Photography: Korea

I’ve become a proper homebody lately, trying to wrap my head around Kant and Early Buddhism without causing myself any permanent injuries. So I don’t have a lot of photos from around here to post. But I have thousands still from India, Burma, and Korea to sort through. Here are just a couple of those from Korea (February 2011).

Good coffee, computer (probably working on a blog post), and an excellent book, Sid Brown’s The Journey of One Buddhist Nun. I didn’t quite finish it, but I highly recommend it if you’re interested in the lives of contemporary female monastics in Thailand. I’ve also bought and I am dipping into her latest book, A Buddhist In The Classroom.

A bit of contrast with old and new, and two things that are pretty new but made to resemble a past era.

A Korean Shaman doing a performance in Seoul.

Myself and my good friend, hostess and travel partner, Grace. (subway windows)

There’s something so right about imagining someone in a bear suit serving you beer and a live chicken on a plate. And of course the hat, to let you know he’s a chef.

They gave us the Statue of Liberty, but we just stole their quiche! And planted our “Happy” flag (the French disdain happiness) just to rub it in. If you think I’m kidding about the French and happiness, -I am, but only partly- read Mattihew Ricard’s book Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill – He’s French, and a Buddhist monk (and very happy), and he writes in there about various French attitudes toward happiness.

Wishing you happiness,

and quiche,

and beer and chicken,

and good coffee,

wherever you are.