Now & Zen, Inc - 800-779-6383
Digital Zen Alarm Clock Zen Timepiece Tibetan Phone Bell & Timer

Secure Site

Now & Zen Blog

portals to yugen

yugen, a profound mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe

yugen, a profound mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe

Yūgen is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics.  The exact translation of the word depends on the context.  In the Chinese philosophical texts the term was taken from, yūgen meant “dim”, “deep” or “mysterious”.  In the criticism of Japanese waka poetry, it was used to describe the subtle profundity of things that are only vaguely suggested by the poems, and was also the name of a style of poetry (one of the ten orthodox styles delineated by Fujiwara no Teika in his treatises).

Yugen suggests that beyond what can be said but is not an allusion to another world.  It is about this world, this experience.  All of these are portals to yugen:

“To watch the sun sink behind a flower clad hill.  To wander on in a huge forest without thought of return. To stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands.  To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds.  And, subtle shadows of bamboo on bamboo.”  

Zeami Motokiyo

Yugen is said to mean “a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe… and the sad beauty of human suffering”.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Japanese Maple Leaves Dial Face, the Zen Alarm Clock for a progressive awakening

Japanese Maple Leaves Dial Face, the Zen Alarm Clock for a progressive awakening

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Chime Alarm Clocks, Goodness, Meditation Timers, Meditation Tools, mindfulness practice, Natural Awakening, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Progressive Awakening, wabi-sabi, Zen Timers