Beneath the surrender of the long standing Japanese culture is a simplistic calm. They have long been known for simplicity, one that seems very abstract to the west, except with regard to popular culture as it pertains to commercialism. This notion has nothing to do with calm – the unyielding silence that extends well beyond the shameless borders we seem to call upon.
In calm they present no guilt, no chaos and no tolerance for a world where surroundings and pomp of circumstance dictate a state of mind. Another popular misconception of calm is the forceful nature portrayed in popular Japanese imagery, movies and so forth. Why do we need to bend a pristine practice of calm into something that it is not?
Surrender and calm walk hand in hand.
Surrender asks us to eliminate that which obstructs our ability to maneuver in and out of any situation with a deft silence of fortitude, instead of a quick wit or a timely retort. The latter (calm) once having been achieved within that silence, asks us to remain there indefinitely until we can return without notice as required.
Any object or notion can bring us to the presence of calm. It awakens us to the idea that abiding in the moment instead of reacting to it has greater merit than we give in to. Such a contrast to our popular culture isn’t it. Many try to bring calm into their life but do so in such a hurried fashion, they partake of it on the periphery of life and swim in the shallows, still longing to be elsewhere.
If you find yourself adrift, longing to be elsewhere you are anything but calm.
In perspective to the true identity of the word, calm asks us to remain where we are. Relaxing can be calm, but learning to relax amid noise, especially noise of the mind or ego is a very frustrating concept for many westerners to believe.
One cannot achieve if one cannot believe. To believe we must admit the need for absolute surrender to the moment and ask calm to breathe us in instead of the other way around. Calm looks us over, measures our breath and widens our path for entrance into patterns of silence, nothing more. No smoke and mirror parlour tricks will achieve calm, only a patient practice, knowing that when it is achieved the mind will be totally at peace and in tune with its surroundings regardless of circumstance.
We do not need to travel to Japan to experience this effect, and many will point to the fact that Japan has moved away from this notion. Of those that do, only they spend more time surfacing above achievable values and move into the abstract of calm. This is a clear indication of where they return for inner fortitude and resiliency.
Paper lanterns, bamboo and all the rose petals in the world will never bring about any amount of calm that letting
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