Brad > Recent Status Updates

Some good poems here, but I think I prefer Blake's soaring heights and flowery tone to Wordsworth's terse realism.

Absolutely scandalous! Imperial problems, of the first and most urgent sort. Indeed,

The sketches from China were quite good.

Very dull

Didn't anticipate reading this, but sure why not. Listening through an iPod U series of lectures on romanticism.

It's William Blake

Such a good writer

I need more travel narratives. Kind of want to skip to the end and read about Asia, but Maugham is a good author so reading a little about Europe doesn't chafe too bad.

2nd portion of book is very good, makes progress and speaks to some of my earlier quibblings. Patience.

Finally picked this back up after putting it down ten years ago. Back then it was too much, nowadays I'm not sure if its enough. Naturally since its a ton of snippets of dharma talks slapped together, there isn't much cohesion. I also think my perspective has moved too fat in the direction of rinzai. Most of its fine, but I feel like the zen is watered down a little too much at parts. Understandable given the context

Finally picked this back up after putting it down ten years ago. Back then it was too much, nowadays I'm not sure if its enough. Naturally since its a ton of snippets of dharma talks slapped together, there isn't much cohesion. I also think my perspective has moved too fat in the direction of rinzai. Most of its fine, but I feel like the zen is watered down a little too much at parts. Understandable given the context

So far the content of the lectures are mostly interesting, but the time of writing and the audience it was written for kind of drag it down at times. Not being an up and coming Englishman entering the Indian Civil Service with a boatload of small-minded imperialistic prejudices (which Mueller is spending the bulk of his time addressing and confronting head on, and rightfully so) I'm left wanting more of the meat.

This book is specific to early Ch'an Buddhism pre-Japanese transmission, but the topics the author covers are really much broader than a historical treatment and prove relevant to all readers of Buddhists texts, whatever sect. So far the different chapters have moved through textuality, reading and how we engage in the act, and now I'm on understanding and how we should go about this with regard to Buddhist texts.

Really enjoying learning about Buddhadasa. Only disagreement with him so far is I think he falls to the easy tendency to deny a predecessor from a much earlier time the possibility of the same nuance they wish to use themselves. Particularly wrt to his phasa tham/dharma language. I agree we should look at things that way, including Buddhaghosa, which looks much the same when read in "Dharma mode".

I love this book.

Only through the preface. Saw this last night and instantly got all giddy like a kid who saw a shiny new toy. This a book lover's edition, truly a readers' reader of a true reader's writings. The paper is nice, wide margins for annotations, nice comfy printing. This is like reading creature comforts on all 8 cylinders.