Shibumi Sanctuary

Monday, January 29, 2024

Zen Koans - some resources

This is a placeholder for links to interesting Zen Koans...enjoy!

https://ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html

(more to be added...)

Thursday, February 23, 2023

My Favorite Translation of The Tao Te Ching

By Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English (1974)
https://genius.com/Laozi-tao-te-ching-gia-fu-feng-and-jane-english-translation-annotated

On Amazon.com

Cover art for Tao Te Ching (Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English Translation) by Laozi

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Farm Houses in Japan

Saturday, October 3, 2020

Stillness In Solitude

Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash

Sometimes we all need stillness.

To pause.

To reflect.

To plan.

To be in the moment - and not constantly striving/competing toward some goal.

To simply sit and watch the clouds roll by.

To watch the waves continue their unending journey to the shore.

To walk in the forest and hear the wind in the trees.

The sanctity of stillness in solitude - as a necessary pillar of our spiritual health.

Monday, August 19, 2019

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

In 1981, while stationed at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, with the 24th Infantry Division - I began teaching a weekly Shotokan karate class at the base's Community Center.

One of the students in that class was the young son of Mrs. Hisako Durbin - who became a dear friend.

She worked at the small food court (at the "Shoppette") that was opposite the base's "Moon Theater" - and within a short walk from my barracks.

We began our friendship over many months - when she would take her break in the late afternoon - and I would visit to be tutored in the Japanese language.

Once she learned that I was teaching karate at the community center, she asked me to accept her son as a student.

The night she came to watch her son train - afterward, she shared with me a compliment of the first order - the memory of which I cherish to this day...a short Japanese phrase that translated means: "Single-mindedness of Purpose"...which is what she felt generated from the floor, as I led the class in their training.

After Anwar Sadat was assassinated in Egypt - she feared for my safety - as I was to be part of a Rapid Deployment Force exercise called "Operation Bright Star", and was scheduled to travel to Egypt soon thereafter.

She gave me her cherished Buddhist meditation beads to take with me - and I remembered the chant I had learned one weekend when she invited me to join her at a small gathering of followers of the Nichiren Buddhism sect. This was an act of grace, kindness, and friendship - that touched me deeply.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

A Candidate House for Shibumi Sanctuary

Since 1999, I have had a dream of creating an Artist Retreat - for a small cohort of visiting artists (painters, sculptors, poets, writers, etc.). A sanctuary - in which artists of different modalities might spend weeks or months - with room & board provided at a low nominal cost to them - so that they might have the freedom to bring their dreams to reality - and perhaps, create their masterpieces.

Tomorrow I will be calling a realtor to inquire about this house - a 5,000 sq ft. mansion - that has been on the market for quite a while (a foreclosure) - and is now at a steeply discounted price.

There may be unexpected (and disappointing) news with regards to the condition of the house - but, I will ask for a favorable wind from Neptune and Poseidon.

This is a good example of what I have always envisioned Shibumi Sanctuary to eventually be:

Thursday, December 1, 2011

What does Shibumi mean?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibui

Shibui (渋い) (adjective), shibumi (渋み) (noun), or shibusa (渋さ) (noun) are Japanese words which refer to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty. Like other Japanese aesthetic terms, such as iki and wabi-sabi, shibui can apply to a wide variety of subjects, not just art or fashion.

Shibumi is a Japanese word that means 'effortless perfection'. Anything that is Shibumi is quiet in refinement, noble and fulfilling in a manner that is not shaped exclusively by analytical thought.

In Japanese culture, Shibumi implies 'a simplicity of spirit; an attitude of refinement without pretension, honesty without apology, beauty without artifice. Western mystics try to attain or achieve a state of inner peace, but shibumi must be found, not won.'

Shibumi is understanding rather than knowledge, it is harmony in action. In art, it is understated beauty, articulate brevity. In philosophy, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming.

The kanji or character for shibumi has many meanings. The term may describe the subtle and elegant patterns of a fine kimono. Or the effortless grace of a bird in flight. A shibumi flower arrangement brings into being coolness during a scorching summertime and sunshine on a frigid day It may describe an action done with effortless perfection.

Shibumi is a Japanese concept that suggests complete harmony, tranquility, and balance. It is "eloquent silence" and "understanding, rather than knowledge."

The following excerpt is from Shibumi by Trevanian. Published by The Ballantine Books, New York. Copyright C 1979 by Trevanian.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51VU66LzGKL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

". . . Tell me, Nikko. Will you miss Shanghai?"
Nicholai considered for a second. "No."

"Will you feel lonely in Japan?"

Nicholai considered for a second. "Yes."

"I shall write to you."

"Often?"

"No, not often. Once a month. But you must write to me as often as you feel the need to. Perhaps you will be less lonely than you fear. There are other young people studying with Otake-san. And when you have doubts, ideas, questions, you will find Otake-san a valuable person to discuss them with. He will listen with interest, but will not burden you with advice." The General smiled. "Although I think you may find one of my friend's habits of speech a little disconcerting at times. He speaks of everything in terms of Go. All of life, for him, is a simplified paradigm of Go".

"He sounds as though I shall like him, sir."

"I am sure you will. He is a man who has all my respect. He possesses a quality of . . . how to express it? . . . of shibumi."

"Shibumi, sir?" Nicholai knew the word, but only as it applied to gardens or architecture, where it connoted an understated beauty. "How are you using the term, sir?"

"Oh, vaguely. And incorrectly, I suspect. A blundering attempt to describe an ineffable quality. As you know, shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances. It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it does not have to be real. Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge. Eloquent silence. In demeanor, it is modesty without pudency. In art, where the spirit of shibumi takes the form of sabi, it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity. In philosophy, where shibumi emerges as wabi, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming. And in the personality of a man, it is . . . how does one say it? Authority without domination? Something like that."

Nicholai's imagination was galvanized by the concept of shibumi. No other ideal had ever touched him so. "How does one achieve this shibumi, sir?"

"One does not achieve it, one . . . discovers it. And only a few men of infinite refinement ever do that. Men like my friend Otake-san."

"Meaning that one must learn a great deal to arrive at shibumi?"

"Meaning, rather, that one must pass through knowledge and arrive at simplicity."

From that moment, Nicholai's primary goal in life was to become a man of shibumi; a personality of overwhelming calm. It was a vocation open to him while, for reasons of breeding, education, and temperament, most vocations were closed. In pursuit of shibumi he could excel invisibly, without attracting the attention and vengeance of the tyrannical masses.

Kishikawa-san took from beneath the tea table a small sandalwood box wrapped in plain cloth and put it into Nicholai's hands. "It is a farewell gift, Nikko. A trifle."

Nicholai bowed his head in acceptance and held the package with great tenderness; he did not express his gratitude in inadequate words. This was his first conscious act of shibumi.

Although they spoke late into their last night together about what shibumi meant and might mean, in the deepest essential they did not understand one another. To the General, shibumi was a kind of submission; to Nicholai, it was a kind of power.

Both were captives of their generations.