Japanese Arts and Self-Cultivation
It is through the practice of the arts, and not through rules or theory that moral and spiritual values are taught in Japan. Author Robert E. Carter examines five arts (or "ways" in Japan): the martial art of aikido, Zen landscape gardening, the Way of Tea, the Way of Flowers, and pottery making. Each art is more than a mere craft, for each takes as its goal not just the teaching of ethics but the formation of the ethical individual. Transformation is the result of diligent practice and each...
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It is through the practice of the arts, and not through rules or theory that moral and spiritual values are taught in Japan. Author Robert E. Carter examines five arts (or "ways" in Japan): the martial art of aikido, Zen landscape gardening, the Way of Tea, the Way of Flowers, and pottery making. Each art is more than a mere craft, for each takes as its goal not just the teaching of ethics but the formation of the ethical individual. Transformation is the result of diligent practice and each art recognizes the importance of the body. Training the mind as well as the body results in important insights, habits, and attitudes that involve the whole person, both body and mind.This fascinating book features the author's interviews with masters of the arts in Japan and his own experiences with the arts, along with background on the arts and ethics from Japanese philosophy and religion. Ultimately, the Japanese arts emerge as a deep cultural repository of ideal attitudes and behavior, which lead to enlightenment itself.About the Author:Robert E. Carter is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Trent University in CanadaGraham Christian - Library JournalSuitably modest in length and scale, this book exemplifies the mindful enrichment of everyday life that we think of as Japanese and exhibits precisely those elements of Asian awareness and attentiveness to detail that appeal most strongly to the West. Carter (emeritus, Trent Univ., Canada; Encounter with Enlightenment: A Study in Japanese Ethics) discusses Aikido, gardening, tea, flowers, and pottery with learned lucidity, showing the reader how these disciplines contribute to self-transformation. For most collections.
Foreword Eliot Deutsch ixAcknowledgments xiIntroduction 1Self-Cultivation 7The Bodymind 8Unification of Body and Mind 10Enlightenment 13Meditation as a Path 15The Resultant Transformation 16Ki 17A Brief Map 18Aikido-The Way of Peace 21The Beginnings 22Aikido: One and Not One 27Aikido and Budo 30A Spiritual Way 31Aikido and Ethics 33The Value and Worth of the Other 37Aikido and Sports 39Yagyu 42Letting Go of the Ego 46Landscape Gardening as Interconnectedness 51Prelude 51The Shinto Influence 54The Buddhist Influence 57Zen-Inspired Gardens 59Masuno's Gardens 62I and Thou 66The Ethics of Gardens 70The Way of Tea (Chado)-To Live without Contrivance 75Background to the Way of Tea 76Wabi 80Zen and Pure Land 85From Sen no Rikyu to Sen Genshitsu XV 90Furyu 92The Lineage 92Beyond Language 94The Way of Flowers (Ikebana)-Eternity Is in the Moment 97Introduction 97Zen and Ikebana 100Ikenobo 101Shinto and Ikebana 102The Koan of Living by Dying and Dying by Living 103Reflections of a Pioneer 108The Principle of Three 111A Culture of Flowers 113The Way of Pottery-Beauty Is in the Abdomen 117Introduction 117Non-Dualistic Awareness 121Hamada: Teacher and Collector 124... and Ethics? 127Summary 131Conclusion 135Ethics and Self-Transformation 136The Train to Takayama 139Attitudes Revisited 143Glossary 147References 155Index 163
\ Library JournalSuitably modest in length and scale, this book exemplifies the mindful enrichment of everyday life that we think of as Japanese and exhibits precisely those elements of Asian awareness and attentiveness to detail that appeal most strongly to the West. Carter (emeritus, Trent Univ., Canada; Encounter with Enlightenment: A Study in Japanese Ethics) discusses Aikido, gardening, tea, flowers, and pottery with learned lucidity, showing the reader how these disciplines contribute to self-transformation. For most collections.\ \ —Graham Christian\ \
