Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence

As Rikyu said, “The tea ceremony is no more than boiling water, steeping tea, and drinking it.”

wabi tends to be more associated with lifestyle, whereas sabi is often used to describe the more physical characteristics of objects that display a sense of the impermanent and whose forms are astringent and unpretentious.

Wabi sabi embodies the Zen nihilist cosmic view and seeks beauty in the imperfections found as all things, in a constant state of flux, evolve from nothing and devolve back to nothing.

Dogen founded the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism in 1227 after experiencing enlightenment in the Chinese monastery on Mount Tiantong in 1225. On returning to Japan,

If an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi sabi.

It is an undeniable truth that much of the beauty accredited to the simple lines in Japanese design comes down to the determination to keep both art and everyday designs to a functional minimum. There has been a tendency in the West to make something beautiful and to then spoil it by fussing it up.

Design criteria: No harsh or strong colors Subdued lighting Colors and dyes from natural sources Diffuse and murky colors Matte colors that lack uniformity

The meeting of the three religions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism was depicted in the famous picture of the vinegar tasters where Sakyamuni (the name given to the Buddha), Confucius, and Lao-tzu stood around a large vat of vinegar that symbolized life. Confucius found it sour, the Buddha found it bitter, but the Taoist Lao-tzu pronounced it

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?”