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Heaven and Earth Are Flowers: Reflections on Ikebana and Buddhism
In this lovely meditation on ikebana - the Japanese art of flower arranging - Joan Stamm shows us how her twin paths of Buddhist practice and artistic endeavor converge and indeed become thoroughly intertwined.
Joan's lush, elegant voice weaves childhood memories of her mother's joy at a just-bloomed morning glory with meditations on the symbolic importance of bamboo, of pine, of the lily. She takes us with her on her travels to Japan as she learns the essential principles of ikebana, and lets us join her as she teaches flower arranging to women in a nursing home who, though they won't recall tomorrow the rules of arrangement or even the flowers' names, nonetheless partake in the joy and love that celebrates all living things, however briefly they endure. And, when Joan shows us the natural symmetry of a blossom, we find that we too have regained our balance.
Joan's lush, elegant voice weaves childhood memories of her mother's joy at a just-bloomed morning glory with meditations on the symbolic importance of bamboo, of pine, of the lily. She takes us with her on her travels to Japan as she learns the essential principles of ikebana, and lets us join her as she teaches flower arranging to women in a nursing home who, though they won't recall tomorrow the rules of arrangement or even the flowers' names, nonetheless partake in the joy and love that celebrates all living things, however briefly they endure. And, when Joan shows us the natural symmetry of a blossom, we find that we too have regained our balance.
- GenresBuddhism
168 pages, Paperback
First published March 9, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 30, 2024
#re-read 2024
I loved everything about this book. I was so impressed with the time Stamm took to explore the art of flowers from so many different perspectives: her memories, religion east and west, family values and cultural values. It was just a magnificent book, short but sweet. A gem.I especially loved her stories of her family and her wonderful relationship with her sister and flower teacher. I was really moved by the book. She’s a wonderful writer... it was a lesson for me how much you can learn without needing to live for decades in the place or study the language. So much can be gleaned and internalized in one's own native language as long as you keep at it. Or maybe another way of saying this is that a great writer can always write great books. This is one of my favorites on my Japan shelf.
Quotes:
"When we offer flowers, we try to remember “emptiness,” that there is no “self” making the offering, no ego looking for praise or diminished by criticism, no buddha who receives the offering, no flowers existing in the solid way that they appear. Only the dreamscape, the illusory nature of our world appearing in its many forms, arising, receding, dissolving, arising…. We try to remember that all of life is like a dream appearing to our waking mind, that appearances are deceptive, moments pass quickly, living things are fleeting.”
"To contemplate a flower, a natural mandala of vibrant color and perfect form, is to glimpse the face of the divine. The perfect symmetry of, say, a ‘Ramona’ clematis with its large pale-blue flowers that open as a six-petaled star, evokes the sacred. And what mystery lies at the center of a purple gloxinia, whose lacy edges encircle velveteen violet petals that deepen from white at the base to purple at the tips as if a light glowed at the center, whose stamens, translucent strands curved and joined at the tip like tentacles of a jelly fish, beckon to come closer, come in. Flowers, like the various buddhas throughout the world, have aspects, or personalities; they emanate individual characteristics. Take ‘Bodacious’ for example, a “dinner plate dahlia” whose size and flaming-red boldness smacks you in the face with sheer audacity like the valiance of a dharma protector. Or Japanese wisteria: its weeping clusters of pale blue-violet flowers hang in a bow of deep humility like the quiet nature of Jizo. Whether bold or delicate, bright, bawdy, or barely there, the point is to become absorbed into the deep essence of the flower, to feel its energy and pulse, to forget the self, to gaze into the heart of a living thing and lose your sense of “I.””
I loved everything about this book. I was so impressed with the time Stamm took to explore the art of flowers from so many different perspectives: her memories, religion east and west, family values and cultural values. It was just a magnificent book, short but sweet. A gem.I especially loved her stories of her family and her wonderful relationship with her sister and flower teacher. I was really moved by the book. She’s a wonderful writer... it was a lesson for me how much you can learn without needing to live for decades in the place or study the language. So much can be gleaned and internalized in one's own native language as long as you keep at it. Or maybe another way of saying this is that a great writer can always write great books. This is one of my favorites on my Japan shelf.
Quotes:
"When we offer flowers, we try to remember “emptiness,” that there is no “self” making the offering, no ego looking for praise or diminished by criticism, no buddha who receives the offering, no flowers existing in the solid way that they appear. Only the dreamscape, the illusory nature of our world appearing in its many forms, arising, receding, dissolving, arising…. We try to remember that all of life is like a dream appearing to our waking mind, that appearances are deceptive, moments pass quickly, living things are fleeting.”
"To contemplate a flower, a natural mandala of vibrant color and perfect form, is to glimpse the face of the divine. The perfect symmetry of, say, a ‘Ramona’ clematis with its large pale-blue flowers that open as a six-petaled star, evokes the sacred. And what mystery lies at the center of a purple gloxinia, whose lacy edges encircle velveteen violet petals that deepen from white at the base to purple at the tips as if a light glowed at the center, whose stamens, translucent strands curved and joined at the tip like tentacles of a jelly fish, beckon to come closer, come in. Flowers, like the various buddhas throughout the world, have aspects, or personalities; they emanate individual characteristics. Take ‘Bodacious’ for example, a “dinner plate dahlia” whose size and flaming-red boldness smacks you in the face with sheer audacity like the valiance of a dharma protector. Or Japanese wisteria: its weeping clusters of pale blue-violet flowers hang in a bow of deep humility like the quiet nature of Jizo. Whether bold or delicate, bright, bawdy, or barely there, the point is to become absorbed into the deep essence of the flower, to feel its energy and pulse, to forget the self, to gaze into the heart of a living thing and lose your sense of “I.””
March 28, 2025
3.5 very sweet, and excellent pictures
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews