Currently Browsing: Splendid things

The barn in Aspen early 1970s

Posted in Splendid things, Things worth being

When I was in my early 20s I dropped out of college and went to Aspen to be a ski bum. I got a job as a maid at the Vagabond Lodge and met Bill Streeter who had come from NYC to ski for a week. He fell in love with Aspen, and ended up staying for the rest of his life.

That summer we sold our skis and camped out with friends at the foot of the 14,000 foot high Maroon Bells.

The next winter Bill and I moved into “The Barn” an old, falling down ramshackled place that had been initially rented by our friend Wilk Wilkerson, a National Geographic photographer and fellow skier. I think the rent for all of us was about $115 a month.

To get to our room we had to climb up rickety steps with no railing and cross a wide plank over the main space of the barn to our room. There was no heat. Our boots froze over night and we walked into town every morning to have breakfast at Andre’s to thaw out.

Other’s moved in to join us: Mike Pokress, Spencer Pearson, Steve Horowitz. And over the years, long after I had left, the rooms became small apartments.

I found this out recently from a post on a Facebook group, Friends of Aspen from the 60s and 70s. Someone posted “Does anyone remember “the Barn“, where several artists lived when I arrived in ‘72?”

As I read the comments on the post I was shocked to find out that all of the guys I lived with as roommates, including Bill Streeter, have passed away. I’m the only original resident still alive. We were young and adventurous. I thought we’d all live forever.

The Barn was finally torn down in the 90s. It’s probably been replaced with condos.

It was a glorious time and a glorious place.

My favorite time…

My favorite time to be at Dai Bosatsu Monastery in the Catskills is always the first week of October. The mountains surround the zendo, and the leaves start to change at the top of the peaks and then slowly the colors drift down. By the end of the week the monastery is surrounded by a brocade of color.

The large Bonsho bell in this photograph is nearly seven feet tall and five feet wide. It weighs about eight thousand pounds and its resonance can carry for twenty miles on a clear day. I”ll never forget the first time I ever heard it.

In was early morning, and still dark when it began to ring with an eerie sound, almost supernatural as though it came from the center of the earth. I was deep asleep when it rang out with one long boom. When the sound faded into the morning another boom echoed off the mountains. It penetrated through my dreams and I woke up completely mystified. What was that? I had never heard anything like it. It was mystical.

Zazen practice IS mystical. For me, it’s filled with mystery, awe, and fascination.

Ranjatai Incense

Posted in List of Things, Splendid things, Tea

I searched all over Kyoto to find the same incense that had been given to me years before on my birthday. The delicate fragrance had scents of sandlewood, spices of cinnamon and clove, and camphor.

In the practice of tea, incense is prized and at some tea gatherings the host will bring out various incense for the guests to appreciate. It’s called “Listening to incense.”

The most highly prized and rare incense is called Jin-koh, also called Agarwood, that comes from Southeast Asia. It’s literally worth it’s weight in gold. Agarwood forms when Aquilaria trees become infected with mold and the tree develops a resin to protect itself. This resin forms in the heartwood of the tree and is what is prized as Agarwood or Aloeswood.

The largest piece of Jin-koh in Japan was given to Emperor Shomu (AD 724-748) as a tribute from China. It has been kept in the Imperial treasure repository since that time. It is named Ranjatai and is the most famous chunk of wood on the planet. It weighs 11.6 kilograms and is 1.56 meters long.

For the past millennium, only a few small pieces have been cut from the Ranjatai.

In 1465, one small piece was ordered by Emperor Gotsuchimikado as a gift to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. In 1574, a small piece was given from Emperor Oogimachi to general Oda Nobunaga for his efforts in unifying Japan. In 1602, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was powerful and influential enough, obtained a piece, and in 1877, Emperor Meiji asked for a piece.

That’s how coveted this piece of wood is.

Nobunaga kept his small piece and then gave fragments of it to two guests who came for a tea gathering. This gift demonstrated his cultural superiority and power. The two guests received Ranjatai fragments presented on open fans. The fans were decorated with cut gold foil.

Every ten years Ranjatai is brought out of the treasury repository and exhibited. People line up for hours to view it – the most famous piece of incense in the world.

Crimson colors

Posted in Splendid things, Tea, Things of elegant beauty

Sei Shonagon sometimes gets irritated with those who wear unsuitable things like “crimson skirted trousers” at the wrong time. And then at times she loves “a white coat worn over a violet waistcoat.”

Fabric has always been important in Japan. Today in Kyoto you can visit the shop of Kitamura Tokusai who will bring out sample after sample of old and ancient fabrics that are now used in the tea ceremony to hold a tea bowl in hand. They are called Kobukusa and are much admired. Dazzling and splendid.