Yugen 幽玄

There is a special duality in the experience of being human that pits our size and scale against our imagination and ambition in a constant existential struggle. At the heart of this conflict is the concept of Yugen (幽玄), defined as a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe, and the feeling of human beings in the face of its vastness.

We do not need to cultivate yugen; it often finds us in quiet moments like when we are contemplating our natural surroundings, looking up at the night sky or out over the water. In these moments we may perceive the limitations of our bodies and feel small or insignificant in our design, but at the same time, we may be awestruck by the magnitude of nature and the mystery it holds.

A sense of our own insignificance in the grand design of the cosmos, while it might be

existentially terrifying, is also ironically empowering. Such feelings of wonder have traditionally compelled humanity to explore, and this compulsion has propelled us forward, developing tools to inspect natural phenomena in ways that compensate for the shortcomings of our senses. The more we discover about nature, the more we aspire to learn, and the further we innovate. The innovations of our communities and societies are testaments to a greater significance than we might feel in moments when we experience yugen.

While significance is a relative concept, the feeling of insignificance is not inherently negative. There is a sense of freedom in letting go of the desire for importance. Surrendering ego to the vastness of existence breaks through our limitations and connects us with the grand design. It allows us to simply be as we are: tiny yet, taken together, necessary drops in an endless ocean. Reducing our experience to essential existence opens us as conduits for the energy of all that exists in and around us. There is freedom and even comfort in this idea of emptying the ego and

opening ourselves to the creative energies of the universe. In budo we may understand this experience as the void, where potential for creation is unlimited and where new concepts of self and of possibility are constantly getting generated.

The unending creative process also takes place in our minds, which, through our conscious awareness, give the cosmos a self-referential dimension. Each of our minds its own subjective universe where the duality of vast potential and minute foci coincide like the energies of yin and yang, constantly reinventing our self-concepts. Part of the beauty of being human is that within this intersubjective framework, we form bonds and explore the marvel of the human condition together. Getting to know another person intimately, when their totality is unknowable, is one of life’s greatest joys and it keeps us from losing our grounding in the infinity of existence. The sense of being a minuscule entity within a very vast reality has been with humanity for as

long as conscious awareness, and out of that sense came wonder, curiosity, belief in grander designs, and attempts to convene with higher powers. The feeling of being a tiny part of a greater beauty is humbling but also validating. We may be tiny, vulnerable, and transient, but in being so, capable of letting go of all but the present moment in which our immediate experience comprises our whole universe. This is a reminder to choose the best of each moment because all the potential of everything that is and could be, in infinite mystery and beauty, rests in the present.

by a Senior Koroku Member 蝶