Jupiter / Zeus. From Pompeii, House of the Dioscuri (VI 9, 6-9), 62-79 CE.

Ming era scroll depicting Japanese pirates and battles with them (倭寇圖卷). openmuseum.tw/muse/digi_obje…

Evening Cool of Cats, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 19th century, ColBase（colbase.nich.go.jp）

I don't think there were ever any direct connections between Neoplatonism and Buddhism. You can point to some similar ideas like rebirth/metempsychosis, but the cosmologies of the two are so radically different: the sphere vs. flat-earth+Mt. Sumeru. Plotinus and others only had a

I'll be in Beijing from August 23 to September 3.

《両界曼荼羅図（西院曼荼羅） 胎蔵界》国宝 りょうかいまんだらず（さいいんまんだら） たいぞうかい 9世紀後半・平安時代 絹に彩色・掛軸 京都・東寺

The origin of my surname. 🤔🐱

ねこ。 #猫 #ねこ #cat #猫写真

Cat, by Isoda Koryusai, 18th century

Buddhism doesn't have a concept of "eternity" comparable to Neoplatonism. Although beings experience time differently, we're all in the same linear temporal flow. You can point to instances where Buddhist thinkers like Nagarjuna argue against any inherent existence of time, but

In my youth, I studied Buddhism, starting with Zen, but branched out into Yogacara and Madhyamaka. I read Stoicism for a while, but also recall reading discussions of panpsychism. Since 2018 I've been familiarizing myself with Neoplatonism, Plotinus and Iamblichus in particular.

I tend to self-reflect when reading philosophy and wonder the extent to which my moral and metaphysical views are shaped and coerced by the society in which I was brought up.

It is interesting to think how the internet has changed over the decades. I still remember Eudora e-mail, Netscape Navigator, Infoseek, and dial-up modems. I remember software sold in boxes. Now, AI is rapidly shaping the online world. Satellite WiFi for all isn't too far off.

1993

Obligatory respects offered to Zeus.

Too many centipedes in the house. 天稚彦物語絵巻. Humboldt Forum.

The name "Japan" is derived from Nihon/Nippon 日本 ("sun origin"), written in Chinese characters. The name was adopted sometime between 661–672, apparently coming into official use during the reign of Tenji Tennō 天智天皇 (668–671). Prior to this, "Japan" was known as Wakoku

Nowadays you would pronounce the name 空海 as Kōnghǎi in Mandarin Chinese and Kūkai in modern Japanese. He was a Japanese monk (774-835) who studied in China. In English, we call him Kūkai, following the modern Japanese. At the time in the early ninth century, presumably both

"Dutch depiction of a Chinese soldier, man, and woman, from Reise nach Batavia (Georg Franz Müller), 17th c." e-codices.unifr.ch/de/thumbs3x4/c…

Persian, Japanese, and Tatar. Georg Franz Müller (1646–1723). e-codices.unifr.ch/de/csg/1311/49