About Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty
"Davey uses words with clarity and simplicity to describe the non-word realm of practicing these arts-calligraphy, martial arts, tea ceremony, painting-and the spiritual meaning of such practice. . . . A wonderful complement for practitioners of meditation, especially Zen."-- Publishers Weekly
"This edifying paperback delivers the goods and makes crystal clear the close connection between art, meditation, and self-mastery."--Spirituality & Practice review of Brush Meditation
The Michi Mission: From chado--"the Way of tea"--to budo--"the martial Way"--Japan has succeeded in spiritualizing a number of classical arts. The names of these skills often end in Do, also pronounced Michi, meaning the "Way." By studying a Way in detail, we discover vital principles that transcend the art and relate more broadly to the art of living itself.
The three works anthologized here are essential to understanding the spiritual, meditative, and physical basis of all classical Japanese creative and martial arts. Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers key concepts--like wabi and "stillness in motion"--while the other two books show the reader how to use brush calligraphy (shodo) and flower arranging (ikebana) to achieve mind-body unification.
In the Michi series, H. E. Davey explores the mind/body connection that lies at the heart of traditional Japanese arts and culture. Mr. Davey is Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area.
