The spiritual side of bonsai

[Kiani]

There's so much talk of styling, maintenance and the artistic aspect of bonsai, I thought it would be interesting to talk about the spiritual side as well.

I'm still a noobie to bonsai. Only a couple of months ago I would call it bon'zai', and all I knew of bonsai trees were that they were those cute little trees from The Karate Kid

I can honestly say that the last couple of months has changed not only the way I look at bonsai trees and nature as a whole, but it has in some way made me feel a little more peaceful. Just looking at these trees, seeing how they grow, and how they react to everything, just like we humans do, is amazing. I feel that there is so much more to this than I currently understand, but when I'm standing in front of these little trees, whether it's for a minute or an hour, it feels like I've left this world for a brief period.

I'd love to hear how others feel about their bonsai hobby.

 

[dick benbow]

As a kid growing up in the midwest, I spent my days along the streams and lakes and deep in the woods. As I grew up, joined the armed forces, and spent two years in japan, it became clear that i was in love with their culture and i couldn't wait to get home, build my own japanese garden complete with koi pond and begin working on bonsai trees. that was close to 40 years ago.
so being around water and trees again seems only right. I've branched out a bit to include suiseki, chrysanthemums, sumi-e, and ikebana which keeps me always learning about the arts that I enjoyed while in japan.
hard to express the sense of spirituality, but I do understand what is meant when you say that. It could best be maybe discribed as a sense of peace beyond understanding. I can think of nothing better then to get up in the morning with a cup of tea and read thru my devotions, looking up from my reading to catch a koi searching the pond shallows for it's breakfast...or catching a glimpse of new color from a blossum that opened for the first time that morning.

 

[grouper52]

Must be the time of year - you may enjoy this thread I started about a year ago.

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?4975-Just-So&highlight=carving+deadwood

 

[rockm]

Spirituality is a hard thing to define in bonsai -- for me anyway. It's certainly not the tired "Zen" stereotype that usually gets associated with it.

I think bonsai tends to bring those who practice it more into tune with the natural world. A world that's always been around them, but they just didn't understand or really notice it.

It takes a few years to get a real understanding for why people find bonsai compelling. Some just like kitsch. Some see deeper things, but those insights aren't immediate or even clear. It's a 'gut' thing.

For one thing, bonsai shows me how truly wonderful the world is on an elemental level -- the things trees do physiologically to adapt and keep living is fascinating, for instance.Their physical struggle and natural reactions to that struggle are written in wood, producing images that inspire humans. That they do such things makes me think that God and science aren't mutually exclusive terms.

 

[Ron Dennis]

. . .I can honestly say that the last couple of months has changed not only the way I look at bonsai trees and nature as a whole, but it has in some way made me feel a little more peaceful. Just looking at these trees, seeing how they grow, and how they react to everything, just like we humans do, is amazing. I feel that there is so much more to this than I currently understand, but when I'm standing in front of these little trees, whether it's for a minute or an hour, it feels like I've left this world for a brief period.

I'd love to hear how others feel about their bonsai hobby.

Well said. Totally understand your sentiment.

 

[Ron Dennis]

Must be the time of year - you may enjoy this thread I started about a year ago.

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?4975-Just-So&highlight=carving+deadwood

Thank you. I have read your thread and found it to be a highlight of my day so far.

 

[bonsai barry]

I don't equate my bonsai with any spirtituality but I can definately attest that after a very stressful day teaching middle school students, a few minutes in the garden can have a very calming effect.

 

[catfish chapstick]

Bonsai is like meditation. Its also a theraputic dialogue with nature or god. same force in my oppinion. I'm sure bonsai is a slightly different experience for every person.

 

[edprocoat]

The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the bird for mirth, one is closer to God's heart in a garden, than anyplace else on earth.

ed

 

[Shimpaku]

I am Christian.

For me, Bonsai teaches me patience, enhances my creativity, and a greater admiration for overcoming adversity. Other than that, just a hobby.

 

[Kiani]

I'm sure bonsai is a slightly different experience for every person.

I agree.

I've finally reached that place where I talk to my trees. I'll say things like "you're doing well" and "you talkin to me?".

 

[edprocoat]

I am Christian.

For me, Bonsai teaches me patience, enhances my creativity, and a greater admiration for overcoming adversity. Other than that, just a hobby.

I too am a christian, a Roman Catholic, the original christian faith. I agree with your post on many levels, I find my spirituality in the church and the word. The poem I quoted a small part of was from the old Dorothy Frances Gurney poem, Gods garden.

God's Garden

THE Lord God planted a garden
In the first white days of the world,
And He set there an angel warden
In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,
That the hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of the even
God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes
With their shade and their sun-flecked sod
And their lilies and bowers of roses,
Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,--
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

For He broke it for us in a garden
Under the olive-trees
Where the angel of strength was the warden
And the soul of the world found ease.

Dorothy Frances Gurney

The interesting part of this poem in christian faith is the last verse is about the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus had his moment of doubt, "Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me; However not my will, but yours be done..." is what she was alluding to in this final verse. There can be found spirituality in every part of life, you can look for and find Jesus in the eyes or words or actions of the people you meet in the office, online or laying in the gutter, or you can look for the bad in those same people. We all are capable of great good and terrible evil and we are capable of perceiving what we choose to perceive. Personally, in a garden or working with Bonsai I see beauty and find relaxation, surely a loving God would have us enjoy both these.

ed

 

[grouper52]

Here's a poem I've always loved, and more so as I age. (Can't get the formatting right to get the staggered indents for each line in each verse - sorry. You'll get the gist of it anyway.)

It's by Robert Wallace, titled "WHAT HE SAYS":

Raspberries splash, redly
in their leaves;
squirrels

squabble in the pine tops.
An old man,
wearing

a sweater in July,
breathes
the same morning as the birds,

goes, talking among the flowers
beautiful as he is,
bending

leaves at his elbow.
What he says,
by himself, wandering

in the sunny garden,
need not be true,
nor useful.