MIND

Introduction

Zen Buddhism

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism developed during the 6^th century in China and spreaded out to Vietnam, Korea, Japan and Western world. Zen emphasizes the attainment of Enlightenment, which is ‘to see into one’s true nature’ and ‘to have woken up and understood’, to reach the state of ‘Awakening’ where suffering ends by using meditation and interaction with Zen masters as a practice.

Meditation is a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness and mindfulness. There are various ways of practicing meditation, for example, Mindfulness Meditation, which we become aware of our inhalation and exhalation, Kasina, which practice byfocusing our attention on an object, Mantra, which meditate by focusing on the chanted words etc.When we become mindful, we start to aware of our presence, the surroundings and understand the rule of nature. The heart of meditation is to understand that our lives are constantly changing, therefore,nothing is permanent.

Zen teaching can be applied to our daily lives by living consciously and trying to understand the rule of nature. Because we become more careful in our actions and make fewer mistakes.Moreover, we also develop an understanding on the notion of impermanence.Therefore, we start to let go of attachment and live in harmony with all things without suffering.

Zen also has a great influence on a broad range of Japanese cultures, such as poetry, calligraphy, flower arrangement, tea ceremony and landscape gardening. These seem to be just the activities during free time, but the actual objective is to practice meditation and be aware of the rules of nature. For example, Tea Ceremony, which seems to be a social activity for Japanese people in the afternoon. It is held in a small, simple and rustic teahouse that indicates the rules of nature of imperfection and impermanence. Each movement has been designed to be delicate and precise, so the host should consciously and slowly perform to the guests to avoid mistakes; meanwhile the guests should also pay attention and appreciate each movement. And when they drink tea, they have to be mindful, so they could really enjoy the fragrance and the taste of the tea which is the way to create the moment of joy.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has been considered as the most compact city in the world, where there are a lot of competitions and challenges in almost every aspect such as education, business etc., which leads Hong Kong people to have a rush and hectic lifestyle. Some people are being forgetful of the present; their mind is caught in worries, fears, anger and regrets and that makes them suffer.

As Zen teaching and practice requires people to sit in quiet and calm space to experience the heart of zen, but it seems impossible with the Hong Kong context, therefore, Zen Buddhism needs to accommodate Hong Kong lifestyles.

MIND 

MIND the presence

MIND the nature

MIND the surrounding

MIND the world

  

MIND is the project that enables people to become more conscious and aware of their presence, the nature and the surroundings. Being mindful helps people to be more conscious in what they are doing, to understand the rule of nature and enjoy each moment of their lives. By using Zen as an inspiration to create a delicate performance that is not only didactic of Zen teachings on the rule of nature, nothing is permanence, but it also function as a roof of the escalator and a space for gathering.

By using the Kasina as the method,which is a meditation practice by focusing our attention on an object to induce a mode of consciousness. So people on the escalator’s attention will be attracted by the performance, which is carried out by robot arms that are attached to the elevated escalator. Those arms are moving the modular structure piece by piece in a very slow and delicate movements, which this will grab people’s attention. Normally people on the escalator just stand and wait until they get to the end of the escalator, which this could be use as an advantage in order to emphasize people’s attention on the performance.

Those modular would serve the function as a roof on the elevated escalator during the day, and the robot arms would delicately move some of those pieces down to serve as a gathering space during night time. The form of the roof and the space on the ground will change every time there are adjustments; to express the notion of nothing is permanence, which is the rule of nature.