Concept in Definition ABC

Ideas have one meaning or another depending on the context cultural in which we find ourselves. If we talk about beauty, the visions of western and eastern culture are different.

Among the Japanese, the world of beauty does not fit with the conventional schemes of other latitudes and the concept of wabi-sabi is an example of this.

Much more than a simple aesthetic approach

It is very likely that when observing something beautiful we experience a double emotion. On the one hand, it seems perfect to us but, at the same time, we know that its perfection is ephemeral and expires. This double emotion associated with the fleeting dimension of beauty connects with the essence of the wabi-sabi concept.

The idea of ​​wabi-sabi expresses a paradox, since things can be beautiful despite their imperfection.

Consequently, the imperfect also produces an aesthetic pleasure. Instead of experiencing uneasiness in the face of the transience of beauty, we can enjoy it as a unique and unrepeatable moment. To achieve this state of mind it is necessary that we previously accept the life cycle of everything that exists as something inevitable. The exaltation of luxury and perfect forms are the antithesis of wabi-sabi.

We are facing an idea that cannot be valued with the conventional schemes of Westerners

The wabi-sabi is related to the emotion that unfinished or imperfect things arouse and with what cannot be expressed in words because it is something ineffable. Those who have approached the understanding of this concept underline its anti-rational dimension.

In Japanese culture there are several cultural manifestations linked to this concept, such as the tea ceremony, the art of calligraphy or manufacturing of swords. Keep in mind that in Japanese Taoism, things and sensory perceptions have their own spirituality.

The first impression from the western point of view

The wabi-sabi aesthetic is very present in the design furniture and decoration in general. For someone outside of Japanese culture, this aesthetic resembles rustic style and simple things with a traditional twist.

If we want to understand the deep meaning of this term, we will have to incorporate other values ​​and ideas: the primacy of the relative over the absolute, the exaltation of the ambiguous versus certainty and immateriality as the ideal of perfection.

On synthesis, we are facing a concept with aura that cannot be explained or understood from the logic of reason. In this sense, in Japanese spirituality it is affirmed that words cannot express the deep understanding of reality.

Photo: Fotolia - irissca