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Japanese Spirituality And Pattern Language
Hiroshi Nakano Community Planner [email protected] Abstract
1. “The Japanese Spirituality” is the coined word by Daisetsu Suzuki, Japanese Buddhist philosopher, he expresses it as an unconscious Japanese religious base deeply buried at the boHom of the heart. Spirituality, according to Suzuki , is the essence of life extrapolated from the ground (earth), so it exists in any substance. In order to realize it, our frame of mind must be trained . Because our way of viewing the world is biased through a long history of raNonalism, which every phenomenon is based on cause and effect as such dualisNc cogniNon,
for an example, discriminaNon of subjecNvity and objecNvity. Suzuki clearly rejects this simple minded approach , he claims, instead, so called 2 Non discrimina+on wisdom” (NDW) approach. In this approach, we have to take two new steps toward accessing the cogniNon of reality. it is stated as follows: “A is not A. Therefore, A is A”, which sounds totally illogical, but this means that every object , enNty or substance must be once denied as a first step. Secondly think or pracNcally check it as if it appears to you as a new encountering . Then, new aspect of A manifests taking off all previous extra superficial informaNon on it, another properNes shows up as being . Of course subjecNvity and objecNvity is not discriminated , it is integrated. This aUtude will generate a new image of A and this is a virgin encounter of a real A you come across in your experience. (This is called , by another philosopher Dr.Kitarou Nishida, “Pure Experience”) This way of acknowledging items named ” Non Discrimina+on Wisdom(NDW)”,which is the essence of realizing A as a real A. It is not a strange way of viewing at all, we naturally take in everything, as a fact , with some feelings as well. A fact includes value feelings. This feelings are also part of the substance. This way of looking and experiencing world is an act of awakening spirituality which lies behind our deep mind. By these steps you can feel the reality of the substance and disNnguish how much life exists in an object. Spirituality gives off a power to disNnguish from lifeless. It is to find the existence of unbroken whole-‐beauty of things. 3. Life and Spirituality Now finally I can relate the idea of Center to this spirituality. In Prof.Alexander’ wording, center is not a center, they depend each other to exist, which is constructed in a structure. To get it structured is done by the aid of NDW.
2. The idea of “PaHern Language "is also facing a new stage enhanced by the new concept of "center” set forwarded in the book "Nature of Order” We shall be able to generate more quality PaHen Language easier by the aid of “Centering process”. Because by this process
you can generate paHerns alive and its sequence –language alive. A manual for a Centering Process 1. As below is , for example, 5 episodes( 5 project stories)are on hands. Ques+on is how to put them together to
make a such story as others who listened have a hope or mo+ves to act accordingly. 3. Second episode is well connected with the first one and it also enhances the first one together . In addi+on, two episodes are in a way united and one condensed story in itself. It is possible to end it at that point. 3. Third episode is con+nuous to the first one of two episodes and again it becomes one body. Of course third one enhances the first chunk. And here is one big heap occurred. S+ll each member of episode has its own independency. 4. Now, here comes fourth one. The same aQtude is supposed to be taken, which gives a strength to the previous
chunk which is consis+ng 3 episodes and outcome looks as one. Long con+nuous cluster is in front of your nose. This sequence must be so sophis+cated and aSer all many shuffling would be tried. 5. FiSh one comes in. Again check it alright if it gets in that posi+on. Consider deeply and think of a lot of possible
alterna+ves to fit to that point. Wonder if it really give a power to the previous one.
6 For the rest, It con+nues on and on in the same manner.
Indeed, by this quality language can provide us with much speedy consensus, with much less cost and people’s involvement of self-‐help users . 4 Japanese Spirituality is deeply connected to the essence of “Life "and the concept of “center”,
so for us Japanese which is more naturally acceptable if we invent a new way of giving right moNves to uNlize this idea in Japanese society. (I shall show an example project*! Next page)
The more strongly center is structured , the more the life increases. The life of any substance increases, as more structured, it gives more spirituality emerges. The spirituality awakened mind could gives out paHerns power to be alive and language to have a strong moNvaNon to be persuasive. This structured centers are life and spirituality.
Center1 =Ocean and Hot spring
Ceter2 =The Gate To street and Shops
Center3 =Backyard paths and its inlets. They connect shops with the beach.
Center4 =Walkways, Entrances, The bath-‐house, shops are all inter related.
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One project done by the use of Centering process in southern Japan, Shirahama
1.First center is Shirahama beach and communal hot springs(the bathhouse as well) These centers are first one offered as given to iniNate the following process, 2. Gate and shopping street are the second centers to enhance the first offered center1 Then to consider the relaNons to the sea and how shops are connected. The facade an roofs of shops and new paths toward the beach. Lined up with pine trees along wit street. 3 . and center3 , some back paths are added to walk around the area. 4. Many entrances to the beach are set up as center4, and these entrances put everything get together in this small hot spring a.
The so-‐called Japanese spirituality is an awareness of not-‐broken wholeness. However, how we can be aware of this and create as a concrete object? Daisetusu claims that life represents in objects. We grip a world as a conNnuous unbroken whole-‐ a kind of life built-‐in-‐lives, which is amazingly similar to the concept of centers in “ the Nature of Order” by Prof. Chris Alexander’s claim. Then we can borrow the idea of process of synthesizing center method from him. At each planning stages, we create a small PaHern Language (=a project language). And a sequence of these fusing stages are exactly the same process as of centering. This will be an example of centering the project languages, in terms of Architecture and town planning, by which people parNcipaNng projects with his own moNves. So that, important role of P.L. is mainly providing parNcipants with a sNmulaNng moNves to move and act .