Our pal Kevin Kim — essayist, professor, artist, and a genuine Renaissance man whose interests range from the comparative study of religion to philosophy of mind to the passing of intestinal gas, has just published a book. It’s called Water From a Skull, and is described online as “a collection of reflective essays and academic papers (1999-2006) on religious diversity, Buddhism, Christianity, mind, and other topics of personal interest.”
Kevin has a piercing and wide-ranging intellect, is a marvellous writer, and has a truly skanky sense of humor. I’m sure the book is well worth reading, and I’m going to get me a copy. You should too; you can pick one up here.
4 Comments
Muchas Jerry Garcias.
There are treasures stored up for you in heaven.
Kevin
Kevin,
Glad to hear that. Can’t wait.
Ah, yes: regarding the term “professor”:
I am, technically, a professor by Korean reckoning because, despite my possessing only a Master’s degree, I teach at a university. But from the Western perspective, it might be better to call me a teacher or instructor.
In Sino-Korean, the term for my position is “gyo-soo,” which usually translates as “professor.” If I were to do the same job at a typical language institute here, my position would be “kang-sa,” or “instructor.” In all cases, the general term “seon-saeng” (with “seon” pronounced somewhere between “sun” and “sawn”) is applicable; it simply means “teacher,” and comes from the Chinese characters meaning “before” and “life,” i.e., a teacher is one born before his or her students. Having been further down the road, this person — or so East Asians generally assume — is therefore wiser.
Funny… Asians (South, Southeast, East) also have plenty of stories about wisdom not being a function of age — the Buddha’s story is a paradigm example. Might be a good subject for a blog post sometime, but I’d have to do some research.
Kevin
So: professor it is!
I’ve certainly had plenty of experience with the old and unwise; they abound. As do the young and unwise.