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is a recognition that a flower’s beauty is in its arranging — if a person thinks it would be just as well to appreciate a flower in its natural state than to arrange it, they do not understand the nature of beauty.

This is the fundamental nature of a flower. Rigen may have been describing a potted flower rather than a cut flower, but in any case, the life of a flower is short. The moment of blossoming is the essence of the flower. If a person thinks it would be just as well to appreciate a flower in its natural state than to arrange it, they do not understand the nature of beauty. A natural flower is beautiful, but when it is touched by a human being, it becomes a thought.

is grounded in the idea of ‘making a flower live’ through artificial intervention. It makes perfect sense to cut down a garden full of morning glories for the sake of placing just one in the dark alcove of the tea room.

In a famous story, the tea master Rikyu was asked by his lord Hideyoshi to hold a tea ceremony next to a garden full of morning glories. Rikyu cut down and placed just one in the dark alcove of the tea room. This act represented the true spirit of the way of tea and was an example of “making a flower live”. p.14

is guided by the idea that a natural flower is beautiful, but when it is touched by a human being, it becomes a thought.

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