Gary,

I believe you are referring to a ancient Zen concept commonly called "No Mind." I have referred to this here before, the empty mind, the empty cup, etc. I believe this is the same concept that Walter was referring to above.

Too many people carry so much in their mind that nothing new can enter without getting bruised and tainted on the way in by the stuff that is already there.



I thought I would share a few of my favorite notes:


Thirty spokes join together in the hub.
It is because of what is not there that the cart is useful.
Clay is formed into a vessel.
It is because of its emptiness that the vessel is useful.
Cut doors and windows to make a room.
It is because of its emptiness that the room is useful.
Therefore, what is present is used for profit.
But it is in absence that there is usefulness.
- Tao Te Ching, #11



Experiencing the present purely is being empty and hollow;
you catch grace as a man fills his cup under a waterfall.
- Annie Dillard



Earth, mountains, rivers - hidden in this nothingness.
In this nothingness - earth, mountains, rivers revealed.
Spring flowers, winter snows:
There's no being or non-being, nor denial itself.
- Saisho (circa 1490) Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, p.32



Beyond its practical aspects, gardening - be it of the soil or soul - can lead us on a philosophical and spiritual exploration that is nothing less than a journey into the depths of our own sacredness and the sacredness of all beings. After all, there mustbe something more mystical beyond the garden gate, something that satisfies the soul's attraction to beauty, peace, solace, and celebration.
- Christopher and Tricia McDowell, The Sanctuary Garden, 1998, p.13



When I would re-create myself, I seek the darkest wood, the thickest and most interminable and to the citizen, most dismal, swamp. I enter as a sacred place, a Sanctum sanctorum.
There is the strength, the marrow, of Nature.
- Henry David Thoreau, Walking, 1851



The first act of awe, when man was struck with the beauty
or wonder of Nature, was the first spiritual experience.
- Henryk Skolimowski


Will Heath

Beautiful thoughts! Thank you for sharing them Walter.

Will,

"No mind", the Tao, clear channel, are all basically the same. Being able to be and see in the present.
The whole idea of the "mind" had always intrigued me. Where is it, what is it............and then there is the mind body question.

I have a 15 year old son that can clap one hand and it makes a sound.

8-)

BTW,
Walter's statement is definitely worth a copy-paste. I've got a folder full of them and if he never writes a book at least I have his siftings.

Thanks Walter! This also explains why the judges pick and the show favorite (voted on by general public) are never the same. Great stuff, thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!

Newt

Newt, you are right on target! The judge says,"I know art, and I know what's right". The public says, "I don't know anything about art, but I know what I like".

Mike

Walter,

A really thought provoking article. Thank you.

You got me wondering about the process of learning. Would you have your apprentice look at bonsai this way always, or do you think there is ever a time to look at a tree differently during the apprentice process? I would be really interested in your thoughts on this.

So, Walter, how do you dewal with this dichotomy? You have the knowledge and the skill but still the vision of naivete. How is this possible? Or is it an Austrian thing?

' Or is it an Austrian thing?'

David,

intersting that you mention this. There is a saying that the border between insanity and genius is the border between Austria and Germany. But we still have to find out which side!!!

To be serious, there is some reason to believe that 'Celtic' nations have more of a gift to be kind of weird, seeing things, dreaming, playing instead of working, maybe doing bonsai. Austria by and large is a 'Celtic ' nation just as the Irish and being looked at from a certain patronizing angle by the'well-behaving' other nations like the (north) Germans. So far to political incorrectness. But the number of poets, musicians, artists of all kinds, dreamers and in general people who by all means try to avoid hard work and play instead is staggering. I am no exception to this.

Howard,

I do analyse trees in front of my assistant as well as in front of the public. I try to give them two perspectives: one with the intellect, tree critique as usual, and one with the soul, just speaking what my stomach says. It is not always easy for everyone to follow this.

We have mentioned above 3 categories of viewer: the naive viewer, the jury, and the artist. I think that the jury should be much the same as the artist, because they are the authority, right ? They are the well-educated, well-developed, with full skills and know-how in the art. The fact that the jury picks out different species than the show favorite however, doesn’t have to mean that they are not capable to judge; they evaluates the bonsai’s with the intellect OR with the hart, NEVER with the novice state. This article promotes that art should come from the hart, not the intellect. It’s an opinion that is very regular and very conservative. Below is another such story:

It’s supposed that artists walk upon the art-developing proces like Bruce Lee once said: “In the beginning (when he was a novice and know nothing about the art of fighting), a blow is just a blow to me, raw and neutral. I can’t say it’s beautiful; it must be just painfull for the victim. During the learning and training, a kick becomes a high technical stuff for me. I learn the right way to stand, how to properly and strongly kick without loosing balance, etc. The kick is now an intellectual stuff, something “highly” developed. I train thousand times this one kick, untill it suddenly, and that’s the moment that any trainee now becomes an artist, become just an “ordinary” kick again for me. But still, its not quite the same: I feel free this time; the kick is my emotion, I’m the kick”.

Based upon this kind of stories, I believe we can talk about these 3 stages in art development: the novice stage, the technical stage, and the art stage. Mention that the first and third stage sees the subject “just as is”, not the second. It brings me to the conclussion: art is something beyond or after the intellect. Unfortunately, we can not define art, can we ? But why should we ?

The story of the mountain farmer of Tyrol strucked me very much. Is this than the right and only one criterium to define good bonsai; bonsai as an artform ? I will be very proud if the bonsai this guy talked about was mine.

Thanks Walter, reminds me of a piece I read here a few weeks ago, "When Artsitry Interferes with Objectivity.

Thanks for reminding us to look at the forest and not just the trees!

Al