The Art of Seeing

04Aug11

First, put aside the desire to judge immediately; acquire the habit of just looking. Second, do not treat the object as an object for the intellect. Third, just be ready to receive, passively, without interposing yourself. If you can void your mind of all intellectualization, like a clear mirror that simply reflects, all the better. This nonconceptualization—the Zen state of mushin (“no mind”)—may seem to represent a negative attitude, but from it springs the true ability to contact things directly and positively.

~ This quote by Soetsu Yanagi from 1940 was published in The Unkown Craftsman, 1972. He was a one of the leading forces for folk and craft revival movement in Japan.

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Tags: craft, craft revival, folk art, intellectualization, negative attitude, revival movement, true ability, zen mind