Images in Hackney / Fish-eye Vision

Those are the photos, which I’ve clicked the camera on the street of Hackney.  

As the default of the optical design, the image was heavily distorted.  

Which people dubbed as fish-eye lens effect.   

Some people hate this effect saying too unnatural —- ?  is it ?

Everybody knows perspective.    If you see a thing in distance, it looks smaller.

Assuming, you are standing on front of a huge building, 50m tall and 100m wide.  

You are standing from the central door abut 25m or so distance, facing the

building straight.  = From this stance, you can just see whole building in one picture.  

The building spread side to side about 120~140 degree in angle on your view.  

The center of building looks so high on front of you. —– yet far away,  you can see

the end of building = it looks not as high as in the center, because of perspective.

While you are standing and able to see whole building in one picture —– Don’t

you think something wrong ?  = Despite the building was built with straight lines

both end of the same building looks smaller in the same time.  = ONLY a conclusion

is “You are not able to see straight line as a straight line = it’s bent down in both end”

In fact, as the eyes are ball-shaped,  we never see straight line in our optical image,

except the one run straight in the center.   All the straight lines are in the imagination,  

or “Re-construction”  in our visual cortex in the brain.

So, I would say,  this is our natural vision. = only the center of our eyes shows  

straight line, and the both end of image, lines are converging = above,  down ward,

below, up ward = you see  —– or ARE you still clinging your illusion ?    

Ha ha ha.     I’m kidding.  😀

(In real life,  if you see a straight line looked carved,  you got to see a doctor.  

Despite  we definitely having blind-spot in each eyes,  no body see any blank in

our vision,  our brain re-configuring the visual signal perfect (well, more or less)

we see the straight building straight — in fact,  what is “to see it as it is in open eyes”

a good question.   😀 )

[]

Hackspace

There is a gathering place and their work shop for the electronic hackers called  

Hackspace  in Hackney, London.  —– Why Hackspace in Hackney may not have

any connection and I’m not interested in pun.   😀

And this evening, a group of enthusiast of  Arduino (ready to use programmable

controller)  demonstrate what he has done.

(A guy in the photo right was going to demonstrate how he programmed an

Arduino device to control his industrial robot)

(They got quite hefty collection of books which may cover all the question ! )

To deal with even the same electronics, there are hundred of different approaches.   

Some are purely pursuit how the electronics work, others are to achieve the

purpose,  by utilizing the electronics, electro-mechanics —– and to use it in

likely way to the most unlikely way etc etc.  the possibilities are literally endless.

Other group, Dorkbot is a group using the electronics, electrics in rather strange way,

or they may say, more artistic way  😀   —–  And I’m saying my sculptures are often

happen to move —– to make it, it often need to have a mechanism and its controller,

in most of the case it was done by the electro-mechanics.  (It could be done with pure

clock-work as well though, it would be more time-consuming to make)

One of the largest group, this  Hackspace  are having  700 members and two floor

huge space in a building, of which basement is for storage and a GOOD workshop.

It seems, quite few heavy machineries were donated by the academic institute such as

Imperial College (when they got new one, old one has to go somewhere, anyway  🙂 ) 

And the place is 24 hours open for the members to use the space and work shop,

otherwise just come and chat ! —— for a monthly pay of  £5 ~£15  depend on

how often you suppose to use.  (Can you believe ! )

Their website is —–   Hackspace (link)

[]

Moksa / Moksha

Time to time I encounter the people who use a word Moksa or Moksha.

Most of the case they are not a Buddhist but somewhat around of it, such as Herbalist,

Acupuncturist, Psychoanalyst, or so-called New-age type of people who knew or read

something about “Higher state of Consciousness” kind.  (Buzz word “Higher” would

satisfy the Ego = I’m better than others. 😀  —– thus,  able to sell more books)

Yet still, a sect of Buddhism, Theravada who supposed to maintain the older form of

Buddhism, is using this word Moksha instead of Nirvana.

[]

Even among the Mahayana Buddhists, their understanding of the Buddhism is to deal with

this endless cycle of re-birth / Samsara, and to close this cycle is the Nirvana.

And most of the Buddhists believe, this is the fundamentals of the Buddhism.

This must be the biggest blunder and a fraud in the human history.

[]

This matter has been the most grievous headache to decipher Buddhism to me.

Lord Buddha’s teaching has broken the tradition and the popular belief of the

perpetual soul.   As everything is in the Karma, relating and depending each

other, non can remain for ever.   Naturally, when the body has died, the mind,

the soul resided in there, ceased to exist = So, this is the end of the suffering of

the person, hence it is the Nirvana.

So that, how come, why after one’s death, the person

has to suffer rebirth, to keep having the trouble of so-called Samsara   ? ? ?

[]

Utterly contrary to popular belief, the idea of Samsara was not what

Lord Buddha taught. —– I haven’t traced all of his words in the scriptures still,

just give a rational thought,  it is obviously THE self-contradiction of which NO

Lord Buddha would have made.

Lord Buddha might have used the word “Samsara” for a sake of convenience,

when he talked to mass audience who was not educated but

at least know it mean the trouble of the life.  —– Assuming, if

Lord Buddha said, “My teaching will save you from the trouble of Smsara”

—– What he meant was   “Trouble of the  IDEA  of Samsara”   since,

such IDEA itself is nothing but a false DELUSION which fooled the people.

Lord Buddha needed to teach and save the people who has been suffering

from a fear of such deluded IDEA,  saying  ” Don’t worry no such re-birth

would ever happen,  since the soul wouldn’t remain after the death”  (But

people’s fear is a cash-cow of  Guru and Monks, they changed the story)

[]

It seemed, this “Story-Change” had happened in the earliest stage of the Buddhism history,

long before even the Agama Sutra was written.   Considering that Theravada sect is using

a word Moksha which was originated from a popular Cult then who taught the idea of

Samsara and the Moksa, this mixed-up must be happened long before the birth of

Mahayana Buddhism.

[]

The IDEA of said ancient Cult was that all the life-form born as its own stage of progression

from the lowest to highest,  hence this idea became the Cast System in the Hinduism.

And according to the one’s deed, if the one did good enough, the one will reborn in the higher

cast but did bad goes back to the lower, even down to be a beast.  This cycle of Rebirth is

the Samsara,  and only the highest will get ultimate  Moksa to end this cycle.

Lord Buddha totally against this IDEA,  hence in his Sangha, all the followers were

treated as equal  (NO cast),  and he taught, ultimate goal can be reached in one  life

as Nirvana  (NOT the Hindu idea of Moksa which may takes several lives to reach ).

[][]

Lord Buddha’s teachings were “How to acquire the mind-set [Detachment

= Mushin, Selflessness] to deal with harsh reality in life, and to see the TRUTH”.

= The Truth, “No such things like SELF exists, hence nothing to be Reincarnated”

and to live in this truthful life, the one can reach peaceful Nirvana.

He did not teach a product of  imagination, far from it, he fought against it.

—– If you believe otherwise, please show me a FACT of Rebirth.

Lord Buddha was not such idiot to teach dubious imaginary story.

___/\___

[]

Tablet ZEN

Last night there was an essay read by a philosopher Julian Benjamin

on BBC Radio 3.   In it, he talked about how our attitude had changed

during the rapid advancement of the technology.

And he typified it in the situation to use a gadget such as a Tablet

saying “Matter of Familiarity taken over the Understanding

or Comprehension” —– we may no longer able to understand

how those quantum theory is working behind the electronics and

its design neither need to be, but have to become familiar

with its touch-pad operation and each function.

[]

He found an interesting talking point though, his thought didn’t

go deep enough that in fact the situation has been always the

same even in the time of our ancestor, Hunter Gatherer’s day.

I don’t think even a good archer did know a theory of

Aerodynamics or effect of air resistance etc yet, as long as familiar

with the use of Bow and Arrow, he could have a good hunting.

= And that was what THE matter for them.

[]

You believe or not, this is exactly the point what

Lord Buddha taught, hence this is the Zen Buddhism.

Even though some of the people loves and attached to their gadget,

say a Tablet so much, and using it all day long for everything, still,

funny to say, virtually all of them are completely detached from

the questions of what this Tablet is and why such thing exists.

They accepted it almost granted as a part of their life.

—– Except the programmer working for App design, very few of us

know the code of its OS, even fewer people know it in the hardware

level, let alone the theory behind of all those micro electronics.

Instead, we just accept it, as it is and just concentrating practical

aspect and try maximise smooth operation and the efficiency,

in order to have own life fulfilled.

To be a master of Tablet, we needed to become a machine 

to operate it. = even finger moves automatic,

without conscious !

[]

As I said, this is not a Tablet phenomenon, but derived

from our inherent processing system in the brain ! =

This is the System to maximise the efficiency of our life.

—– The way to extend and apply this Operating System

to all aspect of the Life, was what

Lord Buddha taught as the Buddhism.

—– (Bemused ? !    Just open your eyes and see it.  😀 )

___/\___ 

[]

Hacking Business

There was an interesting incident targeted to this Yoshizen Blog.

Soon after I’ve put my last post [Three times BUDDHA] somebody

hacked into my account and try to tamper my text.

As always  🙂 when I found a miss-spelling and try to edit my text,

WordPress’ Auto-save told me that there was an auto-saved

another version exists.

Looking into the script, I noticed that somebody had attempted

to delete a part of my text as you can see on the screen shot.

The target was a paragraph “to fabricate so many so-called Buddha

in Mahayana Buddhism”

Lord Buddha has used the words such as [Land Deity] [Moon Deity]

kind of name (may be for a convenience in the conversation) though,

never used such as a Sanskrit Deity, Brahman, because of the only

who, who rules whole universe is the Dharma, nothing else.

And the Dharma was not personified. = It is invisible yet spread

whole universe, down to the inside of ourselves.

That was what he believed and taught. — So, he got angry when a

Disciple couldn’t get correct understanding of the Dharma, saying

“It’s a disgrace to the Dharma” = he was quite serious.

Therefore, under the name of Buddhism, to creates another object

of worship other than the Dharma, especially importing its

figure from Hinduism is nothing but a contempt of

Lord Buddha and the Dharma.

[]

Hacking into well protected WordPress Blog is a serious business.

I wouldn’t assume it was done by a whim of silly individual = got

to be a professional, hired by the organization.

So, who was the one came through a gap of floor board like a

cockroach, instead to put a counter opinion through the front door ?

Is this a mind-set of the organisation or the sect ? — Blime !

[]

My blog is open for anybody to put a comment or two (though, any

spam which is other than a genuine comment has been completely

rejected —– except few exception, who got an interesting family

business to advertise. 🙂 ) hence, if anybody got different view,

to express its view as a comment is welcome, but don’t use

dirty hacking. —– It doesn’t work as the original was

composed on Word, re-load the same can be done in 10 min’.  🙂

And it’s counter productive to the hacker, because it would only create

another funny post like this, and that’s why my blog got 127,000 hits.

—– though, I know, quite few of hits were mislead by a search term

“xxx nude figure” kind, and end-up to see wire sculpture here. 😀

___/\___

[] 

Huineng vs Shenxui — Poetry Contest

Provably the most well known Zen story was a contest to became

6^th Patriarch of the Zen.

For the contest, the most respected top monk in the monastery,

Shenxui wrote a poem as the answer to the 5^th Patriarch, Hongren

who request to show the Zen mind,

“Mind is like a mirror, I polish the mirror diligently for

no dust to settle on it”

When an illiterate low-rank monk Huineng who has been working

in the kitchen of the temple heard this, he asked friend monk to

write his poem contesting Shenxui’s,

“Since Mirror is not exists in the first place,

where dust could settle”

Hongren saw Huineng has much deeper understanding of Zen,

he chose Huineng for his successor.

[]

This story showed what all about the Zen and its pathway

in amazing clarity.

Shenxui was a well educated, well learned monk, hence he must

have read hundreds of scriptures and understood the attitude to be

a good Buddhist. (in this extent, his answer / poem was quite

appropriate and correct though, it was more like a posture of

Theravada monk, still on the way to the enlightenment, in other

words, he hadn’t broken the barrier, or gone to the other side yet. )

In contrast, Huineng had showed exactly what the notion

of Void in Zen Buddhism.

— How Huineng could get this, while working in the kitchen.

[]

As a son of peasant, Huineng had no education and illiterate hence,

he had no chance to read and study Buddhism other than just pick

up the words, what other monks were talking about.

Anyway, he had to work every day as a casual labourer in the temple,

still, those every day’s continuous repeating work gave him to gain

the essential mind-set to be a Zen Buddhist = Unconditionally

accepting (humble) to be a lowest working monk, hence there

couldn’t be any possibility left to have desire or even an Ego.

And as day by day, the same work continues, the mind

became empty = just the hand repeating the work.

Yet still, by keeping eyes clear, he could see the crux of human

existence = how the Life exists = what the World and the Dharma is.

And he was able to make the straight connection of his state of mind

and the observation, to each notion.   In effect, he had mastered the

Zen in DIY.   Zen doesn’t need to be literate but to have clear eyes to

see inside and outside, with the direction of few key-word.

(This straight connection is behind of

“Sudden Enlightenment” and the “Direct Transmission” )

[]

And this observation lead me to see an amazing parallel in

the history of Buddhism.

Founder of Zen, Master Bodhi Dharma had to establish the way

of Zen in DIY, as there was no text book exist then, even worse in

foreign country. And the situation was more or less the same, when

Lord Buddha started his own teachings = NO Buddhism

textbook at all, of cause, let alone whether even Vada was

available to the public in written form. 😀

Shen[]

But this is what the Buddhism is.

Since, it is the matter of one’s mind-set and the programming of

one’s subconscious = the one has to do it by oneself.

It is literally Do It Yourself / DIY = A book might give a hint, still

the one has to DO the work (practice with good insight) =

Book wouldn’t do the work on behalf. 😀

(Put Buddhist book in a memory of “Automatic Voice Generator”

and make voice out-put of script, wouldn’t make

the Machine enlightened — very fancy though. 😀 )

[]

—– Whether the stories (given in the Platform Sutra) has true

historical fact or not, to make the story in this way itself, was the

reflection of their understanding then = and expressing

supremacy over other sect of “Just reading scripture and sitting”

Illiterate Huineng was THE very typical sample in Zen.

___/\___

[]

PS :   Still, there are many questions left.   Zen understanding could

be gained without words, since it is not knowledge based intellectual

understanding but to customising the perception and behavioural

pattern in the subconscious level though, whether to compose

a stanza without having enough knowledge of lexical pattern is

possible or not ?   And the script telling the story, “Platform Sutra”

was written long after with a lots of diviating history.

—– Yet the fact is, the mummified body of Huineng has been kept

in the monastery till today and still sitting there !

(you can see the photo by Googling it) —– If he was not such a

great Master in real life, no such things could ever have happened.

[]

Orange Blossom

This is a common garden plant / shrub, [ Choisya ternata].  

Commonly known as Mexican Orange Blossom or just Orange blossom.

I don’t think I saw this in Japan when I was a kids —– seemed to came

there in the 70s and I have no idea when this plant came to England.

When I saw this flower first time, I wondered why this one got a name  “Orange”  ? ? ?  

—– Flower looks similar to other Citrus plants though, I haven’t seen its “Orange” like fruits,

not only that, the leaf is completely different. ( Citrus has single leaf, not compound leaf).

Then, I remembered what Professor said = “To distinguish Citrus family is, whether the leaf

has oil-spot or not”,  when I needed to take picture of Japanese [Sanshou] and not mistake it 

with looks very similar plant [Inu-sanshou] (only genuine [Sanshou] has oil-spot on its leaf)  

= like the yellowish small dots on the leaf = on the photo right. 

[]

The oil-spot in Citrus family ( Rutaceae, in exact )  contain typically smelled chemical,

hence they has been used as a seasoning or flavouring  in many countries.   (On this occasion

I looked into Wiki and found that amazing spread of this “Spice” in many many region in the

world but very little in the west ! )

[]

Even in the same [Rutaceae] family, [Sanshou] or more commonly known [Szechuan pepper]

is completely different looks plant ( I never seen it in this country hence, no photo.  — Wiki

got only a photo of the seeds ) — any how, in Japan, [Sanshou] is strangely exclusively used to

serve with eel ( Wu-nagi no Kabayaki  🙂 )  and such as in Thai cooking,  I think their

“Tom-yam” and its distinctive flavour were given by this spice.

[]

The insects, especially the butterflies, their larvae eat exclusively one plant.  

In Japan, Yellow Swallow-tailed Butterfly only eats this [Sanshou] leaves.  

(And when those larvae of Butterfly was disterbed, they push-out a kind of tentacles out of

their body to spread the concentrated chemical they accumulated from eating the leaves

(and its oil-spot) to repel the attacker.  (The smell is diabolical. It’s a chemical weapon.  😀 )

So that, when I saw Yellow Swallow-tailed Butterfly in this country  (though, only once),

I astonished  ” What a hell,  where the [Sanshou] plant grow in this country ? ? ?”  

—– I wonder is there any Butterfly who eat this  Orange Blossom leaves in this country ? ? ?

[]  

Line-Drawing = Precursor to Wire Figure

Somebody asked me how I got the first imagination to create

a Wire Figure like “St. Lucia”.

In fact there is a Spanish painting (by Zulbaran ?) of a woman who was hit

by the Good’s revelation.  The design or her posture was after this painting.

But to make it as a wire figure there was a long accumulation of practice to

configure human body into simple contour lines.

(It was not came from Manga drawings)  😀

[]

[]

Those line-Drawings were created around 1993, soon after my court case

for which I had to sell most of my professional cameras and lenses =

it’s mean I became out of business.  (I fought this case up to the Court of

Appeal without lawyer, since I didn’t know I could get Legal Aide and

didn’t need to sell livelihood. = demerit of  DIY.  Ha ha ha.   🙂 )

Out of business mean I got plenty time but not much money.  

So, I did quite a lots of drawings which costs virtually nothing.

But before this, there was an interesting discussion with

other photographers

“How we can figure out dark faint image or just a contour to

particular object ?”

“How do we know a curved one line to such as woman’s front

body or back ?”

“Is it a pattern recognition or intuitive creativity

to make-up an image ?”

[]

—– so, I experimented to draw the line, simplified to the limit,

no longer recognizable to any meaningful figure.  

Or figured out the minimum, still able to convey the meaning.

And found that the same line could be seen in the different meaning

or can be seen as other part of the figure.

—– strange discovery was that even if it is utterly illogical,

as long as it contain the recognizable parts, our brain

accepts it as what we normally understand as a pattern.

May be because our brain is not necessary seeing the things

(or drawing) as it is, but reconfigure it as we understand.  

Our thinking or even first-hand perception is never free

but always “Wishful” !

= We see the things as what we wants to see.

[]

So, the drawing above center, [Two headed woman] = our brain

accepts it as “One woman is facing front with her left hand swing back

and other woman stretching her right hand front” =

our brain never reject it all together with a reason of its 

irrationality,  but try to process each woman independently.  

Because, we are not familiar with two headed woman, the brain

ignore the conflict and stick to see it is two different woman

just happen to be in the same place, while try to think,

“She twisted her front body completely backward”.

—– So, it is a joint operation of our eyes and the brain =

the eye’s detailed vision is only the centre of our vision, about 20 degree

and the peripheral area is rather vague. = very similar phenomenon to 

selectively listen the voice among the other noise.   

(Please test it yourself  🙂 )

[]

The drawing right was my challenge (in the matter of imagination,

not a drawing or painting skill :-)) to Bosch who showed surrealistic

image in the hell, still never go to this kind of illogical confusion. 😀

—– Even Dalli couldn’t go beyond a crèche.

(May be from a religious restriction, God’s creation shouldn’t have

such freak.) If you see only a part of this drawing while hiding the rest,

your eyes accepts the image. —– One line could be a line of the hand

but it is also the line of the thigh etc.

Our brain ignore the part which is not taking part to configure one

image. ( —– And this is  what all about the Rorschach Inkblot Test =

pick up the pattern in a part, and make up familiar  image in the brain.)

= this function creates a monster from a vague image of a tree

in the woods. = we only pick-up the element which is enough to

configure monster and disregards the rests so, we see a monster.  

Seeing is believing — is it ?

[]

Some of you might see the top drawing as a kind of Hindu Goddess,

hence may be accept this image straight.   It looks strange though,

if you hide one side, it may not so strange. —– (She supposedly

sitting on a lotus flower though, I have not finished it yet.)

[]

With those (in fact 300 of ) drawings behind, to conceive and

configure the wire figure was not far away.  

And to draw 300 drawings in the same approach, it has to

get somewhere. = Zen would say

“Even rain drops can curve a rock ” 🙂

—– Drawing was done and each line was adjusted by way of copying

it on the light-box again and again until it become perfect (well, sort of)

so that those 300 are not 300 different images but lots of slightly

different same pictures.  = It was a process of step by step Kaizen.

If I were a real master of drawing, I could have done perfect drawing

straight though I wasn’t, I had to take slower process.

— May be draw a perfect circle looks much more like a Zen Master

though, I needed to know human perception, not a holy pretence. 🙂

And this approach gave me an opportunity to analyze how

we feel different if the line was slightly different or

the same line could be seen in different context. 

So, it was really interesting and a fun. 😀

[]

Battle of Human Brain -vs- Computer Soft / 将棋電王戦

Japanese got their own board game, equivalent of the

western Chess, which called Shougi (将棋).

Like Chess which was originated from Persia, Japanese

Shougi came from China (but now Chinese and Japanese

one got quite different).

Like a Computer Soft ［Deep Purple］ which defeated the

Champion Garry Kasparov, Japanese has been developing

the computer soft for Shougi many years and having its

international competition.  With the growing confidence

they challenged the top Shougi player Yonenaga and won.

So, the Shougi Soft developers and the top professional Shougi players fought second year

round.  It was called Shougi Denoh-sen（将棋電王戦） a group match between 5 top players and

the computer soft which were the top 5 of the 22nd International Shougi Soft Competition.

The results was, the Computer Soft won over the Human Brain in 3 won, 1 lost and 1 draw.

The Computer Soft called [GPS Shougi] which said to be able to read 280,000,000 moves per

second defeated Hiroyuki Miura 8th Dan (regarded to be the top of tops) in 102 moves.

—— (this is the most concise Japanese article from Jiji-press.com, I found)

Ａ級棋士も屈し３敗目＝ソフトにプロ負け越す－

将棋電王戦第５局

第２回将棋電王戦第５局で、コンピューターソフト「ＧＰＳ将棋」に敗れた三浦弘行八段（左）＝２０日午後、東京都渋谷区の将棋会館

　将棋のプロ棋士５人と５種類のコンピューターソフトによる団体戦「第２回将棋電王戦」の第５局が２０日、東京都渋谷区の将棋会館で指され、先手の三浦弘 行八段（３９）が１０２手で、将棋ソフト「ＧＰＳ将棋」に敗れた。プロ棋士が公の場でソフトに敗北したのは３回目となり、団体戦は１勝３敗１分けで負け越 した。
　三浦八段は１９９６年、当時将棋タイトル全７冠を保持していた羽生善治３冠から棋聖位を奪取し、７冠を崩したことで知られる。現在も順位戦Ａ級にランクされるトッププロの１人。
　ＧＰＳ将棋は、１秒間に２億８千万手を読むとされ、第２２回世界コンピュータ将棋選手権で１位になった最強ソフトだった。（2013/04/20-18:42）

対局後の記者会見で三浦八段は「団体戦の負け越しを決定させてしまい、申し訳ない。ＧＰＳ将棋がこれほど強いと知っていれば、もっと危機感を持って臨めたと思う」と悔しさをにじませた。
ＧＰＳ将棋は最大で１秒間に２億８千万手を読むとされ、第２２回世界コンピュータ将棋選手権で１位になった最強ソフト。現役Ａ級棋士を破ったことについ て、開発メンバーの１人で東京大総合文化研究科の金子知適准教授は「勝敗の実感はありません。ただ貴重な対局の時間を過ごせたことを感謝します」と話し た。（2013/04/20-20:55）

[]

The question is, as Computer Soft evolves, in any future, can Computer replace the Human Brain.

My view is not.  In Chess or Shougi, the move is strictly follows the Rules, in other words, all the

move is within the pattern.  Only the combination of following move is immense though, that

is what the computer is extremely good at by checking all of them in the lightning speed.

(Computer Soft may work in the Medical field and in the Legal field where the strict rules rules,

still only as an assistant to the Human Judgment. —– Computer can not guess, out of pattern.)

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In comparison, Human Life has to encounter many many irrational occurrences, and its move

wouldn’t be in clean sequence.  Chess’ move is strictly one after another, never able to make two

moves in the same time, but in real life ten troubles may come at once which could be in utterly

out of context.  And even worse, we can’t read the future move but only vaguely speculate.

If computer can give right answer, this financial mess of the world could never happened.  😀

[]

In the same time, often it is a waste of time try to think = it might be right, but might be wrong.

Try thinking may create yet another enemy, “Your own Brain” = “What silly me” and make you

even more disappointed and depressed.  = better take it light-hearted, and follow the hunch.

It’s mean, to take the decision, first conceived in its instance, and not to worry too many facts.

If it turned out be right = congratulation.  🙂      If it was wrong = scratch your head or cry loud.

This is the reason, better to take it Detached.   You may not get the moon, but never go to hell.

Human brain is not seeking the answer but the way to contemplate “NO answer”.

(This is the reason why no computer soft can replace the Human brain.  😀 )

Still, Life continues.   Definitely tomorrow will come.    Don’t worry.

This is what “Peace of Mind” mean.  😀  

___/\___

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Machine in MUSHIN — Where KAIZEN came from ?

The people who read the previous Post [Zen is DO —- ] feed me back

“It explained the Zen mechanism extremely clear, — then the question is,

you wrote Zen also liberate the mind and the creativity — How a

Machine like mind can have a creative idea in the same time ?”

—– I knew this question would come soon or later. 🙂

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A Japanese working practice called [Kaizen] (改善) is now even in the English dictionary

(but not in this spell-check yet. :-)) = It was translated “continuous improvement”which is

widely practiced in the Japanese work-front.

Japanese worker’s almost machine like accuracy, consistency and the

dedication toward their work is notorious to the west. = Their work ethics

is nothing but the traditional  Zen  which forms the basis of the Japanese

psyche.  = Hence, they work like a machine = in Mushin.

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But, to have [Kaizen] is yet another feature on their work-front.   [Kaizen] is, to have

better adjustment of the way of production to a modification of the machine, even a

production line’s configuration —– in fact anything, for the sake of better quality,

productivity, or for the safety of the working environment, which was conceived or found

by the workers who has been doing particular job. (Hence knows it best.)

If its adjustment is not too big, it could be done by themselves. Otherwise the modification

may be carried out by the expert engineer, who follows the proposal. (of cause, proposal

should be studied by the senior engineers first, or even management level discussion.

I’ve seen this process in the Honda factory in Suzuka by myself.)

—– So, machine-like worker is still capable to analyse the situation and

able to find the better adjustment or alternative approach.

This is a proof of “Machine-like Mushin” and “Open-minded free thinking”

can exists side by side, in the same time.

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As a matter of fact, to create the Samurai Sword, and to push its quality to

a level of the technical limit has been achieved by the endless efforts to work

better, hence make the Sword stronger. —– It’s mean a man-machine with

a hammer, work in Mushin still has the eyes and an active brain to analyse

and find the better approach.

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Being in Mushin, hence having no useless thought or a thought anything else

of the work-on-front, mean the mind is completely filled with the subject

—– say, the Sword-Making. = Zen described this

“the Sword Master is in Ichijo (Oneness) with Iron and a Fire”

—– (a western (a bit wrong) translation in “Mindfulness”)

Still, the hands are working exactly like a machine, perfect accuracy and the consistency

thanks to the perfectly programmed Motor-region of the brain.

Superficially, we calls it Mushin because of no conscious thinking is there,

instead we do it without conscious, so, the brain is not blanc or idle, far

from it, unconsciously the brain is working with full conviction.

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While walking on a street, we never consciously think how to move each foot.

Because the whole movements and to keep the balance of whole body has been perfectly

controlled by the Motor-region of the brain, like the most advanced self contained machine.

While leaving its walking business to the autonomous machine, we can have a freedom for

watching nice bottom etc or pay attention to traffic, even find a philosophical answer.

Likewise, while Sword-Maser hitting the iron, even if the hands moves

automatic, his eyes can see the minute details of the work-piece. = any

short-coming should be noticed.    As, all the process were handled

subconsciously, this minute detail were observed in the at-most silence of the

perception.  Any noise, useless brain activities would mask this minute sign.

= The matter is, to open this subconscious perception by eliminates the noise.

Lord Buddha called this Clear eyes.

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If you take the meaning of Mushin as just [empty the THINKING]  you miss

the part, concentration of your subconsciousness = Mindfulness.

(In fact, Mushin and Mindfulness are not separate notion or psychological phenomenon =

those are just different words.)   Because of subconsciousness is invisible, it is impossible to

objectively manipulate, or discuss in words, let alone to teach others.

(remember, how to learn to ride a Bicycle.  🙂 )

This is the reason why Buddhism, Zen teaches the people by the repeating practice.  Unless

you learn and become able to follow this subconscious mechanism, you can’t learn Zen.

And that is why, talking or reading about Zen is utterly useless. 

Only the way to experience and to learn is by Doing.

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Crucial point in Doing is, unlike imagining or having fantasy, to find a way of

improvement, it got to be rational and technically feasible = even an intuitive

idea, it never be mambo-jumbo, but quite scientific.  No body imagining that to

sprinkle a holy water from a church could solve a malfunction of the machine.

Even in the darkness of subconscious, our mind is very rational and sane.

(Well, in most of the case, among most of the people.   😀 )

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So, let this subconscious to see, listen and perceive = as this perception is

completely open, therefore, able to see almost invisible, inaudible = we

can see the better solution.    Or conceive the idea, which has been blocked

by the idiosyncratic thinking.   This is the liberation of the Mind, in Zen.

= And this is the mechanism behind the creativity or  [Kaizen].

___/\___

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