#65 The Zen Arts & Photography. With Chris Lunt

The Zen Aesthetic, Or Wabi-Sabi

Zen has a unique aesthetic, which includes a great appreciation for moderation, asymmetry, imperfection, rusticity, and naturalness.

This Zen aesthetic concept is called Wabi-sabi, and it sees beauty in things that are imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. In art, Wabi-sabi is manifested in modest, humble, unpretentious and earthy artworks.

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Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1831

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e#/media/File:The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa.jpg

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Horikiri Iris Garden (Horikiri no hanashōbu), from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshige#/media/File:Utagawa_Hiroshige_I,_published_by_Uoya_Eikichi_-_Horikiri_Iris_Garden_(Horikiri_no_hanashōbu),_from_the_series_One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo_(Meish..._-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Asakusa Kinryuzan (Asakusa Kinryuzan [Sensoji Temple]), from the series Meisho Edo hyakkei (One hundred views of famous places of Edo)

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BONSAI

Seeing the universe in everything.

KINSUGI

Embrace flaws. The articulation of wabi-sabi

IKEBANA

Balance and harmony of elements.

ENSO

Effortless elegance.

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

HAIKU

Poetic constraints.

How admirable

he who doesn’t think life is fleeting

when he sees the lightning.

(Basho)

Pepperpods

Put wings on them

And they’re dragonflies

(Basho)

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Mushotoku represents a state of mind where the spirit does not seek to obtain anything. This is the attitude of a mind that do not get attached to objects and that seeks no personal profit.

Hishiryo is a state of mind beyond thinking and non-thinking. During the practice of Zazen, it is the normal condition of the consciousness.

Zanshin is a concept found in Zen, Budo (Japanese martial arts), particularly Kendo, and in many Japanese arts, such as Ikebana (flower arrangement), chado (the tea ceremony) and sumi-e (ink painting).

Fudoshin is the 'immovable mind', that is, the mind that has met all challenges of life, and has attained a state of complete composure and fearlessness. This state of equanimity is essential in the practice of Zazen and Budo.

Mushin is the essence of Zen and Japanese martial arts. Mushin literally means the "mind without mind", and it is commonly called "the state of no-mindedness" 

Satori: As opposed to what many people think, Buddhist Enlightenment is not a special state of mind. It is simply a return to the original, natural condition of the human mind.

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• Rubin’s Portfolio of Photography | Rubin’s Instagram (@droidmaker)

• Suzanne’s Instagram (@sfritzhanson)

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