Illustrations from The Japanese Way of the Artist

Japanese Calligraphy

Hiseki Davey Sensei, is known to readers throughout the world as the acclaimed author H. E. Davey, the creator of Brush Meditation, Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, The Japanese Way of the Artist, and other works. Davey Sensei can be commissioned to create distinctive calligraphic art for your home, office, or commercial use.

He can be contacted at hedavey@aol.com or reached by telephone at

510-526-7518.

Flower Arrangement

The Japanese Way of the Flower: Ikebana as Moving Meditation is one of three out of print books by H. E. Davey that is included in The Japanese Way of the Artist. You can purchase The Japanese Way of the Artist at your local bookstore or from Amazon.com.

Learn how to create your own classic Japanese flower arrangments.... Discover meditation in the midst of art and action.

Still more about the Book

Bonfire and haiku poem from The Japanese Way of the Artist

The Japanese Way of the Artist

By H. E. Davey

Including extensive illustrations and an all-new introduction by the author, The Japanese Way of the Artist (Stone Bridge Press, September 2007) anthologizes three complete, out-of-print works by the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts. With penetrating insight into the universe of Japanese spiritual, artistic, and martial traditions, H. E. Davey explores everything from karate to calligraphy, ikebana to tea, demonstrating how all traditional Japanese arts share the same spiritual goals: serenity, mind/body harmony, awareness, and a sense of connection to the universe.

Supplemented by resource guides and glossaries of Japanese terms, the three books in THE JAPANESE WAY OF THE ARTIST bring ancient teachings to life:

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways presents 45 essential principles—like wabi, “immovable mind,” and “stillness in motion”—that are universal in the Japanese classic tradition. It received a Spirituality & Health magazine Best Spiritual Books Award.

Brush Meditation provides an extensive introduction to Japanese calligraphy, showing how even the most elemental brush stroke reveals your physical and mental state.

The Japanese Way of the Flower examines practical methods for looking at nature and leads the reader through simple meditations as a prelude to learning how to create simple, elegant ikebana compositions.

H. E. Davey is Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts (http://www.senninfoundation.com/) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Davey's articles on Japanese cultural arts, and his Japanese calligraphic art, have appeared in such magazines as Karate Kung-Fu Illustrated, Furyu—The Budo Journal of Classical Japanese Martial Arts and Culture, The Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Body Mind Spirit, and Yoga Journal. He has also contributed to Japanese publications such as Hokubei Mainichi, the Nichibei Times, and Gendo.

The Japanese Way of the Artist:

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, Brush Meditation, The Japanese Way of the Flower

By H. E. Davey

494 pages, 6 x 7 ¾", 135 B&W illustrations and photographs

Paper, ISBN: 978-1-933330-07-5, $19.95

September 2007

If you are interested in printing an excerpt from THE JAPANESE WAY OF THE ARTIST, or in scheduling an interview with Mr. Davey, please contact Ari Messer at 510-524-8732 x116 or ari@stonebridge.com.

More about the Book

An illustration from The Japanese Way of the Artist

The Japanese Way of the Artist:

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, Brush Meditation, The Japanese Way of the Flower

By H. E. Davey

512 pp

6 x 7.75"

Paperback

135 B&W illustrations and photographs

ISBN 978-1-933330-07-5

$19.95

Now in a single volume, three essential works on Japanese aesthetics, spirituality, and meditation.

About Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty

“Davey uses words with clarity and simplicity to describe the non-word realm of practicing these arts-calligraphy, martial arts, tea ceremony, painting-and the spiritual meaning of such practice. . . . A wonderful complement for practitioners of meditation, especially Zen.”

Publishers Weekly

The Michi Mission: From chado—“the Way of tea”—to budo—“the martial Way”—Japan has succeeded in spiritualizing a number of classical arts. The names of these skills often end in Do, also pronounced Michi, meaning the “Way.” By studying a Way in detail, we discover vital principles that transcend the art and relate more broadly to the art of living itself. . . . Books in the Stone Bridge Press series Michi: Japanese Arts and Ways focus on these Do forms. They are about discipline and spirituality, about moving from the particular to the universal.

The three works anthologized here are essential to understanding the spiritual, meditative, and physical basis of all classical Japanese creative and martial arts. Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers key concepts—like wabi and “stillness in motion”—while the other two books show the reader how to use brush calligraphy (shodo) and flower arranging (ikebana) to achieve mind-body unification.

In the Michi series, H. E. Davey explores the mind/body connection that lies at the heart of traditional Japanese arts and culture. Mr. Davey is Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You can order The Japanese Way of the Artist here: http://www.amazon.com/.



About "The Japanese Way of the Artist"

The Japanese Way of the Artist is a collection of three of H. E. Davey's most popular books. It's published by Stone Bridge Press (www.stonebridge.com). Included in a single volume are:

* Living the Japanese Arts and Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty

* Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony

* The Japanese Way of the Flower: Ikebana as Moving Meditation

The three works anthologized here are essential to understanding the spiritual, meditative, and physical basis of all classical Japanese crafts, fine arts, and martial arts. Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers key concepts—like wabi and “stillness in motion”—while the other two books show the reader how to use brush calligraphy (shodo) and flower arranging (ikebana) to achieve mind-body unification. Illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and photographs.



About the Book

The Japanese Way of the Artist deals with the principles that underlie most of the traditional Japanese arts, with an emphasis on brush calligraphy, martial arts, flower arrangement, and tea ceremony. How these arts and their underlying principles can lead to personal growth is a central theme in the book. The Japanese Way of the Artist is packed with illustrations and exercises to help you discover mind and body unification, which in turn can help you realize your full potential in daily life as well as in these ancient arts. No prior experience is necessary.

Although the title seems to imply that the book focuses primarily on Asian fine arts, the Japanese definition of art is broader than this and includes active forms of meditation and beauty such as Japanese dance, healing arts, martial arts, and various unique crafts. Universal principles link and underlie all of these disciplines, and the same principles can be used to master the art of living.

Kyle Kurpinski Reviews "The Japanese Way of the Artist"

An Excellent Resource for Several Japanese Art Forms

Reviewed by Kyle Kurpinski, PhD

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in traditional Japanese cultural arts. All of H.E. Davey's works are well written and include numerous drawings and photos for easier comprehension of the presented techniques, but the real beauty of the texts is that they demystify these foreign art forms. Understanding such art forms can be a real challenge without the right resources, but this book makes it simple with clear explanations and easy-to-practice techniques. The best part about this book though, is that it's three books in one: 1) "Brush Meditation" (An introduction to Japanese calligraphy) 2) "The Japanese Way of the Flower" (A guide to Ikebana flower arrangement) 3) "Living the Japanese Arts & Ways" (Methods for reaching your full potential in life) Even if you're not directly interested in calligraphy or flower arrangement, anyone and everyone can benefit from increased relaxation, concentration, and coordination imparted by the various concepts in "Living the Japanese Arts and Ways." All in all, this is an excellent resource for several different Japanese cultural arts, and with three books wrapped into one, it's a real bargain too.

About the Reviewer: Kyle Kurpinski is a teacher of more than one classical Japanese art and the author of How to Defeat Your Own Clone: And Other Tips for Surviving the Biotech Revolution. He is also a leading U. S. cell biologist.

"Crazy for Kanji"

H. E. Davey Sensei's Japanese calligraphy will be featured in the upcoming Stone Bridge Press book Crazy for Kanji. A sample of his brush writing, which will appear in the new book, can been seen above. It shows the three different script styles commonly used in Japanese calligraphic art.

The kanji, or "Chinese character," depicted in all three illustrations is do (a.k.a. michi), which means "a road" in its more utilitarian usage and "the Way" in more spiritual terms. Many traditional Japanese arts that are practiced for spiritual realization end with the character for do. Examples are shodo ("the Way of brush calligraphy") and budo ("the martial Way," in other words, martial arts). In the illustration above, do is brushed using kaisho, gyosho, and sosho script styles. Moving from left to right, each script becomes more and more abbreviated and abstract.

You can learn more about how shodo functions as an ancient system of writing, moving meditation, and abstract art, by visiting our sister blog Art of Shodo at http://artofshodo.blogspot.com/.

You can purchase Davey Sensei's latest book The Japanese Way of the Artist, which covers Japanese calligraphy in detail, through Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Way-Artist-Living-Meditation/dp/1933330074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229545807&sr=8-1

Want to find out more about the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts Integrated Shodo & Meditation program? Just drop by www.senninfoundation.com.

You can read more about The Japanese Way of the Artist and the upcoming Crazy for Kanji at www.stonebridge.com. Stone Bridge Press focuses on books about Japanese culture that will appeal to many readers of this blog.

Robert E. Carter Reviews "The Japanese Way of the Artist"

H. E. Davey, in "The Japanese Way of the Artist," both describes the various "Ways" of the artist, and deftly identifies how these arts transform one who diligently practices them. This anthology of three previous works makes available the broad strokes, as well as the practical details, of the Japanese arts. Davey's writing is highly accessible and remarkably accurate and insightful. This is an important source for understanding the Japanese and their artistic "Ways."

About the Reviewer: Dr. Robert E. Carter, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy for Canada’s Trent University, has authored numerous works on Japanese spirituality and meditation, including The Japanese Arts & Self-Cultivation, Encounter with Enlightenment: A Study of Japanese Ethics, and Becoming Bamboo: Western and Eastern Explorations of the Meaning of Life.

ForeWord Magazine Review

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty
by: H.E. DaveyIssue Month: November/December 2002
Category: Spirituality
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
50 illustrations
244 pages
Softcover
$18.95
ISBN: 188065671X

A spiritual path can emerge from learning Japanese calligraphy, flower arranging, tea ceremony, or martial arts. While millions of people around the world begin these practices, few go deep enough to experience the spiritual dimensions that are possible. How-to guides rarely cover enlightenment. This one, however, brings forty-five concepts the underpinning of all traditional Japanese cultural practices into focus. Understanding these Ways, the essence of living, points readers toward asking profound questions, getting inspired to take up a practice, and awakening to ultimate reality.The author illustrates how Japanese arts, followed with the right attitudes, can turn ongoing practice into moving meditation: "The Ways involve activity, and so their underlying principles can be discovered only by doing." Continued practice eventually embodies these essential universal truths in the body and mind of the practitioner, to achieve harmonious and effective ways of being in the world. A lifetime of mindful practice creates a physical understanding of, for example, in-yo, the Japanese equivalent of yin-yang, "the basic, complementary, and inseparable dualism evidenced in the relative world." Davey explains such aesthetic and spiritual terms at length, including some that Westerners may think they know like ki (life energy) or Do (the Way).

Connecting with the deepest possibilities in Japanese arts is a tall order. Davey is one Westerner able to deliver. He learned Japanese martial arts from his father and has practiced since he was five. He is now the highest-ranking American in the Nihon Jujutsu and Kobudo divisions of the Kokusai Budoin. This federation, sponsored by the Japanese Imperial Family, has conferred on him the title of Kyoshi or "Master's Certificate," equivalent to a sixth- to eighth-degree black belt. He is currently President of the Sennin Foundation, sponsor of Michi ("The Way") Online, an Internet magazine. In addition, he practices and teaches Japanese calligraphy and brush painting as well as a Japanese form of yoga at the highest levels. He has written books on the particulars of these Ways.

Because this learning must be experiential, there's much that won't be mastered by reading alone. However, the book offers some exercises called "experiments" to physically learn about the human center of gravity (hara), calmness (ochitsuki), and ki. An appendix provides sources for finding a good sensei (teacher). This holistic perspective presents a practical base of philosophy-in-action for those who want to take their Japanese arts beyond surface understanding. (November)

Review by: Bobbye Middendorf
http://www.forewordmagazine.net

"Brush Meditation" Reviewed at Reader Views

Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony

H.E. Davey

Stone Bridge Press (2007)
ISBN 9781880656389
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (4/07)
(From http://www.readerviews.com/)

Once in a while I find it very helpful to venture outside of the realm of things that normally interest me and that I have some knowledge about. Learning about new things is a very stimulating experience and it seems to me that it keeps my brain in good working order. As far as the Japanese art forms are concerned, I am vaguely familiar with the flower arranging, but that is where my knowledge – and even real awareness – of such art forms end. Picking up H. E. Davey’s “Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony” was a real eye-opener.

The author begins this book with explanation and history of shodo, continues with the complex connections of mind, body and brush, and finishes with simple step-by-step exercises for the basics of shodo. The illustrations and the photos would certainly be very helpful for anybody who intends to try their hand at this ancient art form.

Mr. Davey’s writing is fluid and engaging. He does not get overly technical and is easy to understand. The book kept my attention and made me wish for more balance in my life. Let me give an example of Mr. Davey’s writing here:

“The kanji, or written characters, used in both Japan and China have transcended their utilitarian function and collectively serve as a visually stirring piece of fine art. Shodo allows the dynamic movement of the artist’s ki (“life energy” or “spirit”) to become observable in the form of rich black ink. In great examples of shodo, you can sense both the rhythm of music as well as the smooth, elegant, and balanced construction of refined architecture. Many practitioners of this art feel that the visible rhythm of Japanese calligraphy ultimately embodies a “picture of the mind” – and accomplished calligraphers recognize that it actually discloses your spiritual state. This recognition is concisely summed up by the traditional Japanese saying: […] If your mind is correct, the brush will be correct. “

Although Mr. Davey stresses several times that one needs to find an instructor to truly begin the exploration of shodo, I found “Brush Meditation” to be an interesting book for anybody who would like to learn at least the basics of shodo as well as anybody who just wishes to become more familiar with the traditional Japanese arts and way of living.