The Art of Simple Living: 100 Daily Practices from a Zen Buddhist Monk for a Lifetime of Calm and Joy

by Shunmyō Masuno

The concept of mitate In Japanese, we talk about the concept of mitate—seeing a certain item not in its originally intended form but as another thing; seeing something as resembling something else and putting it to use in another way. The notion of mitate originates in the aesthetics of the tea ceremony, in which practitioners put everyday objects to use in elevated forms—for example, a gourd that was originally a water flask being used as a flower vase. Utensils age after years of use. An item’s utility becomes obsolete. But that does not necessarily mean the end of its life. You can discover a different use for it and breathe new life into the object itself. This spirit is at the heart of Zen. Take, for instance, a millstone. Over years of use, it becomes abraded and grains can no longer be ground on it. But this does not mean the end of its life. It could be set out in the garden, perhaps used as a stepping-stone. Or a teacup that has a chipped rim might now be used as a bud vase. Objects do not have merely one purpose. They can be used in myriad ways, depending upon the user’s imagination. How will you use an object? That is the aesthetic concept of mitate. There is abundance not in the accumulation of things, but in knowing how to use things well. Try seeing things in different ways, so as not to be bound by just “the proper way.”