'Hakuryo's Request' / Miho no Matsubara, Japan Photograph

Miho no Matsubara is known as the site of the legend of Hagoromo ("The Feathered Robe"), which is based on the traditional swan maiden motif. The story of Hagoromo concerns a celestial being flying over Miho no Matsubara who was overcome by the beauty of the white sands, green pines, and sparkling water. She removed her feathered robe and hung it over a pine tree before bathing in the beautiful waters. A fisherman named Hakuryo was walking along the beach and saw the angel. He took her robe and refused to return it until she performed a heavenly dance for him. As the angel could not return to heaven without her robe, she complied with Hakuryo's request. She danced in the spring twilight and returned to heaven in the light of the full moon leaving Hakuryo looking longingly after her. 間 ma, the space in between. 間 ma is a spatio-temporal concept of Japanese culture whose roots lie in Shintoism and Zen Buddhism. The character 間 ma (also kan, ken, aida, or awai read) shows a gate in which the sun (early moon) stands. The gate encloses as it were the image of the sun or the moon. The light-filled empty space between the drawing elements is the actual content. Depending on the context, 間 ma is the interval, the split time, the break, the distance or the distance, the difference. Since 間 ma defines the gap, it is also the invisible link and shows how things are interwoven, mutually dependent and can not exist independently of each other. 間 ma is universal and not conditioned by the material level. It goes way beyond. In Buddhism, 間 ma is used to express the idea of emptiness. This emptiness is not rationally comprehensible, but presupposes a far-reaching meditative debate that has mental clarity in the sequence, and the goal of enlightenment. _________________________________________ full resolution photograph Edition of 10 other sizes on request