Sublime

Basho wrote his haiku in the simplest type of Japanese speech, naturally avoiding literary and “highbrow” language, so creating a style which made it possible for ordinary people to be poets. Bankei, his contemporary, did just the same thing for Zen,

he introduced the Middle Way, a balanced approach that avoided the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.

Bankei (1622–1693) was a contemporary of Hakuin and for some time roshi at the Myoshinji monastery in Kyoto. Translations of his informal talks on Zen, directed especially to lay people, may be found in D. T. Suzuki’s Living by Zen (Pasadena, Calif.: P. D. and Ione Perkins, 1949), and in Lucien Stryk, ed., World of the Buddha (New York: Doubleday &

And this is the nature of the Tao. We all face gain and loss, joy and sorrow, and birth and death. The laws are inescapable.

Appreciating Simplicity Wabi-sabi is made up of two separate words — wabi and sabi. Wabi: ● It is about finding beauty in simplicity and a spiritual richness and serenity in detaching from the material world. ● It implies stillness. ● It is a sense of contentment in the material world. ● It is a mindset that appreciates humility, simplicity, and