... the word 'unself-conscious' might well describe the process which Japanese pottery tries to achieve.
... I forgot to tell you about how we (Japanese people) are influenced by Buddhism thought in everyday life without knowing, but especially for pottery, it was developed from tea ceremony pots and tea ceremony itself is based on Zen Buddhism.
So ... it's easier to describe the purpose of achieving 無作為 with the Buddhism word ’無我’which means 'no-self' or 'no-ego', or '空’ which means 'emptiness' or 'nothing'. In Buddhism, it is said that when we reach this state, we can reach 'unity' or 'oneness' and this is the ultimate goal of this life.
So, I might be able to say that what my pottery master was trying to achieve through his flower vase was this.
I think this is quite different from Western 'individuality' based achievement, so I always feel that it is difficult to explain this and to have a good understanding of it in England, but anyway, this is our deep basis of art or any other discipline form.
