A Brief Update (7/5).
Dear Followers and Readers,
First of all, I wanted to go on the record by saying that around the middle of last week Elmar transferred $190 to my bank account. Consequently, I will have enough money for food until the 19th of this month or so (when I am, unfortunately, worrying that the money troubles for the following month will begin again). After confirming the transfer at the local ATM in the post office, I went to a restaurant near my home (it was too late in the day to consider grocery shopping) -- and I got sick to the stomach after swallowing the first mouthful: I guess my stomach had gotten used to not eating. The amazing things that happen to our bodies as we grow old….
Anyway, I was happy to be able to finish this morning's post in the wee hours of this morning. It took quite a lot of work, and I only hope the effort was worthwhile. (My eyes quit working around the beginning of footnote 8, so if you find any errors, or anything that does not look right, please let me know, and I will correct it if appropriate. I am sorry if this turns out to be the case.) The text, though it is effectively entitled the Appreciation of the Incense Burner in the Sadō ko-ten zen-shū [茶道古典全集], should rather have been called the Appreciation of Incense in the Small Room (because it says little about the kōro itself -- and since the treasuring of a meibutsu kōro is not something that should be commonly done in the wabi small room in any event), and focuses in large part on the practice of sora-daki [空薫き], which means burning incense in an empty room (to perfume the air prior to the arrival of the guests), and the ramifications that this might have on the way to conduct the subsequent gathering. Perfuming the room beforehand is hardly something that is generally appropriate to the wabi setting; but the instructions given in this essay go on to essentially repudiate Rikyū's own way of doing things (as narrated in the famous story of Tennōji-ya Sōkyū and the Snowy Dawn's chakai) -- by treating us to an Edo period rendering of "self-promotion under the guise of feigned hospitality." It was for reasons such as this that I balked at the idea of translating the two secret books, since, collectively, they add nothing that will help our practice of chanoyu: but, rather, tend to corrupt the purity of wabi with things that are so outlandish that even the modern schools tend to eschew them in practice (though, through the encouragement found in books such as this, they are still able manifest themselves from time to time in the ō-yose-chakai [大寄せ茶会] that famous teachers occasionally stage at this or that public venue…the kind of things that get chanoyu a bad name among the "uneducated" members of the public).
Be that as it may, I hope the footnotes will expand your understanding of incense, including mon-kō [聞香] as it is practiced in the context of chanoyu. I personally believe that rather than spending the time (and expense) preparing a banquet (under the guise of "kaiseki" [懷石], which word actually means a warmed rock that was placed in the futokoro in an attempt to mitigate the pangs of hunger while meditating) that encourages the guests to stuff themselves with rich food and drink, it would be best to keep the meal as simple as possible (like a bentō, as Rikyū did); and if something more is needed to pass the time while the kama comes to a boil, perhaps appreciating one or two varieties of kyara might be a more productive way to do so (since sniffing kyara encourages the development of samādhi by purifying the scent of smell -- which was the original purpose of chanoyu, as a matter of fact).
Lordy, it has been hot! Well over 100° F inside my room, which has made everything more difficult (especially sleeping). They keep predicting thunderstorms, but all we get is the insane hot humidity and what feels like the crushing weight of all those clouds. I am going to need several days for my eyes to recover from all of this. The next entry is short; so if I am unable to get to work on it by Thursday, it should be ready to be published next Sunday.
Also, the cumulative index for Part II (posts 13 to 24) will be published one day this week, whenever I can get it ready.
Thank you all for your understanding, and for your continuing interest in, and (to those who have contributed) support of, this blog.
Please have a good -- and refreshing -- week, everyone!
Sincerely yours,
Daniel M. Burkus [email protected]
Donations: https://paypal.me/chanoyutowa
