Wabi Sabi : A unique Japanese philosophy

Kongbrailatpam Rajeshwar Sharma *

Once in a bluemoon, a Manipuri would happily accept cracked crockery or utensils with dents or any other defective things as unique while they were shopping. They would rather reject them right away as soon as they saw any black spots or dents on them. Nor do they offer bruised apples or bananas or any other fruit that doesnot look nice to their deities, gods and goddesses.

They always offer sweet and fresh fruits and the most beautiful flowers to their gods and goddesses. It is believed that offering the mundane and cheap, bruised and ugly looking fruits and flowers is an act of sacrilege and dishonor to their gods and goddesses and it is also believed that such an act would invite their wrathand curses rather than their blessings.

Such beliefis so deeply rooted in the psyche of every Manipuri that no one dares to think of it let alone do it. In stark contrast to these beliefs, there is a philosophy in Japan that enables a Japanese to take a cup as unique and as "the most highly-prized cup — and the most expensive" even though it has "dents, sandstone stuck to it or even be cracked or mended through the art of kintsugi".

It implicitly suggests that nothing is perfect, nor is anyone, and there is always room for improvement. This is what the Japanese call Wabi Sabi — the philosophy of ability to see the beauty of imperfection in Nature.

In Wabi Sabi, every person or every object of Nature is unique no matter how imperfect the object or a person may be. No two opinions are same as to the question what really Wabi Sabi is. In Japan different people have different opinions about Wabi Sabi.

In spite of the difficulty to define it, Hector Garcia, the author of the international best seller Ikigai, says Wabi Sabi has "a common essence: life and the universe we live in is all about the imperfection and impermanence of all things."

Even though the two words Wabi and Sabi can be used independently, they are always used together as the two sides of an old coin that has passed through hundreds of years. The usage of the word Wabi can be traced back to the fourteenth century Japan.

It began to be used to mean solitude experienced by Zen Buddhist monks who went off 'far from the madding crowd' to live alone at a place surrounded by Nature where there is solitude. But now Wabi, besides solitude, also means tranquillity, simplicity and 'beautiful imperfections'.

The other word Sabi too has its origin in the 'Zen Buddhism milieu' of the fourteenth century Japan. Unlike the word Wabi, Sabi used to have negative connotations to describe the state of being rotten, wilted and damaged. But today the word Sabi has got rid of its negative connotations to mean beauty and calmness that emerge from ages filled with the vicissitudes of life.

In his book Wabi Sabi: The Wisdom in Imperfection, Nobuo Suzuki writes "Wabi Sabi is a way of seeing life and the universe: its central principle is acceptance of the imperfection and temporary nature of all that resides in the world."

There is a distinguishing feature of Japanese culture that emanates from Wabi Sabi. They have a unique idea of beauty that "does not seek perfection, uniformity and exact symmetry, but naturalness"

A Japanese legend tells us about a Zen Buddhist monk who used to leave a golden autumn leaf lying in the garden of his monastery everyday when he swept the garden lest the garden should lose its naturalness. The Japanese can see beauty in every object of Nature. Here one may find similarity with the Hindu philosophy that propounds every object of Nature is a manifestation of God which is truth and beauty.

Just as Wabi Sabi enables the Japanese to see beauty in every object of Nature, Hindus can also see the beauty of God in every object of Nature. But the Japanese have even gone further to accept imperfection and impermanence as part and parcel of Nature. In Japan anything that resembles Nature is taken as an object of beauty no matter how imperfect the object may be.

According to Nobuo Suzuki, there are three principles of Nature that determine the Japanese idea of beauty. The three principles are: I. Nothing is perfect. 2. Nothing is finished. 3. Nothing lasts forever.

The philosophy of Wabi Sabi incorporates these three principles which are at the core of it. Humility in humans comes only when it is realized that nothing is perfect, Being aware of the first principle of Wabi Sabi, one can always free oneself "from being unhealthily self-demanding and from the fixation on a perfection that does not exist in nature" Realizing one's own imperfection and one's unique nature allows oneself "to evolve as human beings."

Moreover Wabi Sabi provides the space to grow and develop as there is always room for improvement It destroys the modem myth that there is an ultimate perfect goal that leads us to success and happiness. Perfection does not exist but "it is only in the realm of our human imagination" says Hector Garcia.

Modernity that "pushes all of us to think that there is an ultimate perfect goal" only puts limitations on growth and development Nobuo Suzuki writes, "Anyone who believes they have achieved excellence is both wrong and lacking in flexibility ...... ....Such a person is rigid and fossilized and does not exude life."

Wabi Sabi is the philosophy that reminds us that nothing is finished. Everything keeps evolving and is always in the state of flux. As this universe keeps expanding, Nature, too, keeps changing in the forms of seasons, day-and-night, birth-and-death and so on. The cycle goes on and it never ends. "I am always beginning" said the Buddha.

Apart from Nature, Wabi Sabi can be found everywhere in the world in art as well as in life. In Barcelona, the magnificent basilica Sagrada Familia still remains a work in progress. The work on the project began in 1883. Like Nature humans and other animals are always in the process of evolution. It never ends.

In everyday life, one can see Wabi Sabi in action. As the mighty Ganges keeps flowing through the ages, lives' activities such as buying, selling. working, learning etc., go on in spite of wars, floods, earthquakes and other natural calamities.

Although the third principle — nothing lasts forever — seems to be contradictory to the second principle, it highlights the paradox that we humans see and experience in the cycle of birth-and-death. Everything is subject to decay and death. However, according to the Bhagavad Gita, the soul never dies. It passes from one body to another.

Similarly Steve Jobs said, "It (Death) clears out the old to make way for the new." As time goes by, seasons change. So do humans. We all grow old and die. Sufferings are part and parcel of life but they do not last forever. Like seasons, sufferings come and go. The third principle exudes with the optimism of P B Shelly.

In his famous poem Ode to the West Wind, Shelly writes, "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" .

Wabi Sabi also emphasizes the importance and beauty of the present moment. It urges us "to value the beauty of the moment" and enjoy the present, for it will never come back and never be the same again.

Emphasizing the beauty of the poignant moment of the present, Nobuo Suzuki writes, "the dry leaf about to fall from a bare branch is more moving than a lush flower-filled meadow." Such is the beauty of Wabi Sabi.