a tiny sample of eastern aesthetics
I've been reading "Essays in Idleness" (Tsurezuregusa) by Kenko Yoshida recently. Basically, this is required reading for students in Japan . . . written in the 1300s, it articulates much of what defines Japanese manners, aesthetics, appreciation for nature, and so on. I guess it could be compared to something like Pope's Essays or Augustine's Confessions. In any case, here is a sample:
"It is an exceedingly stupid man who will torment himself for the sake of worldly gain" (translated by Donald Keene).
And another one:
"A man may excel at everything else, but if he has no taste for lovemaking, one feels something terribly inadequate about him, as if he were a valuable winecup without a bottom" (translated by Donald Keene).
if you want to read more of his quotes, go here--Kenko Yoshida.
posted by half-bred monkey at 3:42 PM |
1 comments
1 Comments:
this comment is for turner, and all his fans. i am the not-yet-blogging american known in our circle as eaton. rhymes with cretin, but that is happenstance only.
the yoshida quote – "it is an exceedingly stupid man . . ." – is most reassuring. having just returned from nyc, i realized that i was somehow made to feel that my life as rural idler and practicing dilletente (and terrible speller) was deeply inadequate and erroneous. however, one serendipitous moment found me on the A train, browsing a copy of "the sun." in it, i found an article about david budbill, a meditating poet who recludes himself in northern vermont. when asked why he forsook a life of urban activism for that of rural vermont, he replied:
"not everybody should be out in the streets protesting. i have a buddhist friend friend . . . who says, 'what i do for peace and justice is split wood.' . . . to do no harm is a great service to humanity."
has george bush read kenko yoshida? or the american, budbill for that matter? oh, i forgot, he doesn't like to read. peace all . . . may the turners shine on!
January 1, 2005 4:02 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home