The Art of Letting Things Happen | A Japanese Philosophy That Will Change How You Think

this video is sponsored by blinkist things are either devolving toward or evolving from nothingness Leonard Corin cracks on a plate a stain on a couch a room slightly Askew a wrinkle on a face for most of us these things are to be avoided replaced or at the very least they're less than desirable we turn away from signs of imperfection of damage of impermanence we yearn for the ideals the symmetrical and Youthful the Timeless and undamaged the absolute and perfect Western tradition wields reason and order as its choice of weapons in the war against the universe

so-called laws and truths from battles.1 hang over its mantle ideals burn in its hearth but this fire requires constant feeding and it is always on the brink of burning out collectively and individually for many of us it already has the hope that anything may be discovered or obtained that will make the coldness of the universe go away has been lost for others of us perhaps we've been engulfed by the fire burning ourselves up with Relentless desire for those looking to better deal with the hot and cold of existence who might struggle with impossible goals or

Perfection certainty and permanence one idea that is tremendously useful is the Japanese concept known as wabi-sabi in the 12th century a Japanese Buddhist monk named nonan created the first independent Zen Buddhist School in Japan this formally introduced ideas and principles from Chan Buddhism to the Japanese World Central to Buddhism is the idea that suffering is an inevitable part of existence more specifically suffering arises out of the tension between our desire and the nature of reality we desire things like permanence Perfection and certainty but the universe which we are inextricably a part of is in constant

flux subject to a process of change transience and imperfection as a result of Zen's introduction and development in Japan over time this transient and imperfect condition of reality would soon be uniquely viewed as an ally to meditate on and make peace with rather than an enemy to contend against by around the 15th century two terms would come together to embody this View and become a central part of Japanese culture Aesthetics and philosophy together these terms are wabi-sabi although there is no direct English translation wabi-sabi essentially describes the view or experiences where Beauty and virtue are

found in the impermanent imperfect and incomplete from an aesthetic point of view wabi-sabi values what is visually incomplete worn damaged unsymmetrical or minimalistic artwork that is considered wabi-sabi often emphasizes the process as opposed to the end result and moreover the end result is often maintained and used past the point in which it still appears fresh new or undamaged visual artist Richard Powell said wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities nothing lasts nothing is finished and nothing is perfect for example a popular style of Japanese pottery that follows the principles of wabi-sabi

is known as Raku Pottery this style of pottery is often hand shaped fired at low temperatures and left to cool in the open air resulting in Porous inconsistent and uniquely shaped vessels this outcome and process intentionally puts an emphasis on Simplicity and naturalness another Japanese practice known as kinsugi involves the repairing of broken pottery by covering the cracked areas with powdered gold silver or platinum mending the vessel back together the mended cracks are intentionally left prominent viewed as beautiful enhanced parts of the piece through both Raku and kinsuki practices the imperfect and damaged aspects of

the ceramic wear are seen as beautiful positive portrayals of the natural experience of existence [Music] from a more philosophical view mirroring its Aesthetics wabi-sabi values living simply finding peace in the temporariness of all things and embracing what is flawed and incomplete in nature life and oneself signs of these things and ways of living in harmony with them represent a more honest and useful idea of perfection the Perfection of imperfection for example around the 13th to 15th century Japanese tea ceremonies were popularly used by the ruling class of Shoguns as a way of displaying wealth using

extravagant ceramic wear to sip tea inside of lavishly ornamented rooms under a full moon in 1488 however Zen monk Morata shuko would redefine the Tea Ceremony based on principles of wabi-sabi it would soon become customary for the Tea Ceremony to be conducted using simple ceramic wear produced by Japanese Artisans often using Raku or kinsugi practices and the tea would be sipped while sitting in minimalistic settings under partial moons or cloudy night skies the Japanese tea ceremony would become a worship of the simple and imperfect [Music] although there are seemingly key attributes to things that we

find beautiful there are also ways of thinking and seeing things that create beauty beauty is not merely based on what things we are perceiving but how we are perceiving things a phenomenon contingent on the mind if we wish to see more Beauty in life as life really is it is thus up to us to do so wabi-sabi offers a lens through which we can more easily do this a way to more frequently experience Beauty in and derive peace from the true conditions of reality Beauty writes artist Leonard Corin can be coaxed out of ugliness wabi-sabi

is ambivalent about separating Beauty from non-beauty or ugliness the beauty of wabi-sabi is in one respect the condition of coming to terms with what you consider ugly wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances context or point of view beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness an extraordinary moment of poetry and Grace there's nothing inherently wrong with continually striving for something closer to perfection but in truth the distance between good and perfect is infinite wabi-sabi reminds us

to not depend on ever finally arriving it reminds us rather that the process is part of the results that the beauty of things is largely in our mind and that nothing in nature is perfect complete or permanent and if nature can't make it that way why would we think we can on one hand wabi-sabi refers to and describes an important part of Japanese history and culture but on the other it refers to a philosophical idea an aesthetic experience deeply relevant to us all everything we try will fail in some way everything we finish will be

some amount incomplete everything we know everything we cherish everything that works right now will Decay fall apart and disappear back into nothingness this is something we almost contend with we can thrash against and resist it which naturally and inevitably we will but we can also try our best whenever possible to accept this reality to find the beauty and virtue within it and learning to embrace things as they are not how we want them to be in every crack on a plate staying on a couch wrinkle on a face roam slightly Askew we can see beauty

we can see truth we can see the Oneness of nature that connects all things in the words of David Foster Wallace if you're automatically sure that you know what reality is and you are operating on your default setting then you like me probably won't consider possibilities that aren't annoying and miserable but if you really learn how to pay attention then you will know there are other options it will actually be within your power to experience situations as not only meaningful but sacred on fire with the same force that made the Stars love Fellowship the mystical

Oneness of all things deep down not that that mystical stuff is necessarily true the only thing that's capital T true is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it wabi-sabi may not be everyone's taste and moreover arguably even for those for whom it is no one can ever totally Embrace imperfection impermanence or incompleteness but perhaps in our own imperfect abilities to ever fully Embrace imperfection we are in a way nonetheless still embodying the idea of wabi-sabi perfectly this video was sponsored by blinkist if you're interested in learning more about Japanese

philosophy culture and history or perhaps more about Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies blinkist is a fantastic enjoyable way to do so blinkus is an app that allows you to discover and understand the most important insights from over 5 500 non-fiction books and podcasts across 27 different categories all in just 15 minutes blinkist even has curated collections to help make it even easier to discover new books that you're interested in and better organize your learning process for example one collection called the Japanese way contains an assortment of incredible books covering various Japanese approaches to different areas

of life one great title in particular within this collection is Ika guy by Hector Garcia and Francesca Marias which explores the Japanese concept of ikigai an approach toward happiness and longevity in life centered around purpose-driven activity low stress and diet and exercise blinkist helps break down and explain Key insights from the book so you can better discover your own or reason for being and now with blinker spaces you can easily create a specific space where you can add share and recommend titles like this one with friends and family create a space around a specific group

of friends with whom you share similar interests or around a topic that you want everyone in your life to learn more about blinkist makes it easy to discover new books and authors refresh yourself on books you've read and accelerate your learning process in general click the link in the description or scan the QR code on the screen and you'll receive a seven day free trial and 25 off an annual premium subscription and of course as always thank you so much for watching in general and see you next video [Music]