The
natural laws are not forces external to things,
but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them.
(I Ching)
Purpose and measurement: the boundaries of
utility
In modern culture a beautiful beach or mountain becomes a
tourist attraction.
A pretty face is used to sell a product.
Everything is labelled, measured, itemised, assessed and valued.
The world revolves around commerce and utility.
Chuang Tzu wrote a wonderful poem about the
benefits of not being useful.
A
cow is considered to be a product, a utility: a source of
clothing, food, milk, offspring and profit.
Nobody sees the cow as a creature in its own right, assessed on its own terms.
It is not possible to understand an animal by applying human standards to
it; the values of human culture are fickle, transitory and limited.
Humanity
We do not see the world as it is, but as we are.
Existence does not revolve around humanity; we are simply part of it.
The illusion that we are placed at the centre of it all has led to the
enslavement and extinction of countless creatures, and the destruction of
our
environment.
People think in terms of commerce; with the entire world as a marketplace.
Yet, when you have used up the planet, polluted the atmosphere and killed
all the animals - what then?
What was it all about?
Poetry
Poetry is the language of feeling and
intuition.
Between the
words and ideas of poetry are spaces intended to be filled by
the reader - or better yet - left in silence.
The sheer beauty of existence cannot be contained in words and pictures, the
raw potency of it eludes meaningful description.
It is physical, tactile and sensual; it is the sensory experience of our
world.
The poetry of life can be felt in all things around us.
Reality
Everything that we believe is just an idea - given to us by someone else.
Ideas and beliefs differ from reality.
Reality itself exists, whether we believe in it or not.
Art
Many things can be called
art because art is the celebration of beauty.
It can be the grace of form, fluidity of motion, or the elegance of relationships and
colour.
Any expression of the appreciation of beauty, whether painting, photography,
structure or writing can be considered art.
In China and Japan, the notion of art transcends the aesthetic.
Art is the way in which you harmonise idea with reality.
The price of beauty
Some people pay amazing amounts of money in order to own a work of art.
A value
is placed on a painting, but this value has no bearing whatsoever upon
reality.
It is an attributed value, rather than inherent - the value only has meaning relative to a buyer.
Chuang Tzu said: When all values differ, how can you compare?
Art in everything
The floating world teaches that a painting is just a painting.
People are prepared to pay untold sums of money for a 'work of art', yet
somebody nearby sleeps in the street or lacks a meal that day.
Where is the beauty of that?
A person may appear elegant yet be ugly in their treatment of others.
Art lies in every facet of your existence; in grace and dignity, compassion
and understanding.
Your conduct is also an expression of art.
What does your everyday behaviour say?
Are you noble?
Fading beauty
A
taoist does not shun the 'ugly' in favour of the 'pretty'.
Everything that people ascribe as being beautiful will pass and fade - like
the
cherry blossom.
Even if a painting remains intact for centuries, your own body
deteriorates constantly.
You cannot own anything because life offers no permanency.
Passion
Passion and enthusiasm can be hampered by mundaneity.
Unshackled from
tradition and convention, the floating world offers a means of celebrating
life and escaping the banality of contemporary culture.
Books like
The Journey to the East,
The Pillow Book, Steppenwolf and Venus in
Furs are all concerned with exploring the floating world.
The floating world is found by all
dreamers, poets and wanderers.
It is not a place but rather a realisation: that life is too short and too
precious to be hemmed-in by orthodoxy and
obedience, that living is more
than belongings and
status.
Dreams and creativity
All great leaps of creative thought have originated in dreams.
By releasing the mind from the restrictions of everyday thought, a person
can explore their potential.
Within each of us are the seeds of creativity.
Sadly, many seeds never reach fruition.
Dreams die without ever seeing daylight.
We must learn to embrace the imagination, for it allows us to be free.
Page created 2 January 1999