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   Camellia Tea Ceremony (camelliakyoto@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 23-Aug-2024 23:36:55 JST Camellia Tea Ceremony

   😵💫⏹️WINDOW TO THE SOUL⏺️😇

   Visitors to Genkō-an (源光庵) are presented with a riddle when they settle in the main hall...a question built into the architecture of the the temple.

   What does the world look like to one who is enlightened?🤔

   Two windows hold the key.

   #Kyoto #京都 #Genkoan #源光庵 #zen #enlightenment #Takagamine #鷹峯

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     Camellia Tea Ceremony (camelliakyoto@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 23-Aug-2024 23:36:54 JST Camellia Tea Ceremony

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     ⏹️The square window (a rectangle in the warmer months) is called 'mayoi-no-mado' (迷いの窓), 'the inability to reach enlightenment window'.

     The square's 4 corners show us 4 human inflictions: 生 老 病 死 (birth, old age, sickness and death).

     #enlightenment #zen #Genkoan #迷いの窓 #Japan #Kyoto

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     Camellia Tea Ceremony (camelliakyoto@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 23-Aug-2024 23:36:54 JST Camellia Tea Ceremony

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     ⏺️The round window, just to the left of the square one, is known as 'satori-no-mado' (悟りの窓), 'the window of spiritual awakening'.

     Unlike a square, a circle has no corners, and is thus free from these four inflictions.

     This is what it is to be enlightened!✨

     #Japan #Kyoto #京都 #zen #善 #enlightenment

     Sean Bala repeated this.
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     Camellia Tea Ceremony (camelliakyoto@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 23-Aug-2024 23:36:54 JST Camellia Tea Ceremony

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     Circles play an important role in zen thought😑
     Without corners there is no end and no beginning, just an uninterrupted and continuous journey.

     'Ensō' (円相), a circle painted with a single stroke, symbolizes absolute enlightenment, freedom of the mind, elegance, and the universe.

     #zen #enso #円相 #enlightenment #Genkoan #Kyoto #Takagamine

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     Camellia Tea Ceremony (camelliakyoto@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 23-Aug-2024 23:36:55 JST Camellia Tea Ceremony

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     Both windows open onto the same garden, yet the effect of looking through each window (one round, one square) is quite different.

     Without words they express the journey to enlightenment.

     the tree cut,
     dawn breaks early
     at my little window
     木をつみて夜の明やすき小窓かな
     -Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規 1867-1902)

     #zen #enlightenment #haiku #poetry #MasaokaShiki #正岡子規