Koitsu, "Full Moon at Akashi Beach" Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print

The spiritual aspect of ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) is considered very important to its practitioners.  Silence is a must during practices of ikebana.  It is a time to appreciate things in nature that people often overlook because of their busy lives.  One becomes more patient and tolerant of differences, not only in nature, but also in general.  Ikebana can inspire one to identify with beauty in all art forms.  This is also the time when one feels closeness to nature which provides relaxation for the mind, body, and soul.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Zen Alarm Clock, Ukiyo-e Hokusai Wave Dial Face

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Hasui, "Torri in Tawaza Lake, Akita" Ukiyo-e Print

A petal shower

of mountain roses,

and the sound of the rapids.

-basho-

Bamboo Digital Chime Clock, for a progressive awakening

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Hasui, "Spring Evening, Ueno Toshogu Shrine" Ukiyo-e

I don’t know

which tree it comes from,

that fragrance.

      -basho-

Zen Clock with Chime for a progressive awakening

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chrysthanthemum

A symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the orderly unfolding of the chrysanthemum’s petals to represent perfection, and Confucius once suggested they be used as an object of meditation.  It’s said that a single petal of this celebrated flower placed at the bottom of a wine glass will encourage a long and healthy life.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Meditation & Yoga Timers and Clocks

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Ocean Women Ukiyo-e by Suzuki Harunobu

Suzuki Harunobu (1724 – 1770) was a Japanese woodblock print artist, one of the most famous in the Ukiyo-e style.  He was an innovator, the first to produce full-color prints (nishiki-e) in 1765, rendering obsolete the former modes of two- and three-color prints.  Harunobu used many special techniques, and depicted a wide variety of subjects, from classical poems to contemporary beauties.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Timer for meditation by Now & Zen Inc.

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Kitagawa Utamaro Ukiyo-e, wabi-cha

Wabi-cha, or wabi-tea, is a style of Japanese Tea Ceremony particularly associated with Sen no Rikyu and Takeno Joo before him.  Wabi-cha emphasizes simplicity.  The term came into use in the Edo era (1603 to 1868), prior to which it was known as wabi-suki, suki generally referring to the concept of “artistic inclination,” and “wabi” literally meaning ‘forelorn’.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Zen Chime Clock with Japanese Maple Leaves in Honey Finish

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Ukiyo-e by Ippitsusai Buncho of the actor Segawa Kikunojo

Iki is a traditional aesthetic ideal in Japan.  Iki, having emerged from the worldly Japanese merchant class, may appear in some ways a more contemporary expression of Japanese aesthetics than concepts such as wabi-sabi.  The term is commonly used in conversation and writing, but is not necessarily exclusive of other categories of beauty.

Iki is an expression of simplicity, sophistication, spontaneity, and originality.  It is ephemeral, romantic, straight forward, measured, audacious, smart, and unselfconscious.

Iki is not overly refined, pretentious, complicated, showy, slick, coquettish, or, generally, cute.  At the same time, iki may exhibit any of those traits in a smart, direct, and unabashed manner.

Iki may signify a personal trait, or artificial phenomena exhibiting human will or consciousness.

Iki is not used to describe natural phenomena, but may be expressed in human appreciation of natural beauty, or in the nature of human beings. 

Murakami Haruki (b.1949), who writes in a clear, unflinching style–at turns sentimental, fantastic, and surreal–is described as embodying iki.  In contrast, Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972) writes in a more poetic vein, with a closer focus on the interior “complex” of his characters, while situations and surroundings exhibit a kind of wabi-sabi.  That said, stylistic differences may tend to distract from a similar emotional subjectivity.  Indeed, iki is strongly tied to stylistic tendencies.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Bamboo Digital Chime Clock, for a progressive awakening

 Now & Zen

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Kiyonaga Riverside Ukiyo-e

The phrase iki is generally used in Japanese culture to describe qualities that are aesthetically appealing and when applied to a person, what they do, or have, constitutes a high compliment. 

Iki is not found in nature.  While similar to wabi-sabi in that it disregards perfection, iki is a broad term that encompasses various characteristics related to refinement with flair. 

The tasteful manifestation of sensuality can be iki.

Etymologically, iki has a root that means pure and unadulterated.  However, it also carries a connotation of having an appetite for life.  Iki is never cute.

The basis of iki is thought to have formed among urbane commoners (chonin) in Edo in the Tokugawa period (1603 to 1868).  Iki is sometimes misunderstood as simply “anything Japanese”, but it is actually a specific aesthetic ideal, distinct from more ethereal notions of transcendence or poverty.  As such, samuri, for example, would typically, as a class, be considered devoid of iki, (see yabo). 

At the same time, individualistic warriors are often depicted in contemporary popular imagination as embodying the iki ideals of a clear, stylish manner and blunt, unwavering directness. The term became widespread in modern intellectual circles through the book The Structure of “Iki” (1930) by Kuki Sukuzo.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Digital Zen Timers, a mindfulness practice tool

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yugen, a profound mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe

Yūgen is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics.  The exact translation of the word depends on the context.  In the Chinese philosophical texts the term was taken from, yūgen meant “dim”, “deep” or “mysterious”.  In the criticism of Japanese waka poetry, it was used to describe the subtle profundity of things that are only vaguely suggested by the poems, and was also the name of a style of poetry (one of the ten orthodox styles delineated by Fujiwara no Teika in his treatises).

Yugen suggests that beyond what can be said but is not an allusion to another world.  It is about this world, this experience.  All of these are portals to yugen:

“To watch the sun sink behind a flower clad hill.  To wander on in a huge forest without thought of return. To stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands.  To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds.  And, subtle shadows of bamboo on bamboo.”  

Zeami Motokiyo

Yugen is said to mean “a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe… and the sad beauty of human suffering”.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Japanese Maple Leaves Dial Face, the Zen Alarm Clock for a progressive awakening

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the beauty of imperfection

Wabi and sabi refers to a mindful approach to everyday life.  Over time their meanings overlapped and converged until they are unified into Wabi-sabi, the aesthetic defined as the beauty of things “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”.

Things in bud, or things in decay, as it were, are more evocative of wabi-sabi than things in full bloom because they suggest the transience of things.  As things come and go, they show signs of their coming or going and these signs are considered to be beautiful.  

In this, beauty is an altered state of consciousness and can be seen in the mundane and simple.  The signatures of nature can be so subtle that it takes a quiet mind and a cultivated eye to discern them.  In Zen philosophy there are seven aesthetic principles for achieving Wabi-Sabi.

Fukinsei: asymmetry, irregularity

Kanso: simplicity

Koko: basic, weathered

Shizen: without pretense, natural

Yugen: subtly profound grace, not obvious

Datsuzoku: unbounded by convention, free

Seijaku: tranquility

Each of these things are found in nature but can suggest virtues of human character and appropriateness of behaviour. This, in turn suggests that virtue and civility can be instilled through an appreciation of, and practice in, the arts.  Hence, aesthetic ideals have an ethical connotation and pervades much of the Japanese culture.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Zen Alarm Clock, Ukiyo-e Hokusai Wave Dial Face

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