The Man in the High Castle, #2

'...It is balanced. The forces within this piece are stablised. At rest. So to speak, this object has made its peace with the universe. It has separated from it and hence has managed to come to homeostasis.'

image by kind provision of Terry Thomas' site

     Childan nodded, studied the piece. But Paul had lost him.
     'It does not have wabi,' Paul said, 'nor could it ever have. But-' He touched the pin with his nail. 'Robert, this object has wu.'
     'I believe you are right,' Childan said, trying to recall what wu was; it was not a Japanese word - it was Chinese. Wisdom, he decided. Or comprehension. Anyhow, it was highly good.
     'The hands of the artificer,' Paul said, 'had wu, and allowed that wu to flow into this piece. Possibly he himself knows only that this piece satisfies. It is complete, Robert. By contemplating it we gain more wu ourselves. We experience the tranquility associated not with art but with hoily things. I recall a shrine in Hiroshima wherein a shinbone of a medieval saint could be examined. However, this is an artifact and that was a relic. This is alive in the now, whereas that merely remained. By this meditation, conducted by myself at great length since you were last here, I have come to identify the value which this has in opposition to historicity. I am deeply moved, as you may see.'

p170-171, The Man in The High Castle, Philip K. Dick,1962