Monday, March 11, 2013

Shibumi

Shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances.  It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it does not have to be real.  Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge.  Eloquent silence.  In demeanor, it is modesty without prudency.  In art, ... it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity.  In philosophy, ... it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming.  In the personality of a man, it is ... Authority without domination. .... one does not achieve it, one discovers it. -
Shibumi by Trevanian is the book I'm currently reading.

The following had never happened.
All three Bengal brothers on the bed at once.
(Tanji protects the bed as his territory)

Vladi was the last to arrive, and is wary,...

But with some petties, settles down.
I could not risk disruption, so read until past dark,
before carefully spinning around to use the light.

Tanji "visits" Uschi, Vladi lays low.

What is heee, doing here?

Everyone resettles,...

Vladi "needs" some petting to relax.

V so wants to be next to his brown brothers,...

But finally settles down and enjoys this mystic experience.

1 comment:

silvia said...

well, why not gathering all three on such a soft, large and panoramic bed?
especially next to a man incarnating shibumi, showing his feline authority without domination.