Yugen Quotes

There is a word in Japanese, yugen, that has no English equivalent. In Japanese, it is the awareness that the universe transmits a profound and mysterious beauty that can only be understood by the man or woman engaged in the comparable beauty of human suffering.

In Zen philosophy there are seven aesthetic principles for achieving wabi-sabi that we can easily learn to incorporate into our Western pagan idealism: • Fukinsei: asymmetry, irregularity; • Kanso: simplicity; • Koko: basic, weathered; • Shizen: without pretence, natural; • Yugen: subtly profound grace, not obvious; • Datsuzoku: unbounded by convention, free; • Seijaku: tranquillity.

I'm at the bow of the terrestrial Earth, steering straight towards the cosmos. I've watched over by the dove-gray moon, his gentle head bowed, and I have to wonder if this is yugen, profound beauty in the natural world--so subtle that it calls up a feeling of wonder without naming it. The word has no English counterpart and neither does this feeling, so I stand witness to the universe without any thought but enjoying my front-row seat.

Zen practice stresses the focus on the here and now, sitting with whole awareness, and immersing the mind with unity of all things. This practice gives way to a feeling of spaciousness, where extreme emotions subside and new insights reveal the nature of one’s true self. Zen aesthetics that apply to Japanese haiku often contain one or more of these qualities: Wabi–simplicity, imperfection Sabi–the beauty of loneliness or tranquility Mono no aware-the "ah-ness" of things, as in the transience of the falling cherry blossom petals. Yugen-a mystery deep within things, such as a mountain-top glimpsed through haze. Makoto-sincerity: intense, spontaneous emotional responses.[ 12]

Yet there is a mystery far more profound than the yugen in Noh. What Scripture calls 'the mystery of our religion' points ultimately to what the Athanasian Creed calls 'the Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.' The theologians who hammered out the Trinity were bent on preserving the mystery, not explaining it. As Helmut Thielicke wrote, this doctrine 'leads us to worship the mystery of God instead of trying to master it.