FEATURE 131 ~ Nigella Talks Dirty

Well, all I can say is she's been asking for this for some time. Her particular liking for flirty innuendo and extravagant use of language is something of a gift.

DIARY 132 ~ Cousin's Day

For the last few years we've been having an annual gathering of all my cousins with their respective wives and husbands. They are generally quite good natured affairs with a lot of banter, teasing and boisterousness. I enjoy these days, but I do get quite tired of  the noisy garrulousness. I wouldn't say we are a close family, but we sort of rub along well with each other as long as we stick to the light hearted end of conversation. If anything else emerges it becomes quite obvious that I come from a completely different if not alien world to them  Jnanasalin was away on a solitary retreat this year so missed all of this.

This time we met at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. It's literally just up the road from the better known Chatsworth House. It's a uniquely preserved Medieval/Tudor house, complete with an intact Kitchen of the period, it was abandoned by its owners in the 18th century when they inherited Bolsover Castle, the Hall started being restored by them in the 20th century. It is quite an evocative and fabulous place to walk around.

FEATURE 130 ~ Mini Mansions- "Heart of Glass"

DIARY 131 - Responding to whatever happens positively

It's been my first Post-Windhorse week, which has been a week quite full-on with work. At the end of this I've been feeling a bit flat in energy and emotion. I've not slept well most of the week, but I do have a sense that leaving Windhorse, and seeing photos of the emptiness of the office and warehouse this week, has further fed the underground stream of emotions that there's not yet been the time for me to process amongst all this busy -ness.

The empty former Windhorse Warehouse

I've got a casual cleaning job just around the corner from Abbey House. It came about because the owner put a postcard through Abbey House's doorway asking if anyone was interested in taking it on. It's in a place called Casey's Yard which consists of three holiday flats. I've been doing occasional work for them during the last month of working at Windhorse. There's a possibility of them asking me to take over supervising the bookings, maintenance,cleaning and setting up. But as yet this has only been suggested and the details of how this would work in time and money has to be clarified. The hourly rate is good, but how much work there is per week is variable. Its also likely to change according to the season, we are coming up to high season so there will be plenty to do until September. Out of high season it probably will be more unreliable financially.

A flat in Casey's Yard

I've also taken on two days part-time work at a framing business run by Lester Robinson from my Mitra Study group. I'm familiar with taking orders from working in various Art Shops over the years, though this is the first time I'll be involved in actually making frames. My first week has been really rather enjoyable, lots of FAB machines that chop, punch and cut stuff up, that I'm gradually becoming more proficient in using. I'm not yet ready to be let loose on an actual customer's order, but soon perhaps. Financially these two days do provide a regular and steadier source of income.

The framing business I'm working for

I only want to earn enough to cover my basic expenditure, leaving, hopefully, enough spare time to make and develop stuff to sell on a website Jnanasalin and I are going to start soon.. For a few months I can accommodate a short fall in this income, whilst these other jobs work themselves into some sort recognisable pattern financially. If I'm still not earning enough then I'll need to look for further part time work. Previously I've been looking for and applying for jobs on-line, though so far its been the things that have come my way unbidden which appear to have been a more fruitful job source. There is something I like about this, of conditions throwing up opportunities and me responding to whatever happens positively. Instead of what most of us usually do, which is to try directing reality to give us what we think we would like or want to do.

DIARY 130 ~ Closure comes in full circles

Here I am at the end of my penultimate week of working at Windhorse:evolution. The last four months have been really hard work, not just physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. Just trying to stay engaged has become a regular and very real practice. Working whilst working on letting go as I found myself grieving for what was not as yet lost. My mood has fluctuated dramatically from positivity and optimism to despair and sadness and played on all the tones inbetween.

I started working for Windhorse in July 1997 after a difficult year of winding up my own business, On that day in the Summer of 97 as I finally closed the doors and handed back the keys on one chapter of my life, I left to start a completely new Buddhist life in Ipswich. There I joined my first Buddhist community and began working part-time in Evolution Ipswich. My spiritual life and my life working for Windhorse;evolution have been woven inextricably together. Now, some eighteen years later there's been a similarly difficult four months as Windhorse has been slowly brought to an end.  This particular intensely Buddhist context, bookended by the closure of two businesses.will reach its symbolic and literal state of closure for me on Friday 24th April 2015.

It's a bit premature to review or assess what seventeen years working for the largest, the one and only Buddhist Right Livelihood Gift-ware business has brought, apart from my being ordained through it. All I can say is I've grown up and matured personally and spiritually in this context. Even though I will miss it and the really lovely people I've worked with, it does feel the right time to move on to something different. I might never have left had circumstances not arrived that made it inevitable I would.



A couple of week ago I led a Closing Ritual that brought the whole business together for its spiritual conclusion. What I'd devised appeared to work well, and most folk were moved by and appreciative of it. It fit the bill, weighty, cathartic,healing and uplifting, everything I'd hoped it might be, it proved to be. As ever it was great to have it off my mind once the day arrived and it was all done. By the afternoon Rupadarsin was beginning preparations to take apart the Stupa he'd so lovingly made thirteen years ago. Once the Stupa was dismantled there was nothing much left bar a few stencilled lotuses, vajras and flames on the warehouse floor to suggest this was anything other than an ordinary warehouse. Things have definitely felt different since then. Windhorse feels more like a workaday office and warehouse space where something rather unique once used to take place,

People have left in phases, some in February, then the end of March, then this Friday, and the final few, including me, at the end of next week. Each time this exudus has held a certain poignancy and emotional tug, that has grown deeper with each repetition. Some of these people I've known for my entire time working for Windhorse, a few I've known from years before even that. I will obviously see some of these folk again, if only at the Buddhist Centre or on retreat, though my path undoubtedly will never cross with others ever again.

Today, the final bit of warehouse racking was put on a truck and taken away. The warehouse will soon be an empty shell once more. Nothing much will tangibly remain. The dust is settling over the warehouse floor and the smell of burning incense will soon be only vaguely sensed. A whole world has dissolved into air in a matter of weeks.

FEATURE 129 ~ Windhorse Closing Ritual ~ What we have Dedicated

An adaption I made of Triratna's Dedication Ceremony to mark the end of Windhorse's Closing Ritual.

What we have dedicated

We have dedicated Windhorse to the Three Jewels:

To the Buddha, the ideal of Enlightenment to which we aspire;

To the Dharma, the Path of the Teaching which we follow;

To the Sangha, the spiritual fellowship with one another which we enjoy.

Here was no idle word spoken;

Here no unquiet thought disturbed our minds.

To the observance of the Five Precepts, we dedicated Windhorse;

To the practice of meditation, we dedicated Windhorse;

To the development of wisdom,we dedicated Windhorse

To the attainment of Enlightenment,we dedicated Windhorse

Though in the world outside there was strife,here there was peace;

Though in the world outside there was hate, here there was love;

Though in the world outside there was grief, here there was joy.

Not by the chanting of the sacred Scriptures,

Not by the sprinkling of holy water,

But by our own efforts towards Enlightenment

did we dedicate our work at Windhorse.

Around this Mandala, this sacred spot,

the lotus petals of purity opened

Around this Mandala, this sacred spot,

the vajra-wall of determination extended

Around this Mandala, this sacred spot,

the flames that transmute Samsara in to Nirvana arose.

Here we walked, Here we sat,

Here we talked, here we were silent

Here it was that we practised,

Whatever the future may hold

May our mind become Buddha,

May our thought become Dharma,

May our communication with one another be Sangha.

For the happiness of all beings,

For the benefit of all beings,

With body, speech, and mind,

do we dedicate our future paths

Group photo after the ritual

FEATURE 128 ~ Windhorse Closing Ritual ~ Verses to the Earth

Some verses I wrote to mark the middle point in Windhorse's Closing Ritual

Verses to the Earth

We who have worked here for many years,

have seen men and women come,

and men and women go.

The earth alone will remember us,

The dreams that were realised,

the dreams that were broken

The tales and myths of our collective endeavour here.

We ask the earth to remember our aspirations and experience

The history of what has taken place here,

may it be recollected and upheld

the countless faces, past and present who made their work right livelihood,

all those who worshipped the Buddha,  

all those who practiced the Dharma,

all those who created a Sangha here.

To this

May the earth bear witness

May the earth bear witness

May the earth bear witness

FEATURE 127 ~Windhorse Closing Ritual ~ Stupa Visualisation & Recollection

Here are the words to a visualisation & recollection that I wrote for the opening part of Windhorse's Closing Ritual on 26th March 2015.

Photo by Shakyakumara

The Windhorse Stupa ~ Visualisation & Recollection

Consciousness ~ Blue Sky into this appears

Imagine the Windhorse stupa floating in the middle of a vast cobalt blue sky,

Earth  ~ Into this we put

The dust everywhere in the warehouse and in computer keyboards, the mouse droppings, the feeling of concrete beneath the feet, the weight of inner and outer box sizes, of palettes of lever arche files, the dense texture of wood and metal of desks, the pulling and pushing of a palette truck, trolley or fork lift, the touch of plastic computer screens & keyboards, the sensation of being down the end of a forty foot container, of driving a van on a motorway on an open country road, of eating cake, the sense of our body mass as it works, stands, sits, walks or takes a nap, the earth is where our ideas, thoughts, plans, organising, dreams, aspirations grew from, our care for each other, the amount of work we have to do, the responsibilities we hold, all of these place a weight upon our shoulders. All these things ground us in the world of gravity, in the everyday here and now.

Water ~ Into this we put

The pounding of our blood when we worked hard, the moistness of cups of tea and coffee in our throat, the rumble of heavy rain on the metal warehouse roof, the rolling boil and steam of cooking food, water condensing and forming rivulets on windows, the soapy wipes as the windows were cleaned, the moistening of stamps, sweating in the warehouse in the height of summer, washing down the outside of cars and vans,the flow of newly arrived boxes from a container, the flow of work from an effective team in tune with each other, going with the flow of calls one after the other, filling oneself up with inspiration, being a glass more than half full, observing the eddies,flows and drift of your emotions and responses, the flow of arisings and ceasings year on year, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second. Little births and little deaths.

Fire - Into this we put

The heat from tea urns, the warmth from radiators, the hum of the warehouse heating system, sunbathing on the grass in lunchtime, yoga and tai chi outside in the summer,

in the heat of the moment, the anger and passion behind our disagreements, the fire of our animosities, the warmth of friendships, the energy we have applied in pursuit of the good, the fire of wisdom, ethics and meditations, the fire of self-belief and confidence, the fire of work as spiritual practice to burn up our unskilfullness, our confessions, the incense and candles we’ve lit as offerings, the tantric periods, the personal cremation grounds, giving more of ourselves, trying to transform not just ourselves but also the world, these have been the flames transmuting samsara into nirvana.

Air - Into this we put

All the hot air warming the building, the warm air rising in the stairwell in summer, the breezes blowing through opened delivery doors, the perfumed smell of incense wafting and permeating the atmosphere, the smell of dinner as you approach the canteen, the smells of coffee, tea, motor oil, paint, wood, earth, sweat, plastic, cloth, nag champa, marker pens,dust, anti freeze,fresh cut vegetables and herbs, newly mown grass, the flavours of cooking, the sound of music, of sawing and hammering, into the air went our grosser motivations like the sound of our voices they disappeared into the air, the air absorbs everything but holds nothing, into the air went our spiritual delusions and our spiritual aspirations,into the air will go all the energy, ingenuity and effort we all put into this business. we cannot see it, we cannot hold onto it,  but still we know it is there.

Space - Into this we put

The echoes of working and talking ricocheting around the chamber of the warehouse, the sense of the vastness of its cavernous space, space is multi-faceted, able to encompass boxes of stock, people, machines,racking, lighting, boilers,heaters, desks, chairs, filing cabinets, paperwork, ,musical instruments, a gym, a stupa, a shrine room, a kitchen, a workshop, a tea counter, a photocopier, plants, the sense of our bodies moving through this space watching, taking all this in, for 13 years we have been occupying,filling up and using this space, the space to raise money to support Buddhist practice both here and around the world, to support the lives of others and help alleviate their suffering. here we have been making space for the Dharma to be ever more fully present.

BOOK REVIEW ~ When Marina Abramovic Dies

by James Westcott

As biographies go this is a one off much as Marina Abramovic is herself.  It opens with a run through of what she decided the performance of her funeral should be like. She's as determined to leave this world with the same attention grabbing flourish she's become known for through her work. One might be forgiven for thinking that Marina Abramovic and Laurie Anderson invented performance art on some jokey drug fueled evening, way back before anyone can remember. That this is certainly not the case, only serves to demonstrate how completely these two women have come to dominate how performance art is popularly perceived.

As an art form, it is frequently women who have often stamped their presence upon it ,at least in the general public's consciousness. It's an area that comes with a less overtly male interpretive precedence and baggage. Performance art itself has either been ignored or ridiculed, even by the traditional art establishment. This has left the field wide open for women to explore and make of it what they will.. That performance art has recently started to garner serious attention is down in some degree to Abramovic's determination to create an enduring legacy for her work. Far less accommodating and accessible than Anderson's work, Abramovic takes you on a journey with her endurance, a place you'd not always want to go, let alone watch happen before your eyes. Her work is compelling, large scale in ambition and time scale, attracting a certain type of voyeuristic tendency similar to being present at an execution, observing an horrific event or watching paint dry. Abramovic is possessed of an attractive and charismatic presence, that is frequently spiritually and physically quite naked.

Balkan Baroque

Abramovic's reputation built slowly and entered an iconic phase once she started her personal and working relationship with Ulay. The work they did together, appears to have mutually egged each other on to further extremes, just how far can you go and for how long could you simultaneously throw yourself at a wall? This exploration of testing physical resilience and suffering always had an existential pulse to it. They come to  symbolise something about the human condition. These works later morph into a more meditative series of works such as sitting still on a chair whilst facing one another across a table. For this work 'Night Sea Crossing' they both committed to performing on 91 occasions in 91 different locations over several years. Each time brought its own physical, emotional and relational challenges. By the end Marina and Ulay's relationship was itself at breaking point through personal infidelities and creative resentments. Their famous simultaneous walk from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China to meet in the middle, proved to be the swansong for both their working and personal relationship.

Night Sea Crossing

Since then her work has gone further in exploring face to face human contexts. From her involvement with Tibetan Buddhism and meditation practice. developed elements of stillness, identity, presence and being truly seen by another, that have attained an almost spiritually transcendent aura that people flock to be a part of . This culminated in The Artist is Present at MOMA a few years ago, where she sat for nine hours a day for three months, alone on a chair staring at a succession of people who sat down in front of her. These people often moved to tears by this encounter. Its well worth looking out the DVD of this work.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2073029/

The Artist is Present

The Artist is Present was accompanied by fifty of her performances, this time performed by her students. This retrospective element further confirmed her status as the Godmother of Performance. The urge to establish a legacy for her work began during the writing of this biography, when her desire to see her works re-performed was already set in motion. Performance work has generally been viewed as a happening of one particular moment, and being of their time, Abramovic is now establishing a body of work that may have a life and relevance beyond her own performance of them. Painters leave behind paintings, performers can leave performance ideas that can be re performed. Each time they are re-performed they are re-contextualised, by the different time, place, personnel and mood. Similar to how an orchestra replays music from previous centuries.

After reading this biography I am left even more impressed by the single-mindedness of her vision and purpose. On paper any description of what she does can seem utterly unhinged, if not verging on self-abuse. However, all performance work needs to be intimately experienced in person, imagining it will never be enough. Quite often it is unimaginable what a performance artist does, but the effect of seeing, feeling and being with it can be a challenging,cathartic and trans-formative experience.  Abramovic's work explores the dangerous edges of the human condition, our endurance, resilience and ultimately our own desire for self-transcendence.

DIARY 129 ~ ....and Windhorse too will cease to be

With the results of Windhorse:evolution's Christmas trading in, the state of the business talk by Keturaja on Monday 5th January bore all the hallmarks of a death knell. It was clear to most of us before he'd even spoken a single word that things had not gone well. Facing a huge loss much much greater than last year's, the business is now in no position to carry on. Ways to downsize the business were looked at, but each one gradually ruled themselves out as the continuing rate of business decline made even our core profitable shops look less and less bankable. Even though Jnanasalin had told me of the decision ten days before, actually hearing the announcement 'we were to close' brought forth a downhearted somber mood.

With our warehouse landlord offering us the possibility of getting out of the lease early, The Managing Directors felt they had to grasp the slim chance that this offered. A way of exiting that was as ethical and clean as is possible given the circumstances. The main concern now is to be able to pay all our loyal suppliers the money they are owed, and to allow Windhorse staff sufficient time to adjust to redundancy and start preparing themselves to find work outside of W:E. I guess its inevitable that there will be some who'll use the redundancy process as an opportunity for settling old scores, venting resentments and generally getting things off their chest, which we'll all have to bear with however stroppy, malign or unfair those views may be. This is just one of many obstacles, both practical as well as emotional rites of passage that we will all have to pass through and get over.  Many things could still call a halt to the planned 'managed closure' and force the business into administration. The latter prospect would be a far far more brutal and unpleasant way to end the business, but currently there is still hope that this dire outcome can be avoided.

If all goes well, all the remaining warehouse stock should be sold, and the shops closed by the end of March. By this point most of the redundancy notices should have been completed, and all the people I've come to know at Windhorse will gradually disappear and disperse to who knows where? Its the end of one thirty year experiment in doing business ethically and a spiritual ideal, One that has provided both a context for ethical work, and for literally hundreds of people to deepen their Going for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Deciding at this point how best to mark its passing, its significance on a personal level, to the Triratna Buddhist Community,and to celebrate its achievements, all seems a little premature at present, but if we are not careful the moment will arrive and few of us will be left to participate in it. Hopefully the appropriateness of the time will become obvious.

At the moment I'm feeling more the effect on other people of Windhorse closing than upon myself. Particularly those people who will soon have to return to their home country, to reconnect with a situation and employment they'd had to give up in order to come here to deepen their Buddhist practice. I've also a feeling for the effect making this decision has had on the Directors who've been holding the responsibility for the businesses future for so long, all the stress and strain that has led up to this point, and dealing with the fallout afterwards. The burdonsome weight of this responsibility is not yet ready to lift from their shoulders.

In myself I'm feeling more subdued but sanguine than morosely melancholic at present. I don't think I'm experiencing any more difficult emotional responses than preparing to let go, and the sense of loss to come. Though my past life experience has been recollected; in the early 1980's I was made redundant twice in the space of two years and in 1997 I had to close my own business, so I have walked across the hot coals of this territory before. It never proves to be quite the end of the world as we know it, though it might have felt like that at the time. Changing my situation and my context for practice, undoubtedly will upset the stability of the old apple cart for a while, and I ought to expect some of my old demons to show me their bleak little faces again.

At the moment we are in the first ten days of the wind up. My present task is a rather tedious one of going through the Property and Retail Team areas. Throwing out all the useless tat we've acquired and doing an inventory, then deciding what to keep, dispose of or sell what's left. I am finding this a rather drawn out and emotionally difficult process, going through vast amounts of accumulated crap and throwing them away is painful and dispiriting and not remotely cathartic. It is no good me moaning about it, this has got to be done, and I am quite good at sifting, organising and cataloging.

For the immediate future Jnanasalin and I are intending to stay in Cambridge to find work and start saving money. We have ideas for longer term plans, which though only roughly sketched out at the moment, we both can become quite excited about should we start discussing them. Moving these ideas forward will inevitably be a steady gradual process. Our energy is going to be a bit divided for a while. Once most of the emotional and physical challenge of helping Windhorse wind up effectively is done, then perhaps we can start putting realistic flesh on the bones of those plans. What these plans are I'll no doubt be blogging about as they take firmer shape over the coming year.

DIARY 128 ~ Christmas in Abbey House Community No 1

As you may have guessed from my last blog post, Hubby and I rather enjoy Christmas. Yes, as Buddhists its not, theologically at least ,our festival. So much of todays Christmas traditions don't come within close sniffing distance of Christianity, and are connected either with folk traditions or at worst Americanised product placements. I think its perfectly possible to celebrate Christmas without Christianity. I enjoyed spending this Christmas at home in my community. Jnanasalin and I do largely steer the proceedings, making Christmas puddings/cake and nut roasts in advance, and doing the rest of the cooking on the day. Everything went more or less to plan: eating by 1pm, finished by the Queen's speech and then watching the 1951 black and white film of Scrooge, starring Alistair Simm. Though slightly creaky and overacted in places (the film not Christma Day ) it nonetheless was an enjoyable affair . Something about it's datedness and larger than life characters complemented the style of Dickens story. After a walk into town and back along the river, we settled down to a light Tea and the first Die Hard movie, which was a moderately diverting explosion fest.

Here are a few photos taken of the festivities.

FEATURE 126 ~ Make the Yuletide Gay

POEM ~ The Half Hearing of Small Voices

Another retreat, another set of poems. This time from my recent retreat The Gods Will Offer You Chances, led by Paramananda & Mandarava at Rivendell.  I tend to write one every day, pretty much off the top of my head. Sometimes these poems indicate the effect a retreat is having upon me, sometimes they seem to come from somewhere, half heard and mistranslated. So here they are seven poems from a seven day retreat.


DIAMANTE

Tiny specks of diamonds
glittering pin pricks, perched
on the tips of grass shards
in a winter lawn, lit up
by unearthly powers
fired by lightening, solar flares
or elfin LED.


GRAVITATIONAL PULLS

Whatever
is thrown up
comes down
at some point

Probes and rockets
investigate space
data falling
in a digital rain.

Heartfelt aspirations
when they drop to earth
form impact crators
where else is the hurt?

Our pain is ours
and can't be discarded
like a boomerang
it keeps coming back.


NEW DAWN

The sun broke behind the church
over an hour ago
now its carousing
with the crowns of trees
and cloud tufts
each its own breaking beauty
that is let go of,
to make space
for the next
whilst I am still as
drowsy and grumpy now
as I was earlier.


MEDITATING DAYS

All the days
rolling into one another
with the consistency
of pastry
roughly compacted
in a ball, or
pressed, stretched and eased out
like a glutenous dishcloth
some might say
these people look like
they're bored with life
others
they're indulging in childish whims
of being meaningful
of spiritual playacting
there are times
when it is all of these things
jumbled up and wrongheaded
despite appearences
everyday life is like this too
this is just a time
and the space
where the soul gets
a bit of tlc.


BROKEN HEADED

Here is an unlived face
eyes that function
but do not perceive
a mind operating
but does not reflect
the body is
an empty vessel
with utilitarian uses
yet his actions
are unoccupied
as though walking has lost
all sense of direction
other than foot steps

Its a face unoccupied
by terrors, by joys, by loves
by interests, by engagement
it looks out on the world
and receives nothing
via the mirror
a face not even distressed
by its predicament
too passive
to feel indifferent
all expression
is conserved, is
unredeemed by calling
this blandness
the result of hard years
of spiritual practice

This is a face
that has misconceived
the whole purpose of life.


MYTH SHAKEN

The heart
as a muscle
flutters and flinches
its fist
when the shadow
of its metaphorical twin
is shaken into life
by the pulse of mystical blood
alchemy is snatched
as though a current of electric
zapped through and
stars expanded their spectrum
pouring down
a new colour
a shape shifting medicine
into the arteries and veins
and the heart purred
like a bedraggled familiar
being offered
pure white milk.


MYTH HEARINGS

In the room
of the shrine
before
I was to
just sit with myself
listening, quietly
preparing the senses
to be more
all encompassing
in the opening and closing
opening and closing
opening and closing
of the door
half hearing a small voice
singing the opening phrase
of an unrecollected song
moarnfully mordant
think Morrissey, sung by Cohen
incanted over and over
as if the repetition
would serve up
the rest of it
this moment though
was left unresolved
when close by, a mobile vibrating
muffled beneath layers
of clothing or blankets
sounded as though
young calves
calls for their mother
were being
left unanswered

BOOK REVIEW ~ The Unknown Craftsman

The Unknown Craftsman  by Soetsu Yanagi

The Unknown Craftsman is a compendium of articles given by SoetsuYanagi over a pivotal period in Japanese culture from 1939 to 1962. Through these Yanagi became the pre-eminent figure in a revival in the appreciation and practice of Japanese folk crafts after the end of the Second World War. Eventualy he Founded the Japan Folk Craft Museum in Tokyo. Yanagi was a close friend, mentor and profound influence upon the English potter Bernard Leach, who helped translate and compile this book and provides useful background context via his introduction. Most of what we in the West understand of Japanese pottery and aesthetics, such as wabi sabi etc comes in large part from Yanagi's work.

Yanagi's route to becoming a pottery obsessive, arose as a result of his rediscovery of 16th century Korean pottery of the Yi dynasty. These simple, often crudely executed pots became for him, not just the aesthetic benchmark by which he measured all other work, but a sort of spiritual talisman for the creative attitude that a potter or artist should endeavour to cultivate. It is this latter aspect; the creative process being shadowed by spiritual practice, that I found the most inspiring thing about this book. I have read no other book that so clearly and imaginatively explains how creative work can become a spiritual practice.

Those Yi dynasty pots are in themselves the key. Technically those pots are poorly made, with misshapen bases, glazes blobby,irregular, and riddled with cracks and surface imperfections. Churned out by local craftsman with no thought to aesthetic appeal, beauty or there being perfect objects. They were simply made to meet a practical requirement. These pots became highly sought after by Japanese masters of Tea Ceremonies, often paying huge sums for them. They also become the models for Japanese versions of this pottery, where imperfections became highly valued, however self-consciously created.

Yanagi is quite dismissive about this artistic contrivance, particularly when these potters later on began to sign their pots. This declaration of creative ownership was anathema to the ideal relationship he thought one should have with what is being created. Part of the aesthetic appeal of Yi pottery is the anonymity of their creators, the men and women who made them are all unknown. There probably was no one person involved in their creation, being collectively and unselfconsciously formed. It isn't just what was created, but how they were created that makes them important. He is particularly good at teasing out that this absence of an individual creator is what makes them the epitome of beauty and the role model for Buddhist artists desiring to make their work a spiritual practice. Here are a few representative quotations:~

' The deepest beauty is suggestive of infinite potential rather than being merely explanatory.... All works of art, it may be said, are more beautiful when they suggest something beyond themselves than when they end up being merely what they are.'

'Truly beautiful objects usually contain in them some element of irregularity......Beauty dislikes being captive to perfection. That which is profound never lends itself to logical explanation;it involves endless mystery.'

'Would it not be possible to say that all beautiful work is done by the work itself? When an artist creates a work, he and the work are two different things. Only when he becomes the work itself and creates the work (in other words, when the work alone is creating the whole work) does true work become possible. Not the artist but the work should say "I am" : when this state is reached, a work of art deserving the name has been produced.'

'So long as the man who strikes the drum and drum that is struck are two different beings, true music can never be born.

'As soon as the principle becomes formalised, death approches'

I could go on and on quoting, as the book is packed full of such pithy and inspiring aphoristic sentences. Though written over sixty years ago The Unknown Craftsman, is still quite relevant to modern day artistic and Buddhist practice. Some of Yanagi's hopes for a craft revival have petered out in our high tech world of the internet. His analysis of the role of Individualism on the creative process is still particularly prescient to today's art market.


















'They did not see the extraordinary in the extraordinary...They did not draw their cherished treasures out of the valuable, the expensive, the luxurious, the elaborate or the exceptional. They selected them from the plain, the natural, the homely, the simple, and the normal. They explored the uneventful, normal world for the most unusual beauty  Can anything be more uncommon than to see the uncommon in the commonplace....Most of us today have grown so commonplace that we cannot see the extraordinary save in the exceptional.'

The Unknown Craftsman is for me a very significant book, one that inevitably will roll out changes in the wake of my having read it.

CARROT REVIEW - 8/8