Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.
Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you shoud not return emptyhanded. Please take my clothes as a gift.”
The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.
Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow, ” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”
The Asian conical hat (often called a sugegasa in Japan, dǒulì in China, nón lá in Vietnam, etc.) itself is not inherently racist—it is a traditional and practical piece of headwear used for centuries in many Asian countries, primarily for sun and rain protection. However, it can become problematic in certain contexts:
Stereotyping & Caricature – When used as a costume or paired with exaggerated accents, clothing, or mannerisms, it can contribute to racial stereotypes, reducing rich and diverse cultures to a simplistic image.
Mockery & Disrespect – If worn in a way that mocks or trivializes Asian cultures, especially in Western media or Halloween costumes, it can be offensive.
Historical Context – In some places, the conical hat has been used to depict Asians in a demeaning way, such as in propaganda or racist cartoons.
If it’s used to stereotype, mock, or dehumanize, it can be offensive.
“So bullshitting isn’t just nonsense. It’s constructed in order to appear meaningful, though on closer examination, it isn’t. And bullshit isn’t the same as lying. A liar knows the truth but makes statements deliberately intended to sell people on falsehoods. bullshitters, in contrast, aren’t concerned about what’s true or not, so much as they’re trying to appear as if they know what they’re talking about. In that sense, bullshitting can be thought of as a verbal demonstration of the Dunning-Kruger effect—when people speak from a position of disproportionate confidence about their knowledge relative to what little they actually know, bullshit is often the result.”
“For me, transcending is like a jolt of bliss. You’re in one place, and then you dip into the transcendent, the field of pure consciousness. It’s like being plugged into an electric circuit; you get a jolt of happiness. It’s very beautiful. And the more you practice this technique, the longer you stay in the transcendent. Short beautiful rides lead to longer beautiful rides. I always say it’s like gold coming in and garbage going out. When you transcend and you’ve experienced this happiness, you have less stress, less depression, less sadness, less fear, less hate, less bitter anger—all negativity starts to dissipate the more you transcend. You start feeling better. You start acting better. You start enjoying more.” — David Lynch
“The male ego can in some cases be tied to how and where a man sees his place in the world and whether he’s living up to expectations — his and those of society.
Cultural stereotypes for men can be intricately tied to both the inflation and deflation of the male ego. Some men measure themselves by the answers to the following questions:
Am I strong enough? Am I wealthy enough? Do I meet the traditional definition of masculinity? Do I attract women? Do I control things or people? Do people recognize me for these things and am I respected and revered for them?”
When Bankei held his seclusion-weeks of meditation, pupils from many parts of Japan came to attend. During one of these gatherings a pupil was caught stealing. The matter was reported to Bankei with the request that the culprit be expelled. Bankei ignored the case.
Later the pupil was caught in a similar act, and again Bankei disregarded the matter. This angered the other pupils, who drew up a petition asking for the dismissal of the thief, stating that otherwise they would leave in a body.
When Bankei had read the petition he called everyone before him. “You are wise brothers,” he told them. “You know what is right and what is not right. You may go somewhere else to study if you wish, but this poor brother does not even know right from wrong. Who will teach him if I do not? I am going to keep him here even if all the rest of you leave.”
A torrent of tears cleansed the face of the brother who had stolen. All desire to steal had vanished.
