Mono No Aware: The Essence of Japan
Mono that is not aware: the Japanese aesthetic of beauty
Literally meaning “sensitivity to things,” mono no aware is a concept describing the essence of Japanese culture, coined by Japanese literary and linguistic scholar Motori Norinaga in the eighteenth century, and remains a central artistic imperative in Japan to this day. The phrase is derived from the word *aware*, which in Heian Japan meant sensitivity or sadness, and the word mono, meaning things, and describes beauty as an awareness of the transience of all things and a gentle sadness at their passing. It can also be translated as the “ah-ness” of things, life and love.
Mono no aware gave a name to an aesthetic that already existed in Japanese art, music, and poetry, whose source can be traced directly to the introduction of Zen Buddhism in the twelfth century, a spiritual philosophy and practice that profoundly influenced all aspects of Japanese culture. but especially art and religion. The fleeting nature of beauty described by mono no aware stems from the three states of existence in Buddhist philosophy: dissatisfaction, impersonality, and most importantly in this context, impermanence.
According to mono noware, a falling or wilted autumn flower is more beautiful than a blooming one; a fading sound, more beautiful than clearly heard; a partially obscured moon is more attractive than a full one. The sakura or cherry blossom tree is the embodiment of this concept of beauty; the flowers of the most famous variety, somei yoshino, almost pure white with a faint hint of pale pink, bloom and then fall within a week. The subject of thousands of poems and a national icon, the blooming cherry tree embodies beauty as a transitory experience.
Mono no aware states that beauty is a subjective rather than an objective experience, a state of being ultimately internal rather than external. Based largely on classical Greek ideals, beauty in the West is sought in the ultimate perfection of an external object: a sublime painting, a perfect sculpture, or a complex musical composition; a beauty that can be said to be profound. The Japanese ideal sees beauty instead as an experience of the heart and soul, a feeling for and appreciation of objects or works of art – most often nature or the depiction of – in a pristine, untouched state.
Appreciating beauty as a state that does not last and cannot be grasped is not the same as nihilism and can be better understood in relation to the Zen Buddhist philosophy of earthly transcendence: a spiritual yearning for that which is infinite and eternal – the source of all worldly beauty. As the monk Sotoba wrote in *Zenrin Kushū* (Poetry of the Zenrin Temple), Zen does not see nothingness as a state of absence, but rather the affirmation of the invisible that exists beyond the void: “Everything exists in the void: the flowers, the moon in the sky , beautiful nature.”
With its roots in Zen Buddhism, *mono no aware* has some connection with the non-dualism of Indian philosophy, as described in the following story about Swami Vivekananda by Sri Chinmoy:
* “Beauty,” he says [Vivekananda], “not external, but already in the mind.” Here we recall what his spiritual daughter Nivedita wrote about her Master. “It was dark as we approached Sicily, and in the background of the sunset, Etna had a small eruption. As we entered the Straits of Messina, the moon rose, and I walked up and down the deck beside the Swami, while he insisted that beauty is not external, but in the mind. On one side the dark cliffs of the Italian coast frowned, on the other the island was touched with silvery light. “Messina must thank me,” said he; “it is I who give her all my beauty.” Indeed, in the absence of appreciation beauty is no beauty at all. And beauty is worthy of its name only when it is appreciated.*
The founder of *mono no aware*, Moturi Norinaga (1730-1801), was the foremost scholar of the Kokugakushu movement, a nationalist movement that sought to eliminate all outside influences from Japanese culture. Kokugakushu was extremely influential in art, poetry, music, and philosophy, and was responsible for the revival of the Shinto religion during the Tokugawa period. Conversely, the influence of Buddhist ideas and practices on art and even on Shinto itself was so great that, although Buddhism was technically an external influence, it could not be removed by this point.
Literally meaning “sensitivity to things,” mono no aware is a concept describing the essence of Japanese culture, coined by Japanese literary and linguistic scholar Motori Norinaga in the eighteenth century, and remains a central artistic imperative in Japan to this day. The phrase is derived from the word awareness, which in Heian Japan meant sensitivity or sadness, and the word mono, meaning things, and describes beauty as an awareness of the transience of all things and a gentle sadness at their passing. It can also be translated as the “ah-ness” of things, life and love.
Mono no aware gave a name to an aesthetic that already existed in Japanese art, music, and poetry, whose source can be traced directly to the introduction of Zen Buddhism in the twelfth century, a spiritual philosophy and practice that profoundly influenced all aspects of Japanese culture. but especially art and religion. The fleeting nature of beauty described by mono no aware stems from the three states of existence in Buddhist philosophy: dissatisfaction, impersonality, and most importantly in this context, impermanence.
According to mono noware, a falling or wilted autumn flower is more beautiful than a blooming one; a fading sound, more beautiful than clearly heard; a partially obscured moon is more attractive than a full one. The sakura or cherry blossom tree is the embodiment of this concept of beauty; the flowers of the most famous variety, somei yoshino, almost pure white with a faint hint of pale pink, bloom and then fall within a week. The subject of thousands of poems and a national icon, the blooming cherry tree embodies beauty as a transitory experience.
Mono no aware states that beauty is a subjective rather than an objective experience, a state of being ultimately internal rather than external. Based largely on classical Greek ideals, beauty in the West is sought in the ultimate perfection of an external object: a sublime painting, a perfect sculpture, or a complex musical composition; a beauty that can be said to be profound. The Japanese ideal sees beauty instead as an experience of the heart and soul, a feeling for and appreciation of objects or works of art – most often nature or the depiction of – in a pristine, untouched state.
Appreciating beauty as a state that does not last and cannot be grasped is not the same as nihilism and can be better understood in relation to the Zen Buddhist philosophy of earthly transcendence: a spiritual yearning for that which is infinite and eternal – the source of all worldly beauty. As the monk Sotoba wrote in Zenrin Kushū (Poetry of the Zenrin Temple), Zen does not regard nothingness as a state of absence, but rather the affirmation of the invisible that exists beyond the void: “Everything exists in the void: the flowers, the moon in the sky, beautiful nature.”
With its roots in Zen Buddhism, mono no aware is has some connection with the non-dualism of Indian philosophy, as described in the following story about Swami Vivekananda by Sri Chinmoy:
“Beauty,” he says [Vivekananda], “not external, but already in the mind.” Here we recall what his spiritual daughter Nivedita wrote about her Master. “It was dark as we approached Sicily, and in the background of the sunset, Etna had a small eruption. As we entered the Straits of Messina, the moon rose, and I walked up and down the deck beside the Swami, while he insisted that beauty is not external, but in the mind. On one side the dark cliffs of the Italian coast frowned, on the other the island was touched with silvery light. “Messina must thank me,” said he; “it is I who give her all my beauty.” Indeed, in the absence of appreciation beauty is no beauty at all. And beauty is worthy of its name only when it is appreciated.
The founder of mono no aware, Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), was the foremost scholar of the Kokugakushu movement, a nationalist movement that sought to eliminate all outside influences from Japanese culture. Kokugakushu was extremely influential in art, poetry, music, and philosophy, and was responsible for the revival of the Shinto religion during the Tokugawa period. Conversely, the influence of Buddhist ideas and practices on art and even on Shinto itself was so great that, although Buddhism was technically an external influence, it could not be removed by this point.
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