Yūgen, the Zen concept to connect with the depth of existence

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Have you ever stared at a landscape and felt overwhelmed by its depth and mystery? It is a difficult sensation to explain that, however, Eastern philosophy knows very well and even defines as “yūgen.” Would you like to know more?

When was the last time you said something seemed “very deep” to you? Sometimes, a reasoning, a poem, a story and even a specific scenario arouses this emotion in us; that something transcends us, that it is valuable and hides interesting meanings. It is a unique experience, difficult to translate into words, but one that we can all understand.

We could even say that experiencing the sensation of depth removes layers of selfishness and scabs from psychological inflexibility. Because it invites us to open ourselves to an interesting reality that enriches us, that excites us and, in turn, enlightens us in some way. It would be wonderful to dedicate an entire life to searching for elements that give us this feeling.

The person who explored this concept was the Eastern world, and specifically the Japanese. Japanese culture adopted a term of Chinese origin, yūgen, to describe the mystery that aroused all those phenomena that generate a sensation of depth to human beings. Such relevance was given to it that it was part of one of the seven basic foundations of Zen philosophy.

The mysteriousness of our world, that which is profound and cannot be explained in words, is an idea deeply rooted in every form of art. What if we dig deeper into this interesting concept?

Yūgen is a subtle combination of what generates inspiration and introspection at the same time. What connects us with beauty and also with ourselves to invite us to reflect.

Yūgen is a concept that many Japanese poets have worked on.

Yūgen, the beauty of what is mysterious to us and we cannot explain

The first time we heard the term in the West yūgen It was thanks to the philosopher DT Suzuki(1870-1966), one of the greatest promoters of Zen in the world. He described it as a feeling by which the human mind identifies with the totality of a concrete phenomenon and, suddenly, something that is finite seems to become infinite before our perception.

It seems that, by trying to define the sensation of depth, we take away from its magic. Perhaps, for this reason, In the East they assimilated the concept of yūgen to transfer it to art; more than ideal means to awaken this experience. This caused, already in the 12th century, figures such as the monk-poet Saigyo, a lover of the beauty of nature, to try to convey in his poems feelings of pain, melancholy and symbolic transcendence to capture that essence of Zen:

“Delicate drops of dew
On a spider web are the pearls
Threaded into necklaces
Used in the world that man makes go round:
A world that is disappearing quickly.”

-Saigyo-

The art of knowing how to observe and feel

Alan Watts, the well-known British philosopher, was also a great fan of Zen philosophy and the concept of yūgen. He saw it every day in those skies where the wild geese sometimes disappeared among the density of the clouds. Also, walking through those areas furthest from civilization, where nature triumphs over the advances of man.

An abandoned railway track, a lake at dawn, a castle in ruins after a stormy afternoon… He yūgen It’s a heady experience. that only arises in those who know how to observe calmly and allow themselves to feel the strangeness of nature, of human beings and of art.

According to Watts, most of us live in survival mode and become obsessed with understanding any reality. However, to be invaded by yūgenwe need to escape our ordinary mental frames and simply limit ourselves to feeling. Nothing else. Because not everything has an explanation in this life; Embracing the mystery also makes us wise and calms our anxiety to give meaning to every aspect that surrounds us.

“You must give up your subjective concern for yourself. Otherwise, you impose yourself on the object and you don’t learn. Your poetry emerges on its own when you and the object have become one, when you have gone deep enough into the object to see. No matter how well your poetry is expressed, if your feeling is not natural, if the object and yourself are separate, then your poetry is not true poetry, but simply your subjective falsification.”

-Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)-

The essence of yūgen is anywhere

Yugen It has nothing to do with imagining another world that allows us to escape from this one. Yugen It is an invitation for us to appreciate the mystery of the world in which we live. In any place there is a scenario that awakens that feeling of depth and confusion that inspires us so much..

Everywhere, there is a book or a person whose conversation makes us feel that experience. That what is read and heard is transcendent, valid, wise and enriching. All these perceptions are fuel for the brain, often so rusty by our routines, haste and technologies..

Alan Watts pointed out that it is always useful to focus on the thresholds. Doors, windows, tree holes, hills, clouds, puddles… The whole gives shape to dimensions that evoke lakes in which to immerse our minds. Later, when we return home, there is nothing better than taking paper and pencil and describing what we have felt.. There are mysterious corners in everyday life where the essence of the andūgen.

Nature is an ideal setting to connect with the essence of the andūgen.

The feeling of depth sometimes resides in sad realities

The University of Geneva conducted a study in 2017 in which it revealed something interesting. People usually reflect on the depth of life by reading books that tell us about sad stories. The same thing happens with any story or anecdote that we are told that awakens our emotions.

Somehow, he andūgen It is also in our empathic capacity and in the emotional connection with the reality of other people. There are facts that move us and make us discover the beauty and significance that also exists in any of us. As we have pointed out, this concept of Zen philosophy is everywhere. Also in our hearts.