A Blood-Red Flower

I know I'm a few days late, but I just thought I'd share some love and my favorite quote on the subject. It's from a book by Olive Shriner:

"I don't know much about love," she said, "and I do not like to talk of things I do not understand; but I have heard two opinions.

Some say that the Devil carried the seed from hell, and planted it on the earth to plague men and make them sin; and some say that when all the plants in the garden of Eden were pulled up by the roots, one bush that the angels had planted was left growing, and it spread its seed over the whole earth, and its name is love.

I do not know which is right, perhaps both. There are different species that go under the same name. There is a love that begins in the head, and goes down to the heart, and grows slowly; but it lasts until death, and it asks less than it gives. There is another love, that blots out wisdom, that is sweet with the sweetness of life and bitter with the bitterness of death, lasting for an hour; but it is worth having lived a whole life for that hour.

I cannot tell, perhaps the old monks were right when they tried to root love out; perhaps the poets are right when they try to water it. It is a blood-red flower with the color of sin, but there is always the scent of a god about it."

Happy Valentine's all, I hope you appreciate (and smell) love in its many forms.

The Way of Tea: Retroactive Post

A few weeks ago, my sado-bu teacher gave me this book and I just started reading it the other day.

The Book of Tea

It's DEEP, in the way that I remember Albert talking about other writings on Asian practices, like Buddhism or Kung Fu. I think I'm finally getting to the point where I'm getting past the superficial layers of this 'hobby' and really getting to the meat of it. It's enlightening and moving in a way that I have found lacking in religion or other spiritual writings.

I certainly don't want to be one of the New Age-y generation that comes from America and falls into "Asia" and takes up tai chi and becomes Buddhist or whatever, but I can see the draw. Living here does change you, in ways more subtle than you realize, and I think that I am certainly the better for it.

It's a tiny book, and one can easily finish it in an hour of reading, but another thing I've learned while in Japan is the value of 'slow' and doing things slowly. This is just the type of thing that deserves to be read and enjoyed and digested (mentally), slowly; that is better for having done so.

International Thoughts: Retroactive post from LiveJournal

Prompted by reading Time, BBC, IHT, and NY Times articles for the last few days, I've been struck by a few differences between America and the rest of the world. I'll preface this by saying that I've only recently moved from the US, and while I wouldn't say that I'm anti-American, I've realized that it is not the place I plan nor even want to live for the next big chunk of my life.

So today, I read a few articles about the economic growth of certain Chinese cities and the dissatisfaction that many Japanese people feel despite the economic growth in it's country. They reminded me of the shortcomings of capitalism in creating happy citizens, something that I've read time and time again. I think another ideological battle is due in the future, it doesn't surprise me Islam is growing at the rate that it is. People are looking for other alternatives for their lifestyles.

I'm not saying that I don't participate in the capitalist cycle, just saying that it makes me want to be more aware and active in making a change. The other thing that struck me was that in America, we focus so much on one another's race, even if it is in a positive sense, whereas in other countries like China for instance, the emphasis is placed on wealth. The more material wealth you display determines how people behave and react around you. Obviously this makes sense, because the level of ethnic diversity is much greater in the US than in countries like China or Japan.

Anyway, not necessarily sure how I feel about that, just thought it was something to note.

My Book Recommendation: Retroactive Post

So today, I caught a glimpse of this headline in the NY Times: "Not Enough Snow for You? Do-it-yourselfers with snow machines are taking the weather into their own hands." and immediately thought of Ishmael, a book I've reread several times in the last seven years. If you've never read it, here's a link to a good review of it. Ishmael Review. Once you read it, you'll understand exactly why this headline made me think of it.

I guess I'm writing this because I'm worried about the state of things in the world. This headline might not seem like a big deal, except that you link it to the obvious changes in the weather patterns all around the world due to increased global warming and you realize that we're buying into the 'myth.' Luckily articles about how the EU is pushing to make cars reduce their carbon emissions and incentives for being Hybrid car owners show that of us are starting to wake up and decide that they want to change. Anyway, I don't want to sound like I'm preaching, just taking note that sometimes we need to reassess our priorities every once in a while. And if you're interested, here's a great book to read in your spare time.