The Theory Behind Kado and Ikebana

Kado means "the way of the flowers." 

Before going into further detail, I must first give thanks and credit to Marcia Wang Shibata, who first introduced me to kado and who shared with me the insights on kado that I share with you below.

Kado, as I aspire to practice it, is just like meditation. Instead of sitting on the cushion, flower arranging (done in a certain intentional way) helps reveal to us that what is true for the flower world is also true for the animal (human) world. 

By working with and paying attention to flowers and their true nature, we contemplate our own nature. We can observe the cycle of life and death, as it applies to flowers, and recognize that this cycle applies to us humans too. Thus, it isn't about the result, but rather about the process. If "performed properly," the resulting arrangement will be aesthetically pleasing, even though that wasn't the practitioner's goal.

In Kado and Ikebana, the arrangement always contains three elements, which reflect Nature's hierarchy. These elements, in order,  are Heaven, Humanity (or Man), and Earth. A higher position in this hierarchy doesn't mean that the element is "better" than the others. Think about it, it is impossible for one to be better if all three must work together in a synergistic relationship. Instead, the higher position means that this element bears more responsibility for everything else around it. Thus, since Heaven bears the greatest deal of responsibility for everything around it, Heaven is the first element the we place in the kenzan (pin holder) within the container.

I will describe the process of creating an arrangement in more detail in a later post.