The intellectual and the sensual don't fall far from each other. I was reminded of this at lunch today. The entrée was spaghetti alla chittara (machine-made with bronze plates) with a meat-ball tomato sauce, paired with a fresh salad of organic field greens, Bulgarian sheep's cheese and balsamic vinegar. To complete the meal I had a wine-glassful of iced coffee.
People who valued the intellectual life during the Wei and Jin Dynasties in China fled community life to live in relative material poverty in bamboo groves or isolated mountain tops so they can pursue study and the cultivation of their minds freely. I don't think the modern Chinese are inclined to this kind of life any more but in America we do have the opportunity to get out of the rat race and allow time for reflection and study. We may not get wealthy or gain wide repute but such a life can bring pleasures that money can't buy.
I was surprised but shouldn't have been. Both the intellectual and the sensual are faculties of the same mind. When we take the time to reflect on our experiences we see that we categorize the world in a certain way and that categories are artifices. As with all extravagances, there is a price to pay but we might cheerfully pay it to experience delights that a fast-paced life seldom brings.
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