January 20, 2012

Tattoo- Wabisabi and Wuwei


Yesterday I got my first tattoos. It's amazeing how much it reminds you how human you are as it is done. The one line needs to be retouched already but It's best to wait a while.  I am going to work on a new banner for this blog along side with my girlfriend over at Ruin and Rebirth. Please look forward to the new look of Tea Journey. A special Chinese New Year post is coming up. I'm off to work now, till then, Ja ne.

Tattoo 1                  Tattoo 2
       
 
“Wabi sabi”       “Wu wei”


represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".[1] It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of   existence (三法印 sanbōin?), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō?), the other two being suffering (dukkha) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (sunyata).
Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.
a variant and derivatives: traditional Chinese: 無為; simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: wú wéi; Japanese: 無為; Korean: 무위;Vietnamese: Vô vi) is an important concept of Taoism (Daoism), that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Another perspective to this is that "Wu Wei" means natural action - as planets revolve around the sun, they "do" this revolving, but without   "doing" it; or as trees grow, they "do", but without "doing". Thus knowing when (and how) to act is not knowledge in the sense that one would think "now" is the right time to do "this", but rather just doing it, doing the natural thing.
Wu may be translated as not have or without; Wei may be translated as do, act, serve as, govern or effort. The literal meaning of Wu Wei is "without action", "without effort", or "without control", and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei: "action without action" or "effortless doing". The practice of wu wei and the efficacy of wei wu wei are fundamental tenets in Chinese thought and have been mostly emphasized by the Taoist school. The aim of wu wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao, and, as a result, obtain an irresistible form of "soft and invisible" power.
There is another less commonly referenced sense of wu wei; "action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort". In this instance, Wu means "without" and Wei means "effort". The concept of "effortless action" is a part of Taoist Internal martial arts such as T'ai chi ch'uan, Baguazhang andXing Yi. It follows that Wu wei complies with the main feature and distinguishing characteristic of Taoism, that of being natural. To apply wu wei to any situation is to take natural action.
In Zen Calligraphy, Wu Wei has been represented as a circle
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January 10, 2012

Happy New Year

    I hope each and everyone of you had a great new year. This year will be great for all of us. Together with the Lolita Vulgar Team, we are working on putting together an online magazine (We are still accepting submissions!). The spring (weather pending at the moment) I will be performing casual chanoyu  for anyone who wishes to participate, more information on this as the season approaches. This year I am going to submit for the Toronto Arts Grant to work on a body of work for Grad School, or rather something that will work me towards it. Hysteria II has changed to a male version, I hope to get my needles into this sculpture series soon. The tests will be interesting none the less.
     At this present moment I am working on sketches for a birthday gift to My dear younger brother who is turning 23 this month. It's going to be a fair size at least over 22" by 20", all ink and perhaps some tea as a stain behind it. Shuuhei (my cat) has been eagerly watching my pencil move the past while, he is just as excited for new work as I am.
           I hope to have your support through this new year. May we work together to make the world a bit brighter through art!
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New kettle at last!

   A new kettle has been on my list for ages, it took quite some time to find the right one. During a visit to see my parents, My Mom and I went to Canadian Tire as it just re-opened.
    This piece of beautiful craftsmanship was there. Cuisinart made, it glows, stainless steel and programmed temperatures. The keep warm feature is great but I am always startled when it begins to heat up the device once again.
       I am thinking of trying another water test. This time I hope to obtain bamboo charcoal to add along side the others. I have yet to buy spring water for this kettle, currently I am using Brita filtered water. A few of my teas taste a bit cleaner with spring water so I will go purchase another 4L bottle of a local spring water (Muskoka I so far like the best).
         I still would like to get a stone "kettle" and have a flame beneath, my current houseing arrangements do not allow for such. On another note, the charcoal or alcohol I use will be a little dangerous till I have a larger tea space.

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