Yugen in A to Z

It’s April of 2024 and Day 25 of the A to Z challenge. This year I am doing the theme of ‘26 Moments’ on my blog. I plan to pull out A to Z parts from diverse set which are more than just the parts and possibly describe the world of their own.  It can be a wonder, an invention, a community, the philosophy, a thought, a lead, a culture, a design, or basically anything that would make one wonder and ponder on.  26 imperfect petite flashes that are amongst and around us.

My everyday will have a selection, description, an eight line poem followed by an interpretation.

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Day 25:Yugen

There are several Japanese words and concepts that have a deep meaning. Yugen is one of them.  It is a concept borrowed from traditional Japanese aesthetics and these are heavily influenced by Japanese Buddhism. In Buddhism, as I read, everything is considered to be either evolving from or dissolving into nothingness. Yugen is a mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe that triggers a deep emotional response. It could be something as simple as a flock of birds disappearing among the clouds. However I found this particular explanation profoundly touching – “beauty that is only partially perceived, fully felt, barely glimpsed by the viewer”. Yugen is that which exists beyond what can be said and it is also not a reference to another world. It is about our world and our experiences.

The Dragon of Smoke Escaping from Mt Fuji, The beauty of dragon in a smoke.  Image reference: By Katsushika Hokusai – [1] and Jim Breen’s Ukiyo-E Gallery – Hokusai., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=172499

Poem:
While we see,
Feel and go lost,
Lose and go dreamy,
Is our moment of joy.
There are ones,
Missing every side of it,
Thinking that moment,
Will come again.

Though there is sunrise every morning, it’s never the same. Of that beauty that we get to see is only one side of it. I wonder what everyone else is seeing!