Wabi Sabi - Accepting Incompleteness

                                Wabi Sabi

                         " That Life Is Like That, Uncertain, Temporary, Incomplete."

'A way of living that Focuses on finding beauty in life's imperfections and peacefully accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay.'

I don't know why people always try to find faults in others. Many times it happens with me that I worked very hard and people start finding flaws in my work. I have often seen people commenting on my clothes, questioning the way I live my life.

Be it any work or any item of consumption, we need everything completely and in the right way. Be it any person, be it you or me, in today's time everyone wants to be absolutely perfect. And in the race to become perfect, we start finding faults in others and start making allegations.

This is the reason why mental stress is arising in life nowadays. So, I want to live my life very simply and happily and satisfactorily even in this environment of appearance.

So, Nothing is Permanent

Nothing is Perfect 

And Nothing is Finished.

Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese Philosophy according to which all things should be as they are imperfect, imperfect and temporary - and includes all aspects of life from the creative to the spiritual.

           "Be Who You Are, Outer Beauty Lasts For A Few Days. Like A Bowl Which Becomes Old After Some Time But It's Usefulness Remains The Same".

 

        Wabi Sabi has no exact meaning in the English dictionary and do not translate directly into English. Its a Japanese philosophy of life that tells us to be at peace with shortcomings. Wabi originally referred to the solitude of living in nature, away from society; Sabi meant "cool", "lean" or "withered". 

Around the 14 century these meanings began to change, taking on a more positive connotation.

        After centuries of incorporating artistic and Buddhist influences from China, wabi sabi eventually developed into a distinctly Japanese ideal. Over time, the meaning of wabi and sabi became more light-hearted and optimistic.

Why am I interested and want to engage with the concept of Wabi-Sabi ?

A few month back , I had gone to attend a family functions in the in-laws village. After going there, I felt that people have come to this ceremony only to show their clothes and ornaments and their status, maybe i was one of them. But after only a short time, I realized that everyone wants to show themselves above each other. 

I was the daughter-in-law of the house, so I felt that I should also help everyone in the household work. Even After helping me I heard some people finding fault with me, they were commenting on me, making fun of me behind my back, make fun of me with words. They forgot about their limits.

I didn't even know about the people who were doing this and I saw them for the first time in that village. They told to others behind my back that I didn't work, just pretending to work. 

When I heard about myself, I remembered the story of the "Tea Ceremony" in Japan, where tea held whenever someone wanted to show off their wealth.

The concept of Wabi Sabi is also somewhat related to the tea ceremony.

 

I don't care what anyone says, just I can do one thing next time I meet those haters I will keep away from them. Yes, I agree that I have not accumulated money in life, I don't know how to show off, I do not know how to talk big, but I know how to be happy with what I am.

Because Wabi Sabi teaches us that one should accept a person as he/she is, with his merits and demerits, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.

Wabi Sabi teaches us to find beauty in imperfection to nature and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

In today's Japan , the meaning of wabi sabi is often summarized as " Wisdom in Natural Simplicity".

                        A contemporary Japanese exploration of the concept of wabi sabi can be found in Junichiro Tanizaki's  influential essay "In Praise of Shadows".

Wabi Sabi concept were historically of great importance in the "Development of Western Studio Pottery"; Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was deeply influenced by Japanese aesthetics and techniques, evident in his seminal work "A Potter's Book".

At the end, if you want to understand in one line, then accept what is natural, whether it is a person, a thing  a lack in you; to see the beauty and power in it and to make it perfect.

So find beauty in not only your own but also in the shortcomings of others.

Seema Choudhary