Aesthetic ideals of Zen
The central and key principle of Japanese aesthetics is Fuga no Makoto, which is the expression of the hidden universal order and original beauty of absolute reality. This key aesthetic category is the center of the universal pentamatrix, which is inscribed inside and contains in itself, the Zen-Buddhist circle Ensō (ensō), as the rotation of which reveals new facets of the original principle, highlights new content and shades of the experience of beauty as a special quality of creative energy.
The deep content of the central concept of primordial beauty-truth, generated by pure aesthetic perception of things, as it matured and the consistent, historically conditioned formation of phenomenal worlds, was enriched with new deeper and more subtle experiences, acquired different names and faces, transforming and consolidating in the form of various aesthetic categories.
Thus progressively unfolding along the cultural spiral, it was initially expressed with the help of the categories of Wabi (7th-8th centuries) and Avare (9th -12th centuries), which have their roots in Shintoism and ancient Japanese art, and later, through the concept of Yugen (12th century), formed under the influence of Chan Buddhism, and, finally, through the aesthetic ideals of Sabi and Fuga no Makoto (17th century), which already expressed the spirit and the most essential principles of Zen Buddhism.
T.P. Grigorieva emphasized the different understanding of beauty by the leading Japanese poets and art theorists: “A true master is involved in Beauty (fuga); let Murasaki see it in avare, Seami - in yugen (it was the beauty of yugen that affected the shocked consciousness at that time, brought a man back to himself). For Rikyu it is wabi, the beauty of the ordinary; for Bace it is sabi, the elevation of the ordinary to the divine”.
The central principle of fuga no makoto (Beauty-truth) is internally dynamic and exists as a living process, continuously unfolding and manifesting its various interrelated facets through such qualitatively peculiar bundles of categories as avare - yugen, wabi - sabi, defining the very essence and diversity of the beautiful. These aesthetic principles are closely interrelated with each other, overlapping, interpenetrating and mutually enriching each other. They are united and inseparable, as they express the essence of beauty of the living lotus flower, named fuga no makoto.
At the same time such poles of interpenetrating bundles as wabi and avare are based on and determined by suchness, and yugen and sabi by complementary shunyata, which are essential dimensions of the single absolute reality. The first pair of principles, which can be conventionally attributed to the dense and active Yang, and the second, corresponding to the hollow, contemplative Yin, interpenetrate and overlap, revolving around the central principle of fuga no makoto, revealing new facets of unchanging beauty (bi).
Table1. Artistic principles and aesthetic ideals of Zen
in the Structure of Primordial Essences and Phenomenal Worlds
| WHOLE
(Completeness and unity of
all richness, sublimity and
spiritual level of
emotional experience)
Social World
The Four Sublime
States of Buddhism
1. Loving-kindness
or benevolence
2. Compassion
3. Empathetic joy
4. Equanimity
Sympathetic resonance
with environment
MONO NO AWARE
Shintō sencibility to
“the vitality and mood of things”
The pathos of things
Refined sensitivity to things
Sensitivity to ephemera
"The 'ahh-ness' of things"
Immediate emotional
reaction “Oh”
An empathy toward things
Emotional receptivity Heightens
appreciation of beauty
Beauty of impermanence
Sensitivity to the unavoidable
transience
Gentle sadness about transience
Fascination
Elegance
Refinement
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AVARE -YUGEN
Spirituality
Integrity
Sublimity
Tranquility
Elegance
Refinement
Deep sense of pathos
Transversal deep beauty
Sad and poignant beauty
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POSSIBILITY
(Emptiness–as the source
for the endless possibilities,
as unknown treasure
and bottomless mystery)
Symbolic World
Miraculously
Mystery
Reticence
Ambiguity
Symbolic,
Indeterminacy
of meaning
Ineffability
Inexhaustibility
YUGEN
Chan Buddhism concept
no-mind (C.wuxin; J.mushin)
– free, spontaneous mind
that is related to “deep”,
“shadowy-ness”, formless,
“dimness” “enigma”,
“profound mysterious”
of “myriad things”.
Mysterious profundity
Subtle profundity
Mysterious, sad beauty
Hints at a meaning
Profound grace and subtlety
Weirdness
Suggestiveness
Inaccessibility
Inscrutability
Imagination
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BEING
Suchness
(Reality as it is)
External reality
Space
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ABSOLUTE
Awakening and approval
of universal creative spirit
of nature and ultimate
essence of truth innate
beauty (bi) and harmony (wa)
Culture
Creativity
FUGA NO MAKOTO
Unity of truth and beauty
Genuineness of asthetic
and cosmic creativity
Tranquility and creative
contemplation
Furyu (“wind and stream”),
Free and extravagant spirit,
Creative forces of the Nature
Fūryū “the most elegant and
refined simplicity
Myo - the mysterious inner
state which is related to
post-enlightenment
playful sense of wonder
Fueki Ryuko
Constancy and change
Enso -enlightenment, satory,
elegance, universal strength
Creative contemplative mood,
refined aesthetic sensitivity
and subtle attentiveness.
Beyond beauty and ugliness |
NOTHING
Sunyata
(Emptiness)
Internal Reality
Time |
| INTERACTION
(Interconnection of
all things, generating
innate fabric
and "suchness"
of the Being)
Objective World
Materiality
Physicality
Naturalness
Substancity
Corporeity
WABI
The object and subject
in their natural austere
self-sufficiency
and self-worth.
Austere, rustic beauty
Suchness
Naturalness
Earthiness
Rustic simplicity
Scantiness, poverty
Vapidity, tarnish
Artlessness
Unpretentious
Candor
Freshness
Quietness
Stark beauty
Refined, solitary beauty
Solitude, proud
loneliness
Modesty
Austerity
Concentration of
inner strength
Courageous recipiency
non-dependence upon ego
and material world
Deliverance from
excessiveness
Getting rid of excess,
redundant and pretence
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Three Buddhist characteristics
of all existence and beings:
1. Impermanence: transience
2. Unsatisfactoriness or
suffering: imperfect,
incomplete, asymmetry,
roughness, flawed beauty
3. Non-self: austerity,
modesty, humility,
serene melancholy
WABI –SABI
Palpable sense of the
passage of time
Imperfection, incomplete
Non-attachment Loneliness
and Tranquility
Simplicity, naturalness
Simple, subtle, and
unobtrusive beauty
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FREEDOM
(Inner freedom as a way
to overcome variability
fragility and
irreversibility,
as a chance to master time)
Inner world
Existentially
Individual attitude
Uniqueness
Unconventionality
Impressionability
SABI
Unique subjective view
toward an objects. The
unity of object and
subject internal life.
Desolate, subtle beauty
Archaic, natural patina,
"rust" and aging
Patina and wear as
evidence of impermanence
Serenity that comes with
age
Pensive sheen of antiquity
Serenity impermanence
Elegant withering
Subtle melancholy feeling
Intuition
Transcendence
Perfection of imperfection
Authenticity intimacy
Genuineness
Tranquility, aloneness,
deep solitude desolateness
Existential loneliness
Receptive state of mind
Uniqueness of human
experience
Loneliness as liberation
from a commonness
Contemplation of the
"bloom of time", itsflows
and creations
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Table 2. Manifestation of Zen aesthetic principles in painting
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AWARE
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YUGEN
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FUGA NO MAKOTO
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WABI
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SABI
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Table 3. Manifestation of principles of Zen aesthetics in daily life
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AWARE
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YUGEN
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FUGA NO MAKOTO
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WABI
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SABI
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Table 4. Manifestation of Zen aesthetic principles in Haiku poetry
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AWARE
A monk sips morning tea,
it's quiet,
the chrysanthemum's flowering.
Matsuo Bashō (1644 - 1694)
Scent of plum blossoms
on the misty mountain path
a big rising sun
Matsuo Bashō
Ballet in the air!―
two butterflies, twice white,
meet, mate, unite.
Matsuo Basho
My eyes, having observed
everything, returned
to the white chrysanthemums.
Kosugi Isshō (1652 - 1688)
Covered with the flowers,
Instantly I'd like to die
In this dream of ours!
Ochi Etsujin (1655 - 1739)
Observe:
see how the wild violets bloom
within the forbidden fences!
Shida Yaba (1662 - 1740)
A white swan
parts the cherry-petalled pond
with her motionless breast.
Roka (1671-1703)
Wild roses in bloom
--so like a pathway in,
or toward, my home village.
Yosa Buson (1716 - 1783)
Blossoms on the pear tree,
lighten by the moonlight,
and there
a woman is reading a letter.
Yosa Buson
With sorrow while coming
upon the hill
-- flowering wild roses.
Yosa Buson
Listening to the moon,
gazing at the croaking of frogs
in a field of ripe rice.
Yosa Buson
To my eyes how delightful
the fan of my beloved is,
in complete white.
Yosa Buson
To reveal the flower
Of your heart
Sway, you summer grove.
Tagami Kikusha-Ni (1753-1826)
To reveal the flower
Of your heart
Sway, you summer grove.
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
Morning glories -
in the evening we delight
in the buds
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
Blossoms at night,
and the faces of people
moved by music.
Kobayashi Issa (1763 - 1828)
In the thicket's shade
a woman by herself
singing the rice-planting song.
Kobayashi Issa
In these latter-day,
Degenerate times,
Cherry-blossoms everywhere!
Kobayashi Issa
Overdressed for
my thatched hut:
a peony blossoms.
Kobayashi Issa
Peonies blossom;
the world is full of fibbers.
Kobayashi Issa
fanning out its tail
in the spring breeze,
see—a peacock!
Masaoki Shiki (1867–1902)
As thunder recedes
a lone tree stands illuminated
in sunlight:
applauded by cicadas
Masaoka Shiki
scatter layer
by layer, eight-layered
cherry blossoms!
Masaoki Shiki
Entangled with
the scattering cherry blossoms—
the wings of birds!
Masaoki Shiki
Murmurs follow the hay cart
this blossoming summer day
Ippekiro Nakatsuka (1887–1946).
Girls gather sprouts of rice:
reflections of the water flicker
on the backs of their hats
Kyoshi Takahama (1874 –1959)
Falling snowflakes'
glitter tinsels the sea
Inahata Teiko (b.1931)
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JUGEN
Snow-obscured heights,
mist-shrouded slopes:
this spring evening.
Ilio Sōgi (1421–1502)
Soundlessly they go,
the herons passing by:
arrows of snow
filling the sky.
Yamazaki Sōkan (1465–1553)
A fallen blossom
returning to the bough,
I thought-
But no, a butterfly.
Arakida Moritake (1473– 1549)
In my hut this spring
there is nothing -
there is everything
Sodo (1641-1715)
Spring:
A hill without a name
Veiled in morning mist.
Matsuo Bashō
The sea darkening,
the voices of the wild ducks:
my mysterious companions!
Matsuo Basho
In the dense mist
what is being shouted
between hill and boat?
Matsuo Basho
The sea darkens ---
Faintly white
A wild duck’s call
Matsuo Basho
From time to time
The clouds give rest
To the moon-beholders.
Matsuo Bashō
Harvest moon . . .
smoke goes creeping
over the water
Hattori Ransetsu (1654 – 1707)
Useless dreams, alas!
Over desolate fields
winds whisper as they pass.
Uejima Onitsura (1661 – 1738)
Leaves,
like the shadows of crows
cast by a lonely moon.
Kaga no Chiyo (1703 – 1775)
Ah butterfly,
what dreams do you ply
with your beautiful wings?
Kaga no Chiyo
Hazy moonlight --
someone is standing
among the pear trees.
Yosa Buson (1716 - 1783)
Coolness--
the sound of the bell
as it leaves the bell.
Yosa Buson
Light of the moon
Moves west, flowers' shadows
Creep eastward.
Yosa Buson
In pale moonlight
the wisteria's scent
comes from far away.
Yosa Buson
Spring stirs the clouds
in the sky's teabowl.
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
(1753-1826).
Summer night -
even the stars
are whispering to each other.
Kobayashi Issa
A giant firefly:
That way, this way,
that way, this -
and it passes by.
Kobayashi Issa
Composedly he sits
contemplating the mountains–
the worthy frog!
Kobayashi Issa
The woman
leads into the mist
low-tide beach
Kobayashi Issa
Summer night--
even the stars
are whispering to each other.
Kobayashi Issa
Rowing through
out of the mist
the wide sea.
Masaoka Shiki
A gold bug -
I hurl into the darkness
and feel the depth of night
Takahama Kyoshi
(1874–1959)
Pulling light
from the other world . . .
the Milky Way
Yatsuka Ishihara (1919–1998)
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MONO NO AWARE
How I long to see
among the morning flowers
the face of God
Matsuo Bashō (1644 - 1694)
How admirable!
to see lightning and not think
life is fleeting.
Matsuo Bashō
Lightning
shatters the darkness―
the night heron's shriek.
Matsuo Basho
Seek on high bare trails
sky-reflecting
violets...
Mountain-top jewels
Matsuo Bashō
A flash of lightning:
Into the gloom
Goes the heron's cry.
Matsuo Bashō
White cloud of mist
above white
cherry-blossoms . . .
Dawn-shining mountains
Matsuo Bashō
Ple bells die out.
The fragrant blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!
Matsuo Bashō
Wake! The sky is light!
let us to the road
again . . .
Companion butterfly!
Matsuo Bashō
Snow whispering down
All day long earth has vanished
Leaving only sky.
Naito Joso (1662–1704)
Experimenting...
I hung the moon on various
branches of the pine
Tachibana Hokushi (1665-1718)
From the mind
of a single, long vine
one hundred opening lives.
Kaga no Chiyo
The temple bells grow silent
but the blossoms provide
their incense―
A perfect evening!
Matsuo Basho
The winter river;
down it come floating
flowers offered to Buddha.
Yosa Buson
My only creed--
The mountain of treasure
The six-petaled flowers of snow.
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
For a while
I forget there are sins -
this cool moon
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
A lovely thing to see:
through the paper window's hole,
the Galaxy.
Kobayashi Issa
Trusting the Buddha,
good and bad,
I bid farewell To the departing year.
Kobayashi Issa
A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle
Kobayashi Issa
Buddha Law,
shining
in leaf dew
Kobayashi Issa
O snail
Climb Mount Fuji,
But slowly, slowly!
Kobayaski Issa
Under the image of Buddha
all these spring flowers
seem a little tiresome.
Kobayashi Issa
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell,
gazing at flowers.
IKobayashi Issa
No sky,
no land:
just snow eternally falling
Kajiwara Hashin (1864 -?)
In the coolness
gods and Buddhas
dwell as neighbors
Masaoki Shiki
I turn my back
on Buddha and face
the cool moon
Masaoki Shiki
Silently observing
the bottomless mountain lake:
water lilies
Inahata Teiko
Blizzards here on earth,
blizzards of stars
in the sky
Inahata Teiko
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| WABI
Winter solitude--
in a world of one color
the sound of wind.
Matsuo Bashō (1644 - 1694)
Spring rain
leaking through the roof
dripping from the wasps' nest.
Matsuo Bashō
Awake at night--
the sound of the water jar
cracking in the cold.
Matsuo Bashō
Cold night: the wild duck,
sick, falls from the sky
and sleeps awhile.
Matsuo Bashō
Coolness of the melons
flecked with mud
in the morning dew.
Matsuo Bashō
Moonless night...
a powerful wind embraces
the ancient cedars.
Matsuo Bashō
Moonlight slanting
through the bamboo grove;
a cuckoo crying.
Matsuo Bashō
It has rained enough
to turn the stubble
on the field black.
Matsuo Bashō
A wild sea—
stretching to Sado Isle
the Milky Way
Matsuo Bashō
Sea darkens
calls of the wild ducks
go faintly white
Matsuo Bashō
This road:
no one to go with
autumn dusk
Matsuo Bashō
The lillies!
The stems, just as they are,
the flowers, just as they are.
Matsuo Bashō
First snow
falling
on the half-finished bridge.
Matsuo Bashō
Snowy morning--
one crow
after another.
Matsuo Bashō
The pine-tree of Karasaki
More dim and vague than
the cherry-blossom.
Matsuo Bashō
Around the town
the smells of things -
summer moon.
Nozawa Bonchō
(1640–1714)
At an eagle's nest
on dead camphor branches
the sun goes down.
Nozawa Bonchō
Throwing away the ashes,
The white plum-blossoms
Became cloudy.
Nozawa Bonchō
Stillness:
a single chestnut leaf glides
on brilliant water
Ryuin (?-1690)
The bitter winter wind
ends here
with the frozen sea
Ikenishi Gonsui (1650-1722)
An autumn eve;
There is joy too,
In loneliness.
Yosa Buson
A harsh-rasping saw...
music of cold-poverty
in the winter midnight
Yosa Buson
Washing the hoe--
ripples on the water;
far off, wild ducks.
Yosa Buson
Fruitless blossoms
Are beaten by the rain
In the melon fields
Yosa Buson
The moon
and just myself remain . . .
evening coolness on the bridge.
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
Even wearing a staw raincoat
I like to travel -
rain on the blossoms
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
Autumn wind –
mountain’s shadow
wavers.
Kobayashi Issa
Everything I touch
with tenderness, alas,
pricks like a bramble.
Kobayashi Issa
Over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow.
Natsume Soseki
(1867 – 1916)
The crow has flown away:
swaying in the evening sun,
a leafless tree.
Natsume Soseki
At the full moon's
rising, the silver-plumed
reeds tremble
Masaoki Shiki
Night; and once again,
the while I wait for you,
cold wind turns into rain.
Masaoka Shiki
After the thunder-shower
one tree in evening sunlight
a cicada's cry
Masaoka Shiki
The moon
hovering above the snow-capped
mountains
rained down hailstones
Sekitei Hara (1886–1951)
The frozen moon,
the frozen lake:
two oval mirrors
reflecting each other.
Hashimoto Takako (1899-1963)
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Painting by Morikawa Kyoriku
枯枝に烏のとまりたるや秋の暮
Kareeda ni
karasu no tomarikeri
aki no kure
On a bare branch
a crow is perched
- autumn evening
Matsuo Bashō
古池
蛙飛び込む
水の音
Furuike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
Old pond,
frog jumps in
- splash
Matsuo Bashō
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SABI
Life: a solitary butterfly
swaying unsteadily on
a slender stalk of grass,
nothing more. But so exquisite!
Nishiyama Soin (1605-1682)
The dragonfly
can't quite land
on that blade of grass.
Matsuo Bashō
The pine tree of Shiogoshi
Trickles all night long
Shiny drops of moonlight.
Matsuo Bashō
Autumn moonlight--
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
Matsuo Bashō
A bee
staggers out
of the peony.
Matsuo Bashō
Atop the mushroom
who knows from where
a leaf!
Matsuo Bashō
Heat waves shimmering
one or two inches
above the dead grass.
Matsuo Bashō
First white snow of fall
just enough to bend
the leaves
Of faded daffodils
Matsuo Bashō
Mountain-rose petals
falling, falling, falling now . . .
Waterfall music
Matsuo Bashō
No one
walks along this path
this autumn evening.
Matsuo Bashō
The year's first day ...
thoughts come,
and with them, loneliness;
dusk approaches.
Matsuo Basho
The first soft snow:
leaves of the awed jonquil
bow low
Matsuo Basho
Like a heavy fragrance
snow-flakes settle:
lilies on rocks
Matsuo Basho
Now the swinging bridge
Is quieted with creepers …
Like our tendrilled life
Matsuo Bashō
Dead my old fine hopes
And dry my dreaming but still...
Iris, blue each spring.
Ume Shuushiki (1668-1725)
I go,
you stay;
two autumns.
Yosa Buson
Before the white chrysanthemum
the scissors hesitate
a moment.
Yosa Buson
Lighting one candle
with another candle--
spring evening.
Yosa Buson
Blow of an ax,
pine scent,
the winter woods.
Yosa Buson
My arm for a pillow,
I really like myself
under the hazy moon.
Yosa Buson
Evening wind:
water laps
the heron's legs.
Yosa Buson
Not quite dark yet
and the stars shining
above the withered fields.
Yosa Buson
This being alone
may even be a kind
of happy autumn dusk.
Yosa Buson
Winter rain on moss
soundlessly recalls those
happy by gone days
Yosa Buson
This world
we pass on a rush leaf -
not one thing
Tagami Kikusha-Ni
The first firefly...
But he got away and I...
Air in my fingers.
Kobayashi Issa
A huge frog and I,
staring at each other,
neither of us moves.
Kobayashi Issa
Ducks bobbing on the water-
are they also, tonight,
hoping to get lucky?
Kobayashi Issa
At sunset this fall
Evening, I wrote on a wall:
I've gone on ahead
Kobayashi Issa
Dew evaporates
And all our world is dew
. . . so dear,
So fresh, so fleeting
Kobayashi Issa
Grazing
my fishing line -
the summer moon.
Kaga no Chiyo (1703-1775)
My life, -
How much more of it remains?
The night is brief.
Masaoka Shiki
First autumn morning
the mirror I stare into
shows my father's face.
Murakami Kijo (1865 – 1938)
Winter waves
roil
their own shadows
Tominaga Fûsei (1885-1970).
Pale mountain sky:
cherry petals play
as they tumble earthward
Kusama Tokihiko (1920-2003)
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The Transhumanist Manifesto