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Lead book review

The problem with westerners seeking oriental enlightenment

Those chasing after blissful satori never seem interested in the people who actually live in Asia. They want to float in higher spheres

27 January 2024

9:00 AM

27 January 2024

9:00 AM

The Light of Asia: A History of Western Fascination with the East Christopher Harding

Allen Lane, pp.452, 30

Call it a prejudice if you like. Living in Japan in the 1970s, I had a slight aversion to a particular type of westerner. He – for it was mostly a he – usually lived in Kyoto, sometimes wore a kimono and liked to sit in ancient temples chasing after that presumably blissful moment of enlightenment, awakening, satori, or whatever one wishes to call it.

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