When you think about Japan, the first thing that comes to your mind is how peaceful this country is. Everybody talks to each other politely and respectfully. The crime rate of the country is also low, and it is a rare thing to hear of any cases of violence on the streets.
Apart from these things we also see that Japanese people are exceptionally hardworking and do their work to perfection. So, why is Japan like this? Which concepts and philosophies are deeply rooted in the minds of Japanese people that guide them to be like this? This is what I will answer today in this post.
1. Japanese concept of Wa:
So, the first philosophy that we are going to discuss, is the concept of wa. Wa is an interesting concept in Japan because its effect can be observed in every individual in Japan.
Wa in action among people:
You must have noticed this about Japanese people most of them talk politely and calmly with each other. Even if they disagree on something, they do not tell that out loud. They try to convey their message of disagreement by molding their words a little or just staying silent. They do this in order to avoid conflict and maintain harmony. So, this encourages people to be aware of other people’s feelings to understand how their words and actions impact them.
Wa in action between people and environment:
We observe this in the context of the environment as well. Japanese people are seen to be living in harmony with the environment and not against it. As the seasons and weather change, Japanese people also try to embrace that change and try to adjust to being in harmony with it. We can understand this by observing Japanese traditional homes as well. Most traditional houses in Japan have sliding doors which signifies not making tough boundaries with the environment but letting the inside and outside environment be close.
So, this concept of “living in harmony with others” is the philosophy of wa.
How can you develop the Wa mindset?
The first step you can take to start your journey of implementing the wa mindset is to be conscious of yourself and your surroundings. First, you should become aware of your own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Know why you do what you do? Why you feel what you feel and so on. When you begin to understand yourself, you begin to understand others as well. Because when you are aware of yourself, you become aware of your surroundings as well. This helps in developing the capacity to become empathetic and compassionate towards others. And this way you can create harmony within yourself and with others.
2. Japanese concept of Kintsugi:
Have you heard about this Japanese concept where whenever some crockery item breaks, it is repaired with the help of precious metals such as gold or silver? This concept of Japanese culture is called kintsugi. In this word, kin means gold and tsugi means joining.
Kintsugi is not only limited to physical objects but it also teaches us a valuable lesson of keeping strength in times of crisis. When an object breaks apart due to some accident, it does not immediately become useless. With the help of Kintsugi practice, we can repair this broken object by using gold. After some time and repair, this broken object again becomes useful and that too of much more value.
Similar to that, when we are in times of crisis, we also think that we are broken and cannot do anything anymore or this life is useless. We should keep in mind that we also have the capacity to heal and emerge as much more valuable people.
What Kintsugi Teaches Us?
Kintsugi teaches us that even if we are in a very negative stage of life, even if we break down, we are still very beautiful and valuable. We just need some time to heal ourselves and become as happy as we were before.
3. Japanese concept of Mono no aware:
Have you ever seen a flower bloom? Firstly, you see a small bud appearing on the plant, and after a few days, a beautiful and delicate flower appears only to mature and fall on the soil again. This flower appears beautiful in all these stages. But as much beauty as there is beauty in every stage of the flower’s life, there is also this essence that is going to be the same forever. Similar to this flower, all things in our life that we find beautiful, that we find lovely and the things that make us happy, are all impermanent.
This concept of mono no aware in Japanese culture is also related to this. Mono no aware means the “pathos of things” or “the sorrow of things”. This concept teaches us that all the happy moments of our lives, all the beautiful things of our lives, and all our lovely relationships are impermanent. But this impermanence of these things makes them even more precious. Mono no aware teaches us that we should give our complete attention to our present moment. We should appreciate everything in the present moment because nothing will remain the same forever.
4. Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi:
Those shoes that you have worn many times now, that pen that you used to write sweet little poems, the T-shirt that you used to wear in your childhood, that old house of yours where you lived in your childhood, all these things are precious to you. Even though with time they became a little imperfect they are still as beautiful to you as they were before.
Similarly, many things in our lives that were brand new before, now with time have become imperfect, like that old bell in the temple and those rides in your nearby park. These things are not that perfect now but are still very beautiful. Their simplicity gives them a nostalgic beauty. The more these things were used the more beautiful they became.
The concept of Wabi Sabi also teaches us the same. It teaches us that all things in life start to decay with time and lose their perfection. But this perfection has its own unique beauty because these objects have accumulated a lot of memories now. This flowing time and imperfection have the capacity to make things more beautiful and precious. So, we should embrace everything that is in front of us, it teaches us to be humble and appreciative of all things imperfect.
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