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The second lesson of Winston.
It was Winston's second day at the
monastery. He had learned the lesson of
the spoon, and was now ready to take on
its opposite meaning.
The nearby river was to be dammed to
allow the installation of a new crossing.
Winston and his fellow neophytes toiled
in
silence clearing a straight line across the
dry bed, whilst the water was held at bay
by the dam they had previously installed
up-stream.
Once the pathway was formed it was
levelled with care. A series of hollow
barrels were then revealed by the sage,
which had previously been prepared in
the
workshops. Each barrel was lined inside
with a mirror that reflected the sky
outwards towards all those who gazed in.
The material of the barrels tapered to a
razor edge at the top, and each one was
of
a slightly different height and increasing
diameter.
The barrels were duly installed according
to a carefully drawn plan, with the
smallest
one near one side of the river bank, and
the widest one close to the other side.
When in place their top edges lined
up precisely.
All retreated to one side as the dam was
opened to allow the river to resume its
journey. Winston watched as the water
rose inexorably up the outside walls of
the
line of barrels, until its swollen meniscus
kissed the line of their top edges exactly.
The river was now crossed by a series of
gradually increasing hollow spaces that
reflected the ever changing sky, as the
water slipped silently around their
emptiness, but never entered it.
Winston stood on the edge of the river
and
remembered the new words of wisdom:
"You must learn how to create a space
that
is the opposite of the shape you wish to
empty"
zenspoon
zenspoon
Winston's first lesson [xenzag, Nov 04 2006]
what I imagine when reading this idea...
http://usera.imagec.../xaviergisz/xenzag/
??? [xaviergisz, Nov 05 2006]
The Millenium bridge was meant to be a blade of light.
http://www.galinsky...iumbridge/index.htm
[po, Nov 05 2006]
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Annotation:
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I think it is good but I just don't get it. Care to explain it to me like I'm a three year old?. |
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great theory but wheres the prototype? |
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Winston's third lesson may be occaisioned by noticing the eldery bloke on the opposite shore, scratching his head and expressing an expression which is easily readable as "What the hell?" |
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[xaviergisz] the images are close - colours
are a bit strong, and I envision the water
being very still and much darker with the
barrels being spaced further apart, but
otherwise very good. |
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Vertigo alley. But, I like it. |
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Beautiful, just beautiful. |
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Love the concept. How deep are the barrels? Can I sit and meditate inside one, watching the water as it flows slowly by? |
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Yeah but you might suffocate. |
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It's just so biased.
Should'nt there be a wo-meniscus too? |
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Ah, a picture speaks a thousand words,+ then. |
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But if a duck landed on it, wouldn't it get sliced up? |
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The duck contains the antiquacking of its own quack. |
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Apologies my dear [xenzag], but either I don't get this or else it's just a load of zenonsense. [-] |
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The illustration was exactly as I visualised it, and yet I still don't get it. Should I go back to lesson one? |
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It's an ancient Zen mystic thing. You're not supposed to get it. |
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//You must learn how to create a space that is the opposite of the shape you wish to empty// |
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But isn't this space the same as the shape you wish to empty? |
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Sorry, but it doesn't go with my wallpaper. - |
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//The material of the barrels tapered to a razor edge at the top, and each one was of a slightly different height and increasing diameter.// |
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This is the part where I get lost. Does the diameter of the barrels vary with their height? Or, does the diameter of each individual barrel increase towards the top, or towards the bottom? |
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NB, please do not answer 'yes', just to be zen about it. :p |
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I like the image but I forsee practical problems with maintenance. The barrels are going to fill with water both from turbulence in the river and with rainfall, and ten you've got dead eaves, bits of twig, bird droppings etc.
I'd go for stepping stones with a mirrored surface. Easier to keep in good condition. |
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[pertinax] the barrels increase in
diameter as the cross the water -
largest near one bank, smallest near
other. The deepest barrels are at the
centre of the river. Each barrel therefore
has unique size, but shared
characteristics, and is dependant on its
value by the one on either side. |
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The ones nearest the banks invite
crossing on the part of the largest one,
but simultaneously the impossibility of
the completion of this crossing, due to
the diminishing sizes. |
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DrBob - stones would not be hollow
spaces contained within the flow of the
water. The dutiful monks will ensure
that the river level is kept calm and
perfect. If the level tries to rise they will
divert water, and if it falls they will
place stones on the river bed to raise it
up. |
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A lovely idea but it made my head hurt trying to understand what you meant until I looked at the pictures. All barrels are hollow, this being a defining characteristic of barrels - what you are referring to are half barrels open to the sky. [+] |
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Well, I finally read it. Freakin' A. |
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What do you step on? The razor sharp edge? |
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You don't step on anything, except with
your mind. |
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its hard for an engineer to imagine something without practicality. its just pwetty. |
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I just read this idea; the title reminds me of my idea -big zen bun for you. |
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If a thing has been made, chances are an engineer was involved at some stage, whatever its practicality. |
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Yeah, da Vinci really could have used an engineer. |
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//DrBob - stones would not be hollow spaces contained within the flow of the water//
They would be if you looked at it on the atomic level. |
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yes, they would, but so would the
water. |
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So, an empty space contained by an empty space. Sounds pretty Zen to me. |
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The ultimate Zen is at quantum level,
but the interesting Zen is this magnified
in such a way as to make it invade
perceived material reality. |
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This makes me think of Wes Studi in Mystery Men. |
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//Yeah, da Vinci really could have used an engineer// |
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they're so pretty - my gorgeous lookin' lovely! |
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A work of art is hardly "made", I'd say "crafted" would be more appropriate. Anyway Leonardo was pretty much the daddy of all engineers. |
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//Can I sit and meditate inside one, watching the water as it flows slowly by?// |
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Wait... if the barrel cross section was big enough, you might be able to. Oxygenated water at equilibrium with the atmosphere flowing overtop of the barrel could provide sufficient gas exchange with the air underneath, which will be at a slightly lower O2 concentration. |
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Cool, its kind of like a blood capillary. |
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I don't think the water flows over the barrels. Anyway, if you want a macroscopic representation of the quantum world, just check out Young's double slit experiment. Also, some current work, looking for it.... |
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//daddy of all engineers// quite right, eggy. |
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