The aesthetic principles that guide my carefully curated collection of beautiful objects from ancient Japan reflect my longstanding practice of the zen arts especially kyudo (Zen Archery) and iaido (Japanese Swordsmanship). I am a more recent novice student of chanoyu (Tea Ceremony) and ikebana (“Making flowers come alive”). Each practice requires specialized objects that are manipulated to facilitate zen meditation in motion rather than sitting zen. I have a special interest in objects skillfully made by artisans and craftsman during the Momoyama period in Japan (1573-1615) during which the arts and crafts flourished and reflected a highly refined aesthetic sensibility first developed in Tea Ceremony. Among these principles constituting a uniquely Japanese experience of beauty are wabi (beauty in simplicity and rusticity), sabi (a suggestion of age, deterioration, and the passing of time), yugen (rich and mysterious beauty), and mono no aware (a melancholic awareness of the ephemeral nature of existence).1 It is as if to say that imperfection, impermanence, and deterioration are the conditions in which human existence finds itself. There is a deep, somewhat sad, and mysterious quality to every moment in life that can be experienced as beautiful if we were to but fully acknowledge and embrace the gradual diminishment that accompanies us through a cycle of life. How beautiful are the cherry blossoms fallen to the ground! Each sunset is a bittersweet and certain reminder of the passage of time. Staring into the mirror each day we notice there is perhaps a bit more gray at the temples and the wrinkles are deepened. Smiling a bit and nodding slightly, we may know some measure of comfort if we can embrace all of this as beautiful. Everything is exactly as it should be. All is well.
1A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics, Richie, Donald, Stone Bridge Press, 2007
