Revisiting Kodawari (#39)

2023-03-05

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In this episode—especially since it has been so long since our last one—we decided to revisit the concept of kodawari and how it has changed for us over the three years of doing this podcast/blog. Over time we encounter more knowledge and have more life experiences. And as we attempt to integrate those into a coherent life philosophy, our ideas about life change and update. I believe we have a duty to regularly bring a beginner's mind to our ideas so that we can "rediscover" them with novelty. There is something cyclic to the way tha...

Over time we encounter more knowledge and have more life experiences. And as we attempt to integrate those into a coherent life philosophy, our ideas about life change and update. I believe we have a duty to regularly bring a beginner's mind to our ideas so that we can "rediscover" them with novelty.

There is something cyclic to the way that we descend into a more chaotic state of confusion and then emerge from it by finding once again our deep truths with freshness in the present moment. This cyclic process can subtly or drastically update our ideas, making them more personal, genuine, valuable, and "true".

So since we are very different people than when we started the podcast three years ago, we felt it would be good to revisit the meaning of kodawari with fresh eyes. We especially lean into the uncompromising element of kodawari and why our society needs more "skillful inflexibility" to continue functioning.

Timestamps:

[04:36] Why are we revisiting the meaning of kodawari?
[09:09] How has kodawari changed for us?
[12:12] What are we uncompromising about?
[20:41] Rethinking how perfection fits into kodawari
[23:11] Why humility is crucial
[26:32] Limitations of the intellect and Chekhov’s The Seagull
[32:59] Our official 2023 definition of kodawari

Links:

First podcast episode on kodawari
Article: What is Kodawari?
Japanese Ramen’s Kodawari
The Japanese philosophy of "Kodawari"
Chekhov’s The Seagull
A Rabbi, a Priest, and an Atheist Smoke Weed Together

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