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2008年01月23日
Things Japanese: Reflections on the Simple Life
I have always been a big fan of Matsuo Basho. When I visited Tokyo last year I made a point of visiting the site on the Sumida River where his famous hut was located. I had always thought that I like him because he was such a traveler but I have recently come to see that I really like him because of his simple lifestyle lived in his beloved hut by the Sumida River. It was there that he wrote many of his famous "haiku" poems.
The hut was built for him by his students and soon a banana tree was planted outside the hut. Soon, the hut was called the "Basho Hut" or in English the "Banana Hut". Soon, people started calling him Master Basho and that is the nickname that he is now known by throughout the world. Ever since it seems he was interested in the simple life lived in a hut. The original hut was built in 1680 but burned down in 1682. In 1683 a new hut was built for him.
However, the Basho Hut was not the only hut that he lived in and wrote about. In In 1690 he stayed for some time in the "Unreal Hut" near Lake Biwa. In English this hut is also called the "Hut of the Phantom Dwelling" depending on who has translated it. As I grew up near Lake Biwa I am very interested in some day visiting this hut or the site where it was located. Basho wrote an essay about his life there called, "Record of the Hut of the Phantom Dwelling".
In 1691 Basho spent time at yet another hut called the "House of Fallen Persimmons". Here, he wrote "The Saga Diary" and "The Monkey's Cloak" As this site is also located not too far from Osaka I am hoping some day to visit it.
In 1692 the third Basho Hut was built by the Sumida River.
However, it is another Japanese writer that explained more fully the connection between living the Simple Life and having a "hut" to live in. Kamo no Chomei wrote an essay called, "The Record of the Ten-Foot-Square-Hut". Kamo no Chomei lived from 1153 to 1216 and was based in Kyoto. He gives a very direct description of what a "hut" should be like. According to Chomei it should be first of all of course Ten-Foot-Square. Anything bigger and it is too big and can't be called a "hut". He tells us that his hut contained bookshelves for his books,two musical intruments-a koto and a biwa-and his bed of fern fronds. The koto is a Japanese harp while the biwa is more like a lute or a mandolin. At any rate, his idea of the simple life comes down to a room 10 by 10, books, music, and a bed.
Why am I so interested in "huts" and the siimple life? Maybe because I was born in Minnesota. This past Christmas my brother gave me a book called, "Cabins of Minnesota" which I really really enjoyed. In Minnesota we talk about "cabins" rather than "huts". In Japan, the term used is "Yama Goya" which means "Mountain Hut". In Norway they also talk about "huts" and also in Finland the usual term is "hut". But a Minnesota cabin is the same as a Japanese Moutain Hut-the concept is the same.
Well, how do I put this interest in "huts" into practical use in my daily life? Of course on way is to spend time in Japanese "Mountain Huts"-either to rent a log cabin in the mountains for a day and night or for a few days or to accept invitations from friends who actually own "mountain huts" in Japan. We have some good friends-a Japanese pastor and his wife-who own a 10 by 10 mountain hut in Hyoko Prefecture. They often invite us to come and join them for a day of simple living which basically consists of sitting on their deck overlooking the lake for the entire day. They have a stove on the deck so we heat coffee and cook the noon meal there and never have to move. We can enjoy the view and the breeze and freely talk in a way that is hard to do normally.
However, I have a more practical way of living the simple life and that is through my office. My office is just about 10 feet by 10 feet square-Chomei would be proud of me. It contain 2 guitars, a stereo sytem and more than 100 CDs, bookshelves with over 1000 books. a desk, a table, four chairs, and pictures of Japanese mountains on the walls. When I am in my office I feel a great peace and contentment. First thing in the morning I go into my office and spend time reading the Bible and praying and then for the rest of the day it is my place of refuge from a busy and noisy world. This is my concept of living the simple life.
投稿者 bethany : 2008年01月23日 09:07
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What-up ,Paul-sensei? Another interesting post everyone else should check out.
This 10 by 10 hut thing reminds me of the Feast of Tabernacles. I wonder what articles they bring in the booth.
No books? No music? No musical instruments? No computers, no doubt. Scripture? Seems like it would be an ultimate simple life,only if it is followed precisely.
Back in the early seventies, everyone was talking about ' simple life', partly because of that commercial for RENOWN(1975?), which goes 'Simple life is my way ' We were living a far more simple life
as compared with the present. Simple could mean incovenient at times. In 1972, someone bought the latest(at that time) double live album from THE BAND called ROCK OF AGES. I wanted the liner note copied
, but there was no copy machine available yet, and all I could do was write it all down by hand, which took 2 hours. Yes, I did it in class. I was ignoring a couple of classes, LOL.
Funny I didn't take it so inconvenient. We didn't have many of the things we have available now , yet we thought we had too much at times.....as Chris Christopherson( or janis) sang,' Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose'
Many of the things we have now were not even in existence in the seventies, or sixties, or fifties, as the cace may be. So it should be a lot more difficult to live a simple life compared with those days gone by.
Just one tip. Throw away your books, CD's. Get rid of your computer, guitars. Ok. you could keep the holy bible, anyway. LOL
Just kidding, but actually I was thinking about that myself.
Have a blessed day.
osamu
投稿者 : 2008年01月24日 13:06
Osamu San, thanks for your interesting comments. I did not think of the "huts" involved in the Feast of Tabernacles-an interesting concept.
What I did not mention was that there is one step lower than the 10X10 hut to go in the concept of the simple life and that is the life lived in a 6X3 bed. 20 years ago when I first got cancer I had to live in a hospital bed for about 3 months. This forced me to think about what was really needed. As you said at the end of your comment, basically all that is needed is the Bible. That was my conclusion. The one thing I needed in the hospital on my night table was the Bible-I did not need anything else and really nothing else could help me.
In fact, even now, next to my bed, the one book that I have is a copy of the Bible. So, the ultimate simple life would be a 6X3 bed and a Bible and God has challenged me to be content with that if need be.
However, by God's grace, I am now healthy enough to move around and so I am enjoying my 10X10 office.
At any rate, let us try to live a simple life and keep our interests focused on what is really important-God and His Word. Everything else is just His Grace to us. PTl
Paul
投稿者 Paul Sunde : 2008年01月25日 08:09
Amen. I'm glad you're enjoying your 10x10 office
..............................
8These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.
9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.(Mark6)...,now that's simple life!
(sandals not allowed in Matthew)
9Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; 10take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
11"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. (Matthew10).....That simple life,too.
Also...
31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.(Matthew6)....now that's ultimate simple life.
Peace
osamu
投稿者 : 2008年01月25日 20:16
Yes, Osamu San, Jesus is our ultimate example of how to live the Simple Life.
Matthew 8:20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Jesus did not even have the luxury of a "10X10 hut"!
See you on Sunday.
Paul
投稿者 Paul Sunde : 2008年01月26日 05:36