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Perfection and imperfection

The Japanese have a concept Wabi-Sabi which is centred on the acceptance of transience while nurturing all that is authentic
Last Updated 08 December 2021, 21:59 IST

Nothing has ever been perfect in this world. All perfection carries within it seeds of imperfection to tell us that everything is vulnerable, nothing remains ideal, everything falls short. We are never completely happy, nothing is flawlessly beautiful for long. The morning sky, blue and pellucid, the rising sun in red and orange resplendence become dark with ominous clouds.

Change is inevitable. The lawn across hedged with smiling flowers also has a tree standing in the midst gnarled and twisted with dry leaves. But there are birds nesting there. The fallibility of all beauteous perfection makes us understand how that very vulnerability makes it all the more precious.

The book read and reread with glossy pages and a shiny cover which occupied pride of place on the bookshelf is now in sorry shape with yellowing pages but loved nevertheless as a prized possession.

That beautiful artefact, dusted, polished, preserved over the years shows a faint crack and the heartbreak we experience does dim the perfection of the piece but we treasure it with the understanding of the fleeting nature of all beauty.

Time and transience is a threat to all perfection. Shakespeare said: “When time delves parallels in beauty’s brow.” His verse shall stand sublime for his beloved despite the ravages wrought by time.

The Japanese have a concept Wabi-Sabi which is centred on the acceptance of transience while nurturing all that is authentic, acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect. The phrase comes from two words Wabi and Sabi that do not translate easily into English. Wabi is simplicity, freshness or understated elegance and Sabi refers to the beauty that comes with age or even in any visible repairs.

A woman, with her skin, wrinkled like parchment and a smile that lights up her eyes with a benign expression have a grace and beauty all her own. Wabi-Sabi is a philosophy rooted in Zen Buddhism of finding beauty in imperfection. It is a gentle wistfulness at the passing of all beautiful things, not a cause for despair but a cause for wonder and joy.

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(Published 08 December 2021, 17:26 IST)

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