The symbolic and philosophic meaning of the motves of nature in Zen painting

The key problem of the article – the symbolic and philosophic meaning of Zen Buddhism painting – is the part of the big and urgent theme devoted to the role of the art in the process of transmission of the important spiritual truth. Mostly Zen art existed not for «art sake» and for satisfying aesthetic needs, it was directed towards the task of moral perfection of a person. Artistic work in Zen is considered to be the spiritual discipline, the implement of the liberation from the «ego» during the process of the concentration on the chosen subject. Artistic image in Zen painting filled with moral and symbolic contents became one of the ways of the transformation of consciousness, method of the meditative practice. Diapason of images, which are symbolically comprehended and naturally intertwined into the context of Zen philosophy is huge and it comprises images of different kinds of birds, animals and plants. The ascent in the article is made in the revealing the inner meaning and philosophic implication of some of the most representative and significant, from our point of view – natural subjects and motifs, which reflect Zen ideas in a most clear and convincing way.