Weaving Patience: The Komuso Tengai
For many months, my days unfolded around a profound new project, one that hummed with quiet intensity and was not, for once, a flute. Rather, I’ve been weaving a Komuso monk Tengai ‘basket hat,’ or ‘heaven-cover’. This was a big project, to say the least. Big, and utterly bewildering at times, because this was the very first thing I had ever woven! A daunting beginning, indeed.
My initial attempt, with its thick, stubborn spines (‘warp’), was less a creation and more a… profound lesson in humility and patience, as well as a reality check. The second attempt, embracing far thinner spines, finally whispered the correct path forward. Yet, the lessons did not cease. So often, my eager fingers pulled the rattan ‘lead’ (‘weft’) too hard, forcing the crown to curve inward prematurely. Or a slight misstep weaving the twill would go unseen until, hours later, I would see the mistake and have to unraveling all of my meticulous work back to that error. Each mistake, a stern and yet subtle teacher.
In the end, as the final lines settled snuggly, I found myself in disbelief. I had, quite clearly, bitten off far, far more than any complete beginner ever should. This was a project meant for hands steeped in years of patient rhythm. Yet, surprisingly, it took shape. The true reward, however, was not in its form, but rather in the quiet satisfaction of enduring, of seeing it through to the very end. ‘Don’t pull the lead’, J
PS – It may be, as far as my modest research can tell, that I am the first non-Japanese person to weave a Tengai. This is not entirely surprising as the Tengai itself is a deeply rare object, born within the rare world of Komuso, a tradition nestled within the already increasingly rare practice of shakuhachi itself.
(Update: This very Tengai found a new home for charity during the early days of the 2020 pandemic. Perhaps, one day I will weave another. If I do I’ll probably livestream the whole thing for you all! You can read about my experiences practicing takuhatsu ‘alms begging’ as a Komuso in America here.)
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