We are often asked who our market is or who will want these gardens. There is no typical client for this art form. Awareness and desire have no class boundaries. Some people are born with one foot already on the path. Others, even after years of study and struggle, may only glimpse the path, and still others will never even know that a path exists.
The person who desires this art form has discovered that the accumulation of the material is not the goal in one’s life. Some (the rare breed) have no desire for the material while others (most of us) have wants and desires that we think can be satisfied by possessions. Our ‘typical client’ has realized that satisfaction of the desire for possessions in our lives does not represent satisfaction of our desire for meaning in our lives. Our client has glimpsed ‘beyond’ and made the same realization the Samurai did. We must have balance in our lives if we desire fulfillment.
Our current corporate world is a parallel dimension to the feudal Samurai world. Corporate business is war. The same treacheries and intrigue of feudal Japan as well as the intolerance for mistakes and weakness characterize it. There is a superficial code of honor, but that too can be undermined and bent to the will of greed and power. One cannot survive in this world for long without balance. It is not enough to be a swordsman here; you must also be a statesman. You can achieve material success but if happiness eludes you then you have failed. Happiness will continue to elude anyone who has not recognized the difference between the pursuit of “happiness” and the pursuit of “pleasure.” They are not the same and we will have no balance in our lives until that distinction can be made.
To make that distinction you must first glimpse the ‘other side’. To glimpse the other side you must know it is there. To know it is there you must feel it. To feel it you must step on to the path to awareness. To step on to the path you must place your mind on the threshold. DIVINE WINDS will create the threshold.
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