Years ago, I was in a museum, staring at a bowl. The bowl was shiny black, and looked like fireflies were flying in the dark night. Later, I found the bowl was called “Youhen Tenmoku Tea bowl (曜変天目).
Source: Wikipedia, April 17, 2017
Mystery of Youhen Tenmoku Tea Bowl
Youhen Tenmoku Tea Bowls were baked in Fujian Province in China about 800 years ago. There are only 3 existing Youhen Tenmoku Tea Bowls in the world and all of them are in Japan, not in China. Successive powers loved the bowls in Japanese history. All of the 3 Youhen Tenmoku Tea Bowls are designated as National Treasure.
I was probably in my teen's or 20’s when I saw the bowl. I felt the strong energy the bawl was releasing. It was so beautiful and exquisite even for young me, who hadn't thought of what the beauty was.
But I learned a really beautiful thing can impress people, make people attracted to, regardless of the times. Truly beautiful things are so powerful that they can entice people whenever the times are.
How can we see genuine, beautiful things as much as possible?
Just after I graduated from university, I worked for a TV program production company. I was in charge of a program in which appraisers judged the values of art pieces.
An appraiser said, “If you want to train your eye to tell the genuine art from the fake, go to museums and see a lot of genuine art.”
I was lucky enough to visit museums when I was in Japan.
Here is another example.
I have heard that in the US experts are trained to detect counterfeit money by touching real money many many many times. After that, they will be able to feel something is different when counterfeit money comes because the energy out of fake money is very different from the real one even though it is not alive.
You will be surprised to know how easy it is to tell the real from the fake when you see an exhibition at a museum and then you go to a souvenir shop of the museum. The products sold at the souvenir shop look so different from what we have seen just 5 minutes before. The difference is so obvious.
So, go to museums and see genuinely beautiful things. Otherwise, we will lose this ability.Why don’t you plan the journey to see your favorite art today?
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