Title: 'presence'

2026

“presence”

Tokue does not claim beans are sentient.

She is saying something subtler:

The beans are not conscious.

Yet they deserve attentiveness.

Relationship arises through listening.

In Japanese aesthetic and Buddhist thought, the world is not divided strictly into alive vs not alive — everything participates in existence.

So presence is not about minds.

It is about belonging to the same world.

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa.

Sentience asks:
Can it feel me?

Presence asks:
Can I feel it?