Friday, November 29, 2019

常道

Empty Essence

Essence Virginale

κενό

真髓

無

円相 (ensō,"circle")

Ma (間) is a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as "gap", "space", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts." The spatial concept is experienced progressively through intervals of spatial designation. In Japanese, ma, the word for space, suggests interval. It is best described as a consciousness of place, not in the sense of an enclosed three-dimensional entity, but rather the simultaneous awareness of form and non-form deriving from an intensification of vision.

Ma is not something that is created by compositional elements; it takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences these elements. Therefore, ma can be defined as an experiential place understood with emphasis on interval.^[5]

Ma has also been described as "an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled", and as "the silence between the notes which make the music".

Other illustrations appear in this old poem:

Thirty spokes meet in the hub, though the space between them is the essence of the wheel;

Pots are formed from clay, though the space inside them is the essence of the pot;

Walls with windows and doors form the house, though the space within them is the essence of the house.

長谷川等伯・松林図・左隻

Hasegawa Tōhaku: Pine Trees /left-hand screen

शून्यता śūnyatā

CoGnizant Nature

Nature Cognitive

Gnosis

γνῶσῐς

直覺

trace of an image of the Abraxas Stone or Gem from The Gnostics and their remains by Charles W. King, 1887. The letters are "ΙΑΩ" or "Iao" and "ΣΕΜΕΣ ΕΙΛΑΜ", "Eternal Sun".

"The Lord gives wisdom [חוכמה ħokhma (σοφία, sophía)], from his face come knowledge [דעת da'ath (γνῶσις, gnōsis)] and understanding [תבונה tevuna (σύνεσις, synesis)"]
— Proverbs 2.6

1.εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος