Taken individually, wabi and sabi are two separate concepts:

Wabi is about recognizing beauty in humble simplicity. It invites us to open our heart and detach from the vanity of materialism so we can experience spiritual richness instead.
Sabi is concerned with the passage of time, the way all things grow, age, and decay, and how it manifests itself beautifully in objects. It suggests that beauty is hidden beneath the surface of what we actually see, even in what we initially perceive as broken.

Together, these two concepts create an overarching philosophy for approaching life: Accept what is, stay in the present moment, and appreciate the simple, transient stages of life.

There’s a plethora of wisdom embedded within the very fabric of this age-old philosophy. Here are five of these Wabi-sabi teachings that can better help you to fully step away from the modern-day struggles of moving fast, striving for perfection, and chasing inorganic forms of success.

Personally, I’m fascinated by the principles of wabi-sabi, for they’ve really helped me garden more poise and grace in my everyday life.

1. Through acceptance, you find freedom; out of acceptance, you find growth.

The Dewa Sanzan is a little-known mountain range in northern Japan. Since the 8th century, it has been the sacred pilgrimage site for the Yamabushi monks who partake in yearly rituals seeking rebirth and enlightenment for their mind, body, and soul. The core philosophy of their training can be summed in one word, Uketamo, which means "I humbly accept with an open heart."

Here’s how it works:

You’re about to lose your job? Uketamo.
The forecast suddenly changed to downpour rain and now you must cancel your outdoor event? Uketamo.
You had a very silly accident and now you’ve fractured your left leg and are due to be in a cast for the next month? Uketamo.

Uketamo means acceptance to the core. The Yamabushi understood that the sooner you can accept all the good and bad things life throws at you, the lighter you will feel. They fathomed that we find our freedom through acceptance, and out of acceptance, we find our path to growth.

What freedom? The freedom to stop all forms of suffering.

What growth? The opportunity to learn and expand from our own struggles.

You see, we tend to assume that Zen is about living in an endless worry-free state of bliss and tranquillity. Here’s a reality check: it’s not.

Zen is about how you face the challenges and difficulties life throws at you. It’s about how you deal with the inevitable realities of failure, grief, worry, and loneliness. Zen is in your response. Will you accept the imperfect flow of life? Or will you fight it? Will you find peace in what is right here, right now? Or will you deny it and thus continue your struggle with it?

The idea is quite simple: As you continue to resist, so will you continue to compound your suffering.

The first teaching of the wabi-sabi philosophy, then, is to practice gratitude and acceptance. It’s not about giving up. It’s about surrendering to the gravity of the situation at hand and then actively playing a role in deciding what happens next.

Uketamo reminds me of what the Stoics called Amor Fati, a love of fate. And Wabi-sabi preaches the same: You will find peace and freedom, and you will step onto the path of growth, once you begin yielding and surrendering to the imperfect flow of life.

2. All things in life, including you, are in an imperfect state of flux, so strive not for perfection, but for excellence instead.

If everything in nature is always changing, then nothing can ever be absolutely complete. And since perfection is a state of completeness, then nothing can ever be perfect. Hence, the wabi-sabi philosophy teaches us that all things, including us and life itself, are impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect.

The problem, however, is that our flawed ways of thinking have now blurred our understanding of what perfection really is.

Open up a thesaurus and search for the antonyms for "perfect" and you’ll find the following words: Flawed, corrupt, inferior, poor, second-rate, inept, broken, wrong, bad… My goodness. All this negativity. No wonder we’ve become so obsessed with seeking perfection.

We sculpt the perfect body, based on what society deems it must look like to pass that test of perfection. We seek the perfect career path and the perfect partner based on someone else’s definition of that perfection. And as creators, we procrastinate until eternity before ever releasing that imperfect piece of art.

In 2020, the global anti-ageing market was estimated to be worth about $60 billion U.S. dollars. People are desperate to look younger. But isn’t growing old the natural cycle of life? Isn’t ageing with the passage of time a thing of beauty?

All of this is happening because we’ve been fed this false narrative that we’re not good enough. And we’ve accepted this opinion that’s not even our own. We’ve allowed it to define us. And now we chase that illusion of perfection thinking it will make us feel worthy and good enough inside ourselves.

But here’s the reality check: Perfection does not exist because imperfection is the natural state of life—you are whole, the entirety of you, as you are.

In order to eliminate this negative stigma around imperfection, we first need to completely reject it as being “the opposite” of that fictional construct that is perfection. We need to write a new narrative that reads: Imperfection is not a compromise; imperfection is the only way because imperfection is the true nature of things.

The third teaching of the wabi-sabi philosophy is simple: Strive not for perfection, but for excellence instead.

In other words, simply do your best to be the best that you can be. This aligns with one of Don Miguel Ruiz’s four agreement for achieving personal freedom. In your relationship with your partner, try to be the best partner you can be. In your creative work, seek mastery. Work to improve the form of your craft without ever expecting to attain absolute perfection.

All things in life, including you, are in an imperfect state of flux. Change is the only constant. Everything is transient and nothing is ever complete. And that’s why perfection doesn’t exist.

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2024.10

5 Teachings From The Japanese Wabi Sabi Philosophy That Can Drastically Improve Your Life