It is surrounded by lush greenery, with the fragrance of green leaves and the smell of moss floating in the face. Squatting in the dim light, bathing in the faint reflected light of the paper door, whether meditating or looking out the window at the courtyard scenery, the mood is really indescribable.
Raindrops drip from the eaves or treetops, splash on the base of the stone lantern, wet the moss on the stone, and seep into the soil. The process is like being around you.
Whether it is listening to the chirping of insects or appreciating the chirping of birds, it is the best place; not only suitable for moonlit nights, but also the best choice to enjoy the different elegances of the four seasons.
The above text is a description of a space. After reading it, what kind of space can you imagine?
It is estimated that everyone does not think of the word "toilet". However, the above text really describes the toilet. Japanese toilet. Japanese ancient toilet. The text is excerpted from the book "In Praise of Shadow".
This ancient toilet was described so beautifully that I really wanted to go to Japan to experience it.
Going to the toilet is a very personal and slightly indecent matter, but it is something we face every day. According to the above description of Japan's ancient toilets, the Japanese provided a bit of leisure time for this inevitable physiological phenomenon, so that they would not feel that it was a waste of time when doing this instinctive matter. Try to create as much beauty as possible in the cone land. I deeply admire this pursuit of the ancient Japanese.
To create such a stylish toilet experience, the key point conveyed in the book "In Praise of Shadow" is "light".
We all know that in photography, light is the soul. Without the contrast between light and dark, it is impossible to form a meaningful visual effect. Japanese classical aesthetics does not pursue openness and brightness, but instead pursues the contrast between light and dark in photography, and even deliberately creates a shadowy effect.
The original meaning of shady is the lush branches and leaves. In Japan, shadow has become a pursuit of beauty with national characteristics. In the darkness and tranquility, people can taste a sense of Zen. The gloomy style can be said to be the essence of Japanese classical aesthetics. This is why Japanese tea ceremonies and flower arrangements have their own unique style, which always gives people a sense of simplicity and grandeur.
I like Japan’s classical aesthetics of life. Just some photos of the courtyard are enough to sweep away the dust of the day. That kind of aura, in the words of Masano Toshiaki, is an energy point. In this energy point, we become focused and calm.
I have recently read five books on Japanese life aesthetics, feeling like a spring breeze and feeling as light as a swallow. The author of the book "Zen and the Art of Minimalist Life" that I am reading is Toshiaki Masano, a Zen monk and a Zen garden landscape designer. He describes "Simplicity" and "Zen" in extremely easy-to-understand and simple language, as if we are chatting with an elderly person over tea from a distance, allowing us to understand the true meaning of life and inspiring us to pursue, interpret and express A Zen lifestyle.
Combining it with "Praise to the Shadow", we will have a better understanding of how the "Zen" culture created by Japan is interpreted. It abandons the spiritual level of people through utensils, objects, and space. The heavyness returns to lightness, allowing us to enter an atmosphere and passage to taste the relationship between myself, myself, the world, and all things in silence.
Toshiaki Masano said:
"Zen and minimalism are not about resisting material and fighting life, but about looking at materials and desires rationally, rationally, and rationally, and living a balanced life. life."
"The state of Zen is wisdom. Wisdom is the essence of things, and wisdom is the ability to make decisions."
Combining what he said with my own experience, I came to the conclusion. The relationship between Jane and Zen has this understanding:
Jane is not simple, but the filtered essence. The essence must be formed after selection. Choice is a choice, and a choice means facing the true needs of the heart. What is left in the end is in line with the inner needs, nourishing, and peaceful. This process of pursuing simplicity, becoming simplicity, and presenting simplicity is Zen.
Zen is both an ability and an extension of choice. In this process of making choices, we become more and more clear about what is most important. This "importance" has risen to paying attention to our own hearts, how to nourish it, and gain true freedom. Therefore, Zen cannot lie. If we have not reached that state, we cannot embody Zen; if we have reached that state, we can embody Zen everywhere without deliberate effort.
Masano Toshiaki’s works are enough to explain his realm. From these designed courtyard photos, we can see that a tree, a stone, a tuft of moss, their number, location, angle, and shape form a whole, and this whole is composed of a series of "choices" "produce. How did he make his choice? He said:
"I usually place several stones in the garden while observing the expression of the stone, interpreting the heart of the stone, and listening to the voice of the stone."
This It’s the process of selection. This is the true meaning of wisdom. Through wisdom and wisdom, an art, a communication, and an extension of beauty are formed. If there is something that I still love in this world, it is because I see the extension of beauty. It makes me more confident in life and more willing to stay in this moment to feel this eternal energy.
Minimalism, some people may understand it as not wanting anything at all, creating a state of nothingness. There is not only one pursuit of words, methods, and states. We need to look at many kinds, and then find out which one we like the most and feel most comfortable with. For me, I prefer Masano Toshiaki’s interpretation of minimalism. He said:
"In order to create an empty space, we have to put some objects. If it is truly empty, all we see is a vast expanse of space. Only by placing some objects on the land can we feel that "this is an empty space", which embodies "something" and "something". This is minimalism.
His words are the same as the realm created by our ink paintings. In fact, it is "blank space".
If the entire painting is white, it will not constitute a painting. The blank space must be painted in some places and not in other places, so as to form an action of "leaving". Being must be presented by nothing, otherwise it will not constitute being; nothing must be presented by being, otherwise it will not constitute nothing. This is a constant law. When we use worldly spaces, objects, and events in this way, we will get a superficial effect that meets the deep needs of the soul, which in turn nourishes the soul.
Being = nothing, nothing = being, is a deep sense of beauty created by correspondence, mutual help, complementation, and dependence. This is one of the forms of beauty that humans pursue. Although in the age of science and technology, fewer and fewer people have this pursuit, it will not disappear. This is our innate pursuit. No matter what, there will always be a flame. We think that biological reproduction is the fire that keeps human beings alive, but it is not. Fire is the pursuit of beauty and the love for it. It allows us to find our way back and brings us home.
I was immersed in and deeply moved by this extension of beauty.