Monthly Archives: June 2009

Japanese language: saying more with less

This is one of those lessons that I keep rediscovering over the years after I first met my wife, studied in college, and now preparing for the JLPT. It’s a lesson that comes up again and again, but becomes so … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese, JLPT | 3 Comments

Home from Paris

Too tired to write a single thing, so I will just post a link to Flickr where I uploaded some of the better photos. We mostly visited the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and my wife’s favorite, the … Continue reading

Posted in France, General, Travel | Leave a comment

Fun with Japanese Onomatopoeia

One of the things I’ve gradually learned about Japanese is how many sound-effect words, or onomatopoeia, exist in there. Every language has sound-effect words, but I noticed that Japanese language and culture are particularly descriptive. I guess that’s why Japanese … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese, JLPT, Language | 5 Comments

The problem with the world is people

My writing in this blog has dropped off again lately, but I haven’t really felt like explaining why, until I read today’s comic by Xkcd: I’d say this sums up my thoughts on certain things. For some reason, after some … Continue reading

Posted in Bsd, Buddhism, General, Hosso, Japanese, Taoism, Technology | 10 Comments

Japanese language: give and take

Unlike English, expressing giving and receiving in Japanese can be much more complicated. This is because of a few factors: Whether you’re speaking of yourself or someone else. Social rank of the giver and receiver (is one higher than the … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese, JLPT, Language | 2 Comments

This is definitely a sign I need to find a new hobby

I spent the last hour working on a big expansion/edit of a certain Wikipedia article on the Hossō school of Buddhist thought, when my clumsy fingers closed the tab I was working on, deleting all changes. It’s 11:35 pm, I … Continue reading

Posted in General | 6 Comments

The Shingon Vinaya sect

Continuing to read Tanabe’s Religions of Japan in Practice when I came across an article about a little-known sect in Japanese Buddhism called the shingon risshū sect (真言律宗). This sect appears to be an off-shoot, or another branch of Shingon … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Shingon | 2 Comments

Awakening the Eye of Wisdom

A lot of people believe that you can awaken wisdom through exotic practices and such, but I found this quotation by Kōkai, founder of the Shingon Buddhist sect, rather interesting. I found this in Religions of Japan in Practice, a … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Shingon | Leave a comment

Understanding Chinese Buddhism, early Japanese Buddhism

As I continue to read Francis Cook’s Hua-Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra, I found his explanation of Chinese Buddhism to be interesting. Normally when looking at Japanese Buddhism, you see lots of schools and sects, with different practices, … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Hosso, Shingon | 6 Comments

Me and the Internets

Another great comic from Xkcd: This is why I need to take breaks from time to time from the Internet, and blogging. Sadly, like the girl in the comic, I can’t pull myself away.1 So I am going to try … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Technology | 1 Comment