tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75289997420946489972024-03-13T17:45:44.466-05:00Saw Zen: A Craftsman's Guide to Practicality and SpiritThe craftsman shapes the world in service of higher consciousness.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-1682700026207787772021-11-18T07:25:00.001-06:002021-11-18T07:25:56.282-06:00Nishioka, the temple carpenter<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqEPwQkiIhnOWN-LLzCBY690d3BoTqhEqVX_NkiEVfUN1jzR1MVqzneU1snopodiYFuLHsFhBh_DtqNv14DCxMpPQXh4ip159y67Ov0rWra4uVFeIFEKk__1v24zXh3uVy9qqd6H2C3M/s2048/Wisdom+of+Our+Hands+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqEPwQkiIhnOWN-LLzCBY690d3BoTqhEqVX_NkiEVfUN1jzR1MVqzneU1snopodiYFuLHsFhBh_DtqNv14DCxMpPQXh4ip159y67Ov0rWra4uVFeIFEKk__1v24zXh3uVy9qqd6H2C3M/s320/Wisdom+of+Our+Hands+Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Azby Brown, a friend in Japan offered the following comment after reading through most of my new book. <p></p><div><blockquote>"What I get from your book is that creative craft work gives us the opportunity to live a life worth living, and to become better than we are. This really resonates with something I’ve been thinking about and sharing with people lately. </blockquote><blockquote>"The temple carpenter Nishioka was Buddhist to his bones. He didn’t talk a lot about it necessarily, unless you asked him, in which case he revealed himself as an erudite scholar. More importantly he lived it and it shaped everything he did. </blockquote><blockquote>"In his tradition, the best thing a master carpenter can do is help provide a path to enlightenment for his apprentices, through devoted and meaningful work in which they can become selfless. But they never say directly that that's what they’re doing. I think the reason is connected to something you alluded to, about “spiritual competitiveness,” which is just another kind of attachment. </blockquote><blockquote>"Better to just live the work."—Azby Brown</blockquote><p></p></div>Azby is the author of <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Just-Enough.../dp/161172077X/" target="_blank">Just Enough: Lessons from Japan for Sustainable Living, Architecture and Design</a>. Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-88753510226245956122021-08-25T09:13:00.004-05:002021-08-25T09:13:48.525-05:00A book of Zen.<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCxYzAYu3VvywPX0KiY6vmf2vn_A6xHhOmJTEa84hTq59NUPyNTasTbEiL-F1QUpkg-9qeQBEQBwmg8DWHfgdtsICstMczTh0lTbdzczHeQwOfPaNyPqcYGmS5pMEKEE5bnVsg0l9kgA/s1132/Screen+Shot+2021-08-21+at+3.34.59+PM.png" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="752" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCxYzAYu3VvywPX0KiY6vmf2vn_A6xHhOmJTEa84hTq59NUPyNTasTbEiL-F1QUpkg-9qeQBEQBwmg8DWHfgdtsICstMczTh0lTbdzczHeQwOfPaNyPqcYGmS5pMEKEE5bnVsg0l9kgA/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-08-21+at+3.34.59+PM.png" width="213" /></a> My new book has been posted on Amazon even though it will not be released until February 2022. https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Our-Hands-Crafting-Life/dp/1610355016/ The posting offers a very brief synopsis of the book's contents. February feels a long ways off. This book has been in the works for 20 years now, so the last few months will make me feel impatient to see how readers respond.</p><p>The book is related to the practice of zen the same way zen is related to the practical work of real life and the shaping of self.</p><p></p><p>Make, fix and create...</p>Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-78112831623202704712019-11-25T06:36:00.000-06:002019-11-25T06:36:16.660-06:00beyond empty mindfulness<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLYIbTCaxWhdeSSbRRkMqSmPO2olw47Y8camOwn7pXfKhhhrFdBjvvUkG1UcXCPlYeVLk99rSFPlLc-P2QquSvzpI_PxvU_-zqpiWIvPmJus7OPcyMQmba2_OBlMzMgRaRhs-P29mCOY/s1600/klenke014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="433" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLYIbTCaxWhdeSSbRRkMqSmPO2olw47Y8camOwn7pXfKhhhrFdBjvvUkG1UcXCPlYeVLk99rSFPlLc-P2QquSvzpI_PxvU_-zqpiWIvPmJus7OPcyMQmba2_OBlMzMgRaRhs-P29mCOY/s320/klenke014.jpg" width="214" /></a>A new book by Ronald Purser, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/McMindfulness-Ronald-Purser/dp/191224831X" target="_blank">McMindfulness: </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/McMindfulness-Ronald-Purser/dp/191224831X" target="_blank">How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality</a> https://www.amazon.com/McMindfulness-Ronald-Purser/dp/191224831X explores the shortcomings the mindfulness movement. We are in this world equipped with bodies (and hands) so that we can be of service to each other.<br />
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We are infinitely and intimately connected to each other and to all else while we are confronted at the same time with an unceasing number of real things that require our complete attention. Dual awareness is the practice of attending equally and seamlessly to the full range of self.<br />
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In other words, sawzen is not zazen. It's not about withdrawing from the world into a meditative state, but is entering into the world with soul in focus and reality at hand.<br />
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Woodworking can be a path toward realization of greater SELF. In my shop I continue sanding boxes, knowing they will leave my hands and find their way into other hands, building connections between us.<br />
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There is a whole bunch of hype and egotism built into the practice of "spirituality." Let's avoid that and get to work.<br />
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If the hands are at work for the good, the heart and mind follow.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-64697230039447154202015-01-17T13:25:00.001-06:002015-01-17T13:25:49.232-06:00discovery of the perfect ZenI was reminded of this often neglected blog by a friend who had done some reading here. What a difficult thing it is to contend with the concept of spirituality and the separation of self from what have been described to us as dimensions beyond our own physical, emotional and intellectual engagements in real life. We are made to feel small in the shadow of announcements and instruction by those who set themselves apart and posture as though they are better than the rest, or gifted in the special knowing of profound things.<br />
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I'm reminded of Krishnamurti. He lived a simple life. Yes, it was sustained by followers who made certain his needs were met. He had to attend to no physical engagement to earn his keep. So he gardened and tended plants. He taught by asking those who gathered for his lessons, "let us reason together." He insisted that the authority that is needed in human life is no secret, and not a thing that comes through instruction, or by pronouncement or by special privilege given only a few but through the application of mind and mindfulness upon life.<br />
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That is very zen-like. I can imagine how he felt. His followers were gathered there to listen to his thoughts, while he wanted them to become fearless in their investigations of their own. If he seemed impatient at times, perhaps it was because he could hardly wait to get back to his plants.<br />
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The Zen that is spoken is not the perfect ZenDoug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-84178345164848424662014-09-06T13:54:00.001-05:002014-09-06T13:54:26.634-05:00every once in awhile, I am reminded...Every once in awhile I am reminded of this blog, and in turning my attention back to it, I remember that it has been some time since I posted last. It has been one year, that I have let this blog lie dormant. It is not that I've lost interest in Zen but that I've felt no need to think of it as being something apart from real life..<br />
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A short time after I wrote last in this blog, my sister Ann passed away. Now it has been one year. And what can I say? She has been missed.<br />
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When it comes to Zen, what can be said? The Zen that is spoken is not the true Zen. We can talk around it, address it as an impersonal, disconnected philosophy, but what's that chopping sound? Do you hear lumber being sawn? Or nails being driven deep into the heart of wood? Those are the sounds that convey Zen. What is the significance of making useful beauty, if not for the sake of Zen? And what's Zen if not that creative, skilled act?Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-70642991480130570662013-09-10T14:48:00.002-05:002013-09-10T14:48:32.218-05:00awaiting word on Ann...I am awaiting word of my sister's passing. She is in hospice care and
down to her last hours or perhaps days. She has always been my big
sister, even after I grew much taller in height. She was always the
creative one, the artistic one. While I majored in Political Science,
she majored in art. When we were little, she colored on my paper. There
was no meanness in it. She knew that my paper needed her help. There
were only 18 months between us and I've really not known the world
without her being in it.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, at the age
of 7, I took apart her sewing machine and it never worked again. That
taught me valuable lessons that I've never forgotten. Pay attention to
the details. Know the whole of a thing and understand how it works or
how it is supposed to work before you commence in taking it apart. Each
and every thing has meaning. Take care with the whole of it. It matters.<br />
<br />
I
am reminded of a Zen story. The master was dying. His disciples were
gathered around him, crying, "Master, master, please don't leave us." He
looked up and asked, "Where do you think I'd go?" And the truth of us
is that our individuality is self-deception. We are intimately entwined
in each other. There are no boundaries between us except those that our
delusions have created. Skin? Thoughts? Are there any real boundaries
that defines us if we choose to live within a broader view of our
humanity?<br />
<br />
My wife tells me to avoid power tools for the
rest of the day. That's good advice when under some level of stress.
The worst part of my sister's disease was that it impaired her creative
capacity. For the rest of you, please:<br />
<br />
Make, fix and create...Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-60192718427890957622013-02-02T07:48:00.004-06:002013-02-02T10:51:32.716-06:00stillness...<br />
I have been researching unexplained data transmissions over my internet connection that add up to extreme data usage. What I've learned is that in these modern computer operating systems, there's more internal chatter than what would be in the head of the most obsessive-compulsive paranoid schizophrenic that ever walked the earth. My first thought was that some data mining deviant force was robbing my bandwidth.<br />
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If you are on a mac, you can watch the ins and outs of data transmission by going to the utilities folder under applications and opening the activity monitor. Click on the "network" tab and you can watch the bytes and kilobytes of data steaming out to the web and back, even when you are doing absolutely nothing. Turn off your network connection and watch what happens to the activity. The purpose of the network activity seems to be to coordinate devices and to feed advertisements and updates to us on a regular basis. Some computers are brought to a near halt by shear overload from all the ins and outs of small meaningless packets of data. On my desktop Mac, I learned that the traffic is severe, eating up more bandwidth than anyone would have imagined.<br />
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Perhaps computers and we folk are truly alike. Perhaps just as the computer can benefit by becoming unwired for a time, we can too. If all our processing power is consumed by trivialities, what's left for rational processing in our own lives? I am an advocate of mindfulness, not that the mind should be full (or emptied) but that being watchful of what we put in our minds, watchful of what goes on in our minds, we learn to derive benefit from stillness, quiet and equanimity.<br />
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Years ago, I stood on the banks of the Mississippi River at Memphis. The river was so full and wide, and while at home at night you can be disturbed by the dripping of a faucet, the river was so full and silent that I could hear the calls of fishermen nearly a mile on the other side. The amount of water flowing by in each given second was far in excess of that faucet drip of such huge aggravation, and so we come to the heart of Zen. The object of mindfulness is not to become empty of mind, but that the mind be full of consequence and meaning, that it not be dominated by trivialities but by meaningful connections.<br />
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When we do a thing by hand for the first time, our brains are filled with intense processing. What is the proper grip to use on the chisel? How do I direct it's point? How hard do I strike with the mallet? And then what? And these are questions that are answered in practice and experience.<br />
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Researchers did MRI experiments with pianists, beginning and advanced. A paper keyboard was used so that the subjects could be observed as they applied sequences of notes just as they would on a real piano. The researchers watched the brain activity, just as I can use the activity monitor on my mac. They learned that expert pianists used far less processing power than beginners to perform the same series of notes. The advanced pianists were far less encumbered by inefficiencies in the hand/brain system conundrum.<br />
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Interestingly, all this applies to creative woodworking. We do make choices as to what we use to fill our minds and how we squander our processing power. We do make choices about how much to rely on our connections and how much to go on our own, cut loose from the grid that may stifle our individual creative expression. What happens in the hand is not mindless. What happens in the mind is best when it is connected by hand to reality. When hand and mind are refined in perfect partnership, it is like standing in silent awe at the side of a great river.<br />
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Make, fix and create...<br />
Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-1112150886510152542011-05-08T14:40:00.002-05:002011-05-08T14:40:36.830-05:00Living with monkey mind...Living with monkey mind...<br />
Today at the Unitarian Church here in Eureka Springs, we had a visit from 5 Tibetan monks traveling with the Dalai Lama. They chanted during our traditional Mother's Day Service, so between regular members and guests who had come just for the monks, the church was crowded. In a question and answer session in which attendees were able to ask one of the monks questions, he mentioned what has been called "monkey mind," the incessant interior mental chatter that most often revolves around the painful injuries we may feel we have sustained, or the hopes we may have of changing circumstances to elevate our own position in things, in life, and within our communities.... A great deal of monkey mind is plotting and scheming and taking us out of the moment.<br />
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A quick question of my readers... "Is the status of monkey mind alleviated or made worse by our technologies?" I suspect the answer is obvious. If students, and we ourselves cannot observe at least a few moments of silence, how can we learn things that are most truly meaningful?<br />
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This afternoon, I'm exercising my monkey mind by doing sketchup drawings for boxes to illustrate a Fine Woodworking Magazine article on the safe machining of small parts.<br />
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I am also working toward transcendence. Being in the woodshop with real wood is much easier and more fun.<br />
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Join me this day as I fall silent in my own quiet symphony of hands.<br />
Make, fix and create...Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-7368394932584158372010-08-19T14:13:00.000-05:002010-08-19T14:14:05.753-05:00awakening to clarity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9Pv6A5aaXb8qUmWRHqmiNIWOYG3dlNECwOU-64uKL-8kqAFfoIkhO-0Ftu3HQMkjUEFGK8kHE19GPPcsS8Eu70Ob87YurFHQ7QZU7jjBEMPon-N94to69-5qV0oeIH3XH1QIKe9rRWo/s1600/technique.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9Pv6A5aaXb8qUmWRHqmiNIWOYG3dlNECwOU-64uKL-8kqAFfoIkhO-0Ftu3HQMkjUEFGK8kHE19GPPcsS8Eu70Ob87YurFHQ7QZU7jjBEMPon-N94to69-5qV0oeIH3XH1QIKe9rRWo/s400/technique.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507199440319163762" /></a>I don't know whether others have the same forms of awakening from dreams experiences as I. Being one who works at least part time in the concrete rather than abstract, being involved in shaping real physical forms from wood there are nights from which I awaken to a clarity about how some particular thing I am intending to do is to be done. This morning's <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epiphany">epiphany</a> is an extremely simple technique I demonstrate in the photos above and below... a technique to taper the edge of a board through an extremely simple and precise method. I had been thinking of more complex techniques occasionally for days and now having had my awakening, my epiphany, I get to demonstrate simplicity so that others can see, (and do) as well.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOl2yDQVryZrYLSD4BwarVQ8CKB1vuVdVduQvjvAwvRzLEN59JiVezOZ4vWqBH_jGn578UkrF_-DSrYtc7zciJM8LQoBkFEIG16y8AiMaYsp_RI1qp-7Nmcsdc1HWieNC2BES_IbRn6g/s1600/result.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOl2yDQVryZrYLSD4BwarVQ8CKB1vuVdVduQvjvAwvRzLEN59JiVezOZ4vWqBH_jGn578UkrF_-DSrYtc7zciJM8LQoBkFEIG16y8AiMaYsp_RI1qp-7Nmcsdc1HWieNC2BES_IbRn6g/s400/result.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507199435067901650" /></a> The boards will be glued back together as shown but because of the taper in towards the center, as they are tapered upward on the outside edges, the thickness of the edge will gradually diminish toward the top... a subtle visual effect, but one that I believe will be worth the small amount of effort at the start.<br /><br />Many of my artist friends tell me that they think in images rather than in words. How about you? For many non artists, the rush of dream images in the night may be their clearest engagement in non-discursive reality. They may awakened fearful of what they find.<br /><br />Can you see how becoming a society of makers again might bring full intelligence to greater life? To become a maker is to awaken from a dream to full capacity. Lao Tzu wondered whether he dreamed he was a butterfly or was a butterfly dreaming his human form. Here I am at the edge of things... attempting to suggest greater meaning from dreaming and from making. And if I tell you that making is an essential human trait, that the integration of consciousness is dependent upon it, can you understand what I am dreaming/talking about? A picture is worth a thousand word, but words have a tendency to lock us in position and lock our intelligence within bounds. Break free. Make! Create! Use your hands to engage your full human intellectual capacity.<br /><br />Mario, in a comment to this post mentions <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges">Jorge Luis Borge,</a> Argentinian poet and writer. From Wikipedia: <blockquote>Scholars have suggested that Borges's progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. Borges commented "poets, like the blind, can see in the dark". Borges wrote: "When I think of what I've lost, I ask, 'Who knows themselves better than the blind?' - for every thought becomes a tool." </blockquote> Thank you Mario for the introduction.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-67419992432747641052010-05-22T11:59:00.001-05:002010-05-22T12:02:15.266-05:00Are you here now?You can think and speculate til the cows come home, but everything you actually do can be the source of wisdom. Sometimes the wisdom is hard earned and downright painful, and sometimes you can go through the painful lessons without actually learning anything. It all boils down to attention. "Are you here now?" And to what do you pay attention?<br /><br />I just came in from mowing the grass and was using the exercise to explore a few connected concepts. There is a squeeze bar on my mower that is intended to let the machine know the operator is no longer in control. This device was mandated by the Consumer Products Safety Administration, and some would regard it angrily as a government mandated inconvenience. But there are real idiots out there, like the MD who disabled the squeeze bar so he could lift his mower in both hands and use it as a hedge trimmer. He picked it up and immediately cut the tips from his fingers. I suspect he learned a few things from his experience... lessons that the CPSA hoped he might avoid.<br /><br />So, I am grateful for a bit of government regulation. As we know less and less from our own personal experience, there become more and more things from which we will need to be protected.<br /><br />Do you know how much money BP spent in lobbying efforts to avoid government regulation of oil drilling in the gulf? I consider it the teenage-boy-thing, trying to get away with things when the grownups aren't watching. You think you know lots better about things, even though your cerebral cortex is not fully developed. BP, showing obvious signs of corporate immaturity, tried to skirt the regulation, took risks equivalent to the redneck teen jumping head first in shallow water crying as his last words on earth, "Hey watch this!"<br /><br />Regulation is a good thing. I draw a comparison with my writing. A good editor makes me a better writer. Good regulators would have saved BP over a billion dollars, and saved the Gulf environment, and millions of people tremendous heart-ache.<br /><br />Yesterday we had a shooting incident in Arkansas where two men, stoked toward violence by anti-government rhetoric on Fox News and the internet, killed police officers. Do you see the pattern? I hope so. <br /><br />I can tell you a few interesting things about work. Work in the real world, doing hand work or hard work or both work can be one of two things depending on your attitude. You work with joy toward personal fulfillment and expression of care, or you do not. One path leads to wisdom, the other does not. As we work, dependent on that choice, we either stew in things and grow angry or we become expansive in our thinking of things we might contribute toward the greater good.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-23290372644747861052010-04-24T07:07:00.000-05:002010-04-24T07:08:42.059-05:00Moral implications of craftsmanship<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69fVtB7MdXXT7V7lTXmB8LX8aR-IFxz_F9pyaR81EJ-l4_PCVNtEMNzkBlWBjHhgFKy9TEh21zkzpJnU1xRpJJ4VPPvJyVJr-pbaGMBIz-ZtXL7XJIJ38UabH-E9A1KiCHXQECdBnQjQ/s1600/trialfit.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69fVtB7MdXXT7V7lTXmB8LX8aR-IFxz_F9pyaR81EJ-l4_PCVNtEMNzkBlWBjHhgFKy9TEh21zkzpJnU1xRpJJ4VPPvJyVJr-pbaGMBIz-ZtXL7XJIJ38UabH-E9A1KiCHXQECdBnQjQ/s400/trialfit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463323747511016834" /></a><br />We tend to think of organized religions as the source of human morality, and yet, the crafting of an object is an expression of moral structure that likely predates any commandment or moral precept. Objects are made with care or they are not. Objects are made with an eye toward useful beauty, or they are not. Objects are made to last, or they are not. If we were truly concerned about building a society in which people care for each other, there is no better way than to engage our children in craftsmanship. <br /><br />I have been reading Fred Taylor's book <span style="font-style:italic;">How to be a Furniture Detective</span>, and find it to be a useful tool for anyone wishing to begin an in depth examination of the objects in their own home. You may find that some things were made with real integrity, and by examining them, you may discover the moral implications of craftsmanship. Some people really do care about themselves, and others, that care being expressed through their own hands.<br /><br />In the photo above, you see the box I've been working on for burial of my mother's ashes. In the photo below, the box is assembled and ready for finish. A plywood bottom will be screwed in place, sealing it after the box of ashes is installed within.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ntMdH7Aa9WVyLxtlqUhEZ-9pRCDgBDSvvdDtcaF5d4G7lyAq92c37yjArJkVYXuFXmGQP42WJgJKpaYBn5FwqcXBX2UJh6CQgXr9udhoMg7U4EUnuxpxbO34hqEkygKEo6waMWVsPrg/s1600/urn6.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ntMdH7Aa9WVyLxtlqUhEZ-9pRCDgBDSvvdDtcaF5d4G7lyAq92c37yjArJkVYXuFXmGQP42WJgJKpaYBn5FwqcXBX2UJh6CQgXr9udhoMg7U4EUnuxpxbO34hqEkygKEo6waMWVsPrg/s400/urn6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463438112074291970" /></a>Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-83552084071236726942010-03-28T17:38:00.001-05:002010-03-28T17:39:54.335-05:00What if we're not as smart as we think we are?Human intelligence, how to measure it, how to reward it, and how to advance it, is not an easy thing to understand. What if, instead of being as has always presumed, it actually lies in the situation, distributed in the relationship between the person, the tools, and his understanding of their use, and amongst one's peers? Actually, none of this is a new notion except amongst those who have been completely out of touch, trudging the halls of academia. The paper I referred to yesterday is available as a .pdf download: <a href="http://www.msu.edu/~hought47/MAET2/Articles/Saloman.pdf">Partners in Cognition: Extending Human Intelligence with Intelligent Technologies,</a> Salomon, Perkins and Globerson. You might enjoy the article's discussion of mindfulness in tool use. As the article points out: <blockquote>Given sufficient mindful engagement in the partnership, strong effects of working with an intelligent partnership can be expected. However, such partnerships challenge our traditional notions about ability. Usually we view ability, regardless of definition, as the potential of a person's mind, the property of that individual. But, once we couple intelligent technologies with a person's ability, the emphasis might shift to examining the joint system. After all, the <span style="font-style:italic;">system</span>, not the individual alone, carries out the intellectual task.<br /><br />Such a reconceptualization of human ability appears at first to be quite novel. But closer examination reveals that we have implicitly accepted it all along. As Olsen* points out, "Almost any form of human cognition requires one to deal productively and imaginatively with some technology. To attempt to characterize intelligence independently of those technologies seems to be a fundamental error." For example, we would not think of testing people's artistic abilities without the use of some medium such as brush and paint. As Pea has recently pointed out, once appropriate intellectual tools are employed, ability becomes distributed by "off-loading" some of the mental operations required unto the artefactual environment.</blockquote>I would add to this discussion the notion that all tools are intended toward the same effect... that of "off-loading" necessary skill, required intellect and attention, distributing these things onto the artefactual environment. <br /><br />*Olsen, D.R. (1986)Intelligence and Literacy: The relationships between intelligence and the technologies of representation and communication.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-33617546329885167642010-03-26T08:11:00.002-05:002010-03-26T08:14:21.152-05:00Domesticated TheologyI'm finding Jeremy Kidwell's <a href="http://domesticatedtheology.wordpress.com/">Domesticated Theology</a> discussion of Christian carpentry and Paul's tent making to be very interesting. I think that certain core human values become lacking when we fail to be engaged in creative manual labor. To make something is an essentially moral act. It is done with care and attention to beauty and utility, or it is not. It is done with care for its ultimate user or it is not. There was a long history of Christian monks offering up their work to God... another fruitful area for theological review in that from a more selfless perspective, many believed that <span style="font-style:italic;">all</span> being <span style="font-style:italic;">God</span> deserved nothing less than one's best work, most prudent and honorable use of the materials at hand and that work and worship were a single expression of enlightened humanity.<br /><br />Finnish brain researcher, Matti Bergström, working from a non-theological perspective describes a condition he calls finger blindness. In essence, while the physically blind cannot see the outlines of the object, the finger blind, those who have not learned in childhood to create with their own hands, cannot perceive the object's intrinsic values. He says they are "values damaged". Instead of perceiving the broad range of values that a reasonable and soulful society projects, their range of perceived values becomes severely retarded. Instead of seeing an object of art and marveling at the miracle expressed by its maker, they see it only in terms of market value and price<br /><br />Matti's concept goes a long way in describing the true sources of our current economic crisis. But a review of early Christian practices, and giving credence to our children's capacities and inherent needs to create, would go a long ways to restoring greater meaning to many lives.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-35382263725293351012009-08-21T08:39:00.002-05:002009-08-21T08:48:38.576-05:00KarmaI have been off the subject of sawzen too long, but was reminded by a visit to <a href="http://mindculture.wordpress.com/">Mindculture's blog</a> and reading a post on Karma, a sad story of a bird burned in a fire.<br /><br />I explain Karma to myself in the following way. We can be viewed as distinct and separate if we are examining the boundaries between us. We can be seen and understood as whole and one if we are looking at the connections, like these letters and words forming on this small screen of mine which will soon be seen on yours.<br /><br />When we live in the second version, seeing the connections between us, we see that what is done to one is done simultaneously to the other. We shut the doors to the pain and shame from errors of what we have done by denial of our larger, more comprehensive self. Thence live narrowly, in pain, isolation and loneliness of self-imposed exile from greater being. It doesn't have to wait a lifetime. Unfortunately, for some, so isolated from their own sense of greater being, perhaps it will.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-12014938771904794342009-03-18T07:43:00.007-05:002010-03-25T21:49:37.205-05:00maya, illusion, reality and craftsmanshipA friend of mine, in response to a conversation about our worsening economic times, said,"It's not real. It's <span style="font-style:italic;">maya</span>." So I gently explained that the concept of maya doesn't mean that the world is not real, that real people are not being thrown out of real homes and losing real jobs in this recession, but that our perceived distinctions between things is illusory. The concept of narrowly defined self that drives our economy is illusion. There are no real boundaries between us as you can see from where ever you are sitting and reading this text.<br /><br />There was an old Jackson Browne song that explained it, "From the time we've known that we each are a part of one another, we've lost as much as we have won." Our economy and culture have been built on the concepts of winning and losing and we are at the time of reconciliation, understanding of reality. <br /><br />The misunderstanding of the meaning of Maya is hazardous. It allows individuals to disregard, diminish and disparage the reality of each other, marginalizing the significance of of what each of us is going through.<br /><br />In life, we are given a choice of dwelling either in our separation from each other through close examination of boundaries, or by uniting with each other through examining the extended relationships that form the framework of greater self. It is the narrow definition of self that is the lie, the gross mis-perception.<br /><br />There are things about craftsmanship that lead one beyond him or herself. The immersion in creative process, taking raw materials, reshaping them toward the objective of creating greater utility and beauty for the lives of others is a process through which we transcend the boundaries of self. The other side of the process is the difficult one, that tends to challenge me. It is where I must take personal gain from the process. I have to make money. It is required by existence on the physical plane in very real physical reality. It is no illusion when the bills arrive in the mail and must be paid. The challenge is in perception of balance.<br /><br />No, life is not an illusion. Life <span style="font-style:italic;">IS</span> profound and very real. We are deeply interconnected with each other in ways that defy understanding. And it's not just the hardwires and software of the internet that make it so for it has always been. We are inextricably a part of one another.<br /><br />These times are interesting. The irrational greed of those from AIG and Wall St. juxtaposed to the incredible generosity of the common people. The difference between Maya and reality is brilliantly illuminated. When we connect with each other either in craftsmanship, or in service, we enter the real world. And it is no illusion.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-44939205694666440582009-01-10T09:16:00.003-06:002009-03-17T16:14:13.314-05:00mindfulness and the crafted objectWe have become cogs in a machine whirring beyond our consciousness and control, but, what if we wanted to live our lives more fully conscious and awakened to mystery and wonder at the interconnections we have with each other? What would be the nature of the objects that framed that experience? When we picked up a cup to drink, would it be one made through caring investment of human attention, or thoughtlessly and mindlessly cranked out by a machine in a foreign land and delivered through a complex and environmentally destructive mechanism to the local Target Store?<br /><br />Is consciousness something that just happens to us haphazard and regardless, or are there choices we make that affect the depth and quality of our experience?<br /><br />In the US, this rule seems to apply to crafts: the less useful the object, the greater its value... as though crafts, like art are to be placed on shelves and on walls and seen but not felt. And yet it is through the touch and use of an object that its full depth becomes known. The deep feelings and sensitivities of the craft maker are kept safely at arms length.<br /><br />My readers in the US might be interested in visiting the <a href="http://www.levins.com/esherick.html">Wharton Esherick Museum</a> where you can find what life was like when all the objects in one's life were made by someone known and those objects were selected for the care and love they express.<br /><br />If we were interested in a more mindful and qualitative existence that engaged our neighbors and friends in greater creativity and the growth of their human potentials, our choices would be very different from what we've made now.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-22975053450675484342009-01-07T07:41:00.003-06:002009-01-08T07:08:05.918-06:00One hand clapping?How do we stop duping ourselves? The Zen story of one hand clapping is an example. The teacher asks, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" And the student runs all over trying to figure it out. "Is it like a bell?" he asks. "Is it like a bird in flight?" he asks. And yet a hand passed through the air in direct demonstration would have provided an immediate answer to his quest. We have created schools in which children are pushed immediately into abstraction, causing them to believe that so much is beyond their capacity to understand, and that so many are more intelligent or more capable, rather than just more deeply engaged. Once we have accomplished that tragic circumstance, those children are doomed to sit disengaged, bored and feeling incompetent throughout their school careers. Throw in a few days absent and a few more tardy, and learning becomes even more abstract. But put the hands in place and things change.<br /><br />When the Mosely Education Commission report found in 1903 that American School success was the result of the practicality of our education, and our avoidance of the testing tyranny dominating UK schooling, we were given valuable information which we have proceeded to ignore, for over 100 years! We dismantled the system that brought our educational success.<br /><br />So we have students who would not wonder about one hand clapping. They have no enthusiasm for the quest. And the shame of it is that most Americans don't either.<br /><br />But we can put hands (all of them) back in schools. Today the 5th and 6th grade students will finish their book racks and begin using the wood shop in their study of anatomy. How will they do that? Stay tuned to the <a href="http://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com">Wisdom of the Hands blog</a>and you will see.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-62523544084935308592009-01-03T09:59:00.001-06:002009-01-03T10:03:09.675-06:00Where does the mind go when the hand is at work?Things move in patterns and waves. As you stand on the beach each wave will seem just like another. And yet each is distinct. It brings in new things. There is a renewal of interest in self-sufficiency and do it yourself that seems to be arising in many age groups. We notice it in our home, with our daughter Lucy taking a strong interest in cooking. Last night while I made bread, Lucy and Jean made a corn casserole, a dinner we shared with my aging mother. <br /><br />In a way, the renewed wave of self-sufficiency is misnamed. It is about doing things ourselves, most often with others in mind. There at the heart of self-sufficiency, is the idea that something can be shared or offered in service to others. Scrapwood Bob is reading <a href"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=096798467X/dougstoweA/">Build Your Own Earth Oven, Simple Sourdough Bread; Perfect Loaves</a> by Kiko Denzer and Hannah Field. He plans to use scrap wood from the woodshop as his source of fuel. What fun! Reduce the growing pile of scrap and make bread at the same time. I hope to see photos.<br /><br />There are two things that happen when we are creatively engaged in the making of things, making a meal, building an oven, or finely crafting an object from wood. On the one hand we shape the material present in our own lives to new form and we change the shape our own souls. We serve others through the things we make and we stretch ourselves in confidence and competency, moving from complacency to active participants in creation. <br /><br />Early educators warned that we take on a mechanical nature through the repetition of acts. We do something and develop skill in the doing and then as the skill takes root in the hand, its function becomes automatic, no longer requiring the attention of the mind and thereby losing its educational value in shaping character and thought. I am curious about this. And ask, "What happens when we are fully aware of the implications of our actions?" What would happen if our schools became not just places where our children were to learn, but places in which they might serve as well, seeing the actions of their hands providing benefit to others? <br /><br />I have this idea that when use use both the power of the trained hand to create, and the power of the mind to connect active hands-on service to higher thoughts and principles, the object made might become more powerful in its beauty, transmitting an energy that provides greater nourishment than would be found in objects thoughtlessly made or grown.<br /><br />For this to happen requires training of both the hand and mind. As we learn skill in the hands and the attention of the mind is no longer required for the success of its actions, what do we do with the mind? As it becomes free to wander, where does it go? What do we choose for it's pasture? We can choose greater creativity, asking the question "what's next?" Or we can contemplate greater direction and more meaningful life. We can fantasize our own success. Or we can choose to indulge in fears and suspicions of each other. There is clearly a choice between dark indulgences and longing for better things, either for ourselves or others.<br /><br />And yet, there is a third choice, the Zen choice. What if one were to choose to be fully present. Rather than allowing the mind to wander from the moment as though no moment mattered, what if we chose to pay greater attention to each grasp of the hand in kneading the dough, or each pass of the plane shaving an edge of a plank as though such things were so real and so important there is no reason for escape? There is an idea in Zen that it is about freedom, but perhaps freedom is not about escape.<br /><br />So, these are just questions, about where we are led by our quest for self-sufficiency, about the baking of bread and the nurturing of human culture.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-52693358318416502102008-12-14T08:39:00.001-06:002008-12-14T10:32:46.270-06:00The farmer channels water to his land.From the <a href="http://www.serve.com/cmtan/Dhammapada/">Dhammapada:</a> <blockquote>The farmer channels water to his land.<br />The fletcher whittles his arrows.<br />The carpenter turns his wood.<br />And the wise man masters himself.</blockquote> I have been asked, "Does it get boring to do the same things over and over again?" What about the cutting and sanding that must be done if something is to be crafted with precision and care? The wise craftsman uses his attention wisely. He watches the transformation of material. He feels the texture as it moves from coarse to smooth. His mind never wanders, lest his intentions not be met. His attention is too precious to be wasted on the inconsequential wanderings of the common man. <br /><br />As the farmer channels his water, as the fletcher whittles his arrows, and as the carpenter turns his wood, each works to master the landscape of self.<br /><br />The mind wanders. The wise craftsman pulls it back into the moment and invests his attention in task at hand, that it may be done to convey wisdom and love.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-23382352742632227932008-12-04T19:42:00.001-06:002008-12-04T19:44:40.809-06:00reflections on season and prophetsWe are moving into the celebration of Christmas and other religious holidays, and I know many of my readers are busy making things to share as gifts. If you are a student of the Bible, you may notice that the prophets of the Old Testament were shepherds, given the task of caring for and counting the bounty provided by an autonomous Creator.<br /><br />The prophet of the New Testament was the son of a carpenter, given the task of taking raw materials and shaping them into useful, beautiful objects.<br /><br />Can you see why the Old Testament might regard the creator as distant, capricious and dominant, while in the New Testament Christ would say, "The Father and I are one?" To engage in creative acts is to place oneself in personal alignment with the fundamental creative power of the universe.<br /><br />Of course, you can make meaningless stuff if you want. And you can make things carelessly and without regard to connection with the greater universe. I would like to suggest that we each have powers this holiday season to make connections that empower the things we make to transform the lives of others through the expression of our love. In the process we ourselves may also be transformed, becoming creators and grasping the wisdom of the universe.<br /><br />Black Friday was just as bad as they expected. Big sales, but only for bargains. But if not buying things means we make them instead, I predict a wonderful holiday season in which the creator will be truly at hand.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-5622741280764525232008-08-20T10:39:00.001-05:002008-08-20T13:14:03.405-05:00"...the "chores" that were a necessary component of our grandparent's lives likely lifted their emotions in powerful ways."<br /><br />This simple statement from <a href="http://kellylambert.com"> Kelly Lambert, PH.D</a> helps us to understand something that has been puzzling travelers and authors visiting the poorest places in the world. How can we account for the happiness of indigenous peoples in comparison to the relative unhappiness of those in the world's wealthiest nations?<br /><br />On what seems another subject, video gaming, Ed Miller, Program Director of Alliance for Childhood is sending a draft of an article commissioned by the Alliance concerning the supposed effectiveness of video games in children's learning. I hope to be able to share some additional insight soon.<br /><br />One of the games children are really loving these days is Guitar Hero. It involves game controllers shaped like guitars. My daughter Lucy said that her friends who really play guitar are likely to be good at playing Guitar Hero. But the kids who are good at Guitar Hero are very unlikely to show any skill in the handling of a real guitar.<br /><br />So, what is there about the virtual world that makes it so appealing? I got a call this morning from a dear friend who is dying from cancer. When Joe said "Goodbye, Doug," there was a sense of finality as though we may not speak again. And we may not.<br /><br />In the virtual world, we move on unscathed by life. If we die we are reborn for another chance, if the system fails, we reboot. In real life, there is suffering, pain, exquisite beauty, touching and being touched by real lives, making real things that last generations, sharing with those we love, the beauty we have conceived and the skills we have mastered. Perhaps some of that explains an old Zen saying, "Poverty is your greatest treasure, never trade it for an easy life."<br /><br />But trade it we have. We have made things too easy for our own good, thus preventing our own happiness and the true happiness of our own children to unfold. So the answer seems to be that we must make it hard again, by choice, by attempting to make old fingers do new things, by stretching to master new concepts, by turning off the TV (and computer), to play music, to work in gardens, canning fruit, preparing meals for our families, and setting examples of effort to create, to make and to serve.<br /><br />And while we are at it, let's make some things from real wood.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-45909468091012357052008-03-20T11:10:00.004-05:002008-12-09T17:55:45.643-06:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTPxrF3uNeQsRYj8dOmBYXqQWF1fO6rwZfXEZsgx3QcbDG_g2Qq6AhA4Z_n5CCL2rCbNw6JbMgMv_cFTIhUbNVAKR97XBGx4bsP49qZ9iwBSdu-8il0xKfPLwc3zR0Wsso_rAM99XzAc/s1600-h/stump3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTPxrF3uNeQsRYj8dOmBYXqQWF1fO6rwZfXEZsgx3QcbDG_g2Qq6AhA4Z_n5CCL2rCbNw6JbMgMv_cFTIhUbNVAKR97XBGx4bsP49qZ9iwBSdu-8il0xKfPLwc3zR0Wsso_rAM99XzAc/s400/stump3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179857488236159362" /></a><br />The photo at left shows my stump table, part of chapter 3 of the rustic furniture book I'm working on. The simple birch frame holds the chunk of spalted maple at a height which offers a possible use as an entry table. Or you could stretch things and call it "art". Unusual materials can be the key to the launching your creative imagination. <br /><br />I published this to the wrong blog. But then I realized that this piece does say something about Zen. The stump is a simple expression of nature, its beauty and simplicity. The birch frame is spare, using mortise and tenon joints and short dowels to lift the stump, suspending it in space between the supporting legs. Publishing in the wrong blog also says something about Zen. When I say oops! Can you hear the sound of one hand clapping?Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-56369767638088653262008-03-09T18:40:00.001-05:002008-03-09T18:43:21.747-05:00While in the US the media can't seem to get away from discussion of the economy and possible recession, the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is marching to a different drummer. Instead of Gross National Product, they measure quality of life rather than the economy alone in tracking their nation's progress. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness">Wikipedia</a>: The term was coined by Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1972 in response to criticism that his economy was growing poorly. It signaled his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values.<br /><br />I offer this on a Sunday afternoon to assure readers that there is some wisdom in the world, and that not all peoples are driven by mindless wasteful consumerism. There is hope to be found in the restoration of values expressed and discovered through craftsmanship and service of the human hand.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-1024837031663710752008-03-07T08:48:00.002-06:002008-03-07T08:50:04.646-06:00Yesterday Courtney broke a nail, just a small tip, but it was something that had to be announced to draw the sympathy and attention of the class. The amount of special protection nails must receive as young women engage in woodworking (or anything else)is amazing to me.<br /><br />This may go back to Socrates and before. Men and women of the upper classes were not to engage in the real work and creative efforts of the lower class. Their spirits were to soar unencumbered by fleshly form as they indulged in mastery of their slaves. Physical form was for adornment and sensation, nothing more. Dirt on the skin, grease under a nail, were evidence of betrayal of class values<br /><br />The hands themselves are a source of status recognition. Beautiful long nails that have been colored and tended so carefully are a statement of idleness and indulgence being encouraged over other human values of creativity, industry and effort.<br /><br />Our hands are much more an expression of personal identity than our faces. Our faces are only apparent to us when we look in mirrors and reflections, but our hands are always there when we pause from the internal chatter and look down.<br /><br />In action and service the hands disappear as we engage in skilled manipulation of material. The man at the lathe skillfully shaping wood takes no notice of his hands. The tool and the hands holding it in well-practiced form, become an extension of his intellect as his consciousness engages directly in material and the creation of form.<br /><br />Let’s consider Zen for a moment. The hands are the primary method of human engagement with essential reality. Extract the hands from their explorations of material and form, withdraw them from their essential role as the creative extension of intellect, force them to become mere expressions of idle reflection and adornment. What do you get? Is it the sound of one hand clapping idly in space and time with no noise and no noticeable effect? Let’s consider putting our hands together and see what we can do with two… Or how about you and I with four?<br /><br />When Courtney broke a nail, I asked, “Is there blood, do you need a band-aid?” When Peggy broke a nail, I showed her how to fix it with sandpaper. You can see that in some things my heart is hard. But I have a soft spot for kids getting over the things that keep them idle and prevent the unfolding of creative self. I have a soft spot for broken nails, bent ones too. Let’s get more kids working with wood.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528999742094648997.post-6140940441534392232007-10-19T13:48:00.001-05:002008-12-09T17:55:45.790-06:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykfKJw590EfDLRQ_KN_wTcXQeBUdcJESA4KHFefWe8zfIZyOXpSVIxmNbqh435GbkiZXPHAG5bfmoLBCbD1KqWQulFyzdxXL-F8bOtDPTFbG16ScRG98xPKghs4-XxqXQa3AoyJrustA/s1600-h/boxes.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykfKJw590EfDLRQ_KN_wTcXQeBUdcJESA4KHFefWe8zfIZyOXpSVIxmNbqh435GbkiZXPHAG5bfmoLBCbD1KqWQulFyzdxXL-F8bOtDPTFbG16ScRG98xPKghs4-XxqXQa3AoyJrustA/s400/boxes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123121977617595586" /></a>TGIF …Once again it is Friday and my day to compete with the Chinese. So I have been sanding small boxes (something that could be a near-mindless activity) and reflecting on the unconscious nature of the hands. As I’ve quoted before from Jean Jacques Rousseau, “Put a young man in a wood shop, his hands will work to the benefit of his brain, he will become a philosopher, while thinking himself only a craftsman.” (Don’t look for this quote in English translations of Emile, as you won’t find it exactly as quoted here. It has to go from French to Swedish to English to arrive at this understanding). I want to explain a few things about the hands and how they work, and how they open the mind to exploration of philosophy.<br /><br />At first, as the hands learn a skill, a great deal of mind and attention are required for their control. There is a constant back and forth feedback loop between the senses and controlling structure in the hands and the processing power in the brain. As the control of the hand activity becomes more clearly established, some of the feedback loop moves from the foreground of thought to an unconscious realm. This liberates the processing power in the brain to engage in mind wandering activity. Anyone who has paid the slightest attention to the workings of their own consciousness can see the truth in this, and a classic example is driving a car. Once you have mastered steering with your hands your processing power is made available to carefully observe of the road, plan your destination, and even allow your mind to wander to things completely unrelated to driving the car.<br /><br />Every act of making, whether in wood, metal, cloth or clay is a moral act, shaped by thought, belief and desire. Decisions are made in making that reflect values, and in the act of making, those values are placed on the line as an expression of the character and quality of the maker that can be read and understood by others by examining the usefulness, beauty and quality of the object made. So what about the processing power of mind that is liberated when the hand’s work is mastered? That is the space in which philosophy is mastered as well… that opening of mind that lies well beyond the idle, detached-from-reality speculations of traditional philosophy.<br /><br />In that space between the direct attentions that are required to complete the object, and the proficiency that grows to allow the wandering exploration of mind exists the potential for the development and expression of the human spirit.<br /><br />A friend of mine had called it dual awareness. In the relationship between the hands mind and materials, there is a rhythmic expansion and contraction of required attention in relation to the object. By observing how our attention is balanced between the object being made and the normal tendencies for the mind to wander into other places and scenarios, a sense of our dual nature is attained. The maker is given a choice… either follow the wandering mind until difficulties arise in the making of the object, forcing attention to return, or choose to hold focus directly on the object, instilling a vital force of attention into the psychic structure of the object itself. The maker can take either the easy pathway of escape into fantasy until called back to reality by the materials being crafted, or the maker can apply his or her attention continuously to the making of the thing. The first is the path of least resistance, the second is the path of the peaceful-warrior/maker. The first describes the making of objects of practiced beauty. The second describes the making of objects with inexplicable radiance, and yet, how many do you think can dwell in that perfect state?<br /><br />And so we come to the philosopher in the wood shop. He becomes a student of his hands and his attentions, and from that foundation explores the very nature of life and perception. When his mind wanders, he pulls it back from whirling thoughts of common life, to the task at hand, or failing that, onto the subjects of quality, beauty and mindfulness and to the people with whom he would share his work. Having heard of the peaceful-warrior/maker and having once seen her work, he is reluctant to squander his attentions on the mundane.<br /><br />So, today, I am sanding boxes. My mind wanders. I try to place it more firmly in the moment, and from what I see and feel in my own hands and from the attentions I apply in the making of these few things, I have a hope that a few things in the world might change in the guidance of my own hands.<br /><br />The photo above is of boxes being sanded.Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.com1