--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not…" description: "\"Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation.\" — Gene Clark" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg" --- # Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion… ![“Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation.” quote by Gene Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg) > “Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation.” Gene Clark ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Zen transcends art and religion, representing a direct realization beyond conventional categories. **In simple terms:** Zen is a direct realization beyond art or religion. Key Takeaway Seek direct insight beyond labels. Themes spirituality realization philosophy transcendence Mood calm inquisitive Type concise philosophical When to use this quote - meditation practice - philosophical study - personal enlightenment Key Concepts concise abstract Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience direct realization? - What separates Zen from art or religion for you? A Different Perspective The definition may be overly simplistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Zen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zen/) ## Related quotes > [I'm inspired by anything. Not even just art, just anything that's real and vulnerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellar-coltrane/i-m-inspired-by-anything-not-even-just-art-just-anything-that-s-real/) [Ellar Coltrane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellar-coltrane/) > [It would nice to live in a world where art can just be art!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-palmer/it-would-nice-to-live-in-a-world-where-art-can-just-be-art/) [Amanda Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-palmer/) > [The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation. I can't contrive a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-clark/the-actual-writing-of-a-song-usually-comes-in-the-form-of-a/) Gene Clark > [I always had a fairly decent income, coming in just from the art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-always-had-a-fairly-decent-income-coming-in-just-from-the-art/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [I just do art because I’m ugly and there’s nothing else for me to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-just-do-art-because-i-m-ugly-and-there-s-nothing-else-for-me-to-do/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [“The idea that people can be improved by being offended will finally have to meet the idea (espoused some of the time by some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-idea-that-people-can-be-improved-by-being-offended-will-finally/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [As long as you're true to you, you believe it and you make others believe it, then what you're doing is just art. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-owen/as-long-as-you-re-true-to-you-you-believe-it-and-you-make-others/) [Jake Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-owen/) > [You just have to do your art. Nothing can stop you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zemeckis/you-just-have-to-do-your-art-nothing-can-stop-you/) [Robert Zemeckis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zemeckis/) > [“Create art. Not just an art, but thermo fucking nuclear art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-gage/create-art-not-just-an-art-but-thermo-fucking-nuclear-art/) [Randy Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-gage/) > [I use my platform for more than just myself. Art is a reflection of human emotions. To neglect the political is to neglect what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zendaya/i-use-my-platform-for-more-than-just-myself-art-is-a-reflection-of/) [Zendaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zendaya/) > [I think you can do anything with comics that you could do in just about any art form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-pekar/i-think-you-can-do-anything-with-comics-that-you-could-do-in-just/) [Harvey Pekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-pekar/) > [I don't feel like I'm putting records out because I have to. It's just my art and I love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omarion/i-don-t-feel-like-i-m-putting-records-out-because-i-have-to-it-s-just/) [Omarion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omarion/) > [Art shouldn't be locked away in galleries and libraries and books. Art should be for everybody and not just art buffs, historians and so-called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-beever/art-shouldn-t-be-locked-away-in-galleries-and-libraries-and-books-art/) Julian Beever > [I think TV promulgates the idea that good art is just art which makes people like and depend on the vehicle that brings them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-think-tv-promulgates-the-idea-that-good-art-is-just-art-which-makes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Film is not just about the art form but also how it fares at the box office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamannaah/film-is-not-just-about-the-art-form-but-also-how-it-fares-at-the-box/) [Tamannaah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamannaah/) ## More by Gene Clark > [The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation. I can't contrive a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-clark/the-actual-writing-of-a-song-usually-comes-in-the-form-of-a/) Gene Clark Explore all 2 Gene Clark quotes ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gene Clark" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-clark/zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-just-a-religion-it-s-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-clark/zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-just-a-religion-it-s-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/gene-clark-105926_art_zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-j_2378925.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Zen, per se, is not just an art, it's not just a religion, it's a realisation.” — Gene Clark", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gene Clark", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-clark/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Zen, per se, is not just...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-clark/zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-just-a-religion-it-s-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-clark/zen-per-se-is-not-just-an-art-it-s-not-just-a-religion-it-s-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```