Beauty in Plain Terms: Shintoism and Nature

by Kim, September 2, 2009 at 6:00am

Continuing this week's exploration of nature as metaphor and guide for living, read this passage about Japan and Shintoism's view of the natural:"

"Aesthetically the water in the Japanese garden and the garden itself try to represent nature as it is, not to order and impose a visible form on it as a Western garden may, but to capture its intrinsic being. Gardeners do not create the beauty but merely allow it to express itself in louder and plainer terms...For example, the garden may be designed in such a way that in winter the bare branches have their own particular appeal...Gardeners also observe another Japanese aesthetic theory that developed from the Japanese acceptance of nature: uniqueness...Therefore gardeners do not search for the perfect rock, for such a rock cannot exist in a world characterized by uniqueness, but look for a tree or rock that expresses its own individuality...To insist on a harmony than the underlying, naturally revealed one would be unnatural."

--From Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 28 Nations

It's important to note that such a culture could arise In a country prone to the harsher manifestations of nature, like earthquakes. Now that humans have disrupted the natural order and we live in an increasingly unfriendly environment, is it possible to learn from Shintoism's accepting view? How else can we let beauty "express itself in louder and plainer terms" in our lives?

The Japanese poet Basho popularized the concept of karumi, or lightness - the beauty of ordinary things spoken of in a simple way. Here is one of his poems:

Now the swinging bridge

is quieted

with creepers . . .

Like our tendrilled life