Dharma talk by Enkyo Roshi and Mitsue Nagase, “Japanese Aesthetics”

In this Dharma talk, Enkyo Roshi introduces Mitsue Nagase’s and Kaz Tanahashi’s extraordinary book, “Gardens of Awakening,” which introduces, through words and images, the essence of Japanese Zen aesthetics, as expressed in eminent gardens of Japan. Roshi also talks about “Kintsugi,” the practice of repair of ceramics, using gold to fill in the broken areas, thus enhancing the artwork. She encourages us to seek our own repair with the value of gold. Then, Mitsue speaks of her experience photographing Zen gardens for her book during the Covid pandemic. She describes how she worked with the gardens intimately to highlight their profound teachings in her artwork.