My favorite Zen story, unearthed while I was researching the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, is about Kichibei, a common Japanese villager whose wife's illness kept her bedridden. Every day, in addition to caring for his wife, Kichibei cooked, swept and maintained his home. One day a neighbor remarked to Kichibei that he must be exhausted. "I do not know what fatigue is," Kichibei replied, "because caring for my wife every day is always both a first experience and a last experience. There is no doing it again, and so I never tire of it."
Throughout the past week's terrible events, Buddhist priest and potter Shiho Kanzaki's Facebook page has been my touchstone. Shiho-san is in Shigaraki, unaffected by the quake and tsunami and about 800 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. On Friday he posted, "I'm very sad! But I can do nothing. Only I pray Buddha for many victims." He also showed us a beautiful wood-fired pot with natural ash deposits. because we're admirers who visit his page to see such things.
Every day Shiho-san reports the high and low temperature in Shigaraki, displays some pots and gives us news. On Sunday he wrote, "After the earthquake, over 10,000 persons were killed. And it's happening nuclear power plant problems. And an interruption of the power supply caused by the nuclear power plant. There are too many problems." He showed a pot with a new texture.
"According to a Tokyo electric company's statement, there is some possibility of melting down with nuclear power plant," Shiho-san reported on Monday. He said he would go bicycling as the day was warm and showed a photo of his indepenedent apprentice, Hironobu Ogawa. He thanked all the well-wishers on his page and said they gave him encouragement.
"Good morning, my friends!" Shiho-san wrote this morning. "It's cloudy, snow later today. I need a rest and calm time. So I will have a day off. Have a wonderful day, everybody!"
Today is both a first experience and a last experience. May we never tire of it.
Follow Robyn Griggs Lawrence on Twitter: www.twitter.com/robynlawrence
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