Buddhist pilgrimage starts tonight...

Komusō represented the Fuke Zen Buddhist School, a branch of Buddhism originating from China. Their unusual and distinctive feature, the straw basket worn on the head, symbolized the “absence of ego". 

Two friends and I are doing a kind of pilgrimage to the historic Buddhist sites in India ( Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Kushinagar, etc).   We leave tonight, but I already hear the hypnotic 

Tanpura  music playing in my head...

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE EVERYONE!

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE EVERYONE!

Japanese Sun goddess Amaterasu emerging from a cave.

Major Historic Egyptian Library Devastated by Fire

A major library gets torched in Cairo during protest clashes with the Egyptian military.

A scene from the fire. (via lemonde.fr/Reuters)

Major Historic Egyptian Library Devastated by Fire

hyperallergic.com

La Libération has confirmed that the 213-year-old Institut d’Égypte, which was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798, has been ravaged by fire.

The Rise of the West—or Not? A Revision to Socio-economic History

While researching the voyages of Zheng He, I found this interesting take-down of 
one of the central grand narratives of the West:

The Rise of the West—or Not? A Revision to Socio-economic History

Osama bin Laden is Dead

When China Rul(es)ed the World

In Waking Dragon, Joseph Kahn's book review of “When China Rules the World,” he quotes Martin Jacques, "China was the wealthiest, most unified and most technologically advanced civilization until well into the 18th century..." "It lost that position some 200 years ago as the industrial revolution got under way in Europe. Scholars once viewed China as having crippling social, cultural and political defects that underscored the superiority of the West. But given the speed and strength of China’s recent growth, those defects have begun to look more like anomalies. It is the West’s run of dominance, not China’s period of malaise, that could end up being the fluke..."

That "China will not just displace the United States as the major superpower. It will also marginalize the West in history and upend our core notions of what it means to be modern..." is particularly troubling considering recent events; from China's execution of a British citizen, the first execution of a European in more than 50 years; their 11 year sentence of activist Liu Xiaobo, one of China’s most prominent campaigners for democracy and human rights; their beefing up of internet censorship; to their growing international influence seen in Cambodia's deportation of Uighurs back to China and South Africa's barring of the Dalai Lama from a Peace Conference (see stories below):

China Executes Briton Despite Appeals

In Sentence Of Activist, China Gives West a Chill

Leading Chinese Dissident Gets 11-Year Prison Term

Trial in China Signals Attack On Dissidents

Rejecting U.S. and U.N. Pleas, Cambodia Deports 20 Uighurs to China

South Africa Bars Dalai Lama From a Peace Conference

Censors Put Tighter Grip On Internet In China

Hierapolis-Pamukkale...

The Ruins of Hierapolis and the Calcium Carbonate Travertines at Pamukkale were highlights of our trip. Calcite-laden waters, deriving from springs in a cliff almost 200 m high overlooking the plain, have created at Pamukkale (meaning Cotton Palace) an unreal landscape, made up of mineral forests, petrified waterfalls and a series of terraced basins. The Greeks thought this surreal landscape led to the entrance to Hades and many journeyed here at the end of their days. The spas of Hierapolis were set up in the 2nd c. BCE to help heal and soothe the suffering pilgrims. Even today, people believe the hot smelly waters have healing powers. The ruins of the baths, temples and other Greek monuments, especially mausoleums, can be seen at the site.

Troy...

I can't believe we made it to Troy! You feel the history all around you despite the fake Trojan Horse that you can climb up... fun though... It was also a fun boat ride to get here... but it is mighty cold!!