Maneki Neko on Peter's kimono at Ten Thousand Waves Spa, Santa Fe, NM

The Maneki Neko (“Beckoning Cat”; also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money Cat, or Fortune Cat) is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner.  The sculpture depicts a cat (traditionally a Japanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—many times at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, and other businesses.  Some of the sculptures are electric or battery-powered and have a slow-moving paw beckoning. I n the design of the sculptures, a raised right paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised left paw attracts customers.

To Westerners it may seem as if the Maneki Neko is waving rather than beckoning.  This is due to the difference in gestures and body language recognized by Westerners and the Japanese, with Japanese beckoning by holding up the hand, palm out, and repeatedly folding the fingers down and back up, thus the cat’s appearance.

While it is believed that Maneki Neko first appeared during the later part of the Edo period (1603-1867) in Japan the earliest documentary evidence comes from the 1870s, during Japan’s Meiji Era.  It is mentioned in a newspaper article in 1876 and there is evidence kimono-clad Maneki Neko were distributed at a shrine in Osaka during this time. 

Black Lacquer Zen Alarm Clock

adapted from wikipedia.org

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Koya-san, Japan

Mount Kōya (Kōya-san) is the name of mountains in Wakayama prefecture to the south of Osaka.  There is no one mountain officially called Kōya-san in Japan.

First settled in 819 by the monk Kukai, Mt. Koya is primarily known as the world headquarters of the Koyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism.  Located in an 800 m high valley amid the eight peaks of the mountain (which was the reason this location was selected, in that the terrain is supposed to resemble a lotus plant), the original monastery has grown into the town of Koya, featuring a university dedicated to religious studies and 120 temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims.

adapted from wikipedia.org

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Hokusai Ukiyo-e Print, Umegawa in Sagami Province

Mount Fuji (Fuji-san) is the highest mountain in Japan at 12,388 ft.  Along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, it is one of Japan’s “Three Holy Mountains”.  An active volcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji is just west of Tokyo, and can be seen on a clear day.  Mount Fuji’s exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.

While Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji is the most famous ukiyo-e series to focus on Mount Fuji, there are several other series with the same subject, including Hiroshige’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and Hokusai’s own later series One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji.

adapted from wikipedia.org

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Dialectical Idealism- stillness

Upaya is a term in Mahayana Buddhism which refers to something which goes or brings you up to something (i.e., a goal).  It is essentially the Buddhist term for dialectics.

Dialectical Idealism adapted from Wikipedia.org

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Buddhist Loving Kindness

Buddhist loving kindness Mettā  or maitrī (sanskrit) has been translated as loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, and  active interest in others.

It is one of the ten paramitas of the Theravada school of  Buddhism, and the first of the four Brahmaviharas.  The mettā bhāvanā (“cultivation of mettā”) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism.

“God is inherently kind, naturally compassionate, and everlastingly merciful. And never is it necessary that any influence be brought to bear upon the Father to call forth his loving-kindness.”

Beyond Christianity, English translations of the writings of the Bahá’í Faith also use the term “loving-kindness” when referring to the original Persian “mohabbat”.

labyrinth, walking meditation

Meditation can be practiced while walking or doing simple repetitive tasks.  Walking meditation helps break down habitual automatic mental categories, thus regaining the primary nature of perceptions and events, focusing attention on the process while disregarding its purpose or final outcome.

adapted from wikipedia.org

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Haiku Ukiyo-e by Kitagawa Utamaro, woodblock print

Matsuo Bashō  (1644 – 1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haiku no regata form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku.

Despite his success, Bashō grew dissatisfied and lonely.  He began to practice Zen meditation.

“Spring morning marvel
lovely nameless little hill
on a sea of mist”

–haiku by Basho translated by Peter Beilenson

Cherry Blossom Festival, Chokosai Eisho - Now & Zen Inc.

Hanami was first used as a term analogous to cherry blossom viewing in the Heian era novel Tale of Genji.

Emperor of the Heian Period adopted the practice of holding  flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral.

This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan.

wikipedia.org

Courtesan Hanaogi of Ogi-ya by Chokosai Eisho, Now & Zen ukiyo-e detail

Japanese poets first encountered Chinese Poetry when it was at its peak in the Tang Dynasty.  It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry.  For example, in the Tale of Genji both kinds of poetry are frequently mentioned.

A new trend came in the middle of the 19th century.  Since then the major forms of Japanese poetry have been tanka (new name for waka), haiku and shi.

In Japan during the ancient times, it was a custom between two writers to exchange waka instead of letters in prose.  In particular, it was common between lovers.  Soon after in Japan, making and reciting waka became a part of aristocratic culture.

wikipedia.org

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Pink Sakura, Now & Zen Inc.

A cherry blossom is the name for the flower of cherry trees known as Sakura in Japanese.

Cherry blossom is an omen of good fortune and is also an emblem of love, affection and represents spring.  Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the fleeting nature of life, and as such are frequently depicted in art.

Cherry blossoms and leaves are edible and both are used as food ingredients in Japan.

Kitagawa Utamaro Cherry Blossom Flowers of Edo, Now & Zen

 wikipedia.org

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