Hakuin dedicated most of his life not only to painting but to calligraphy too and so there you go; when I told the sensei I wanted to write this haiku, he laughed;
野も山も
雪にとられて
なにもなし
-丈草
field and mountain
taken by the snow
nothing remains
-Naitou Jousou(1662-1704)
While writing this, he told me to think about the poem I was writing. A haiku about snow, a poem about nothing.
At first I found myself scrutinizing each character, its traces and position, how big it had to be, what direction should have, the balance of the whole etc… constantly looking at the example from the teacher. Well yeah, this technical approach didn’t turn out right. I was over thinking the whole thing; my traces seemed really awkward and then I realized what the teacher said, that I should just let it be, start writing straightforwardly without too much effort, and after that it started to work, pieces falling into place finally.
I felt I got it, this was not about kanjis, meanings, it wasn’t about words but about an image or more like an insight being exposed. So it turned out that if I wanted to write it properly then I had to let the brush slide without forcing it, reminded me of Dogen’s Instruction for the Cook really, lately everything remind me of Dogen.
What I learned from the sensei while doing this is that although there is a correct way to write in Japanese; a right way to depict each character following the order of its traces and all; it is also about catching a feeling and letting it out in the paper.
Among the last ones I did suddenly I realized there was a space in which the snow flakes fall down from the sky, there is a hint of perspective, but above all there is a feeling, a light feeling of cold white snow. Yatta!
Everything is light! everything is true! n_n
野も山も
雪にとられて
なにもなし
-丈草
field and mountain
taken by the snow
nothing remains
-Naitou Jousou(1662-1704)
While writing this, he told me to think about the poem I was writing. A haiku about snow, a poem about nothing.
At first I found myself scrutinizing each character, its traces and position, how big it had to be, what direction should have, the balance of the whole etc… constantly looking at the example from the teacher. Well yeah, this technical approach didn’t turn out right. I was over thinking the whole thing; my traces seemed really awkward and then I realized what the teacher said, that I should just let it be, start writing straightforwardly without too much effort, and after that it started to work, pieces falling into place finally.
I felt I got it, this was not about kanjis, meanings, it wasn’t about words but about an image or more like an insight being exposed. So it turned out that if I wanted to write it properly then I had to let the brush slide without forcing it, reminded me of Dogen’s Instruction for the Cook really, lately everything remind me of Dogen.
What I learned from the sensei while doing this is that although there is a correct way to write in Japanese; a right way to depict each character following the order of its traces and all; it is also about catching a feeling and letting it out in the paper.
Among the last ones I did suddenly I realized there was a space in which the snow flakes fall down from the sky, there is a hint of perspective, but above all there is a feeling, a light feeling of cold white snow. Yatta!
Everything is light! everything is true! n_n
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