How NOT to get COVID-19

This was a tweet which has been Re-tweeted 100.000 times in two days,

[the advise, how NOT to get COVID-19 infected] made by a (Prof) Takayuki Miyazawa（宮沢孝幸准教授） of the Virus study, Kyoto Uni’, Japan

(1) Think, you were a person already infected by the COVID-19.

(2) And Think, try NOT to infect others.

(3) Breath through the Nose. (not by the mouth)

(4) Don’t touch your Nose, Eyes, Mouth while you are out.

(5) While you are eating, just eat, NOT to SPEAK (or Talk)

(of course, those MIND-SET were on top of the ordinary precaution = What to DO, such as [Wash your hand] [Keep a distance to each other] etc ——- may be because of those mind set and the attitude, the number of the infected in Japan is (on 30-03-2020) only 2.700 cases so far.

Stay safe and keep you well.

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Quest of Better = Zen Mind

If you think about all aspects of Zen, you might noticed a point, which might be “The Point” in “The Zen”.

There are many books, collection of so-called Mondo = Question and the Answer — (though, they are mostly Rinzai approach).  Yet still, there is no ultimate sample like = “If you can answer this, you have reached to the Zen, or even the Enlightenment” kind.  —– Do you know why ?  Because, Zen is not a notion or thinking nor one answer or one point to reach.  Zen is a process.   A finger pointing the Moon.   Does anybody ever reached to the Moon ?   No.    Zen is not the Moon.   Nor Enlightenment.   Finger never reach the Moon.   But without the finger, there couldn’t be any Zen.    Because, Zen is in its process.    The process, try to reach.   Kneeling, a bit by bit —– ? to where ? —– to the better.   Go better mean, not to remain in the same place. —– in this aspect, Soto’s doing approach is easier than the Rinzai’s thinking approach. = This is the reason why most of practice for Zen learning was originated from Soto Zen.   That’s how all those achievement was made such as in the crafts skill, sword making, martial art etc. etc.   

You might have noticed, yes, this is the other version of the photo on the previous post.   This photo looks too ordinary = I chose darker one which may give a bit more dubious impression.   And made the image a bit of adjustment —> right hand side up a bit to break a balance and give even more un-settled feeling.  Then trimmed the top further to show the metallic forks more and gave even brutal, uneasy, un natural feeling.   —– you can see those differences on front but if it was a notion in your head, such as “The post should give rather heavy impression”  = How can you find the answer, what to do.    Seeing the things on front and adjust them to achieve certain direction would be easier —– but not in a thinking.   So, this was the point, how the idea of Kaizen was developed, and how Japanese created many small marvels in the electronics still, not able to invent iPhone. (Japanese was making over-spec mobile-phones but couldn’t conceive a fundamentally different phone system. = adding one more spec can be done as a Kaizen step, but iPhone kind was too far for the  Kaizen approach = It needed to change whole thinking from the start.) 

Zen culture is Doing, and its matter is “Keep Doing while aiming better” —– We may achieve Doing in Mushin = almost like a robot.   But aiming better is the matter of the Mind-set = with a full concentration, keep clear eyes on it down to the minute detail, and see what it should be.  = This is the ZEN practice. = In short, say to do A, having a mind-set “Do better A” and this mind-set might be sublimated down to the subconscious level IS Zen ! ~ ~ ~ and then, when you can do A with no mind at all, neither care anything (let A to have its own Karma) you ARE enlightened !  —– Unless otherwise, all the bicycle rider who doesn’t care any mind-set would become a Zen master.  (That’s why the enlightened master does looks exactry the same to the outside non-person.     😀  )

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110 Pentax Lens on A7R

OMG, —– I found a EOS 620 body and a tiny Pentax 110 (both of them were broken junk state) for hefty £5 in the odds & ends box of the City Camera Exchange, Strand Shop.  (They got the best junk in London as well as the latest expensive cameras, and if you feel hungly, you can have the best lunch or dinner in the Simpsons, only few steps round a corner.)   😀

EOS body may be used as a display dummy for my (Canon mount) homemade lens, and the tiny 110 Pentax lens, should make a good fun to test it. 

To test this Pentax lens on Sony A7R body was very easy = just mount the tiny lens on an A7R body cap — Infinity focus was happened to be almost straight.  (but there is no Iris as the camera was designed to give an Auto-exposure by Aperture and the Shutter speed combined system.  = So, the lens works as a 24mm F2.8 only lens, and the focus works very well. (If your finger is small enough to pinch its small lens front)   😀

As the lens is rather bright F2.8 = focused depth is quite shallow yet still, the image where focused was very sharp and crisp.   Though, since the lens was designed for 110 Instamatic size, image circle doesn’t cover the 35mm full screen of course.   (and I wouldn’t attempt to make it Retro-focus with a concave lens to spread the image.)

Don’t to be fooled, even if the camera, lens were such small, like a children’s toy,  Pentax seemed to designed its lens with their full force. = image was such crisp = I would say, too prosaic !  The lens showed no chromatic aberration, in fact it got no aberration at all.  (May be in reverse use, lens may work as a pretty good macro lens. —– I’ll test it on future.)

Still, such small lens on the small mirrorless camera is very comfortable and CUTE ! = I wouldn’t complain the dark surroundings.  Its a own character and a part of fun.

for comparison, this was a shot by the 110 AUTO 18mm —– think, this is 18mm and fully open f2.8 = the quality is very high !

Well, we can have a lot more fun from those old lenses.

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Mindfulness yet again ? ? ?

Many years, I’ve been having incongruity toward the use of the word, so-called Mindfulness. — With a kind of hunch (There seems to be a big mistake ! ), I refer back to the Agama scripture how they wrote about the definition of Selfless. —– It seems there is no direct description of No-self in the Agama, but only the indirect explanation, which was as an answer to a question “Is there permanent Self (Atoman) exists ?”   It was only in a metaphor of the impermanence of a soil (or cow dung). (= Even such simple existence of soil couldn’t be permanent, how the mind or Self could exists permanent.)

Of course the No-self was not the primary phenomenon but only a consequence of No-permanence, and No-permanence was because of the constant activity of the Karma. Understanding of the Karma was Lord Buddha’s most fundamental philosophy, and from here, such as Four Noble Truth were deduced.   Therefore, it may not too strange to have less significance of the No-self in the Agama scripture.   Or, it could be the deliberately placed emphasis to negate the Self.  Since you can’t talk about a thing which is not exists. Why Self is not exists, because it was a deluded product of the mind.  And the mind is only a momentary reflection of the Karma.  So that, to put emphasis on the mind (of awareness / memory) in the Mindfulness practice IS not Buddhism.  In deed, the Theravada sect who promoted the idea of Mindfulness was based on the idea of Sathi, which was the idea in the Vedic meditation.   Of course Vedic stands on the idea of Atoman = Perpetual mind / Self = so that, become aware of the mind = mindfulness IS their practice.   It is not a Buddhism but nothing but a Hindu practice.  This IS a typical mix-up or a misunderstanding of the Buddhism by the Theravada sect.

Whether clinging the mind could bring any good to the mental health of the person, in comparison to the empty-minded Buddhists.  It was too apparent in the social phenomena in a Hindu country, in contrast to a country where people even don’t remember that they were the Buddhist = Japan.   A country where the notorious brutal gang rape cases were kept happening, or the country where the safest place to travel.       The question IS where their Ethos and the Morality came from.

It was the observation made by Lord Buddha 2500 years ago.   Clinging the idea and such mind is nothing but a delusion since the idea of “such mind could exists” itself IS the delusion.   And let all the five senses free = not to stick to any perception will make us to emancipate any notion or image, hence able to see the Dharma. (All those notion, images which were the products of thinking, has been masking the Dharma.)

It IS the biggest irony, as long as you are thinking or seeing something, you can not see the truth. When you abandon to see, you start to see the Dharma. — The most funny irony IS, to abandon to see, stop thinking to see IS exact opposite of the so-called mindfulness practice. So, those so-called mindfulness practice is creating yet another delusion and the obsession.

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Fill the sink-hole in one week

A sink-hole ( 30m x 25 m x 15 m deep) appeared in the center of Hakata city in Japan has been filled just in a week. Here is a video footage of whole process condensed to the even shorter 140 second. (Compiled from the NHK 24 hours live camera image)   They are a record of the ordinary ground work = nothing fancy, no drop of the soil from a helicopter kind but just a filling work, connecting life line etc. in a gapless efficient works.  Hence it was done in the shortest possible time (save a little delay due to the bad weather) of which the foreign media described that if it was in their country, it could have taken a month, even a year or more.    Though it involved ten or more specialist company, each work wouldn’t take long hours to do = in other words, well organised continuous work (= without waiting, arguing kind of time waster) work could be done and has been done. —– On this episode, the most crucial point in the Japanese psyche is, that they can make themselves Ego-less at once.  This is the core of the Japanese Ethos, originated from the Zen Buddhism, Mushin (Mind of No-mind). With this deeply sublimated Ethos = Collective Unconsciousness, all the construction company, expert in each trade come together work together, disregard the competing company’s interest etc. The company’s interest, individual interest were copletely over ridden by the sense of “Duty”to serve the community. 

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Stitch Work (1)

Coming to the time hard to thread the sawing needle, I became 

aware what I learned from my mother when I was young.

My mother used to make the Kimonos herself.   Often using very

rare expensive silk such as Oshima-tsumugi.  You may feel strange

though, I was sitting and watching her work and when she needed

I thread the needle for her.   Make Kimono is of course done by the

hand stitching. (Even now, all the Japanese Kimono was made by hand

= a kind of tourists souvenir, Happi Kimono may be made by a sawing

machine (in China) but Japanese doesn’t see them are Kimono at all.)

—– Sawing, hand stitching is nothing but an utterly laborious work.

And virtually all the sawing in the Kimono-making is straight line.

Only the exception sometime is the end of Tamoto in Furisode Kimono

(= long sagged down sleeves).   Its mean, no innovative variation or

inventive shortcut kind could ever exist = just keep stitching straight.

= If it was not straight, the fabric distort, so it looks funny and make a

person wearing feel ashamed. So,to a Kimono-maker or needle woman

to become able to do an adequate stitch, it may need to make at least

10 Kimonos for a practice.  (if it was an expensive silk, de-thread and

remake again — very fine needle will not damage the fablic.)

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In the all the traditional crafts or art kind, how the novice to learn is

by way of watching and mimic = to copy what the master does.

Not mention the stitching work, which is push the needle, front to the

back and to the front again ~ ~ ~, mimicking and copy is nothing but

the repeating the same action again and again.

= IS to program the pattern into the brain. = (When the pattern was

imprinted in the brain, the action, include the speech become

automatic = automatic mean “No self”)   When the level of learning =

copying deepen to such automatic level, it’s standard or the quality

reaches to the perfection.   Because the body moves like a precise

machine without the interference of useless thought or emotion.

In this level, there couldn’t be any Ego = no emotion or high-level

thought. — so, you might wonder, what IS the motivation to do it ?

“Motivation ?      What’s the Motivation ?”

— When the task is on front = there wouldn’t be any choice but to DO.

(This situation has been misunderstood as the “Concentration” or

so-called “Mindfulness”. 😀 )

And, is the task really there ? How DO I know when myself is not there =

nor any mind, observing it.   (The people who mistook that the Zen

is a matter of awareness = A way of different thinking, couldn’t

emancipates this trap of thinking therefore couldn’t be escaped from 

this dichotomy = “Observing vs Observed Self” — When the SELF is 

 not there, WHO is observing or aware of it ?) = It’s mean, as long as 

a notion of Zen is there (or you think, you are doing a Zen),

it is not Zen at all.  Zen is being in no-mind = Mushin.

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This is the situation WHAT the Buddhists call VOID.

— Which I’ve learned from the stitching work when my conscious

was absorbed into the moving needle.

= Effectively my mother taught me the most crucial essence of Zen

without saying even a single word of Zen or Buddhism.(Of course,there

was no word of Zen or even a name of Buddhism exists on the time of

Lord Buddha.  He only showed the way to DO and what he told was the

jokes, then took a rest while sitting quiet.  When the teachings were

“Selfless” it couldn’t be taught using the word “Self” as it’s not exists.

So, he only showed the way to DO without SELF.) 

The people who was not there and only heard about had mistaken that

the sitting (and assumed to be thinking) was the matter.

Then all the misconception and the nix-up were bore out from here.

( — Sitting was just having a rest).

So, you were trapped here.   Are you watching the stitches, or

something encircled by the stitches ?

Oh, naughty you, what are you thinking. It’s just a cloth and the

stitches, still it’s better to be a naughty as we can have a laugh.    

Ha ha ha   😀

___/\___

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Useless Information (?)

Image here was made by a Tri-color Pinhole which I could mount on

the A7 camera through Nikon to EOS and EOS to E-mount adapter. 

(What a hustle ! = I’ll tell you later.)

During all those hustle, what I found were — (though they may not

necessary useful to you.)    😀

1)  You can use Pentax-K lens cap on Nikon lens. (Photo Left) 

2)  Likewise, the same Pentax-K  lens cap will fit to the Sony

E-mount lens. (Photo Middle) 

3)  Sony E-mount body cap will fit to the Nikon body. (Photo Right)

4)  The adapter, EOS to E mount I got from Ebay (about £5 or so) had

a trouble — as bayonet spring was too wide and obstructing the lens

bottom goes into = I needed to file-down the width of those 3 springs

(where I marked in Red on the photo Right = see enlarged) 

(Photo shows the bayonet spring and a broken hence replaced screw)

= If you found the same trouble, you need to do the same — or buy

another, more expensive one. (So, they changed the price to £7.xx) 😀

(Think, why it was cheap = being defective, it became a deadstock and

sold as a scrap.   Then, Chinese guy made a Net business to sell away

= how many customers sending back and claim a money back which

would cost more, and the address may not even existed.)   😀

The funny story was, as I put negative feedback on ebay, the seller

contacted me saying if I change the feedback to positive,they will

refund me, so I replied them “As this blog explained, I’ve modified

its defect and now I’m using it, therefore no need of refund, still,

the fact remain I wouldn’t change the negative feedback” —

then, they send me yet another mail

“We will send you £2,  so change the feed back to positive” =

Are they thinking that they can buy me £2 ! = What a mentality !

Is this a norm in China ?   horrifying isn’t it ! 

To see the situation, I gave a through check of those adapters.

(To be fair, I obtained even one more EOS-NEX adapter)

In order to make a bayonet fixing tight enough= not clutter,

still smooth enough to dismount, the spring was used beneath

the craw (such as the one I’ve shown few picture before with

red mark), other cheaper alternative is to make a slit in the

claw (Photo above Left = yellow marked) and make the slit

bend to give some flexibility.    Though, the other EOS-NEX

adapter showed funny character = Canon’s EFS (plastic mount)

could be mounted but metal mount thousand pound lens couldn’t. 

Because the adapter’s female claw was too thick.  ==> I needed

to file down the claws thinner. (Photo Right — with blue color

marker =  it’s easy to see where I do need to cut !)

(It’s funny to discover, that the Canon is making their

cheap EFS lens mount even thinner and loose.)

5)  Nikon G to EOS adapter sold on the Net, the rotating lever may be

too long and stack with the lens bottom.  So that, if you found the sign

of such symptom, DON’T mount the lens to EOS with such adapter.  

You need to file-down the tip of the lever (marked in Red in the

photo above) a bit shorter, and make sure the lever moves freely.

So, — after I’ve sorted out those troubles, I could mount my

Tri-color Pinhole (here, Pink, Yellow, Sky)  to the A7 body.

( Then after thought, I should make another one for A7, since an

Olympus body cap which is fit to A7 is  £0.99 and etc is free, but

the use of those adapter which is costing £5, £10 makes no sense.)

And, this was the photo of, now rather familiar view — by

the Zeiss Distagon 18mm, designed for Nikon mount.

—– A nightmare of the mount adapter IS = once the lens stack

to the body, there is no way else other than to destroy the lens.

(Pull-off the screws, fixed to the mount with sheer force or hack-saw 

the lens bottom while showering the camera with saw dust.)

Is it funny ?

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PS :  If you are looking for the Body Cap for Sony NEX mount to use

for a Pinhole experiment etc. or just for body cover, now in the Ebay

you can find the pair of E-mount (NEX) Rear Lens Cap + Body Cap

for £0.99 —– you don’t need to hastle finding out OM cap.   🙂

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Tanbo-Art — Godgilla

Well, Tanbo Art mean Rice field Drawing = the drawing was made

by the different color of the rice crop = it’s mean, each crop was

planted exact position months ago.   And each colored crop was

pains takingly developed and the seeds has been kept over the years

by the local farmers — only for this fun.   (Still, with this Drawing,

it’s made this utterly non assuming local village “Inaka-date,

Aomori prefecture, famous and attracting thousands of tourists.)

So, for this year, they created Godgilla !  (Photo from Jiji news)

—– This almost like an obsessive dedication and the pains taking

attention is nothing but the Zen Practice (though they, the farmer

themselves may not aware of it at all.) = (Zen Ethos has been so

deeply sublimated in Japan, people does not necessary know why

it has to be done in that way, for what reason.  Yet still, as a custom

or tradition, it has been kept and practiced exactly the same way

hundred of the years, it’s forming the collective belief, the Ethos.)

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One of the International research found, that the Japanese are the

most “Atheist” like people (doesn’t believe God or Buddha exists)

still, they all believe the fate or the punishment from the heaven.

= it’s mean, the teachings has been such deeply sublimated, hence

the words or the title figure has been completely forgotten still

the mind has been shaped down to the unconscious level.

(You may not aware why you were offered disposal chopstick when

you were invited their party / diner = they feel the chopstick is not

clean once you touched = So that, Japanese doesn’t eat like Chinese

or Korean from the same bowl but take the food to their own small

dish, avoiding a chance of the chopsticks touch others’.

—– The teachings of Right-Wrong / Do-Not Do were

deepen to the unconscious mind / chemical level.)

= So, once they were convinced and started to DO, there couldn’t

be any doubt or hindrance, down to unconscious level —– Do 

grow the best rice or make a strongest sword. = Just do it.

And do it without the self conscious, (it’s mean, no Ego or Greed

= mind is free) the result would be the best.

This is the Zen.

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Zen or just a Miser ?

Have you guessed it ?   This is nothing but a washing-up Sponge. 

Still, why it is here – was – did you noticed, it has been stitched up. 

I think, it came from a Pound-shop = four of them for a pound.

It has been used to wipe water arround kitchen sink or wipe the

bottom of a pan after washed etc.  (Inside will be left dry itself.)

Still after while it has been teared and broken.  So, I stitched up

its tear and kept using it. = It is not bad enough to bin.  (Even

though, I have new one left in stock.)

— it is a normal practice on my life. But, I never preached others to 

do the same or even suggested (it’s their business.) – Is it too stingy ?   

Or is this an attachment to a possession?   Kind of greed for 25 pence ?

If I may say, this IS my Mindfulness to the humble sponge.

And as I do, this IS Zen. 

If you think otherwise, your understanding of Zen IS wrong.

___/\___

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PS :

There could be two completely opposing views here.

* The mind, stack to the sponge could talk about Zen ?

* Or, the mind which couldn’t even pay attention to a sponge

could talk about Zen ? —– the answer IS, — What is Zen ? 

(Clinging the imaginary idea of Zen is remotest to the Zen.)   

Don’t talk, don’t think, just do.  = (that was, what

Lord Buddha taught.)

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Takumi (2)

A guy asked me “So, you say the supreme quality component

could be made by the empty-headed robot ?”

“No, that is not true — I needed to explain more”.

The matter of the use of tool in Mushin is the last stage of

the production. Other issue there (if any) has to be resolved

before hand.

—– There is the fundamental difference of the worker’s

mind-set in Japan.    Western or westernised society, the

people has individualistic mind even on a factory floor,

and in the same time the ways to work in the production

was fixed by the manager down to the small details.

So that the worker’s mind was “Just do what was told and

anything beyond the instruction is not MY business = I only

need to mind my own interest”.

But Japanese worker takes his/her work as a part of his life.

He feels the responsibility and the pride in it.

[]

—– Even on a fully computerised automated CNC machine,

such as the change of the cutting bits and its maintenance

affect the final quality.    And the person working with it

everyday could see the difference but how to deal with this

matter wouldn’t be the same in Japan and the west.

In the west, the worker there may ignore as it is not his

responsibility or just report it to a technical staff.

But in Japan, the person working with it and changing

the cutting bits can give a very deep observation and try

a minute adjustment.   Or, the person working with the

machine many years may have discovered the tendency of the

production, such as the weather condition affect the quality 

= and may have found even a measure to compensate it.

As I said, the Japanese worker has the attachment to the work

= even if it may not as heavy as a “Sense of Duty” still keeps

an eye to the work and able to see what is going on.

And the crucial point IS their mind can see the difference

and conceive “What could be done” because they could see

what would make the work/result better. (Same as Kaizen)

(By the way, I got a Degree in Industrial Sociology and a work

experience in Honda while working with 1000 ton press.)

[]

In Zen Buddhism, this mind-set was called Mindfulness.

(though, this word is the most misunderstood word in the west.

— western people think “Mindfulness is the concentration of

the mind” but in Zen, it is the completely open mind without any

other notion but see the work on front of the eyes. = It’s mean 

when you ARE working with the machine, see that work.  

When you ARE walking, let your body WALK = DON’T think about

the work while you ARE  WALKING. 

— And see you ARE Walking but DON’T think how to walk.  😀  

[]

In Judaeo-Christianity, the followers await the salvation = go to

the Heaven “after the death”.

But the Buddhists hope to reach Enlightenment = get Enlightened

while we live.

Lord Buddha’s teachings was “when you die, it’s the end”

—– so, while we ARE still alive we have to come close to the

Enlightenment as close as possible.  

Therefore, Zen is the way to DO the best, to achieve the best. 

This IS the mind-set of the Zen and this mind-set has been deeply

sublimated to the Japanese  = If you work with CNC machine,

achieve its best.    If you make sword, make strongest sword.

If you are a sword-master be the strongest killer. — and to be

the strongest sword-master, don’t think but JUST  KILL.

—– So, this mind-set IS the mind-set of the TAKUMI and

no wonder why the Japanese Takumi could achieve to produce

the component no one else could.

(Now you might be realised that was why no routing after the

disaster in Japan and having the least crime rate in the world.)

Have look the lotus flower, it IS flowering out of muddy

water NOW = it’s no use, to dream a promise in the heaven.

We have to live best, NOW in this moment.

___/\___

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