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| John White on the importance of poetic space. photo: RAllen-Sherwood |
In this second installment
of Space Sessions, we meditate on space with retired art historian
and space meister John Edward Clement Twarowski White. (Better known as Professor John White. )
Prof. White's
mile-long list of achievements on his Wikipedia page, makes for fascinating
reading but there's one more fact I’d like to add, to make the list complete. Prof. John White also designed and helped build what I feel, is one of the finest examples of a
contemplative dry-landscape garden in London.. Of course I am talking about the small, but perfectly formed stone Zen Garden that sits quietly
in the backyard of Three Wheels Temple in west London. It's the same garden that inspires my art and kicked off
the launch of this blog. Here is what Prof White said recently, when asked about the principles of creating the garden:
"When you design a Zen garden
You begin with an empty space
Therefore the first principles in designing
a Zen garden is....you need to start thinking
in terms of space".
J. White 2014
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| Viewing Sky Photo: R Allen-Sherwood 2014 |
Rachelle (RAS) - Thank you very much for your time, Prof White. Okay. first question. How would you define what space is, in 20 words or less.
John White (JW) - Space is where things are, or are not. And call me John, by the way.
RAS – Laughs. Thank you, John. Your answer reminds me of
something. You once described the rocks
at Ryoanji as 'measuring rods, or,
spaces within a space'. Those words have stayed with me ever since. Could you
please explain what you meant?
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| Ryoanji World Heritage site in Kyoto, Japan |
JW – I also said that in a Zen Garden, 'Is' or 'Is not' are
equal. And that’s basic Buddhism, which goes back to Sakyamuni Buddha and so
on. It goes right back to the Sutras.
(Buddhist scriptures). *
RAS – Does that mean that everything we perceive is actually
in a state of plus /minus = zero?
J W – Yes, well the Buddha is said to have said in the
Diamond Cutter Sutra that there is no such thing as self, or objects, or people. They just don’t exist. Therefore there’s no
such thing as a person. And by extension, no such thing as objects.
I’ve been looking at
recent science and two of the latest theories say that, thinking of the
foundation of existence as being an object gets you into trouble. Because,
first of all, you cut up an atom into quarks and then you cut up the quarks. And
you cut up and you cut up, but you never get anywhere…..
RAS – You’re talking about Quantum Physics...
JW
– Yes. And so in fact, the argument is
that the basis of all that exists are, in fact, intangibles. So instead of
taking the platonic view of universals, which are things like ‘redness’ or not;
particulars which are objects, which are red or not; you swap it round and make ‘redness’ the
particular, the real thing.
So,
underlying the physical universe are intangibles,so there are no such things as
objects. They are merely accumulations
of properties.
And if you think in terms of objects, you can’t explain how
it is – that in a vacuum, things are always
popping into existence and fading away again….
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| Flow Photo: R Allen-Sherwood 2014 |
R –Yes, yes, the instantaneous-ness of the Universe....
JW - Yes, So where do they come from if they are objects?! But, if they are merely properties, and then,
when those properties accumulate in a certain way, they become a thing. So underlying the whole thing is intangibles. And that’s precisely
what the sutras I think are interesting say- that there are no distinctions for
a Buddha, between this, that, or the other.
This equates with these
really very recent quantum physics theories. Whether they’ll prove out is
another matter, I’m not saying they’re right, but I find them by far, the most
interesting!
Selection Prof White's published art and poetry books
JW - It’s the first bringing together of science and philosophy,
as science deals with things but it doesn’t explain what things are. It doesn’t
say what an object is. It doesn’t explain the origin of things, whether it’s a Big Bang or not a Big Bang. Where did the Big Bang come from? Science has
nothing to say, really, about the nature of things..…. only some of the
properties of things.
So to me, this idea that underlying everything are properties,
intangibles, which in certain configurations become what we call objects, seem
to make a lot of sense. And it might have been written according to the Diamond
Sutra by Sakyamuni Buddha!
Outburst of laughter all around.
End of Part One
*Note: Prof White is not a Buddhist but he has had a long standing relationship with both Three Wheels and their main temple in Japan, Shogyoji.
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