Bonsai is a Japanese name for a small tree or plant that looks as if it is an old mature tree. Here is an example of one.
Any type of tree or plant can be made into a Bonsai. Here is another example.
Bonsai are created by training the plant when it is young. This is done by taking wires and wrapping them around the trunks and branches of the plant or tree. Because the wire is hard metal, the soft cellulose of the plant is forced to follow whatever direction the wire is bent. Here is a picture of wire wrapped around the branch of a bonsai.
The Japanese culture has been around for 1000’s of years I believe. Because of the timespan involved in their culture, they have had time to study everything about human beings and nature. Part of the Japanese culture is to take every single area of learning and turn it into an art. By that I mean that they study the subject until they are the absolute best at it. They know the subjects completely.
A result of this cultural attitude is that the Japanese people do nothing without a reason. Every single aspect of their culture has a specific reason for why something is done and why it is done in the exact way it is done. Nothing about Japanese culture is accidental or happenstance.
This of course applies to Bonsai plants. There must be some reason that the Japanese uniquely in the world developed Bonsai plants. The reason is that the Japanese took their philosophy of life and applied it to the Bonsai plant. A Bonsai plant can be said to describe the life of a human being. The act of creating a Bonsai mirrors the same process used to create a Japanese.
I was very specific in saying “create a Japanese”. People are different all over the world. The way that Japanese people develop is unique. There are other groups of people who develop similarly. By that I mean into what I call high level people who are physically and mentally superior to average people. Most other Asian peoples would be described as being like Japanese people in this regard. Some Arabic, some Indian, Eskimo, and perhaps some American indian cultures might develop the human body in a similar way to Asian peoples.
The similarity between developing a Japanese and developing a Bonsai is displayed by the act of wiring the branches. The branches are the equivalent of the arms and legs of the human body. The wire is the equivalent of the human will and training.
A human being who lives their life with no training or knowledge may or may not develop into a superior human being. It is a luck of the draw. With training or knowledge, anyone can develop into a superior version of themselves. Many people can transform into truly superior beings.
Here is a closeup picture of the wiring of a Bonsai plant.
The wire is wound around the branch of the tree in a spiral pattern. The will of a person and their physical training is used to force the human body to grow in a spiral way out thru the arms and the legs.
The human body has natural spiral pathways as part of it’s basic construction. As noted above, some lucky people will have this spiral pathways grow of their own accord. Other people will need to become involved in some type of training such as martial arts. The Japanese have many martial arts and other training methods to encourage the growth of the spirals within the human body.
A Bonsai starts with a small immature tree or cutting. A Bonsai will literally take 10 or 20 years to grow depending on the Bonsai. During this entire period, the tree can be trained with wires to follow any shape the person desires.
The human body is the exact same way.
A baby japanese would be taught various things that would be equivalent to wiring the immature tree cutting. These activities would set the basic foundation for the body to function in a particular way. When the child grew up, new or additional activities would be taught to them to continue to train their bodies. Just like the tree is trained for 10 or 20 years. This process continues thru the entire life of the Japanese person, until they die. Just like the Bonsai tree is trained by the wires to follow various shapes until the tree dies, or the owner is satisfied with the result.
That observation is an insight in itself. The training of the Bonsai stops when the owner is satisfied with the result. This also applies to the human body. People will stop developing themselves when they are satisfied with the result. Some people will train themselves for 1 year or 5 years or 10 years. Others will train for their entire life. It is up to the personal desire of the person doing the training.
The implication is, your desire determines who or what you will be. If you are happy training 5 years, you will stop at 5 years. Comparing you to Bonsai trees at a judging competition, you might get an award for good looks. If you are dedicated, you might train 40 years. That would be like training a Bonsai for 20 years, and winning the 1st place prize for best Bonsai. Or you could train your entire life. Every effort of your will was used to make yourself a better and stronger person. This would be like the Bonsai that is 40 or 50 years old and wins the Grand Master Achievement award. Everyone oohs and aahs at the achievement. They are in awe of the dedication and training it took to attain the result they see in front of them.
To the Japanese, that is how people should be. A person should try to achieve the ultimate attainment, because if they do, everyone else will look at them with awe. Everyone else will want to follow them because they are special, just like everyone crowds close around the Grandmaster Achievement Award Bonsai Tree because it is special.