cosmolinks
The author's siteSAMPLE. . . . Richard R Powell's excellent labour of love here, at Google Books [Where you'll find another wabisabi rap, by the same author, that's worth a peruse: Wabi Sabi Simple.)NOT UNRELATED. . . . "Obviously, Basho wished to admire the beauty of the morning-glory without having to keep a bolt on his gate. How to manage to do this must have been the subject of many hours of meditation within the locked house. He solved the problem, at least to his own satisfaction, and reopened the gate about a month after closing it. Basho's solution was based on the principle of "lightness," ['karumi'] a dialectic transcendence of sabi. Sabi urges man to detach himself from worldly involvements; "lightness" makes it possible for him, after attaining that detachment, to return to the mundane world."To be fair, there is a tradition in Japan of binding gates with flowers. A delicacy of contrasts. This also reminds that Basho, in his later years, considered a certain lightness of touch (karumi) to be an evolution of his understanding of hokku (haiku). An elegant refinement of sincerity (makoto) in relation to experience transcribed into poetic expression.
Example of karumi. . . .
Extracted from quite a good synopsis of Matsuo's life in the living wind, it's Zoka (creative force of nature).
SOME MORE ON ALL THAT. . . . "Step into the living wind's furyu of zoka as makoto in kokoro; ripple on an ancient pond."
ALSO SEE. . . . Zhuangzi
AND THIS (needs updated really, but not without interest.]
jp 13-01-12