“Silence is gold, speech is silver (Carlyle,Thomas)”. ”Who knows most, speaks le

“Silence is gold, speech is silver (Carlyle,Thomas)”. ”Who knows most, speaks least.(P. Lovesey)”, “Brevity is the soul of wit (Shakespeare)”.

All of the proverbs are great – Zen teaches us, the truth exists in practice – not in words. However, these proverbs require one condition – that we are on the same page (shares similar knowledge) or willing to listen. For example, when I talk about Japanese culture with other Japanese who mutually understand what Japanese culture is like, these proverbs can be very true. However, when someone talk about a matter(culture) which they are not familiar with, silence can be violent. 

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I never verbalized my “insight” in Sashiko before 2015. Because I didn’t need to. My Sashiko started in Japan, and once ended in Japan. Only connection to the world was the “business” (I met many respectful friends/customers, but I didn’t have the chance & ability to share as much as I am sharing today). I still feel there is no need to speak up for protecting Sashiko in Japanese – because they all share the same mutual understanding regardless of their style. How about in English? I am not so optimistic any more. This is something I realized because I got out of Japan. I came to this idea because I now respect the American Culture – that I am “learning” the culture I live in. Therefore, I need to speak up to share what Sashiko is. The most unfortunate thing is the pain from “good intention”. “Whatever” in a dialogue about someone’s culture is quite dangerous. 

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昨日の配信、見返してみましたが、話す順序が下手でした。「配信を聞いてくれている人は分かってくれるだろう」という僕の甘えがありました。最初の言葉だけを聞くと違和感、もしくは嫌悪感を抱く人もいたろうと思います。申し訳ありませんでした。ただ、最後まで聞いて頂けると、「ま、淳がいつも言ってることか」とご理解頂けるのではと思っています。  

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僕は、日本に存在する刺し子を批判することはほぼありません（僕の記憶ではゼロです）。語弊を恐れずに言うと、「何でも良い」と思っています。ただ、その、「何でも良い」は、染み付いた日本文化という前提がある上での、「何でも良い」です。その前提が無い所での「何でも良い」は怖い。そういうお話でした。もしかしたら、文化は前提によって作られるのかもしれません。少し文章でも掘り下げてみようと思います。

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2020-09-19 11:13:22

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