I find it extremely intriguing how language effects the mind. Language determines so much of our ideas and thought processes. We can argue that there are probably lots of other "things" that we do not think about because we haven't developed the language to transmit those ideas. I don't know if those numbers are actually correct, but the point is that we can identify these nuances in life that are apparent in some cultures, but completely overlooked in others that do not have the words to identify them with. But there is a quote that says that the Egyptians have 50 words for sand and the Eskimos (Inuit is the PC term) have 100 words for snow. For example, in English, we have one word for "sand," and one word for "snow". This is why, in some cultures, ideas, emotions, and things exist that do not exist in cultures with different languages (or only exist in a vague, contextual way). These meanings rely heavily on the use of language. Things can only be what they are with our invented meaning attached to them. We will no longer be grasping at things that are not really there.Įvery single thing that we perceive to "know" has no inherent meaning. When we don’t restore that context or fabricate a new one, they will help us realizing this dreamlike nature of reality. Koan-stories and questions are - like the one hand clapping - removed from context. Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world:Ī flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream. Reality (or what we perceive as such) is like a set of mirrors reflecting images without anything actually there to be reflected other than the reflections of other mirrors. There is nothing graspable at the root of it, or at the end of it, or in it, or behind it. While it seeks neither to define Zen nor answer its most famous koan (a riddle unanswerable by conventional thinking, in this case the sound of one hand. Phenomena appear and disappear only in the context of other phenomena, which only appear and disappear in the context of other phenomena, which only appear and disappear in the context of other phenomena, which only appear and disappear in the context of other phenomena etc. It says there are no graspable “things” but there are ungraspable “processes” only. In my understanding the Buddhist idea of codependent arising appears to take a position on this. Do we really know what matter is or time or consciousness? Are they graspable things or ungraspable processes? Some phenomena are not graspable “things” but they are ungraspable “processes”.Īs far as I can tell, the basic building blocks of the world we perceive are not fully understood. The question 'What is the sound of one hand clapping' is a rather well-known Zen Koan and often used as an initiation for Zen students. The clapping hand cannot be a clapping hand when the other hand isn’t joining. A rainbow cannot exist independently from the rain or the sunlight. The chair will be the chair and I will be me.īut there are exceptions. These tracks feature insights from exhibition cocurator Xiaoyu Weng.Our intuition says things exist when the context is removed or altered. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative. Guggenheim Museum May 4–October 21, 2018, is the third and final exhibition of The Robert H. “One Hand Clapping,” on view at the Solomon R. But what is the sound of one hand clapping?” The show presents new commissions by Cao Fei, Duan Jianyu, Lin Yilin, Wong Ping, and Samson Young in a range of mediums, from oil on canvas to virtual-reality software, that explore the ways in which globalization affects our understanding of the future. “One Hand Clapping,” the title of this exhibition, is derived from a koan-a riddle used in Zen Buddhist practice to transcend the limitations of logical reasoning-that asks, “We know the sound of two hands clapping.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |