The Grace of Gold: Buddhist Exhibit Highlights at The British Library’s “GOLD: 50 spectacular manuscripts from around the world”

In lieu of physically attending a private viewing of The British Library’s “GOLD: 50 spectacular manuscripts from around the world,” I was privileged to enjoy a rich and informative virtual tour of the exhibit in the early hours of the Hong Kong morning with others that could not be in London this month. Gold is grandeur. […]

Octopus Buddhas and Aliens: The Story of Tako Yakushi

One of my favorite films about aliens is Arrival (2016), based on Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life (1998). It portrays otherworldly visitors as enlightened extraterrestrials with a literally timeless grasp of language and causality. Aside from being spacefaring travellers and inhabiting spacecraft that leave no residue, traces, or pollution, the advanced creatures of Arrival perceive time […]