Counting greens: Forest meditation
Japanese language, especially ancient ones, has lots of words to express “green.” It’s fun observing forest and thinking which classic Japanese word would apply for a part of the scene. For example, let’s play with this young Arisaema limbatum.
It already shows the characteristics of vertical stripe in its spatha. I would say, the green part of spatha is in Mist Green, or Ura-yanagi 裏柳 from the 18th century Japanese. Its leaves are mainly in Willow, or Yanagi-zome 柳染 whose expression might have the ancestral notion of the 10th century. The veins of the leaves are in Apple Green, or Usu-moegi 淡萌黄 whose illustration can be found in the Tale of Genji of the 11th century. We’ve already counted 3 different greens, haven’t we? (I’m using this book for identifying the color names. It’s a good reference book, small enough to carry during hiking, and has English translation for each color.) Please try how many greens you could find in the next photo.
Simply sitting in a forest and counting the number of different hues of colors is very meditative. During COVID recovery I tried it for about 2 hours in one spot of a forest, and found myself really relaxed and calm. Actually it’s a method for feeling Oneness at the beginning of Forest Therapy. If you’re tired and interested in meditation, please try. Just watch a forest and play with the greens. It’s fun.
If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121
〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
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