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The Universal Spirit of Wabi Sabi Although the term wabi sabi has become associated with Japan, the sentiments that it fosters are universal, and the fundamental feelings of all mankind have certain shared emotions that exist regardless of cultural boundaries. While the expression of these sentiments may vary from culture to culture and indeed from person to person, there remains a thread of commonality that binds all humans. In the West there is an undeniable tendency to avoid too much speculation about our inevitable passing, yet the sentiments of impermanence and an appreciation of things wabi sabi have found voice in many of the world’s artistic expressions. People are often drawn to the melancholy suggested by things wabi sabi without really questioning why. We are drawn to poems of longing, the haunting call of distant bagpipes, and the solitary Muslim call to morning prayer; we are inspired by the beauty of the ancient cobbled streets of a medieval French town or the aging waterways of Venice. They are all considered beautiful in the way in which they instill a sense of the serene—a beauty without need for splendor. And despite the emergence of a pop culture there still lies deep within us an innate longing for arts and environments that will help to put our perceptions back into some sort of perspective. It is through these varied mediums that people of different cultures gently remind themselves of their intrinsic fragility and use these sensory cues as a springboard for attaining a more profound sense of themselves, helping to see through the folly that pervades much of daily life. It is the uncompromising touch of death that can put a keener edge on our appreciation of life. The Japanese, along with many other cultures, have long understood the value of this and have sought through the arts to promote and share this awareness. Where the Japanese people may have differed in the past is in the completeness of their devotion to all arts that embody the essential reference point of impermanence. Through their earnest endeavors in matters of the spirit they have managed to refine their art forms so that they are worthy reflections of the mystery that we know as life. Their dedication to paring away all that is not necessary, of reaching the real heart of the matter, has yielded great spiritual rewards that are more than evident in the art of the spiritual masters. The enlightenment that goes into their work still sparkles with wisdom and magic—for they were able, through their art, to point the way toward the Buddha, toward freedom. In the West we have now achieved a degree of affluence unimaginable a century ago, but this material wealth is leaving in its wake an acute spiritual vacuum in which many are struggling to find a real sense of meaning and purpose. The struggle for physical survival has all but lost its relevance in first world countries, but without it we now require a new focus for life. And more and more this is to be found in the world woven by the marketing gurus—a world of eternal youth and wealth, a world of fantasy on which to pin our hopes and dreams. There was a marketer who, when asked about his profession, said that he was in the business of making people unhappy, of making them buy what they didn’t need. It is now the media who have an omnipotent say in how we see ourselves. How scary and undesirable is that? Yet the fact remains that we all need meaning in order for our lives to have a sense of purpose, and it is the media and advertisers who hold a great sway on our meaning structure. However, without this sense of purpose we could find ourselves adrift in the sea of indifference and apathy, and this is one of the great dilemmas facing mankind in this age. On the one hand, life without a sense of meaning is for most intolerable. As Albert Camus said, “Man is a creature who spends his entire life trying to convince himself that his existence is not absurd.” But on the other side of the argument, Okakura Tenshin points out that this focusing on the meaning of our lives tends to make us too heavy and self-important, “How can one be so serious with the world when the world itself is so ridiculous?” Few people are ready to take on the proposition that their own existence is ludicrous, but at the same time the media version of what we should be aspiring to is equally lacking in substance. Can artists show the way to resolving one of the greatest challenges mankind has ever had to face? Contemporary art seems to have moved so far beyond the original concept of art that it may be time to reassess the art of days gone by, when the artist, whether he was a composer, poet, designer, or philosopher, earnestly struggled to bring some sort of spiritual value to his work. It may now be time to stop chasing the unattainable dreams of commerce and focus again on what is important for us as human beings. Wabi sabi, as a tool for contemplation and a philosophy of life, may now have an unforeseen relevance as an antidote to the rampant unraveling of the very social fabric, which has held men together for so long. Its tenets of modesty and simplicity gently encourage a disciplined humility while discouraging overindulgence in the physical world. It gently promotes a life of quiet contemplation and a gentle aesthetic principle that underscores a meditative approach. Wabi sabi demotes the role of the intellect and promotes an intuitive feel for life where relationships between people and their environments should be harmonious. By emboldening the spirit to remind itself of its own mortality it can elevate the quality of human life in a world that is fast losing its spirituality. The Wabi Sabi Environment “The heaven of modern humanity is indeed shattered in the Cyclopean struggle for wealth and power. The world is groping in the shadow of egotism and vulgarity.” —Okakura Tenshin, 1906 The pressures on the environment brought by the exponential increase in world population and the rising demand for consumer goods has had serious implications for the welfare of planet Earth. To keep economies buoyant and shareholders happy, people are being encouraged by politicians and marketing agencies to consume at an ever-increasing rate. This may seem like a good short-term solution for economic growth and increased GDP figures, but as the demand for the limited resources are not sustainable, a more realistic approach will soon become necessary. There are many different groups, with a mixture of philosophical backgrounds, who are actively promoting a more balanced approach to managing the world’s finite resources. But all agree that there is a need to rethink, in a fairly radical way, the way we interact with the ecosystem that is vital for our future survival. Modern science has brought incredible benefits to the marketplace, not least of which are the many breakthroughs in medicine over the last few decades. However, the use of non degrading plastics and other man-made pollutants, coupled with the rampant consumerism of the last thirty years, has meant that waste is now a critical issue. In Japan, where tsukaitsute no mono, or disposable products, have been extended to such items as cameras, umbrellas, phones, and even bicycles, the mountains of semitoxic waste are being produced at a rate sufficient to fill a baseball stadium every day.Where does wabi sabi come into this? There are in fact three waysin which the philosophy of wabi sabi relates to environmental issues:■ Minimizing consumption■ Choosing quality products that come from sustainable organic sources■ Respecting nature The most radical nonmaterialism is continued today in the monasteries around the world, where monks and nuns take on the bare minimum required for a healthy life, sometimes owning a bowl, a robe, and little else. These ascetic lives are chosen in order to attain enlightenment, and any material possessions are seen as an impediment. There was a monk in China called Yunmen who, when he decided that he would take up the life of an itinerant monk, threw all his worldly possessions into the river, instead of giving them away, so they would not encumber anyone else. True wabi sabi has inherited much of this sentiment, and the life it promotes puts little store in the accumulation of wealth or objects. The tea masters chose the rustic pots and the tiny modest hut as their symbols of beauty, and in so doing rejected all the finery and fashions in vogue with the ruling classes. Swayed by the Buddhist movement and the austerity of the temples, the wabi sabi lifestyle had little space or desire for material possessions. There is a little irony in the fact that this complete rejection of the high-class tea utensils turned the nobility into avid collectors of wabi sabi pots. They became much prized and very expensive and exactly the opposite of what Rikyu had perhaps intended. Freedom from the desire to possess new objects is indeed a wonderful release, and it was at the center of Buddhist teachings. However, after his stint of extreme asceticism, the Buddha advocated the middle road, not indulging in excess but living in harmony with the natural world. This harmony with nature was also a major theme in Taoist thought, and this has been incorporated into the wabi sabi worldview. Wabi sabi treads a fine line between enjoying the beauty of things while knowing that they are as transient as everything else. The philosophy of wabi sabi stresses that it is not through material possessions and worldly attachments that we will be able to find the peace that we seek. Instead of demanding consumer goods, so many of which are designed to become obsolete in order to perpetuate sales, we might choose to only buy what we really need for a fulfilling life. Here is where the consumer choice of wabi sabi has significance for environmental impact.