This week, we feature a beautiful and profound idea from Tenkai (Teijiro Ishida), a Japanese magician that left a legacy not just of useful mechanical techniques but also philosophy, as we can see.
Our world is full of rich cultures, and sometimes, we tend to forget the wonderful eastern traditions. It is beautiful to see Magicians from the eastern and oriental traditions, not just because of their own aesthetics, but also for the deep respect and higher appreciation of the magical traditions.
The work "Tenkai" has implication in Buddhism, and this quote is highly interesting if you compare it with the Taoism teachings.
In our case, I feel in the same way. Mentalism is not tricks, but a way.
Mentalism is not the goal, but the path.
Now, the question for you is...
If Mentalism is a way....what is the final destination?
What is the purpose of your performance?
Balance is fundamental. Sometimes if we focus too much into the deeper aspects, we can lose ourselves. With this observation I dont deny our wonderful set of secret techniques, but as soon as we realize that they must be perceived just by ourselves in our Inner Reality and not the Outer Reality (which is perceived by our audience) , we can be present to the fact that Magic and Mentalism is much more than just tricks.
Thanks Tenkai for this succinct lesson, which is highly needed in the present state of the art.
CONVERSATION