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The concept of Wabi sabi "Wabi-Sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional" Leonard Koren. The terms WABI and SABI are inherent in the concept of SHIBUI and help us to understand its parameters. They are two aspects of observed nature. In the West we have tended to analyze the arts in scientific terms and according to design principles, while in the East the tendency has been to evaluate the arts in terms of emotional reaction in aiding us in our awareness to our surroundings. If we were to analyze the approach to the arts from the standpoint of University divisions, it would be the Sciences in the West vs. the Humanists in the East.
Wabi and Sabi are two aspects of one reality, both of which are necessary for enlightenment of the entire concept. It may be that a certain time concept is involved, in that all human things may start out Wabi and through time and attrition end up as Sabi. In the West, evaluation of the world of things is man-centered while in the East it is nature-centered.
The definition of Wabi is inexact and a difficult one for English speakers. In fact it is not easy for the Japanese because it is not to be found in the DAIJITEN (great dictionary of the Japanese language), at least not in the sense of its Zen meanings. We must therefore interpret it from a usage standpoint and as an aspect of SHIBUI.
As such it seems to have its own recognizable characteristics relating to things that are humble, healthy, normal - things as they should be but with a recognition of perfection in human achievement.
There is also, and even in the DAIJITEN definition, an inherent sense of sadness and oblivion in the concept of WABI. It seems to stem from the idea that in the bloom of time comes the first embrace of oblivion- hence the sad aspect of Wabi. This theme occurs throughout Chinese and Japanese culture as an observation of such things as the beauty of fallen flower petals on raked sand or other poignant reminders of the fleeting nature of this life. All of this seems to come as a reminder of the perfection which lies beyond human attainment. We are reminded of this by Solomon when he says consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
o Wabi helps us to see through and beyond the dehumanizing climate of technological society.
o Wabi's role in achieving a state of mental equilibrium (a form of enlightenment) in the intensely technological, highly urbanized society of the late 20th century
o These concepts are eternal and universal as opposed to the endlessly accelerating change and complications confronting us today.
o We realize ever more cogently that we are being drained and deprived of something that is not replaceable.
o Wabi, therefore, is elegant because of its philosophy of understatement - less is better.
Elegance, since the rococo period in the West, has often been associated in the average person's mind with high levels of decoration, often the result of a philosophy of more is better. The Wabi concept is the exact opposite.
The NIWA brings us into full personal relationship with the nature which has receded or vanished from our day-to-day vision in a technological age.
(c) 1996 Japanese Friendship Garden, San Diego, all rights reserved
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