Financial services

I've never understood the financial sector and their increasingly byzantine trades. Somehow I stubbornly believe that society's wealth must ultimately rest on people making things. Of course a healthy financial system is necessary to facilitate this, but to this layman, the financial sector seems more and more to exist for itself. The FT comments (27 April 2006):

"By facilitating economic expansion, the financial system plays its part in raising living standards. For these functions the banks have always taken their cut. However this has increased dramatically in recent decades. US financial companies earned 10-15 per cent of total US corporate profits in the 1950s and 1960s, but now account for 30-40 percent of the total."
"This trend for finance to grow much faster than the "real" economy is also apparent in the UK and elsewhere. In return for absorbing a rising share of society's resources, especially highly qualified workers, what is being delivered in return?"

Good question.

To Kiyomizu-dera

The approach to Kiyomizu-dera: Ninnen-zaka and Sannen-zaka. Steep alleys, relaxed crowds, tourist shops. So far, no Starbucks.


A donation elicits a ring of the bell, or a bang of the staff on the ground, and an invocation. A Japanese friend suggested the monks may not always be genuine, if that's the word, but I've no reason to believe otherwise.



Maiko, I assume.

Reith Lectures 2006

Daniel Barenboim "In the Beginning was Sound". The first two lectures are available on-line, the rest to follow. Recommended. In the same vein, the book, "Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value" by Julian Johnson, Oxford University Press, 2002.
Barenboim recounts hearing Brahms' Violin Concerto in a hotel lift, and having to conduct the work that same evening.

Incidentally, noise pollution is rife in Japan, though the lifts are mercifully silent.

Cherry blossom

The crow too was enjoying the blossom on this venerable, pruned tree in Maruyama-kōen, and sharing her pleasure with the hundreds of humans below.



"Poetry meetings were often held outside under blossoming cherry trees. Their organizers were often Amidist hermits from Ippen's Ji sect – or sometimes monks of the Ritsu sect – who invoked the souls of the departed. The canopy of the weeping cherry tree, like the oiled parasol of the reciter of the Heike, defined a space of shadow, midway between this world and the next. After the invocations, the participants wrote renga poems. Each in turn composed a verse on a given theme, which was continued by the next in line until all present had made up a verse. The quality of the poem reflected the degree of the participants' closeness. Anyone could come to these renga sessions 'under the blossoms'. Attendees had to hide their identities under loose-fitting clothes and broad-brimmed rice-straw hats that covered their faces. In the complete anonymity that guaranteed equality to each, everyone participated in the collective creation of a poem in the shadow of a tree, a space made sacred for a time by the invocation of the dead and the implicit agreement of the participants. Thus because renga meetings eliminated both status and sex barriers, a highly placed court noble or lady could draw pleasure from these meetings side by side with the lowest hinin."

From – "The World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japanese Society", Pierre François Souyri, trans. by Kathe Roth, Columbia University Press, 2001




Well, maybe not much renga this year, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was good to be part of it.

Offering merit — 2

Above the main temple complex at Sanzen-in were some new buildings. Nearby were a series of stands which appear to be memorials to those who have died, and whose relatives wish to remember them and offer merit.



Recently we lost a member of our family, and such a way of remembrance matched a need I feel. Maybe there are similar ways here? So many boddhisatvas.

Offering merit — 1

Hidden on the British Library website is the opportunity to sponsor the preservation and digitisation of a sutra, or sutra fragment, from the Dunhuang collection, a collection of Buddhist manuscripts dating from 100BC to 1200AD, miraculously preserved in a sealed cave at Dunhuang on the Silk Road before their discovery in the late 19th Century. One might see such sponsorship as the equivalent of the former practice of paying a monk to transcribe a sutra to incur merit for others, particulary one's family.

Television Licence

I don't have a television. The TV Licensing authority, a uniquely British entity, writes to me:

"Thank you for informing us recently that you do not require a TV Licence.
Our experience has shown that a small but significant minority of people who tell us that they do not need a TV Licence, are found to require one when visited. We therefore need to verify the position for all households who inform us that they do not have a television, as a standard procedure."

Next time, I'll save the price of the stamp.

Nenju (念珠)

I bought a set of prayer beads, nenju (念珠) in Kyoto, to mark the move to Singapore (now put back to 1st June). It was a traditional shop, sliding door to enter, raised tatami platform to work, Japanese only, intimidating to this gaijin. Founded in the Edo period, the shop's current owner was the 12th generation. I selected a 108 bead nenju, made from sandlewood. A momentary fright when 1 million Yen was mentioned, but that was an error! The Japanese counting system has a "unit" at 10,000 (ichiman), which is where the confusion arose! Phew!

Later I began to think about the netsu's construction. I gathered some information from a website, but advice from a user, lay or monastic, would be welcome. It could be that I have a formal Nichiren rosary, but that does not concern me. First, I believe the beads are used as shown, over the left hand, joined in prayer. The counting requires care, as there is no change in colour, just a slightly smaller bead. One of the "leader" 2 x 5 bead strings has an extra bead (seen on the inner loop above). I take this to be the start. Then counting from the large bead (as 0), there is a smaller bead at position 8 and at position 23. It is the same counting the other way, 8 and 23, ie symmetrical.

It would be good to take it to a temple before leaving.

Change

Kyoto changes: Pachinko and Starbucks.

I think on what the architect Kisho Kurokawa says:

"The West seeks to hand down the actual physical original, while Japan hands down the ideas, aesthetic sensibility, spirit, and technique behind the physical work, according superior importance to the invisible tradition and making every effort to keep it alive. This Japanese attitude helps explain why we have been so quick to destroy elements of our built heritage and replace them with new structures. Of course, we Japanese need to reconsider this tendency, but on the other hand, the importance our culture places on the invisible creates significant opportunities for the transmission of traditional culture to contemporary lifestyle and architecture.

Much of what is most distinctively Japanese belongs to the categories of thought, philosophy, religion, manners, and sensibility. This forms an invisible spiritual tradition: the aesthetic of using materials in their natural state; minute attention to detail; the Buddhist idea that all living things possess the Buddha nature; the philosophy of Consciousness-Only, which resolves opposites in symbiotic relationships; a view of architecture and human beings as parts of the natural world; a curiosity that encourages the adoption of foreign cultures and new technologies; a concept of space as multivalent and ambivalent; a style of communication that values emotion as well as reason; and a high regard for intermediary zones and ambiguity."

Kisho Kurokawa "Each One a Hero: The Philosophy of Symbiosis" Kodansha International. 1997. Also available on his website.

Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺)

Kyoto is always memorable whatever the season: the new continues to displace the old — my old haunt Maruzen has closed and the inexorable spread of Starbucks and Pachinko continues apace. But there are still sufficient traditional narrow streets to imagine the past, and the temples remain. All changes. The timing of the trip was perfect for cherry blossom, and the city was full. Despite the crowds, the atmosphere was very relaxed.
Reverend Master Mugo wryly observed that on her SE-Asian trip she would arrive the day after a festival. I had better luck. The birthday of the Buddha is observed on April 8th and with thousands of others we poured tea over the Buddha's head in Ginkaku-ji (The Silver Temple) in Higashiyama and then slowly walked along the philosopher's way (tetsugaku-no-michi) down to Nanzen-ji, stopping at Hōnen-in (and the nearby burial ground), and the Nomura museum on the way.

If you are in Kyoto, give Starbucks a miss: Inoda is the place for coffee.

Sanzen-in (三千院)

Ōhara, in the mountains to the north of Kyoto, is home to a cluster of temples, the most famous of which may be Sanzen-in (三千院). Founded in 784 by the monk Saichō (最澄), it is of the Tendai sect, and must rank as one of the most beautiful temples in Japan. Arriving early, the peacefulness of its famous gardens was overwhelming. Rain clouds were drifting through the forested hilltops, and a passing heavy shower just enhanced the colours, especially of the moss. The tiny supplicant I photographed in the moss simply filled me with great calm. A truly numinous place.


The Ojo-gokuraku Hall houses a trinity of Amidha Buddha flanked by Kannon and Seishi statues. Photography is not allowed, so I offer a scanned postcard.

The monk in attendance was pointing out traces of original coloring in the roof timbers, but my Japanese was not up to following him. The roof looked decidedly blackened, a reminder perhaps of the ever present risk of fire, hopefully lessened these days.

I think Wittgenstein had it (in another context): "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen" — whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.

To Japan

April 8th is taken as the Buddha's birthday. I will be in Kyoto, and offer for the journey and for my friends a haiku from this two volume scholarly work, privately published by Toshiharu Oseko.

On Buddha's birthday
Praying with wrinkled hands
The sound of rosaries

Kambutsu ya
shiwade awasura
juzu no oto

"Time: what one reads off clocks".

A good example of book design is this slim volume, beautifully laid out in small format, and perfect for the pocket when travelling. And the content is as good as the cover promises!
In 1905 the young Albert Einstein, an unknown patent clerk in Basle, published five extraordinary papers in rapid succession in Annalen der Physik. The fourth paper, on the 'Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies' ('Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper') laid the foundation for Special Relativity.
The implications of science can never be completely foreseen. Special relativity predicts that a clock on a satellite such as used for global positioning will run ahead of the same clock on earth. Such is the accuracy of a modern atomic clock that these tiny differences can be precisely measured. If uncorrected, over six hours the difference would amount to five millionths of a second!
A tiny difference that translates to a positioning error of one kilometre, making all satellite navigation systems useless.

'Time: what one reads of clocks'. Subtle.

Special Relativity by Domenico Giulini, Oxford University Press, 2005

Too few science graduates?

From the Financial Times of March 15th and 16th 2006.

CBI warns of drop in science graduates.

John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI says,

"We're going to wake up one morning and find that it's overseas countries that have this very important cluster of science and engineering skills and we don't. The decline in science study isn't yet a crisis but it will haunt us unless we address it now".

But,

"Alan Johnson, the trade and industry secretary is due to highlight an increase of about 750,000 in the number of people of working age with science, technology and engineering degrees, compared with 1997".

So whom do we believe?

"But the CBI has strongly questioned the validity of government statistics, accusing ministers of 'propping up' the numbers by including psychology. While the government claims the number of biological science graduates has increased by 109 per cent in the decade to 2004-05, the increase is only 7 per cent if psychology degrees are excluded, the CBI analysis shows. The number graduating in chemistry fell by 18 per cent and physics by 7 per cent over the same period".

Then, the DTI said,

Graduate infusion for biomedical science.

"DTI quoted statistsics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency to show an overall increase in first degrees in science, engineering and technology from 87,435 in 1995 to 124,860 in 2004. But there were big differences between subjects. Biological sciences rose from 12,380 to 25,955 graduates and computer science from 8,275 to 20,205 over the nine years. Physical sciences fell from 13,440 to 11,995 and engineering and technology from 22,085 to 19,780".

"Lord Rees, President of the Royal Society, who hosted the meeting, was less impressed than his ministerial guest by the progress made so far".

The last word.

"Goldman Sachs in record form as earnings rise 64%", where average pay amongst its 23,600 staff is put at $900,000.

and

"40 per cent of A-level chemistry is taught by non-chemists".

No comment.

Old Friends

Some books become old friends: two are here. The first friend is Alan Watts classic "The Way of Zen". I have had this book 40 years, as the pre-decimal price in the top right corner will attest! A good introduction to Buddhism, not just Zen. Audio versions of some of his talks are available.

Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" was the subject of a recent post by MovingMountain. Despite the title, the book is not explicitly about Zen. I have read the book several times over the years, each time taking something different from it. It is not an easy book, and indeed there is even a book about the book, co-authored by a Jesuit priest no less! But as soon as I read about the shim made from the alloy beer can I knew we were speaking the same language. To this day, I pause when something goes wrong and build up some "gumption" before proceeding. We all know rounded nuts or stripped threads, but there have been several occasions where a pause and a brew has averted disaster. Of course, Phaedrus has more important things to say, not least about Quality.
I have also Pirsig's "Lila, an Inquiry into Morals". That may be his entire output, before he went to Sweden and sailed his boat. A wise man.

I can't imagine anything on my computer being around in 40 years!

The Quiet Art

David Weatherall's book, 'Science and the Quiet Art', is subtitled 'Medical Research & Patient Care'. The cover of the book is of 'The Doctor' by Sir Luke Fildes. Fildes was born in 1843 in Liverpool, and was brought up by his grandmother Mary Fildes, a political activist. He trained at the Warrington School of Art, going on to become the most successful and well-paid portait painter of his day. 'The Doctor' was a £3000 commission from Henry Tate which, although he grumbled about the fee, prompted Fildes to paint more on social matters. The painting is in Tate Britain.

I've been thinking about the 'Quiet Art' as I prepare a talk. I am loosely involved in what has become known as 'molecular medicine'. There is strength to this reductionist approach, indeed most drug discovery proceeds in this way, but there is a risk of hubris: the notion that disease is an undesirable state and the state should be 'fixed' seems too simple, and 'Western' if I may put it that way. You see it in corporate advertising ('Disease has no greater enemy'), and in the press ('fighting disease'). Yet we spend little on palliative care, and in today's FT I read that the UK has over 100 unfilled vacancies for palliative care consultants. Perhaps the work is unattractive, but the end of life is surely as important as the beginning.

There is only so much you can see in a scanned image, so last week I went to the Tate to see it. I had not noticed the child's parents in the pale dawn light from the window, the man with his hand on his the shoulder of his exhausted wife. The first Noble Truth.

It is said that doctors like this picture, and I can why. The seated doctor lit by the shaded lamp could probably do little but give witness to the pain and suffering and see the night through with them. The pale dawn suggests that the child might have made it through the worst.

So, I work on the talk, trying to suggest the 'Quiet Art' is more than molecular medicine. We are more than cellular machines to be "fixed" when broken.

Today was my 59th birthday and so I am perhaps mindful of these things.

To be resumed

More drafts than posts at the moment.
Listening to Bach, Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, Gidon Kremer, ECM New Series, found yesterday in Heffers, Cambridge. Ah, serendipity!

An English Obsession

Nowhere else have I encountered the English obsession with house prices, fanned by a barely numerate press. The 'average' price of a home in the UK is now £200,000, which begs the question how teachers, nurses and other essential and poorly paid workers live, especially in the capital. What prompts this on-going irritation is comment in today's Guardian that Bank of England interest rates remain unchanged at 4.5% for the seventh month running. Fine, but then the gloss:
"The service sector expanded at its strongest pace in nearly two years in February, a recent survey showed, while the Halifax house price index jumped 1.4% last month, pointing to a revival in prices."
Leaving aside how you can have a "revival in prices", the change of 1.4% is based on "soft" criteria, and certainly has substantial error margins: it is not a precise measurement. It could be 0% it could be 2%: the permitted range will be known. To thus say the index "jumped" is, to be polite, imaginative and manipulative. I doubt the journalist would see a salary change of 1.4% as a "jump".
We get the same nonsense in reporting government targets, be it for schools, hospitals, reportable crime — the same belief that the numbers are precise. A change of 0.4% in examination pass-rates becomes an inprovement, a change of -0.4% failure.
Time to grow up.

Gambling with the Planet

Today's image from Mars (where two robot vehicles, designed for a mission of 90 days, have been exploring the surface for the past two years). You can see the tracks as one of the robots, Spirit, goes uphill again. The pictures are returned via one of two satellites orbiting Mars. I am always amazed that these raw data are available for anyone who cares to look. Not all agencies are so far-sighted! Clever stuff, and a glowing testimony to a team that manages this project far from the public eye.

But, this is not my purpose. Today I chanced on an article on climate change that stuck in my mind. Perhaps we are dealing with a "switch" not a "dial". We act as if our impact on the planet is a "dial" we can turn back, if not today, then tomorrow, or when "big oil" allows us. But maybe the switch has been thrown, and we are headed for conditions you see here.

A 60th anniversary

Sixty years ago my parents were married: this is the only picture I have seen that records the day. My mother is Flemish, from the villages around Ieper, unmemorable but for the carnage of the first world war. My father met her at the end of another war, not uncommon for the time, I imagine. Less common perhaps, they were married in Belgium, having but few words to share, and not, I suspect, having the full blessing of her family. Then my father returned home to England and my mother followed later. Both no doubt had expectations that came crashing up against rationing and reality. Those early years were hard for both: for my mother loneliness, a new country, a language to learn, a new child (me), and money tight, and for my dad, sudden unwelcome responsibility for a young man, robbed of his youth by a war. But "human resilience" kicks in, neighbours were good in practical ways, and 60 years on, the evidence is there for me to see. Your Flemish may be limited, your French and German gone, but you beat my dad at scrabble most nights, so I guess you learnt enough English!
Enjoy your day in peace.

"Yet do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young."

Shakespeare, Sonnet 19, closing lines