Beauty and Perfection: Wabi Sabi
Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Ruby Jones.
Voice 2
And I'm Marina Santee. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Tokyo's National Museum. It is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. Walk inside this huge building. You will see many wonderful works of art. There are more than 100,000 objects in the museum. These include some Japanese national treasures! The museum holds objects of great beauty and worth. But the objects in one part of a room are very different from the others. In a large glass case stand some dark green and brown objects. They look like containers gone wrong! Some are a funny shape. Some of them look like their creator made a mistake! Others look broken. They look like they could have been dug up directly from the earth! They do not look very costly - or very beautiful! They do not really seem to fit in this museum with the other wonderful objects. So what are they doing here? This is not a mistake! These objects are here for a reason. They represent an ancient Japanese idea that we will discuss in today's programme. The objects represent ‘wabi-sabi.'
Voice 3
‘What is wabi sabi? It is difficult to explain. You cannot just find it.'
Voice 4
‘It is a way of life.'
Voice 5
‘Wabi sabi? It is the Japanese heart.'
Voice 4
Wabi Sabi is to enjoy a quiet and peaceful life.
Voice 3
‘It cannot be described. If it could, it would not be wabi sabi.'
Voice 1
Wabi sabi sounds like a simple term but it has a complex meaning. This is because it relates to a whole way of looking at life! Some people describe it as a beauty that is not complete, or not perfect. One way to define ‘wabi' is ‘to make things simple.' And a way to define ‘sabi' is ‘change', or the passing of time. Wabi sabi is now becoming known in the West. But its origins are in Japan. It is a way of looking at life in all its forms - especially nature, art and culture.
Voice 2
The idea of wabi sabi entered art in the sixteenth century. It came from the Japanese tea ceremony! You may remember an earlier Spotlight programme about Japanese tea ceremonies. It described how in Japan, making tea is a great form of art and skill. The people who lead tea ceremonies are called tea masters. It was the tea masters that helped to bring the idea of wabi sabi to art. The tea masters looked for beauty in simple forms. At that time, this was unusual. People had more traditional ideas of beauty. They saw beauty in great designs, in costly objects. However, wabi sabi brought in the opposite idea. It said that beautiful art did not have to be perfect, costly, or even complex. Art could be simple, even broken, and be beautiful. And that is why you can see the unusual, imperfect containers in the Tokyo museum.
An employee of the museum described the process of wabi sabi in art:
Voice 6
‘A new art form developed that found beauty in stillness. The tea masters began to look for beauty in these simple forms. I am not sure if the makers of these objects found them beautiful! But the people who did the tea ceremony loved these objects - even if the objects were technically failures.'
Voice 1
So what does wabi sabi have to do with everyday life - and is it only for Japanese people? Richard Powell does not think so. He is an Canadian writer. He says that wabi sabi is becoming increasingly popular in the West. He explained why:
Voice 7
‘I think people have wanted to have a simpler life. But when they tried living simply they found it was too difficult to do all the time. You have to earn money and keep going with life. The reason wabi sabi is popular, is that it is something you can include in everyday life. You can look for wabi sabi all around you and change the environment right where you are.'
Voice 2
It is popular in the west to look to the east for answers about life and spirituality. The roots of wabi sabi lie in the eastern religion of Zen Buddhism. But many people interested in wabi sabi are not Buddhist. Richard Powell is a Christian. Richard says some people find it strange that he connects wabi sabi with his Christian life. He says:
Voice 7
‘A lot of my Christian friends have asked me about the connection. They think wabi sabi is some strange Eastern theory. But as soon as you talk to people about it they say, " Oh I know exactly what you are talking about. It is just that we did not have the words or the language to describe it."'
‘For me, truth is truth, no matter where you find it. Beauty is beautiful no matter where you find it.'
Voice 2
Richard told how he sees wabi sabi in his life:
Voice 7
‘Wabi sabi is about making time to be thankful for nature, that is the first part of it, making that time. Then I found lots of things. I could be sitting in a business meeting - but I would notice the birds outside the window. Or in another place I notice a child playing, or I notice an older woman resting on her stick. You start to be thankful for things that are in your life that you did not see before. You find that you recognize and value beauty in places you would not expect'
Voice 1
John Breck is a Christian priest. He suggests that we can also see wabi sabi in basic Christian belief. That belief states that the beauty and order of God's creation has been damaged by human wrong-doing, but that God reaches out to bring people back to full life. Breck says:
Voice 8
‘Under the false sense of order that we try to force on the world, there is a natural beauty. That beauty can only be seen by some people - people who can see past the way things look on the outside. Such people can see the inner quality and value of things - and of persons.'
Voice 2
What are your thoughts about wabi sabi? Does it only work in Eastern art and culture, or can its ideas truly work in a material world? Is Richard right? Is truth truth - wherever it is found? Write and tell us your thoughts! Our email address is Radio @ English . net.
Voice 2
The writer and producer of today's programme was Marina Santee. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our word list on our website at www.Radio.English.net. This programme is called "Beauty and Perfection: Wabi Sabi". Thank you for joining us in today's Spotlight programme. Until next time. Goodbye.
Comments
Jacek said on August 04, 2009
One spaceman has said: Since I have seen earth from space I have begun differently perceive the world..
Close your eyes and imagine. You look on small blue planet. Then ask yourself a question.
What mean life for me? What is really important? How feel life with full breast?
Maybe you’ll find own Wabi Sabi and beauty who is around us.
Daniel Avila said on August 14, 2009
Spotlight has blessed my life and english class as well, I first listened to spotlight on the radio, but now I added the website to my favorites! My students in Ecuador have learned a lot, thanks! Agree, wabi sabi is like being aware of beauty in small simple things, and thank the Creator for the things you have instead complaining for the things you lack of… every single thing is beautiful because it’s been created by a awesome God! faith is the only thing you need to believe it!
Mr Minh said on August 16, 2009
Yet another poignant story from Spotlight, expressing a new concept that I had long known in my heart to be true but had been unable to articulate or put into context. Ranks alongside the life enhancing “Ubuntu”, “Bhutan”, “The Amish” and “Zimmers” as a story that’s rocked our language club to it’s foundations. Changed our lives for the better, these stories. All of us
I spent my life in the big business world of computers. Our office being characterized by money, money, money & fierce competition, “I am better than you “ . Worship of money & pride. The two things identified in the bible as the source of all evil
These days, I’m happily retired in the mountains of Dalat, Vietnam leading a simple Wabi Sabi lifestyle, so I thought I’d share it with you
It’s been a Wabi Sabi week, for I fetched some wild vines to plant in our drab hotel courtyard. If they “take” then they’ll produce beautiful blue flowers. Then came the arrival of a lively new puppy called “Mr Minh Jnr” to add some fun. I assume that this is in keeping with the “wabi sabi” spirit
Oft times I go to some local beauty spot, there to contemplate God’s magnificent natural world & lament how mankind is destroying it
Yesterday I went to the Truc Lam Zen Meditation Centre just six miles south of Dalat. Nearby is a serene, beautiful lake and a small village selling souvenirs & food to the Monastery’s many visitors. In keeping with “wabi sabi” the souvenirs are not art, Kitsch, mainly . But this little community is the happiest I ever came across. Most of the little shops & eateries are staffed by University Graduates, unable to find proper “jobs”, How very lucky they are, they are happy so I am happy - Ubuntu
A little boy let me fly his kite, a new success for me because at his age, my home made efforts invariable crashed ignominiously after just a few seconds.
After a brief walk on the shore I spotted an eagle swooping & soaring, which held me spellbound for an hour
On the return journey came the astonishing sight of a beautiful Vietnamese bride, flashing her pretty legs for a cameraman, lakeside, from beneath her crimson bridal costume. This view was topped by her new hubby, resplendent in a white tuxedo, his beaming smile lighting the world up. Sensing the magic of the moment he troubled to come over & give me a hug
Methinks life doesn’t get much better than this
But it hadn’t finished yet, for back in the village kite boy’s Mum had prepared my favorite nosh & the community, lacking customers, assembled en masse. “Heyyo Grandpa”, anxious to practice their English
Later that night they lit up my language club by supporting your “wabi Sabi” article
God bless you for this story, Spotlight
May you live long & prosper
Marina Santee said on August 26, 2009
Mr Minh - you describe wabi sabi in your life beautifully.
Mr Minh said on September 04, 2009
Hey Marina
Well thank you kind lady
Perchance I spent some time with a Monk at the Truc Lam Zen Meditation Centre this week. We discussed this remarkable concept at length, but he cast an entirely different light on what to me is a realistic way of finding a better life
To him it is about turning negative energy to positive. It was concieved as a survival guide, a cultural imperative in a continent where very few puppies make it through to their first birthday, where people are felled like ninepins by lunatic motorcycle riders. Where, most of all the twentieth century inflicted unimaginable horrors on it’s people.
It works too, anytime, any place, any circumstances
Food for thought
What do you think? Log in to comment Now!"