I'm Going to Slow Down on Blogging for a While

Yes, I know, it's sad, but I have to start studying for a very important language test for an awesome chance to work at a very prestigious organization.  I won't name names yet, but it's for a place I'm willing to sacrifice almost anything to get.

But this will also be an excellent opportunity to update everyone on my learning progress, so I'm going to update you on my studying progress about once a week or less.  This week, I'm going to look up the most common words used in academia and start translating!

Anthony Bourdain is My Inner Narrator

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A good chef told me three conditions must be satisfied before a customer enjoyed their food:

1)  Is this customer hungry?

If the customer just ran a marathon, anything tastes good.  I remembered  my half marathon the oranges at mile 10 were ambrosia.

2)  Is the customer with friends?

Customers are less likely to complain about their food if they have good company.  Unless you manage to piss off the whole table.

3)  Is there money in this guy's pocket?

If one is too worried about personal finances, nothing tastes good.

Then, you can blame the restaurant.

Food writing isn't so much about the edible material on the plate, but the narrative behind the edible.  One would never imagine a sun-damaged former drug addict chef from New York City would be one of the most powerful food critics on earth.  Many people would drop everything to have a beer or meal with him.

Why?  He has an interesting narrative.

Take for instance his trip to Finland in a reindeer restaurant:

"Like reindeers?  I do!  I like 'em on my plate, while Santa looks in mute horror as he's duct taped and ball-gagged!"

He's very honest and direct with his thoughts.  He's also self-deprecating or insulting his own culture (America) when commenting, but he's always careful not to offend the culture he's visiting.

One of his best episodes was his trip to Saudi Arabia.  Before dinner when his hosts are praying to Mecca, he reminds his Western audience to appreciate the present beauty this foreign culture.

Paradoxically Anthony Bourdain has the easiest and hardest medium to critique.  It's relatable to everyone because unlike movie, print, or art, everyone alive has some visceral experience with food.  At the same time it's the easiest way to offend someone if one expresses disgust with another culture's food.

I don't believe it's necessary to shock or offend to get good blog views.  As my blog keeps developing, I will try my best to tell it like it is with my inner Bourdain.  So long as you're honest, relatable, and clear, you have a story worth telling.

Why I Don't Believe in Heaven

So the random number generator landed on.... wait for it...

Buddhism!

Most people imagine the morbidly obese version. or the one that snorts cocaine on South Park, but I like the more traditional one with the depiction of enlightenment:



(Although, maybe he was morbidly obese if he still wasn't skin and bones after fasting for 49 days.)

Buddhism was one of the last major religions of China.  It was sort of like the free love movement in the US during the 1960's.  Conservatives thought it would be the end of society, while liberals were fighting "the system."

Theodore and Bloom in "Sources of Chinese Tradition" pointed out that when Buddhism entered China, China was the first foreign civilization that had a writing system, so initial Chinese texts on Buddhism record the transition from skepticism to eventual *acceptance.

When I was sitting on the grass of my campus quad, a Christian came up to me and asked if I believed in Jesus and internal salvation.

Don't get me wrong, Jesus is a pretty chill and awesome guy, but to me heaven doesn't make any sense.  Let's say you spend your life living "to the bible," but your ideal of heaven is murdering people and watching them writhe in pain, didn't that defeat the purpose of living a good life?  This version of heaven is someone else's hell!   I don't think God would spend His time actualizing "300" for one's pleasure.

Or what if a grumpy person who lived out in the woods hated all of humanity, but didn't act on his immorality.  Does he get a fast pass to heaven too?

I don't believe in heaven because salvation comes from understanding and acting good, not acting good for the sake of heaven.  It takes more than good behavior to reach this higher state of being, whether you call it heaven or I call it nirvana.  It takes having full faith and acting  on our goodness an compassion that makes us good people.

Or I could be dead wrong, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster rules all.  All hail His carbohydrate complexity!



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*The Chinese are still struggling with the Dalai Lama.  It's official, my blog will be banned from mainland China!

Eels

I watched a nature documentary on eels and how they will die like any other living thing that appeals to human appetite.  Pacific Island culture rely on the movement of eels from salt water to fresh water to forecast the coming of winter.  A native Pacific Islander taught some modernized children about the importance of eels within their culture.  He said eels were "the foundation of  civilization" because it revealed truths about nature.



(These eels most likely hatched in the northeastern United States!)

Civilization begins when humans begin to control patterns in nature, instead of nature controlling humans.  All civilization begins with some postulate about natural truths.

Before Mr. Bacon Lover starts seeping his ideology into every discussion about Chinese culture, Shang Dynasty bone divination provides a glimpse into a crucial postulate about Chinese culture:

Fate has been predestined by nature.

After performing a ritual, the diviner would interpret some message about the future.  Sometimes they're completely wrong, but it provides people comfort "knowing" how to prepare for the future.  Since society collectively accepts the fate of these messages, everyone can see how their lives fit within this natural order.

For the most part, Chinese culture (and I use this term loosely) builds corollaries on this postulate.  But the industrial revolution modernization that comes with it is a huge shock to Chinese culture, because suddenly the will of an individual has the possibility to overcome the preconceived natural order of Chinese society.

Can human ability define fate?

During the 2008 opening ceremony of the Chinese Olympics, of all the characters in the Chinese language to be displayed by their human powered typesetter, they choose "和," or harmony.  The act demonstrates the beauty of being in complete harmony of the order around us, and the individual contributes to harmony.  But as we continue to explore Chinese literature together, the collective can also stagnate growth and be closed minded to improvement.

As I start to read "Sources of Chinese Tradition" and leave the Shang Dynasty, from this point onward I will put the page numbers in a number generator to prevent myself from viewing literature in chronological order.  One of my professors said that reading culture in chronological order implies some sort of progression or development.  Rather, literature and our thoughts are amorphous that waxes and wanes to the conditions of society and nature.