The Japanese writing system (Shodō) has three types of symbols: Kanji (Chinese Characters), native Hiragana and Katakana. Kanji was developed in China and imported to Japan by the first century. Hiragana and Katakana are both phonetic alphabets derived from Kanji. Each consist of 46 basic symbols, among the syllables are 5 vowels and consonants. One exception is the letter n. Some syllables has an extention to make then soft or hard, simply add two strokes or a small circle at the top right corner close to the character. Kanji is the most complicated script in Japanese, these Chinese ideograms number in the thousands, each one representing a different idea, not necessarily a different sound as is the case with katakana, hiragana, and romaji. In fact, most of the characters have more than one possible reading. The ideogram for person can be read as jin, nin, hito, bito, ri, and several other sounds. Sogana characters is the direct ancestors of Hiragana, is an accent and have the cursive script (Sōsho) and scrolling style of Chinese Kanji. Use them to enlighting your kana work. When you are writing individually a Hiragana character is called (Hanachi-gaki), after you became a master of the tip of the brush, will be times that you need to write more then one character which, means "continuity" and is called (Renmen) allowing you to keep a natural flow of the line. Calligraphy has an economy of line and a simplicity of spatial form which allows individual imaginations to expand and enjoy the artist's written thoughts. For the Japanese, imperfections are as much a part of the artistic value as is technical expertise. Traditional Japanese calligraphy even lays out rules regarding the amount and placement of blotted and dry strokes in a piece

Friday, May 04, 2007

About Buddhism

"The Buddha was not a god. He was a human teacher in the sixth century B.C.E. who showed others the path to enlightenment that he discovered. Today there are growing legions of Buddhists in the West with perhaps even greater numbers of non-Buddhists influenced by Buddhist thought and practice. The lotus, the Buddhist symbol of purity and renewal. It is our hope that it will appeal to practicing Buddhists as well as anyone simply looking for an added measure of beauty and peace in his or her life."
More Buddhism...

Amida Nyorai

Buddha of Infinite Life and Light


Mantra

On amarita teizei kara un (Japanese)
Om save us in the glory of the Deathless One Hûm! (English)


Do not pursue the past.

Do not lose yourself in the future.

The past no longer is.

The future has not yet come.

Looking deeply at life as it is

In the very here and now,

The practitioner dwells

In stability and freedom.

We must be diligent today.

To wait until tomorrow is to late.

Death comes unexpectedly.

How can we bargain with it?

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