Zen Saying

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the masters; seek what they sought.

The Wisdom of Khan Komai

Bonsai is an artistic, symbolic recreation of nature and not a replica of it. It is more an abstraction of nature.

A bonsai develops from a combination of what you feel about the tree and how the tree behaves. There is no actual conflict between the natural element of chance and the human element of control, but there is a constant compromise.

It is the plant - the roots and trunk, the branches, the twigs and the leaves - as much the trunk and branches, the how a bonsai will develop. Too many new students feel that they have created a bonsai, and often it will be years before they realize that their effort is only a small contribution to the plant and the bonsai that results.

Trees have their own personalities and cannot be expected to behave the same as another tree of the same species, or even of the same variety. Every pine does not behave like every other pine; every black pine cannot be expected to develop the same as another black pine. And, it would be a mistake for you to treat every pine alike.

On the other hand, your feeling about every black pine will not be the same. The development of the plant is a result of what you feel and what nature offers. It is a compromise between nature's random growth and the control you exercise to that growth.

The ultimate goal in shaping a bonsai is an elusive, ethereal thing rather than an inflexible blueprint of future development. It is a changing, growing thing that you guide from year to year with no real completion time or end. The enjoyment of bonsai is giving some control to nature's seemingly purposeless growth.

And, there really should be no final goal for the development of your bonsai, for, if you were to achieve it, there would be nothing to strive for, and for the bonsai student, striving is the goal. There is a proverb that says to travel well is better than to arrive.

In our journey, then, how do we know when we have arrived? You frequently hear that bonsai improves with time. It may be true in a large measure, but is it always true, and for how long? A tree ages, the trunk grows heavier with the passing of time, but does that mean that the bonsai has improved? There is a time in the bonsai's existence that the girth of the trunk, the spread of the branches, the mass of the foliage is in just the right proportion. This may be said to be the moment that the tree has reached its zenith. But, the branches lengthen and the foliage continues the thicken, so the branches are shortened and the foliage thinned, but it is not the same as it once was. So we try again, but the results, while pleasing, are not the same.

We find that there will be several peaks for each bonsai every season - a greater peak at intervals during the passing years. But, each peak it attains is not the same, there are subtle differences, and who is to say which peak is the zenith? Different people find different things more or less pleasing. As bonsai students, even if your tastes differ from others, you should develop the power to discern what is fit, what has order, and what constitutes excellence. Then live by compromising with nature and don't be disturbed if nature has a greater say than you. The Zen in bonsai as an art is in the doing, rather than the accomplishment.

Mr. Khan Komai was the teacher, mentor, and friend of Hiro Matsuda and the most influential of his teachers.

Mr. Tomio Abe to Hiroshi Matsuda

Bonsai as an art form is not isolated. If you want to excel, study all aspects of Japanese art, philosophy, and culture.

Mr. Tomio Abe was a Tea Master, artist, historian, friend and mentor to Hiro Matsuda.

Mr. Toshio Kawamoto's advice to his student Hiroshi Matsuda

To develop a fine Bonsai collection, make one hundred and keep two or three.

John Naka - American Bonsai Master

A bonsai can never be a finished work of art...because it will always be a living piece of nature, continuing to live and grow.

The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make the bonsai look like a tree.

Hiroshi Matsuda - Simplify to Imply

...we had a discussion of what a great bonsai and Japanese garden is: simplicity.

Amy Liang

...a bonsai truly represents the fusion of nature and human wisdom; it is an art that at once pursues the spirits of both nature and beauty.

Author Unknown

Bonsai is heaven and earth in one container. Bonsai with its container and soil is physically independent of the earth since its roots are not planted in it. It is a separate entity complete in itself, yet it is a part of nature.

Peter Chan

The aesthetic sensibilities of bonsai, which have their roots in the Zen tradition, contribute very significantly to the total experience of bonsai, which is about beauty, peace, and tranquility.

Claude Chidamian

It is not what we do to these plants that is important, but what they do to us....Even you and I can find a greater measure of faith, courage, and understanding living and growing with bonsai.

Thich Nhat Hanh

When we want to understand something, we cannot just stand outside and observe it. We have to enter deeply into it and be one with it in order to really understand it.... In Buddhism, we call this kind of understanding non-duality - not two.

Shin Zen Bi (truth, goodness, beauty) A Japanese Saying

Tradition holds that these basic virtues are necessary to create a bonsai:

Truth or the law of nature can not be compromised. 'Rules of Man' are often manipulated to suit the needs of the moment. Learn to work in harmony with nature.

Goodness must come from within.

Beauty in bonsai can not be achieved if you do not have beauty within.

Onko Chishin (Respect the old, know the new.) Japanese Saying

In the Orient, and many other cultures, older members of the society are respected and revered. The knowledge learned in life should be passed on to the future generations. At the same time, look at the future with a fresh, keen eye.

Herb L. Gustafson

...the ultimate challenge for the bonsai designer is to expose the essence of the tree.