A GUIDE FOR SEWING THE RAKUSU ON LINE

For the very first time, a guide to sewing the rakusu is now available on internet thanks to Jundo Cohen and his treeleaf sangha. Eight videos have been released on Google video. These videos are far from being perfect, they express my  thirty years devotion to the kesa. 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7682255690

the birds have vanished in the sky

and now the last cloud drains away

we sit together, the mountain and I

until only the mountain remains.

Li Po

I have decided to start a new kesa. I am busy collecting scraps of old Japanese kimonos and other fabrics to sew a nine stripes Funzoe kesa with toyama (distant mountains). This will be for all of us. I will keep the memory and presence of Anu ( a wonderful woman, writer and friend who passed away a few weeks ago) in my mind during the task.

Here they are, Here she is.

Betsy Sterling Benjamin in front of one of her kesa

As I was having a rest in my begging round at the foot of Gingakuji Mountain, I noticed a western woman busy eating a delicious ice-cream. I stopped and we started to chat. Just to discover that she was the friend of Betsy Sterling Benjamin, the famous fiber artist that made seven kesa to celebrate the Millennium. And not only that: Betsy was on her way and would be with us any minute… We had a wonderful meeting, licking ice creams and talking about kesa and the Dharma. My bowl was not even out and she was kind enough to make a donation. See what I mean… following our intuition it was made possible to meet each other, I could share a few moments with a very significant person for a kesa lover like me. What are the chances to meet in busy Kyoto? I let you play with the figures. I don’t play with figures. As much as possible, I don’t scold people anymore. I allow myself to go down the drain of wandering and celebrating life.

I am now in Japan. In Kyoto. Won't be working on technical aspects of kesa sewing for a while. I am just busy doing very little, takuhatsu, visiting temples and sleeping. A good and quiet time. I thought you would like this old Soto kesa circa 1750 that I will bring back to the West ( If I ever come back). I was fortunate to find it through Yoshiko, a very kind art dealer. I haven't manage to find a fukudenkai yet. Love to all.

I just wanted to let you know about a very good interview with Françoise Laurent, a highly regarded authority on kesa sewing of the sangha of master Deshimaru. You'll find it at http://www.zen-road.org/ the website of Philippe Coupey's students. Warmly recommended!