Double-Density Pinhole Photography

Ideally, soft-focus image should have solid focused core and the soft flair around it.

The more the photographer is decent grown-up person, even soft image is rather subtle.  Though, I’m not very well grown up decent kind = tend to take it to the extreme   😀  (Hence, if I cook for myself, the taste is pretty strong = if it got to be spicy hot = it would be extremely HOT = Otherwise, what is the point to cook hot food  😀 )

Therefore, my soft-focused image goes to even more extreme = and in this  experiment, I gave a larger pinhole halo to small pinhole image = Concentric Double pinhole photo image  🙂   My approach to the Life is ” Why not ?”  😀

How you can put small hole inside of another hole  ? ? ?  = 😀

This is a Philosophical Problem = Hole is where VOID is = unlike gap, hole was represented by its circular edge, and this edge define the area of the Void = its inside is already Void, hence, there is nothing to form yet another hole  😀 

In photographic term, Pinhole can act like a lens, provided when the correct exposure was given though, when two hole exists in the same place, how to give long enough exposure (shatter time) for smaller hole while giving shorter time for larger hole ?  = 😀

—– My solution was, to cover larger hole with ND filter to reduce the incoming light.

(There is a gray filter called Neutral Density Filter to reduce the light, though together with Kodak CC (Color Compensating) filter they became hard to obtain item now.) 

—– Instead to use ND filter, I found an Aluminum coted plastic film of tea packaging. —– Not good enough for normal photography yet, enough for fuzzy pinhole photography  😀

[]To measure the Density, I placed this metallic film on front of the lens = the exposure reading was dropped from 1/1000th to 1/15 = 6 stops drop on shutter speed. 

Hence, the size of pinholes should have also 6 stops difference in F-aperture logarithmic scale.

(such as 2mm, 1.4mm, 1mm, 0.7mm, 0.5mm, 0.35mm. 0.25mm = larger pinhole, 2 mm and small one should be 0.25 mm)  —> The metallic film was stacked behind of 2 mm pinhole and a 0.25 mm hole was pierced in the center.  —– (From the result, I think, the lager hole should be 1.5 mm and smaller hole 0.18 mm = images would be a bit more sharper  😀 )

Still, the experiment which costed virtually nothing = results are not too bad  😀

———————————

PS :  Few people who has failed to do this kind of pinhole photo asked me why —– I’m using equivalent lens (this time 100mm lens) for set-up and framing, then the View-finder was covered up with black-tape.  Stray light from View-finder makes wrong reading of exposure.

Most importantly, I’m using extremely capable Canon 5D (Mk 2 and Mk3).  

Pinhole photography may not be done with another camera. 

For instance, a pinhole shot done in 5D Mk3, with ISO 3200 and AV setting, 6 seconds —– the same pinhole mounted on Nikon D810 with the same ISO 3200 setting and 6 seconds couldn’t make picture, as it looks more than 3 stops under exposure.   Even with 30 sec’, 60 sec’, 120 sec’, further with ISO setting Hi2 (equiv’  25600) didn’t make ANY difference. 

Nikon couldn’t work with non-CPU incompatible lenses.

—– I wonder if anybody has ever done Astro-photography with Nikon D810, I would like to know how it was done ?

—————————————-

PPS :  I found the way to to take Pinhole Photo by Nikon D810.

(1)  Go to the Menu / Non-CPU Lens / and set Max F-Aperture to F22.

(2)  Push Meter Coupling Lever (for Aperture Ring) anti-clock-wise, till F-aperture indicator on the Control Panel shows F45.

(3)  With ISO setting, 3200 or so and [A] (Aperture priority) = camera would give more or less correct exposure.

(*)  To adjust the exposure, even if you use the Exposure Time given by [A], say 2 second for Manual setting and select 1 second or 4 second —— exposure couldn’t be correct unless you push Meter Coupling Lever to F45 position.  (Because, the brightness of the image was not determined by the size of pinhole and the shutter-time, but by the gain of signal amplification in the image process )

 —- In fact, you can control Exposure Level by this Lever (by pushing it to F32 or F64 etc) = it is very awkward —-> Solution would be, tie a string to the Lever and fix it to the position of F45, and the Exposure adjustment should be made by changing ISO setting to another value.

ZEN in Making

Well, the title Zen in Making is the double

meaning.   🙂

Zen is not coming but you need to make it.

So, I’m making it or doing it by Making, literally.

[]

The people who was attracted to the Buddhism with its

mythical, hence intellectual connotations, it might be a

phenomenon, utterly out of expectation though, this is

what Lord Buddha taught as to gain the state of

the Mushin (Mind of No-Mind, since No-Self,

= since No Atman = Perpetual Soul kind what Brahmanism taught,never exists)

—– it’s mean the widely believed myth of Reincarnation is the later invention of the

professional monk who needed to enslave the followers to keep donating the money to them

(otherwise you will go to the hell and reincarnates into a beasts) —– though, what

Lord Buddha taught was “The death is THE Nirvana = No more suffering there”

(Since, it was called Nirvana = fire just goes off = no glorious departure to the heaven kind 🙂

—– But, if everybody can get Nirvana naturally, no need to pay money and ask the monk 😀 )

That was why, the Buddhism was the revolution ! (Rich and poor alike, all can get Nirvana).

[]

Some people has misinterpretation of the Buddhism, as Teachings is the Teachings of how to die. 

This is a misconception.  If you see the structure of the Teachings = The observation of

the Dharma lead to the understanding of its mechanism = the relation of each element, its

Cause and the effect = Definition of the Karma.  As the mechanism is in constant flow of the

Cause = Occurrence, which never stop = hence it led to the understanding of No Perpetual

Existence = Everything keep changing = hence the Life of Man too = Death is only the End.

As everything keep changing and  Time never stops = Life has to deal with

what the one is immediately facing. = Anything is NOT there mean, it is only in the MIND.

Death fallen into the same category = Unless a Man is there in the moment of Death, Death is

not an existence = What the Man has to deal is The Current issue = TO LIVE the LIFE.

Likewise, when Fish-tin is on front —> Just deal with it.  Even think NO ELSE. = ZEN.

[]

Other than the practice how to keep up dairy life such as the way to walk, beg a food and talk

with people, only few sample of the [special] teachings of the

Lord Buddha was scripted. One of the most well-known episode was, how Kisa Gotami was let

running the house to house looking for the seeds.

Another story was how Chuli Pantak (Shuri Bantoku in Japanese) was ordered to sweep the

grounds of the Deer Garden.

Both stories are highlighting the repeated continuous practice lead the person’s

mind to the state of Mushin hence enable to get Enlightenment.

[]

This tradition was kept by the Buddhists, thousands of the years.

As a good sample, I wrote about the artistic practice of an artist Pok (link here) some time ago.

Please read how and why his work is the Buddhism (as he is aware and says too).

And my practice here is a part of the work to make a housing to a LED Ring Light.

To make an inner casing of the Ring Light, I found a fish tin which got the matching

size for the purpose.

To make a fish tin to be used as the inner pipe, the bottom part has to be removed = I did it

by drilling a lots of holes (about 70 holes by 1.5mm drill), then after the bottom was removed,

the jagged edge was filed and made to a smooth circle which is matching the 77mm filter ring

(by which, the Ring Light can be fixed on front of the lens).

—– technical detail would be explained in the later post.

—– Here, I’m showing how laborious the repeating work is 😀

Technically, there are many ways to cut the metal in such case = laser cutting, high-pressure

water cutting etc though, it spoil the game and unless the machine is in my hand and ask

somebody specialist to do the work, it would be very expensive = this is a poor man’s DIY.

(it may seem laborious though, soon or later it will be finished, and still have a fun. 😀 )

[]

What I’m saying is, this is what the Zen Practice is. = Zen or Buddhism is not a magic

or imaginary fantasy (hence, not thinking), but an effort to DO the job bit by bit.  Because of

Lord Buddha did teach it.  He was not a successful austere Yogi (otherwise, he could have

become a miracle Superman) but ordinary human being.  And he taught ordinary people.

Because he was not a Superman, he felt the Life is in suffering. —– He didn’t find the life is

an opportunity to perform and show-off supernatural miracles. (Hence, he was not a Divine).

To make a Life, a person has to make a Life to do something, not sitting and thinking but to DO.

To ordinary people, to DO mean, by their own mean, not in miraculous spectacular way but DO

the job next by next, bit by bit. = This is the Life.  Hence, the Teachings of

Lord Buddha was accordingly. = No miracle answer or super natural phenomena.

(That’s why a story of the Rain drop curves a rock, was in Zen story ! )

( —– I’m not implying you should drill a fish-tin. 😀 = I only showing a sample, there are

many this kind of concentration or so-called mindfulness behind the craft work or art pieces.

They are in fact, the ZEN.

___/\___

[]

LED Lighting in Photography

In most of the case and for most of the people, Photography starts when the subject

was found to be there. = Has found mean [It was seen] = it’s mean [There was a light]

= if it was in a total darkness, we couldn’t see = we don’t notice its existence,

hence no photography.

Though, more of the often, photographer need to take picture because the subject was still

known to be there = it could be a nocturnal animal or cave paintings —– when I needed to take

picture of French wine cellars, it was a challenge. = It has to be clearly visible in the photo, yet to be

seen as a deep dark cellar = what a contradiction especially all the bottles were covered

with black fluffy fungi. 😀

[]

Modern Hi-Tech Camera seemed to be able to see better than our eyes though, it’s light measuring

capability is still only down to EV-o or -1 or so but  Auto Focus doesn’t necessary work under such

dim light. (Hence, Focus-assist-light in the Flash-light or so-called Active Focus System using

projected LED light).

But when the photography has gone outside of “expected scenario” of the use of camera, such as

[Pinhole photo] or use another lens for higher close-up magnification, lords of troubles comes in.

Equivalent F-aperture of Pinhole = F-125 (think, keep stopping-down F-22 to 32, 45, 64, 90

then to 125) or F-250 is far beyond of what camera can handle.—– Or, use a lens in reverse to

have x5 magnification, the image become too dark to see in the view finder

= additional strong light become necessary.

[]

Thanks to the easiness to use LED, which doesn’t heat-up the subject like as Halogen-light does,

I’ve been using them as a focus-light or even to take picture. = Use one or some LED to make a

focus-light is very easy such as seen in the another post [Tiny Life] (link here) —– it is just a

matter to connect LED to a power, normally to the battery(s), normally series with

small register. (I’m going to write about those “Technical” details in the next post) but an

easiest way is to utilize ordinary LED Torch-Lamp or even a USB Keyboard light which you can

find in a Pound-shop.  🙂

[]

Here some sample demonstration (of simple adaptation or simple “mod” work 😀 )

This is a little adaptation of a 1W LED Torch-Lamp (This one need only 2xAA battery !

= I’ll talk about a significance of 2xAA battery in the next post) —– in order to mount the lamp

to a stand, a piece of C-channel was drilled and 1/4” screw was tapped.

Use it as a spot light or diffused light etc is just up to your imagination.

And this is a way to use USB light.  = USB sockets were fixed and soldered to a piece of

circuit-board and they were connected to an 4xAA battery holder which acts as a stand as well.

One light has only one LED hence used as a spot-light and other has line of 5 LEDs hence covering

it with tissue-paper, it can be used as a diffused-light.

—– USB light was designed to be used on USB socket though, as long as it was

connected to 5V it will light up. (4×1.5V battery may give, up to 6V on the beginning though,

it wouldn’t destroy the LED, and even if you connected wrong polarity, it wouldn’t destroy them

neither, simply it wouldn’t light up = connect other-way round to make it light)

USB connector has 4 pins, of which both outside pins are carrying 5V supply.  You may find which

is + with multiple-tester though,  in this LED light case, JUST Connect = if it’s light = It’s right. 😀

Female USB socket can be taken out from Multiple USB Port which you can buy from £1 shop

= it’s much cheaper than to buy socket itself.  😀

If you don’t have soldering-iron and such skill, just smash open the USB plug = you

may find 2 wires in the spiral tube = fix the spiral tube with wire or what-so-ever the

manner and connect each wire to the battery + and – = if it doesn’t light-up,

change polarity.

(If you want to place the USB light on the camera, best way is to use camera bracket and fix the

spiral tube to the bracket and the cables can be extended to the battery holder.

(1m, 2m of wire wouldn’t make noticeable change of the brightness of LED)

[]

If you are interested in = just try.

You may realized how easy it is, and fun to experiment with mini photo-studio !

[]

San-sai (山菜) = Edible Plants from Mountain

Early summer, lots of Japanese goes out field or mountain to gather edible plants.

They appreciates each plant’s distinctive tastes and the flavor which is unique to the season.

= Naturally, I receive my friends Email with those stories and photographs (Link here).  (He was few years

Younger member of the Alpine Club = In his older Posts, you may see that he is climbing snowy mountain

every week and skiing ! = That’s how Japanese is living with the Nature )

[]

—– those custom was behind of my Bracken story. = for me, as an ex-patriot, it is a sort of nostalgia to my

Japanese taste,  in the same time it is a resistance to the modern western culture “Vegetable comes

from Tesco”, —– but in fact, it often came from a farm other-side of the earth, 

and regardless the time of year.  (Still, I got tasteful great memory to eat full-ripen tomato in the

very middle of dizzyingly vast, red tomato field in a Canary Island which tomato is destined to

a shelf of super market in England.  A farmer stopped me to pick, and gave me the better one  😀 )

For a sake of convenience, it degrading the one’s only life to a life in statistical number.

To live in its moment mean = unique moment = unique to its year’s season. = not standardized

homogeneous pattern, which was mass produced and sold by a Supermarket.

[]

The stories from Japan is not a kind of surprising news = went so and so place and picked this and that plants then

enjoyed eating them as a Templa and so-on.

(In the photo left, underneath is Wasabia Japonica (that Wasabi /山葵 , comes with Sushi.

They grow in a very clean mountain stream).    And the Small Bamboo Shoots (Takenoko / 竹の子 ).

The big one on top is Aralia Cordata (Udo / 独活).

Right photo is also in the Araliaceae family, Eleutherococcus Sciaphylloides (Koshi-abura / こしあぶら) = may

be not in the west and its bitter taste may be too strong for other than to Japanese ). —– Yet, I noticed, this

Japanese tradition may have some displeasure to the western people which might be originated

from the difference of the natural environment in Japan, and their attitude toward the plants.

= In comparison to the England where only 20% of the land is mountainous,  Japan got their 80% is the mountain

= hence the area where those plants grow is huge and those plants are everywhere = human activities wouldn’t

affect so much (anyhow people wouldn’t go to the same area which got too much competition) and

the plant would recover by making side shoot.

[]

—– It may sound too funny though, only a week or two ago I discovered that I can use Google and Wikipedia

in Japanese. 😀

Because of my knowledges of the plants are all in Japanese, I didn’t necessary wrote the name of the plant in English

or in Latin before. —– But when I Googled and saw Wikipedia in Japanese, then found the English name, I noticed,

some of the plant which Japanese eat, are the garden plants in the west.

Like Foster, they are quite common in the gardens here, and in Japanese mountain they are everywhere.

= they are easy to distinguish and easy to cook such as to put into Miso soup though, the western people may not

feel comfortable to eat them as they make pretty flowers.

The Japanese “Udo” Aralia Cordata is now widely sold in England with a fancy name of “Aralia Cordata Sun King”

hence people never considered to eat as “Udo” like Japanese does.

There is a very firm idiosyncrasy

= plants in the garden is only for visual pleasure never for eating !

And they may not want to be seen as an hungry people. 😀

Kitchen garden might be only for a show-off of their rich folly and for a talking piece.

—– For a Japanese, nature is not just for looking at. They eat a lot from the nature as well

= literally living together.

[]

LIFE

A word [LIFE] having two meanings. Actual practice of Living and the abstract notion of it.

Actual practice of Living is existing there even without the one is aware of it. = I don’t think a smallest

life-form Virus has any awareness of that He (She ?) is existing as reproductive continuous life-form.

—– yet still that Life exists = no need to be aware.  (Without the awareness, all the necessary functions

are automatically carried out. )

[]

It seems, in any language a word representing Life,  seemed to contain always two aspects, hence in Hindu,

the word Zendaki also has two meanings. — Obviously, the meaning of actual Life came first and then

generalized abstracted meaning was invented later.

= It was the product of intelligence, or to say, it was a result of thinking.

To discover this abstract notion of Life, may seemed to be a victory of human intelligence which

opened the way to discover further truth in the human existence.  Abstract notion is the truth.

—– you may think as well.

[]

(I give you a bomb shell.)

Lord Buddha thought it, completely opposite.

That was why He denied the thinking.

All about the Buddhism teachings are to eliminate the thinking, and actually LIVE, in MUSHIN.

Living the LIFE without useless Thinking and to have the direct contact with the world in naked perception,

= We can have the contact with Dharma, —– not through Thinking.

= If any awareness of “ I’m doing” or “ I’m living” is there, it is not in Mindfulness nor in Mushin.

Even for sitting and meditating = it’s got to be in Mushin. (No-Mind, let alone thinking). So that,

Lord Buddha utterly ignored to answer to metaphysical questions.  Since, metaphysics are the products of

abstract thinking. = It is a delusion. = Buddhism doesn’t give a damn to it.

[]

Therefore, if anybody is believing that you can discover or able to reach supreme truth by

meditation is utterly wrong. —– You better stand up, and cut a lemon 😀

(You may get an answer for a pab quiz —– but it is nothing to do with Buddhism or Zen 😀 )

While Living in Mushin, as there is no Preconception imposed on the eyes, you can see what the Dharma is

showing to you. = You can see what the Dharma IS. —– This discovery is not a result of thinking but the

result of your clear eyes.  = You only see it while actually Living the LIFE !

What you saw and realized is the effect of [Direct Transmission]. (by-passing a thinking process)

This is the reason why Buddhism is using the actual Practice for its practice.

Because, through Practice, you can establish the channel to contact with Dharma.

The secret is, through Practice, the necessary mind-set was imprinted to the person’s

subconsciousness.  Without thinking, the Life would be controlled by the subconsciousness.

[]

So, the answer of the Buddhism is JUST LIVE. JUST DO IT = your subconscious knows better.

(When you just live = without useless Thinking, Ego or Greed = strangely you can find the best solution for

the Life, or even a help would suddenly appeared.

—– But, don’t expect it = expectation (greed) negates the virtue of the Dharma 😀 )

___/\___

[][]

Homemade Lens Cap

While walking in the town with my camera on my shoulder, I realized, I’ve dropped a lens hood

and a cap of my Fish-eye Lens.   Because of the fish-eye lens is protruding on its front, the

Lens cap is a special type.  To buy this type must cost more than £ 50 and may need to order.

—– any how, I didn’t even check the price. I know it is extortionately expensive.

I absolutely have no will to buy it.

[]

Since when the camera industry started, their business model is always the same. Like Kodak

and their Brawny camera, camera itself was sold cheap = can be sold even without profit.

The profit was made from the sale of film and its print making process. Polaroid did the same.

But what about the camera maker who is not selling the film. = While selling the camera itself

cheap, their profit came from the sale of accessories such as interchangeable lens, flash light

even a piece of plastic, such as a lens cap, so, the price is kept such high.

—– Many years ago, a boss of big camera company complained me “ We are effectively

making promotional incentive goods to sell the film. The more we work hard and sell more

attractive cameras which makes more people taking photo, it only creates the more profit to

the Film company, not for us 😦 ”

[]

Then, the Digital revolution completely changed the rules of the game.

Photography no longer need to use the film, hence both Kodak and Polaroid bankrupted.

(Fuji Film escaped this by investing digital imaging technology long before digital cameras

appeared, such as working with Xerox and bought Electronic Scanner’s maker, Crossfield,

then utilizing their film emulsion technology, they diversified, expanded even into forefront

of nano technology).

[]

Thanks to have, such as image-sensor manufacturer, like Toshiba, Sony next door, Japanese

Digital camera evolved very quick though I didn’t buy them until I was fully convinced

that the sensor reached to the level of a film camera. ( I’m not implying such as a

top grade DSLR reached as good as Film camera, but when I saw the sample photos of

Canon 5D, I found the photo showed a flaw of the lens, it’s mean the resolution

of the sensor was reached to the limit of average lens = good enough for average

use) —– So that I bought 5D Mk-2  for my first ever Digital Camera.

(I waited a full-frame DSLR for my collection of ultra-wide and fisheye lenses)

—– comparing the cost of film and its process, still it is cheap, and no need

to mention its convenience to use in the Internet environment.

[]

But coming down to a low-tech, just for a molded plastic lens cap, I wouldn’t pay a price of

hi-tech camera.   I’m an humble, or more precisely mean, poor person. (In principle 🙂 )

So, I decided to make it myself and went to Pound-shop to find the best suited material.

= basically, cap for Fish-eye lens is a pan-shaped shallow cap.  Only a matter is, its diameter.

On the photo right, what I found were a fancy color-changing light and moisturizing hand

cream (of its container, not the cream of cause 😀 )

Light housing has bayonet craw which somewhat fit to the lens front bayonet though, it was

made by Styrole Plastic, hence it may easily brake when it got impact. The cream jar was

made by Polypropylene, hence having certain flexibility to grip the lens top with right fiction.

So that, I’ve chosen to use cream jar. And for top lid, I found a junk Pendulum

of old clock 😉  = Cut the jar to a shallow ring and hot-glued the metal disc of pendulum.

Voilà, a lens cap which cost me only £1 —– still I need to work a bit more to prevent it

accidentally come off and lost again.

So, this is the finished product with some stitching work.  = Over the metal cap,

I cover it with chamois and the additional Velcro strap is to tether the cap

to the lens. 

[]

As I’ve been keep saying, this kind of DIY work is a game. = the more free minded

approach, it would be a fun.   (Not mention, it would save the cost too.

It’s far better to use the same money to a memory card kind) 😀 —– only remaining

headache is “ What to do with a moisturizing cream now kept in honey jar ?” I don’t take or

use any artificial things include the medicine on to my body, especially what can you expect

from £1 cream.—– Anyhow, sweet peach smelled, smooth skin Yoshizen may not be

anything near to sexy.  Yuck ! Ha ha ha 😀

[]

PS:   Strangely, I lost the Lens cap again, and I had to make yet another one.

—– As I don’t have anymore clock pendulum, instead I used a cap of pickles jar.

And in this time I got nice colored leather for a cover.   (Click the photo to enlarge and

see the hand stitch = it is a simple practice, hence good Buddhist’s practice of Mushin.  😀 )

Cap works, with a hint of vinegar smell, and if I press its center, it makes a click sound.  😀

[]

Effort ?

An exchange of Comments in the [Spoon !] post may highlight the point of this Blog.

A person called [EML to OUTLOOK] commented ;

“ I have learn some good stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting.

I wonder how much effort you place to make the sort of great informative web site.”

—

What I replied was ;

“For your eyes, it may looks an effort though, the notion of effort is = If you got to

do it for somebody else or for something obliged to do. (not necessary wanted to do)

But in this case, to sharpening the tool, to carving the wood, to take photos of

it and to write about = all together for no purpose and I have no obligation.

I’m just doing it.

( —– What can I expect and going to do with those utterly useless SPOON  😀 )

If you do something such as a game and completely absorbed in it, you may not

feel you are putting an effort (even though you put so much time and energy)

= same as that.

But, was this for myself ? = Zen doesn’t feel even myself was doing it.

Just the hand was doing it.

This is the Zen in action, or it can be said, living Zen. Zen need no effort.

(This is the reason why such a spoon item is in the Zen Blog)”

[]

As often I said in this blog, the most big misunderstanding in the Zen study

emanated from the word [Mindfulness].

And even more fundamental misunderstanding is = try to DO the ZEN. —– Zen is

not a kind of activity to DO = Zen is a condition like a body temperature. It might be 0.1 degree

higher or lower even you can do the same though, it might have an effect to the result.

You can not intentionally choose to be higher body temperature = it is just to be, as it is. 

What actually I was doing is such as sharpening tool, carving wood or typing.

Or Sword Master’s case, just fighting with his sword = Zen is just a mind-set behind.

[]

Mindfulness is the same = you can not actively DO it.

It is whether you were being absorbed in it or not.

This is the reason, why it is hard to understand, let alone achieve it, when you do something

not familiar or not very keen to do the subject. = And this is the reason why I’m keep writing

“Try to do a thing which is familiar to you or very ordinary such as [Cutting Lemon]

or [Walking] as a practice for Zen.  Instead, if you do very peculiar activity = peculiar only

to a sect of religion = until you get used, its strangeness makes your conscious uneasy = as long as

you feel uneasy, you can not settle with the activity = you can not be absorbed in its subject.

( Hence it takes longer time to get used for it become a daily norm = which you can do it

without conscious = automatic)

[]

The man commented was seeing an [Effort] in this blog, especially to make spoon etc, though

as I wrote in my reply, there wasn’t much effort there. = I got used to do all those process.

—– this is the reason why the Buddhism keep saying [Heijyo-shin / 平常心]

( Mind in ordinary) = Zen is just a condition of the mind in the dairy life and

it is nothing special.

[]

There is a fundamental paradox in the condition of the mind —– people were

attracted by a peculiarity of a strange religion which give an impression of something special

= which may give a person to feel “I’m special = better than others” —– though, as long as the

person having this kind of arrogant feeling or Ego, there is absolutely no benefit

of such religion other than a placebo effects of such [special] feeling.

[]

Nothing special or noble, let alone peculiar super-natural vision etc.

in Zen.   Only Zen makes difference in the results in the dairy life.

That’s all.

(The best thing of it is, we can do it without effort = since we can do it while

absorbed in its subject, hence with much higher efficiency 😀

 —– I mean not just carving a Spoon.   😀 )

___/\___

[]

[]

Brutal Nature = or is it just a Nature ?

They are the photos of a Dandelion seed magnified  x16 times (in length, on 36×24 screen)

the Lens used was the one I’ve hand-made to take May Fly Egg before (click the Link here).

———— (This photo is a comparison, taken by Pentax 20mm F4  Lens, in Revers with Extension Ring,

————  but to make a comparison, photo was trimmed to the same size = x16,  like the photo above. 

————  As it was able to stop down to F8 ,  Depth of Field was much deeper than Microscope Lens )

As often the case, it looks pretty and fragile though, nature do have sharp claw and poison.

= Disneylized  romanticized look is just a thin veneer ( still, it would inspire a child’s dream

” Like a Dandelion seed,  fly away in a wind and have a bloom somewhere in a new world” =

how romantic ! ) though = they also live in the same, or even harsher Samsara.  

(And they are really the Nemesis of a gardener   😀 ) —– Through the evolution, Dandelion

seed must have adopted this looks brutal barbed armor, against eaten by a bird.

And this photo was taken by Canon EF Macro F2.8 , at F2.8,  magnification was  x1.

And in comparison, this photo was taken by a lens, once regarded to be one of the best

Macro Lens, Tamron SP 90mm F2.5  at F2.5  with Extension Rings,  magnification was  x1.5.

( Because of this lens has some softness at F2.5, quite few photographer loved it for female

portrait, but I used this lens only for closeup work ) —– all those shots here are for the tests

of shallow focus and the soft image at the fully opened F aperture, since when I found an

Olympus 50mm Macro F2 lens has phenomenal off-focus “Boke” = I wanted to investigate.

[]

In photography, there are two opposite approaches to emphasize the subject = one is using

wide angle lens and close to the subject, hence make the subject over-sized.   😀

The another is, to use telephoto lens, and focus only to the subject. —– even though I like to

do [Man-watching] in distance, when I come to take photo, I don’t like sneak view. 

I like to have face to face, and communicate with the subject, or to commit to the situation. 

( This is the attitude of [Engagement] of the Existentialism and the  Mahayana Buddhism. ) 

—– As I started my photography taking photos of plants, insects = use smaller F-aperture

to get sharper image, deep depth of field was the norm. = I was not a man to use the lens with 

its F-aperture fully opened —– unless the situation demand, under a dim light.  🙂 )

[]

In the life, nothing is simple but having many contradicting facets.   Behind of loving care

of  Tiger mother to her cab, there are misery of a Deer family.   Even a fluffy dandelion seed

having such fierce face which I didn’t know until I gave a very close look.

We tend to makeup a convenient story from just one facet, in most of the case with our

ignorance, or even worse, with a sake of convenience to make the story nice and sweet.

So that, such as in the Eightfold Right Path of Buddhism = to make Right Speech needs to

have right knowledge and the understanding.   It’s  quite a tall order isn’t it.  

And with a crèche, we casually use an expression how gorgeous the spring blossoms are,

or glorious golden color of autumn trees and so on, but nature may not be there to

please mankind = Flower was there, waiting the insects, and we just happen to be there.

[] 

To interpret the Nature in our sake is just our Ego, and romanticize it would be a delusion.

Who said, Mankind conquer the Nature ?  — We only found a bit of way to tamper it, that all.

They may not willfully Brutal against us, as they have no self or Ego, but the Mechanism.

This Mechanism contain us as its part, but they operates without recognize us.

—– and this System is what the Nature mean.   And this is the Dharma in Buddhism.

To see it beautiful or brutal is in our eyes, in fact it’s all in our Mind.  Nature is just there.

[]

 

What is Natural — Tea-bag Story

Many years ago I needed to filter out crystallized residue in a photo-chemical solution.

On that time, I improvised a paper of a tea-bag = it is quite strong not like a tissue paper, neither

it would disintegrate in a liquid.   (If it was in my school time, I could have proper filter paper for

chemistry, and till decade ago, a blotting paper was in a stationary shop, but not in these days. )

—– anyhow the matter is neither type of paper or chemical solution, but

what I found in the contents of a tea-bag = powdered tea of cause. But something

annoyed me was, I found looks like a thread or a sort of fiber sticking out of the

tea powder. It can be a broken jute rope or a sack, or it could be even a fiber from

a cow-dung, came to a floor stuck to a sandal of worker.

[]

Before the invention of tea-bag, the powder or dust of tea, flying out of tea processing machine

was only recycled in a small scale as a give-away to the poor people working there.

But when somebody got very very good idea to utilize those dust, put it into a paper

bag and sell it as Tea-bag, the more convenient way to make a cup of tea, then the

dust was collected using a vacuum-cleaner, hence the dust on the floor as well.

—– (I heard this story, first from a man used to work in a tea packaging factory, and again from

a daughter of an English manager used to be there )

Still, to design an automated machine to make such a bag without using glue was a good effort, but

it was a bit expensive way= hence, to make a round flat tea-bag with one stump process was

another step to make yet more profit = insatiable appetite to satisfy their greed.

[]

There was a report, about the coming food-shortage and “Then, why not eat the insect” story

—– in the story, there was a statistics “the average person eating so-much-so amount of

insects comes with food without knowing”—— yeah, I’ve noticed this many times, while

eating such as vegi salad, I had funny taste.   As I used to collect the insects to make a collection of

specimen, I knew a certain insect gives off particular smell. It was that kind. But, anyhow it was

too late and so far there wasn’t any detrimental trouble I’ve ever had. = So, it should be OK. 😀

[]

In the same context, is there anybody ever thought about, —– in the processed food such as

mince-pie, fig-role or jam kind of milled fruits, packed into a sweets or in a jar, what is in there ?

Are you expecting in a food factory where the one end, truck lord of fruits was through into the

machine and on the other end, packed jam is coming out in a jar, whether individual fruits was

inspected for insect and rejected one by one ? —– (So that, there is a law giving the allowance

for such kind of food can contain so-much-so number of the insects)

[]

The question is, what is natural ?

It is not an issue of credibility of the manufacturer, but ourself.

= If we are believing the quality or its purity

—– Isn’t it our wishful imagination or indulging illusion ?

After all, in reality, nature is not necessary friendly, or the conditions of our life may not so ideal,

we should better accept it as it is, instead to project our idea and create frustration.

[]

To become aware who I am (of whom never be perfect or ideal) is what we need to

have, as the first step to become a bit wiser. (not mention to get enlightened 😀 )

To accept or appreciate a hint of cow-dung in a tea, might be the crucial step

to be a broad minded Buddhist 😀 😀 —– (Do remember, this is the way, how our

immune system was developed = hence, it enabled us to live in this bacteria, virus infested world

= dirt is our part of the life 😀 )

So, keep yourself reasonably clean for not to have too much bacteria, but in the same time never

become compulsory cleansing fanatics. Happiness lays in between = in a so-called Middle Way 🙂

Enjoy your happy day, and a nice cup of Tea as well.

___/\___

[]

Goma-ae Ingen (Green Bean in Sesame source)

– ——( To show the source, it was poured on top of the Green bean, instead to put the bean into the bowl

——where the source was mixed = it’s mean one more bowl to wash = it’s against the way of simple  life    🙂 )

[]

As a humble  Zennist’s principle, I don’t buy so-called snack or sweets.   ( I said, in principle =

exception is a fruits cake in December.   In an old tradition, families goes out to the woods to pick wild

fruits and use them to make a cake to celebrate a festive season. —– Even if it is just a nostalgic story,

still I like a luminescence,  when people had a life with a cycle of the nature.

[]

As a matter of fact, last time I eat a piece of chocolate was last year ? at somebody’s party.

( I don’t like a scandalous situation, even after it became an issue, still the African children were forced to

harvest chocolate beans to satisfy the craving of the people )

But it was not the reason of such social issue, why I don’t buy those sweets was, simply my shopping

list was fixed.  Where and what to buy is always the same and bare essential.  Hence, in my shopping habit,

there is no such item of sweets, and they don’t came up to my scope. —– Of cause I can see, it is there, like

a land scape though, —– So What ?

[]

Instead of such snack, I always have boiled Green bean (Ingen Bean) or Sprouts in a pan.

Before, I used to buy fresh one.   Then, I realized, frozen one is about the same price.

And, they are already prepared. ( In here, I wouldn’t brandish a dogma —— simple life is meant to be

good for a lazy person. = Life would be even simpler if I don’t need to cut them —– yet, I don’t have

Food processor = when one knife can do all the work, why do I need to spend a money to

buy a machine.    Ha ha ha   😀 )

[]

—– Anyhow, in a day, I eat those Greens as a snack.

I eat  fruits as a snack as well, though they are sweet = this is a savory alternative.  (In fact, a Tomato is

also good alternative  🙂 )  —– Then you may say why not a bread — but  to eat tasteless bread we need

to put either butter or jam kind, hence it’s no good.  ( Don’t tell me about Marmite  😀 )

Ask your mouth, not to your brain —– An idea came from the brain can force your mouth to chew, but it

can’t force your throat to swallow = throat was controlled by your instinct,  not by your thinking )

(Priority here is, it should be cheaper than sweets, and others may say it is healthier too)

[]

To eat them, I wouldn’t eat like a rabbit.

Its gotta be good enough for the sophisticated  Zennist’s mouth.   😀

( Simple life doesn’t mean eat junk food = Still, it should be cheap and easy to make =

achieved by some clever adaptation here.   😀 )

In the authentic Japanese cooking, sesame seeds have to be ground in a kind of small mortar called

Suri-bachi with Surikogi stick which I don’t have here ( —– once I tried it with Coffee grinder,  ended up

with miserable havoc = unlike coffee, sesame seeds are very oily = without falling to the bottom, the seeds

became gluey sticky staff and clogged the grinder.  It took me hours to disassemble and clean every parts.

And even after a cleaning, the ground coffee became awfully oily taste = The lesson was, never attempt to

use coffee grinder for anything else but for coffee bean.   😀 )

instead to grind the sesame-seed, I discovered ready-made sesame-seed paste = Tahini

from Greece or Turkey.   ( Sold in the most super-market.   This substitute is a cheat, and not much

freshly ground crispy flavor though, still it has the Sesame taste)

[]

So, this the way to eat  Goma-ae Ingen  in Yoshizen style :

—– (to make for one potion)

= Put a teaspoon full  Tahini paste into a rice (sized) bowl.

= Add a teaspoon of Soy-sauce and mix well —– That it !

This is too humble and taste is not rich enough, so I normally put something a bit more.

= Half tea spoon of Miso (Soybean paste).

= Quarter teaspoon of Dashi powder. ( or few shake of MSG if you dare)

= Two or three drops of  West Indian Chilly Sauce. (This is a very hot staff so, if you like )

===> Mix well. Then put boiled Green bean and mix with the sauce.

And just eat as its own,  or a side-dish for a meal.

[]

—– It wouldn’t take more than few minutes to make still,  you will be surprised the taste so good !

With this source, I eat boiled sprouts or broccoli as well.

In place of  Tahini, it can be done with Mayonnaise as well.

(Except Dashi which contains fish powder, rest are totally vegetarian.  People despise MSG though, it was

originally extracted from Kombu ( Kelp seaweed) and synthesized out of  Wheat Gluten = if it is anything

bad for the health, Chinese are already extinct from the Planet as they use tons of  it every day.

Additives in a Mayonnaise are far more suspicious than few shakes of MSG   :-D)

So, have a try, and Enjoy an healthy eating of  Ingen-bean.

( Incidentally, the name Ingen was after a  16th century Zen master who said to have

brought this bean from China)

The beauty of this cooking is,  if we are going to go a party, where everybody bring a cooking,

—–  just bring a mixed source in a small jar, boil the bean in their kitchen and serve.

It will be counted as one good dish.  = very convenient !

[]