Flower flower = x3 Lenses

Suddenly many flowers started to open. (The above seems to be a Plum flowers) — So, I’m capturing them with a lots of lenses (?) — above, by Sony E 3.5 30mm Macro.

This is rather early though, Somei-yoshino Cherry by Sony lens.

And this year again, the early Magnolia by Sony lens.

The same flower by homemade Mag-lens.

Yet another shot by the Double-density Pinhole.

The same flower by the same DD-Pinhole but with LED lighting.

Cherry flowers by Sony Macro lens = straight shot.

Then by the Mag-lens.

A bit too messy though, by the DD-Pinhole.  (Being as a Pinhole which is pan-focus, messy back grownd become very prominent.)

So, how about with added LED Ring-light. (Hoping the back mess going into the dark)

By the Mag-lens.  (Only the far back grownd showing funny coma aberration.)

By the DD-Pinhole.

DD-Pinhole with LED Ring-light.    Good evening Sir.

And they are the Lenses(?) and the camera — Sony A7R with E 3.5 30mm Macro, DD-Pinhole and  a homemade Mag-lens (A lens originally from a magnifier, mounted into a lens barrel from other compact camera = equivalent of 40mm F2.4)

Well, this is an extra addition = Yama-zakura (see its brownish leaves come out with the flowers) taken by the Fun camera lens.

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Sony E Macro 30 mm F3.5

It was a funny shopping.  I found this lens in a local junk shop without the camera. (The camera might have gone with a standard kit Zoom. — I didn’t ask.)    Situation was odd and the price was even more odd. = so, I bought it without knowing about this lens. (Even for the same Sony E-mount, the lens could be for cropped image size = may not cover full format. — Funnily enough, when I checked the test shot image on my PC, the lens data said “35 mm camera equivalent of 45 mm” ! = Its mean, the lens was designed for a small format still, it can cover full frame.)  30 mm lens for full frame is rather wide-angle.  And a 1:1 (x1) macro mean, the closest distance will be too close to the lens front = as I found it in deed.  

Sony put a deceptive decoration to cover-up the very small lens (only 14mm size)

While appreciate the use of 90 mm Tamron Macro or 100 mm Canon EF Macro (instead of Nikon 55 mm Macro), I’m not keen to use this lens for x1 macro shot as the lens front will touch the subject, in the same time, it will cover the subject under the shadow. = (Have to use an awkward side light.) 

Nevertheless, the optical quality of the lens wasn’t too bad.   But on practice, with the Sony A7 camera, I wouldn’t give a word of appreciation.  The focus was very quiet though, it was not stable = always hunting forward, backward, forward again kind.   And even worse, it was not easy to use in manual focus.   The finder displays funny focused position indicator though, each time, it goes back to the far position.   What a nightmare.  And the manual focusing ring is not very responsive (rather slow and remote = it seems, the motor is driving the focus even with manual use, and worse still, the controlling soft try to interfere too much (Sony might say “Offering the assistance” — such as, while try to focus manually, the finder image changes to magnified image = suddenly, and erratically !   = Think, when we shoot a busy insect on the flower, in the next moment, insect may have moved, and the hand changed the position. = I’m sure, the person who developed this system never had a field test. = only tested the camera on the optical bench. 

Nevertheless, it worked well for the general subject.  (At moment this is only an autofocus lens on my Sony A7 camera  I wouldn’t complain, considering the money I have paid.)  😀

The lens got quite smooth character, showing very little aberration = good sharpness even when F was fully open, still, with soft, out of focus bokeh.  —– But, what so ever the excuse, couldn’t they design anything better ?    Forget a fish-tin like slippery guise,  give it more functional better grip.

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Metalica of Steel wire

He said to be a hard-core original member of the heavy metal Metalica. 

Though, long time he had been confined in a box in my place.  As a hard iron man, without having a high voltage power he couldn’t play a single note nor even just shake his body.  (The story behind was, that a part of stock taking, I need to document and Video my kinetic works.  But a trouble was, that I couldn’t find the electronic controller of this man.) —  As seen on the photo, he was a man on the stage standing alone = just an empty wire work. — So, how he could play music let alone move his body, as there is no mechanism or trick was seen on the stage.   Well, that IS the ingenious part of producing him. = He play a music with the resonance. = Tune himself to the vive and excite himself.  (The base, stage vibrates almost invisible mode.  Then his wobbly body resonate and amplify the movement, so start to shake, following the resonating frequency.   Acoustically or mechanically, his body is very complexed = depend on the resonating frequency, he vibrates different way — and his heavy instrument got rather large inertia and makes own vibration.)  The reason why I haven’t done this video making was that I wanted to compile it with metal music — how to synchronize the beat and the body movement etc etc, not mention the trouble with music copyright. 

Anyhow, today, I’m going to see my friend video maker Funki Porcini, who got amazing creativity and video editing skill ! = We are going to produce Matalica on wire MV.   (Wish me luck.)    😀

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Void and Middle way (2)

As I wrote on the beginning of the previous post, that the Matter all about Buddhism is The Mind.  

But, on this moment, forget about whether the Mind exists or not, can it remain after the death or not, kind of argument. (It seemed, that the writer of Mahayana scriptures made the matter too grand and ostentatious — don’t exaggerate too much. (= It’s a bad habit of the Indian scholar)  It’s just the matter of the Mind and Heart Sir.)  So, just think of your own Mind. We all know, that there are two kind of mind in our brain.   One feels and often perplexed in a depth of our mind (often called your Heart) and the other is thinking a logical answer while giving complicated consideration or justifying excuse.    The former was generated from the old part of the brain, called Lymbic system.   And the other from the brain’s new cortex.   Sound strange though, the neuro scientist found that we are first thinking deep in our subconscious, then convert it to cognitive (in lexical) form second later.   So, technically, the former can be the first impression or your feeling and the later is the Second thought or Consideration.  This mechanism appeared when we see, hear, taste — 5 senses = feel it, then categorize, name it or describe it.  So, this Second thought has been given a Consideration (while referring to the data-bank)  or Judgement whether it was for an answer of Yes or No = like, you have seen it or didn’t see it.

—– But here is a trouble, you might have thought, that you saw it — Did you ?   How you ARE shure.  Even if it was there, next moment, the projector was switched off or changed to the next image or the person is dead.   So, the Buddhism advise you, don’t cling your thought or hard judgement of Yes or No.  Leave the matter to your first impression.   Neither Yes or No, but your intuitive observation = This IS the Middle way.  Not between the Yes or NO, but your own initial intuition.   Because the whole Dharma is moving and keep changing = try to define it in a fixed form is nothing but the our delusion, since the Dharma itself IS VOID.  In fact we too.  (Though, I wouldn’t guaranty your debt disappear on the next moment or your wife let you free tomorrow.  —– World may look the same. 

So, don’t ask me what is the point to become a Buddhist.     😀   )

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What is VOID and Middle way

What all about Buddhism, the matter is “How our Mind works” no more no less. 

To Lord Buddha himself, its source was our mind itself.  Lord Buddha observed the activity and its tendency of his own mind, and the mind of the others as well.  But, priory to the matter of Mind, Lord Buddha discovered the mechanism of the Dharma, and its entwined activity of the Karma.  In the first glance, the Mind looked work in the same principle of the Karma though, there are some peculiar tendency in the activity of the Mind.  Generally, the Dharma works according to the mechanism of the Karma, though, the Mind does not necessary follow the Karma. 

When we see, the Mind may see but may not see.  Seeing and recognise it, is not the same activity.  Even if we didn’t see, we may still recognise it.  Its mean, the existences of the Dharma may be the same.  It may be there but may not be there.  The constant change in the moment to moment makes the situation even worse.  We can define, it’s there or it’s not there though, the truth seems not the matter of what we define still, we know the state of it by our intuition or subconsciousness = It’s there as it is.  But, we can not see this cognition, because it is in our dark subconscious = it’s there but not there.  Therefore, the form is no different from the Void.  Void is no different from the form.  See the world in this eyes, is the Middle way.  And because the world is exists in this way, It IS the VOID.   

The meaning of the night walk described in the post “Test of selflessness” was —– The followers followed Lord Buddha without ask why or what for = without having any lexical cognition.  Completely Selfless and Open minded = not imposing their own definition or seek an answer but accept the situation (walk on the rainy night) as it is = without going into the mind-game / Why,  but just take a walk —– This selfless mind is in the Middle way and accept the Dharma in such a way is to see its Void.  To gain the eyes of middle way, the followers became free from the wrong idea and start to see and live as the own (as it is).   To be as the own mean to be with Dharma. 

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Maha Kashyapa

Among the Lord Buddha’s disciples, Maha Kashypa was reputed to be the foremost prominent thus influential one, though, I have a strong suspicion that the stories of such prominence might be created and put by himself.  The reason why influential was not necessary he was respected but just bossy pussy attitude (even worse he was very assertive with a kind of logical argument and good at that = hence others might have just gave up and let him chose = therefore the result looked like “He was dominant”)  And being as an ascetic himself, he laid down a lords of rules to the Sangha (follower’s co-living community). (He was the one against the woman to join the Sangha.)

To check the spelling of Maha Kashyapa, I googled its name and realized that in Hindu, Maha Kashyapa was also named as one of their prominent sage. —– In fact, in Vedic history, Maha Kashyapa was quite a familiar name appeared in many times from ancient Rigveda, Upanishad time = in other words, it’s indicate that many different Maha Kashyapa may have been existed.  Yet still, what was known to be “Maha Kashyapa who was a disciple of Lord Buddha”, an ascetics, a son of Brahman, good in a theoretical argument.    Then, organised the first council gathering to sort out what to keep the teachings in the oral tradition.  —– If the person, Maha Kashyapa in Buddhism and in Hindu was the same person, many questions of mixed-up of Hindu into Buddhism could be answered.  

If MK in the Buddhism history was in deed the same person who was regarded as Hindu sage, it is easy to see why such strong influences came into the Buddhism tradition especially in the Theravada sect.  If he lead the council and filtered out what to keep and what to reject among the memories of the Lord Buddha’s teachings, it was easy to understand that MK’s opinion and strong arguments must be heavily biased the final outcome.  And that might be also the reason, why he was depicted to the side of Lord Buddha (alongside of Ananda) despite he was in fact a Hindu = he must be manoeuvred into the position.  (Others just didn’t want to argue with him.  As he was an awkward noisy claimant kind of the person. )

The author of the scripture in the later date had no way to know those facts and the false stories were just stayed on.  (Such as “Pick a flower and smiled Sutra” of which Maha Kashyapa became the person to receive the “Direct transmission of teachings from Lord Buddha” might be an utter fabrications. — any how this scripture was written in China 600 years later = No Pari or Sanskrit original was ever existed.) 

= So, in those stories in the scriptures, there could be lords of fancy tales.   😀  

When I read through Agama, only those two episode caught my eyes =  My intuition told me Yes this is it.   They gave me the key to decipher what the teachings of Lord Buddha was.  (Crucial key was that, even Ananda was not told the intention of the teachings = Avoid the lexical understanding = The mentality to just follow and DO was the matter. — That was What Void, and the Middle way mean )  It’s mean, a kind of approach, arguing, logically perswading, convincing = Maha Kashyapa type is the out of sort.  —– So, why he was chosen to play a role in the Flower Sermon story was absolutely puzzling !   (It’s mean the author who couldn’t read the mind making up the story ! )

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Yellow robe

While browsing the net, I found a very interesting suggestion which was saying that the reason why Buddhist monk wear the yellow robe.  It was that the early sangha of the Buddhists were literally the Bhikku (= beggar) who forsaken all the possessions, family, relations, everything and live on the generosity given by the people.  So, to stay in absolutely humble and show having no desire or Ego was their must.  

But, whether the person was really living in a mind of void is difficult to know.  And, it is difficult to see other’s state of the mind let alone to know the spiritual level of the person.   Of course, no one can tell that “I am in such advanced level” because it IS nothing but to expose how arrogant and silly the person is. 

Instead, the bhikku emulate each other while wearing the cloth picked up from a rubbish dump.   Those cloths were heavily soiled and even after washed and washed they were dirty yellowish brown (there wasn’t a vio washing powder then.   😀 ) — so, the bhikku were competing with others, by showing off “I’m more humble than you as I’m wearing more soiled cloth and this is the proof of my mind is completely free from any self-conscious Ego”—– ( It seemed this tradition was started by an ascetic Maha Kashyapa = thence he was always depicted wearing dark brown. — While  Lord Buddha himself, and Ananda etc were wearing white = donated new cloth)  —– So, to wear a dirty colored cloth became a symbol of the monk’s humbleness, selflessness and became the symbol to be a Buddhist — later on, when the monk became fulltime staff of the rich temple and even the cloth became a richly died with expensive turmeric, the yellow robe was kept as a tradition. (But further down east, like in China and in Japan, the lowest monk wear black which was a discarded ordinary cloth dipped into black ink (in its original form), not expensive turmeric yellow.   😀    Now, just buy a black Kimono would be cheaper than the cost of an ink for calligraphy.  =  The question IS who and why anybody want to pretend to be a monk ?     😀   —– If anybody want to follow the Buddhism, just DO it.  = It IS nothing to do with a posture or fashion. )

—–

Once before, I attended a Tibetan Buddhist’s gathering.  In a part of ritual, their followers altogether performed a complicated twist of finger sign, some could do very smooth, others couldn’t.  The one who could do better, demonstrated to others while explaining its move.   It was the moment of show-off = the moment the person feel that I’m better than others.  (To get its skill right, the person must spend quite a time practicing though, it might be only a chance he could get a respect in his whole life.  What’s wrong ? )   Even though its arrogant mind was completely opposite of the Buddhist’s teachings, still “Why not” it could be his start. 

A well-known Buddhists sect, ranking the followers according to how many the person managed to recruit new members, and going up in their hierarchy.  It is a very well designed Ponzi scheme to make money.  (Remember their huge headquarter !)   For some sect, Buddhism is just a pretext to recruit the members and suck up the money.  Exactly the same to the Nintendo selling Mario = Mario is a mean to sell.  Matter is the money which Mario would bring back.

The urge to emulate others may be as hard to eliminate like an instinct to live.  To successfully emulate others will trigger the reword system in the brain by secluding dopamine etc. = this is the design how we can live happily.  Yet still, Hinayana try to suppress such pleasure while imposing hundred of Not.   That’s why history moved to Mahayana.   (Mahayana accept the nature = original design = of human being. — In other words, there may not be such a thing like a joke “Higher Spiritual Level”   😀 )

I used to know two guys wearing orangey yellow cloths.  The one was a guy used be Maharish camp in India and the other was said to be a Tibetan Buddhist.  Though, I never seen or noticed that they got any higher consciousness to live or spoke — still, it was, at least, very distinctive among the cloud.   But, I wasn’t convinced that it lead them to anywhere closer to higher awareness at all !  (only a thing sure was, all of us was thinking that they were silly = It’s mean, nobody respect you because you are wearing Yellow — world would see you only in your deed , not by the color.)    😀

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Baby baby

Yesterday I went to see my friends and their three months old babies.  Those babies are the cousins each other and born only a day apart.  (This photo = Pinhole)

When I saw them, I noticed that one of them had very hard birth from the shape of his head.   Dady explained me, it was a 40 hours battle.

The baby having the face amazingly resembles to his parent = that’s because of their Gene, yet still the babies having big head despite the mother’s passage he had to came through hadn’t been evolved accordingly, was because the our (or ancestor’s) choice. = We human changed from herbivore to omnivore started to scavenge animal carcass, borne marrow etc. resulting our brain grow bigger. (omnivore needs to process much  more information too = needs more brain power.  —– And to compensate a such painful trouble of giving a birth, a pleasure the woman can get from the sex is far more = otherwise the woman would say “Oh no, never again” and the human race had been extinct long ago. )  

Funny tendency of our attitude is, that we accept the physical appearance of the baby such as the face, and do know that the lines on the palm is fixed on the birth, still wouldn’t accept that the basic character (such as expressed on the line on the palm, the tendency in the emotion, a type of the brain, or Ego etc) =  accordingly a kind of the life that the person will have, IS also fixed.  (People doesn’t like to be fixed or been told by the others, and hope to have a hope = expect good luck, and the effort would change the fate = be optimistic.)  It’s not a matter of Gene, but the Karma which was specifically given to the person.   Otherwise why the person was made to be exist as this person.  = It IS the same person since he was born.

(Those photos were by modified Olympus Pen-F 38mm F1.8 on Sony A7R)

( by PEN-F 38mm lens)

(by the Fun camera lens on A7R)

(Fun camera lens again)

So, they were the camera and the lenses I used here = Olympus Pen-F 38mm on Sony A7R, Fun camera lens, Pinhole (equivalent of 21mm lens view and about F125) and the lens from a Toy camera.  ( The point is, I could carry all of them in my pocket.  Why do I need to go back to a heavy DSLR. )

This Pinhole photo showing about 90 degree view and heavy vignettes (corner fall off) — ISO was 25600.    Think, if this photo was ordinary sharp image, would it be useful for you ? — I don’t think so, since we are not seeing the world in its detail, anyway.

Yet another baby photo by a Pinhole (ISO 25600) on a DLR train — the girl wanted to touch the camera. 

You see, a Pinhole was usable even for general snap shot.   😀   (Of course, such as the ISO 25600 — in full color ! — was never possible without having a processing power of the digital technology. —– So, I’m not insisting the pure analog in its own sake.  I just want to have the image I want, not the image what the manufacturer recommends. = What they recommend was the style of the mass market of which they make and sell in millions. )

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Japanese Pickles 漬物

Again here, there is a fundamental difference of the idea between east and west.  Western people think the pickles is in the vinegar though Japanese think pickles is the name only for western food pickled in the vinegar.  Because Japanese makes the vegetable preserve in totally different way and the taste completely different.  Japanese calls them Tsukemono /漬物  (Funny thing is there are certain food pickled in the vinegar exists in Japan though they were called Suzuke / 醋漬, not in the western name pickles.   😀 )  As in the winter, we can see the vegetable called “Hakusai”/ 白菜(Chinese calls Bak-choi / 白菜) Chinese Cabbage.  And it is the time for me to make a Hakusai-zuke (pickled (?) Chinese Cabbage) —– This must be the second simplest cooking after a grilled fish. (simply give a bite to a fruits may not be a cooking = just a way to eat.  = it is not in a count.   🙂 )  So, how to make Hakusai-zuke ? 

(Put the leaves into a bucket in layers and cover them with a suitable size of a dish.)

(And put a soup bawl kind to have a space = because the leaves will sink under the pressure, while the water is coming out and rise.  I cover whole bucket with a plastic bag and put a heavy weight from outside.  I used an electric transformer as a weight.)

Put it in a bucket with the sprinkle of salt and keep it under a pressure of a heavy weight 5~7 days.  (With a pressure, the air was pushed out, so the anaerobic fermentation takes place.)   That’s all. 

With the vegetable’s own enzyme and the common bacteria, it would be naturally fermented and change the taste.  How much the amount of salt is not very critical.  In Japan the salt content of the vegetable Tsuke-mono said to be dropped from 15% to less than 5% in the past 50 years or so = So, it can be one shake of salt for every few layers of leaves. (If you want a stronger taste, you can put a drop or two soy-source or chili kind when you eat.) And how heavy the weight should be = somewhat 2~3 Kg = fill the water to an empty milk bottle or a kind and use it. (I’ve been using an electric transformer.  🙂  ) 

(I’ve put the pickling bucket into the other room where no central heating and leave the bucket for 5~6 days.)  (Photo left) — It seems, the Tsukemono made in the Winter is the best.  (Low temperature might keep the bad bacteria out.)  When I was a keeper of a mountain shelter, we made 5 binful Blacken  (Warabi) Tsukemono in the early summer and the same amount of local vegetable (Nozawa-na / 野沢菜) in November to accompany the meal for the guests.  It was a mountain of tsukemono !

Of course, there could be many variation which you can have a fun such as to put a hot chili sauce or the other vegetables etc.  Chinese people makes it with a lots of salt and they can be kept many years as really a preserved vegetable, called Tou-chai / 冬菜 and it must be the origin which came to Japan with Zen Buddhist.  (Yet, on the historical record,  Japanese has been making pickled vegetables 1000 years ago and there are hundreds of different style of Tskemono there.  Still, the basic idea is the same = use the effect of the natural bacteria’s fermentation to create distinctive flavor to the vegetable. (Though, may not necessary to make a good preserve because, it got only few days for the best eat and after it, it became to “Over pickled” taste became too sour, the color too brownish etc. — Yet, my guess is, when people found that the old natural fermentation become sour = why not use the vinegar from the beginning for the sake of consistency and the longer shelf life of the product. — this might be the start of the Pickles in vineger. )

(After 5~7 days, when the Hakusai-zuke was ready to eat, I shredded it and put into a jar while mixing with additional Chinese hot chilli sauce.  Since the pickled Hakusai is conveniently in a jar, it is easy to serve onto the rice.)  M m m,  Yummy !

For Japanese, the Tsuke-mono is a way of cooking —– to make it for long preserve, there are many different way such as pickled in a salty miso or use Sake etc.  The amazing difference in the western pickles is, that their taste was designed = what type of vinegar, what is the additional ingredient such as Junipers, dill seeds etc. and it almost symbolizes the fundamental difference between Judea Christianity and the Buddhism.  The one try to make the taste by their own idea, and the other see what the nature can make and follows it.  (It must be a very interesting point there, why the west didn’t start anaerobic fermentation of the vegetable, while having such as the wine making alongside.)    I haven’t tasted it though, there said to be the Zen Tsuke-mono made in the temple which is in the original Chinese style (much salty) — but to make it more acceptable mild taste, a Zen master, Takuan / 沢庵　said to have invented the use of rice bran with salt = it became the “Takuan Zuke” = which made his name as big as Ikkyu / 一休　on the history !  Since then, in most of the case, the tsukemono mean pickled in the salty rice bran — but it is so awkward to keep and smelly = it is the house wives’ nightmare.

(Yet the matter of fermentation is a combination of the bacteria = So, with a help of modern chemistry, the convenient short-cut was invented !

—–> Now people can make Tsuke-mono conveniently in a glass jar.  —  magic bullet was given to me from the friends though I haven’t tested it yet = if you like to try, it called “Nuka-yorokobi” from a Japanese food shop.)   Good luck and enjoy a taste.   😀

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Wabi – Sabi

Time to time, you might have heard the Japanese words, Wabi and Sabi, especially in relation to the Haiku Poet Basho or about Tea making and its pottery work. (such as tea bowl)  The word Sabi is related to Sabi-shii or Sabi-reta etc all of those meaning may be clearer in the visual metaphor than a lexical explanation (since those notions has to be grasped by the naked perception not by the thinking brain = hence direct transmission) — imagine you came across the place looks like abandoned or inhabited houses. = you may use a word ghost town.  No single soul on the street neither any sign of daily activity. Though, it is the very matter I’ve talked about in the previous post = if you were a westerner, your psych imagine a ghost town in a western film which is a dry, dusty, sun stricken street of wooden hoses — but here, in Japanese case, it has to be darker, under the shade of the tree, and rather wet, moss-covered half rotten houses. = you may feel even spooky.  This is rather exaggerated case of Sabi-shii scene.  And if you were here alone, you must feel quite Sabi-shii / lonely or desolated.  Then stretch your imagination further to the inside or the back of the house, what sort of the things you may find — wooden utensil ?  or a kind of bowl for eating, drinking ?  — a kind of the people used to live here, might be a poor farmer or casual worker helping those farmers = anyway, having had hand to mouth kind of the life = everything was a bare minimum.  So, if the bowl was not wooden but a pottery, how it looks like.  A bowl made to exchange for few vegetables or a caught bird, the pottery wouldn’t have a nice glaze or any decoration = just enough function for daily use. 

In the case of pottery, those images are the completely opposite of the Wabi, Sabi. Or I should say the typical decoration in the western standard, which the people think “gorgeous”. (but may be rather poor taste though) 

And in comparison, this is a Japanese dish in its decorative formal style. (This is Nabeshima. — If this one had no clack, it could fetch £10,000 even though this one was made by a trainee (= the lines were rather messy), hence second grade) —– Still, you may noticed that the stark contrast in the visual design = The western approach try to fill all the space with decorative images but Japanese leave the blank space.  Why ? It’s because of the Zen philosophy.   Western philosophy says, Nature avoid the vacuum but Zen is the matter to live with the Void.   So, to the westerner, gorgeous mean filled with nice decoration but Zen sees the peace in the blanc space.  If the nature was not in the free space, it is not natural but a fraud.  And Zen reject any intentional act as an unnatural fraud.  Especially in terms of Tea making, it got to be absolutely humble and everything has to be a bare minimum. —– This principle was in strict force, almost to an austere level.  So, when this principle was applied, a tea bowl has to be as a bare minimum = away from any intentional, artificial decoration or even an attempt to make it looks good.  In this philosophy, Tea-master Rikyu found the cheapest and the most humble pottery made for and used by the poorest people was the most suited for Tea making, which showed the Wabi and Sabi.    (Photo above right)   And this is the typical sample of the Wabi.  (In fact, this was the back or bottom of the dish the photo before.) = There was no intention to make it looks any better — it was naturally shaped and finished.  Its unassuming naturalness was not created by any intention but rather say, it just happened because it did nothing particularly. This absence of human intention = nothing is the core of Wabi. = poor humbleness, be natural in its material is the matter.  —– So, to a potter, this is the most difficult paradox in the pottery and the ZEN. = Tea bowl have to be made but made without having any intention to make it.   The answer is,  Make it with the mind of NO-Mind = Mushin in Zen. 

(In practice, just to be a potter, not a business man but just potting and let the pot to have its own fate = a pot made out of soil should have the face of soil and show the face burnt by the fire.)  (Photo above are the most tipical Wabi bowls, left was made by Koetsu)

(To an untrained eyes, “rustic” or lack of skill may looked like or confused with Wabi, though, the important point is, Wabi’s roughness or unevenness  was created by the unexpected accident, such as a fallen ash or unevenness of the fire not by the hand.)  = Think, Karma created Wabi not the hand let alone the brain deliberately thinking.  And the participant for tea ceremony has to appreciate such imperfect feature as an encounter on the moment.  (Which called Keshiki.) — The photo above, the vase showed a kind of Wabi on its glaze though, its pretty shape was too commercial.  Yet still, the right one seemed to have certain character to join Wabi = it’s a poor mans non-assuming daily mug, rather cheap product still it IS nothing else of Just a mag ! — but the photo left is a typical sample of a sham pretense.  On the surface of the mass-produced cup, a fake pattern of the dripped glaze was painted.

—– Now you might start to understand why Japanese garden or even an arranged flowers never had pattern or even a symmetry.

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