band which included bassist Nick Funk (born in Woodstock, VA January 19, 1985) and drummer Adrian Olsen (born in Richmond, VA October 23, 1985). Static Picture disbanded after only one EP titled "WhiteWash" however the song "Inside Against Me" recorded by Static Picture in a more aggressive rock style later appeared on the debut album 2012 with a more epic orchestral arrangement. Adrian Olsen also appears on 2012 playing drums on seven tracks and singing background vocal lyric "What do you want" on the song "What You Want". The instruments on Muj recordings include guitars (bass, electric, acoustic, fretless, slide), piano, kanun (108 string harp), Saz, Synthesizers and Computer Software.

Impermanence

Impermanence is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient, or in a constant state of flux. The mutability of life, that time passes on no matter what happens, is an important aspect of impermanence. The Pali word anicca literally means "inconstant", and arises from a synthesis of two separate words, 'Nicca' and the "privative particle" 'a'. Where the word 'Nicca' refers to the concept of continuity and permanence, 'Anicca' refers to its exact opposite; the absence of permanence and continuity.

Anicca or impermanence is understood by Buddhists as one of the three marks of existence, the others being dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) and anatta (non-selfhood). All things in the universe are understood by Buddhists to be characterised by these three marks of existence. According to the impermanence doctrine, human life embodies this flux in the aging process, the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara), and in any experience of loss. This is applicable to all beings and their environs including devas (mortal gods). The Buddha taught that because conditioned phenomena are impermanent, attachment to them becomes the cause for future suffering (dukkha).