December 22
I examine myself, not the world — I turn my judgements this way and that, taste them, discard them. Imagination has made people ill and healed them again, so powerful is the opinion we lend to things. What, then, do I know? — Que sais-je?
Essays, Of the Power of the Imagination (freely rendered)
The Hut He Had Grown Fond Of
I examine myself, not the world — I turn my judgements this way and that, taste them, discard them. Imagination has made people ill and healed them again, so powerful is the opinion we lend to things. What, then, do I know? — Que sais-je?
Kamo no Chōmei had withdrawn to a tiny hut. There he kept poems, sutras and two musical instruments. He played for himself, walked in the mountains and found his life pleasant.
Then, at dawn, he cross-examined himself. Had he cast off the attachments of the world only to cling now to this hut? Why was he spending his last years describing its happiness?
His heart gave no answer. He spoke Amida's name a few times.
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