We will be holding a workshop at KUMU Kanazawa, based on the concept of "journey to find your true self" by reading the "Jyugyuzu" chart, counseling, and creating perfume by finding the scent you need for yourself using essential oils.


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What is Jugyuzu?
Jyugyuzu is known as Ten Ox Herding Pictures. It is a series of short poems and accompanying drawings used in the Zen tradition to describe the stages of a practitioner's progress toward enlightenment, and their return to society to enact wisdom and compassion.

Jugyuzu has been explained philosophically and psychologically, and there are documents expounding it from the perspective of Zen philosophy, and in recent years it has been used in fields related to stress and physical and mental care in the form of mindfulness. It has become widely accepted and has become closely integrated into our daily lives.

D.T. Suzuki, a philosopher born in Kanazawa, introduced this drawing widely overseas, and Kitaro Nishida also displayed it in the exhibition room of his Memorial Museum of Philosophy. It can be seen that he had been practicing Zen since he was young, and that he placed great importance on the Jugyuzu.

First of all, we believe that it is very important to think about the process of wearing a scent, what kind of scent attracts you, and what kind of scent you want to wear.

This is because the process of choosing a scent always has a cause. For example, your physical and mental state, environmental changes, temperature, emotions, experiences, your background, ethics, values, and so many other things that I can't even describe.

I believe that by training yourself to be aware of these causes, your intentions and thoughts will become clearer.

And isn't this process the very essence of Zen?

My background began with studying aromatherapy, and I specialize in creating natural raw materials. Therefore by using the knowledge and mechanisms of essential oils and aromatherapy when creating scents, I am able to propose not only a "good scent" but also a "good scent" that affects the mind and body.

The base scent for perfume in this workshop will be medicinal*.

This time, we will use medicinal as the base, and incorporate essential oils from Grasse, France, and ambrette seed essential oil**, which is rare among natural raw material.

In this workshop, we have devised a plan to overlap the process of reading the 10 pictures on the process of creating perfume.

We will prepare a base that will be comfortable for you no matter which scent you choose, so you can complete your own perfume by adding essential oils of your own choice.

Notes
Medicinal note

Ingredients
All ingredients are of natural origin:
citrus, green leaves, rosy, spicy, woody, oriental, powdery, and more

*medicinal
Scent reminiscent of medicine
**Ambrette seed essential oil
Also known as botanical musk.
One of the most precious essences with a deep and seductive aroma.
It is extremely precious and has a warm and powdery impression similar to musk.

I had experienced an earthquake and the loss of a family member last year.
Scent filled in the missing element for me and I had a chance to train in Grasse, France.



What journey did you take this year?
What kind of journey would you like to make next year?
Where would you like to journey to next year?
What will you bring with you and what means will you use to get there?



We will propose scents that will give you clues to a satisfying journey.
We are looking forward to your joining us!


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Perfume workshop
Date and time:
December 7-8th, 2024

Venue:
KUMU Kanazawa by THE SHARE HOTELS

Entry fee:
6,600 yen（Inc perfume 10ml, text, and 1drink）

50 minutes each time
Please specify your desired time when making a reservation.

14:00 -
15:00 -
16:00 -
17:00 -
18:00 -

Inquiry:
KUMU Kanazawa 076-282-9600　or　here


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Interpretation of Jugyuzu and this workshop Overview


１．In Search of the Bull
= Search for the True Self
Young man are encouraged to question what is their true self?
They begin to question what their true selves are, and begin to search for themselves.
*Think of the "bull" as representing the "true self".
-WS
Focus on getting to know yourself better reflect on what you have worked hard for in 2024 reconsider the values that are important to you begin preparation for your journey to find what happiness means to you.

２．'Discovery of the Footprints'
In the process of self-discovery, you encounter events and encounters that give you the possibility of meeting your "true self" in the future.
At this point, what you have found are "footprints," so they are not yet the bull's footprints, but they depict the fact that you have finally found a key to knowing who you really are.
-WS
It refers to the use of "essential oil" as a key to knowing oneself.

３．Perceiving the Bull
A glimpse of the true self, and having reached the point where one can almost grasp the true self.
Finding the image of yourself that you want to be like.
-WS
Using essential oils as a key, you will realize and be made to realize your unrecognized self through the efficacy of the oils and the counseling.

４．Catching the Bull
Struggling to catch your true self like a rampaging bull.
You cannot relax yet. If you are not careful, the bull will pull you down, injure you, lose you, and lead you astray. The only thing that ties you and the bull together is a single rope.
-WS
The bull is interpreted as a perfume and wears the Perfume created in this case.

５．Taming the Bull
We have come to understand and tame the bull （our true self）.
We learn many things in our daily lives, but the young man cannot let go of the tether of the bull （= the goal）. As long as we live, we will always have worries and anxieties. The important thing is not whether or not we can do it, but whether or not we want to do it.
-WS
We interpret it as a situation where we are still wearing the perfume we have created.

６．Riding the Bull Home
This is a state of complete self-identification, and the young man can now honestly enjoy himself as he is. He is also now able to understand and tame the bull （his true self）!
The gyugyuzu tells us that the young man and the bull were originally the same thing, and even though he finally caught the bull and tamed it, he was only able to get back to his original self.
-WS
The created perfume itself is there as a tangible object, but the important thing is that it has "searched for its true self".

７．The Bull Transcended
No longer looking for their true selves somewhere far away, they are content to just be who they are.
In the picture, a person who has returned from a journey is relaxing. The bull that he had worked so hard to catch and tame is nowhere to be seen. It is as if he has forgotten about the bull.
-WS
We interpret this as a situation where people return from their stay at KUMU and spend their days full of life without even being aware of it.

８．Both Bull and Self Transcended
This is a picture of emptiness.
A state in which one's circumstances, position, knowledge, and experience have all been emptied.
The traveler was searching for what he was supposed to do and what happiness was. Enlightenment is the realization that the answer is already within oneself. But the Ten Oxen Diagram tells us to forget even that "enlightenment. Once you realize your goal and happiness, you no longer need to think about it.
-WS
The WS interprets this as the emptying of the perfume bottle that created the state of emptiness or nothingness.

９．Reaching the Source
In the busyness of our daily lives, we sometimes lose our sense of happiness and our goals.
And as we gain more knowledge and experience, we tend to think about this and that.
In such a case, we should forget not only our worries and doubts, but also our happiness and goals.
It is not so easy to lose what you have achieved after all the hard work. When the wind blows, the petals will fall, but the tree will not die.
It is more important to keep the roots strong than to be concerned about the flowers.
-WS
After our stay at KUMU, we will return to our daily life, but we will be able to acquire the experience of thinking and gaining from the WS, and we will be able to feel happiness as it is.

１０．Return to Society
The once enlightened young man meets a new young man and influences him as he is, unencumbered by anything.
（The young man realizes that he has lost sight of the bull by looking at the old man's way of being, and begins to search for himself. He begins to search for himself. Now the young man starts from the first picture.）
The man in this picture is a former traveler who was looking for a bull.
Having found his goal and regained his lost self, the traveler goes to the town and meets the people.
He is not particular about his appearance, he has no dignity, he drinks alcohol, which is forbidden in Buddhism, and he eats fish. In this way, he influences the thoughts and actions of the people he meets. And this, in turn, leads to their own personal growth.
-WS
We create the perfume and interpret it as a way to influence the people around us and grow through the experience of focusing on our own thoughts and influencing them.