Sublime

respected Tanchiu Koji Terayama, director of Hitsu Zendo. The English translation of his book’s title is Zen and the Art of Calligraphy (transl. by John Stevens; Penguin Group, 1983).

Rakuware, which later became synonymous with tea utensils, was in fact first commissioned by Rikyu after he noticed the visual qualities of a locally made roof tile. He asked the tile maker, Chojiro, to fashion pots using the same low-fired technique. Years later, Hideyoshi gave this style his approval by awarding a gold seal to Chojiro’s son with

A profound regard for te underlies the entire higher culture of the Far East, so much so that it has been made the basic principle of every kind of art and craft. While it is true that these arts employ what are, to us, highly difficult technical disciplines, it is always recognized that they are instrumental and secondary, and that superior work h

What of architectural beauty I now see, I know has gradually grown from within outward, out of the necessities and character of the indweller, who is the only builder—out of some unconscious truthfulness, and nobleness, without ever a thought for the appearance and whatever additional beauty of this kind is destined to be produced will be preceded

A friend, now ninety years old, who has run a gorgeous ryokan on the coast of Kyushu for some sixty years, once told me, hotels are just prepubescent ryokans. “Inns without hair” is the exact quote. And staying here, you feel it wholly—how refined and mature it is compared to your average hotel. The Marriott ain’t got nothing on this place. A baby

And as far as art in everyday life and the awareness experience is concerned, transcending aggression is the root of all the artistic talent one can ever imagine.

As another Zen teaching says, “The path is right beneath your feet.”