Tidying up offerings

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tiompan T
tiompan Jun 1, 2010 07:57:24
Replying to Littlestone

Littlestone wrote:
Could it be 'mu' Mr g?

"Mu (Japanese/Korean), and Wu (Chinese traditional: 無, simplified: 无 pinyin: wú Jyutping: mou2), is a word which has been roughly translated as "no", "none", "null", "without", and "no meaning". While used in Japanese and Chinese mainly as a prefix to indicate the absence of something (e.g., 無線/无线 musen or wúxiàn for "wireless"), in English it is better known as a response to certain koans and other questions in Zen Buddhism, intending to indicate that the question itself was meaningless."*

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative)

No , it's definitely "ma" , a musical term usually related to rhythm where the importance between "events " or instrument hit is as important the "events " i.e. it's the silences that count .Possibly exemplified in western music pop music by B.B. King and "serious" by Webern ,it's what you don't play that's important .

T tjj
tjj Jun 1, 2010 08:11:57
Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:
Littlestone wrote:
Could it be 'mu' Mr g?

"Mu (Japanese/Korean), and Wu (Chinese traditional: 無, simplified: 无 pinyin: wú Jyutping: mou2), is a word which has been roughly translated as "no", "none", "null", "without", and "no meaning". While used in Japanese and Chinese mainly as a prefix to indicate the absence of something (e.g., 無線/无线 musen or wúxiàn for "wireless"), in English it is better known as a response to certain koans and other questions in Zen Buddhism, intending to indicate that the question itself was meaningless."*

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative)

No , it's definitely "ma" , a musical term usually related to rhythm where the importance between "events " or instrument hit is as important the "events " i.e. it's the silences that count .Possibly exemplified in western music pop music by B.B. King and "serious" by Webern ,it's what you don't play that's important .
It seems the perfect metaphor for 'offerings' - an empty space filled with itself. The person making the offering could then mentally visualise anything they want into it ... perhaps.

G gjrk
gjrk Jun 1, 2010 09:02:46
Replying to tiompan

Thanks George. The example that Haino used was Syd Barrett (embarrassed to admit that I don't know what his music sounds like?), but that he understood it instinctively.

It just seemed serendipitous, considering the topic ;)

T The Sea Cat
The Sea Cat Jun 1, 2010 09:33:01
Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:
Littlestone wrote:
Could it be 'mu' Mr g?

"Mu (Japanese/Korean), and Wu (Chinese traditional: 無, simplified: 无 pinyin: wú Jyutping: mou2), is a word which has been roughly translated as "no", "none", "null", "without", and "no meaning". While used in Japanese and Chinese mainly as a prefix to indicate the absence of something (e.g., 無線/无线 musen or wúxiàn for "wireless"), in English it is better known as a response to certain koans and other questions in Zen Buddhism, intending to indicate that the question itself was meaningless."*

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative)

No , it's definitely "ma" , a musical term usually related to rhythm where the importance between "events " or instrument hit is as important the "events " i.e. it's the silences that count .Possibly exemplified in western music pop music by B.B. King and "serious" by Webern ,it's what you don't play that's important .
Re: BB King, the Blues often uses deliberately syncopated gaps for emphasis, and in Jazz Miles Davis was an extraordinary example of incorporating silence into musical structure.

Syd Barrett, beloved of white male 'adolescents' eh ?
;-)

L Littlestone
Littlestone Jun 1, 2010 10:28:40
Replying to tiompan

Thanks, very interesting.

Your "...it's the silences that count..." caught my eye - it's a concept you find in Far Eastern paintings and calligraphy (not to mention philosophy and religion) and perhaps most vividly illustrated in the Zen rock gardens. I touched on it a bit here -
http://themodernantiquarian.com/post/53427