Sex, Zen, and Poetry. The Life of Ikkyu Sojun
When we think of monks, we think of bald guys sitting around praying and studying all day long. Monks shirk women, booze, and other worldly pleasures. Back in the 15th century, one Zen monk turned this tradition on its back. Ikkyu Sojun decided to be true to himself and that meant regular trips to brothels….
Living a Wabi Sabi Life
Wabi-sabi doesn’t have an equivalent English word. The phrase itself is rather fun to say: wabi-sabi. The phrase describes an aesthetic, a feeling, that underlies our experiences of art and landscapes. The phrase contains two words that, though similar, work together to describe what we in the West would call nostalgic tragedy. Wabi can mean…
Otaku Language Dictionary
Every group has its own language, words that show who’s a part of the group and who’s not. American football fans speak with words like lineback, down, and line of scrimmage. Anime fans–who refer to themselves by the word otaku–have their own language too. Otaku language mixes slang, transliterated Japanese, and acronyms. Fans lift Japanese…