- Herman Hess! He was an interesting person. I bought his book, Siddhartha, years ago, but I still haven't gotten around to reading it. I need to post some sentences when I wake up later today.
You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. He had already made up his mind that after a suitable interval - a month say - he would take the risk of visiting the shop again. At the moment he reached the imaginary dividing line, he could plant one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern, each Coriolis band swirling in harmony with the forces of nature. My friend John Hosford, who studied to be a blacksmith and practiced the trade until carpal tunnel syndrome set in, tells me that the Japanese believe each trade holds within it the tools needed for achieving enlightenment. That's right, and that's why it is a peak experience to break past all that, every now and then, and to realize, "Oh ... ah...."