one of nature's odder creatures is the firefly a soft-bodied beetle that emits a warm yellow
glow from its lower abdomen typically at twilight in order to attract mates or prey
though relatively rare in europe and north america the firefly is a common sight in
Japan where it is known as the Hotaru, Hotaru are at their most plentiful in June and July
and can be seen in groups around rivers and lakes the glittering light of the Hotaru is deemed
to be so enchanting the Japanese hold firefly festivals or Hotaru matsuri to watch their dance
something even odder has happened to the firefly in japan, it has become philosophical Zen Buddhist
poets and philosophers the two terms are largely interchangeable in japan have over the centuries
noted the affinity between the firefly and a central concept in zen the brevity of life zen
does not think of our transients as tragic rather it is by accommodating ourselves gracefully to our
own evanescence that we can reach enlightenment and harmony with nature's necessities
for zen the firefly is the perfect symbol of transients positively interpreted its season
is very brief it lights up only in high summer and its light is intermittent and flickering
fireflies are both fragile and astonishingly beautiful when seen in large numbers in a pine
forest or a meadow at night they are a metaphor for our own poignant lives
the move of locating important philosophical themes in the natural world is one that zen
makes again and again for example in relation to bamboo evocative of resilience water a symbol of
patient strength capable of wearing down stone and cherry blossom an emblem of modest rapture
zen repeatedly hangs its ideology onto things that could seem at first very minor because it wants to
make use of what is most ordinarily in our sight to keep us tethered to its grand pathetic truths
the great 17th century poet matsuo basho pushes aside our day-to-day vanity and egoistic ambitions
in the hope that we might become via his focus on a small short-lived creature appropriately
attentive to our own finitude falling from a blade of grass to fly off a firefly for zen Buddhism the
firefly is the ideal carrier on its slender wings of reminders of the need for dignified resignation
in the face of the mightiness and mystery of the natural order koyabashi issa an 18th
century Buddhist priest as well as haiku master wrote 230 poems on fireflies in one of the most
celebrated of these he captures a moment where time is momentarily stilled so that its passage
can more viscerally be felt the fireflies are sparkling and even the mouth of a frog hangs wide
open it's a tiny moment of satori or enlightenment the frog is as wonderstruck as the poet at the
piercing light of the brave doomed fireflies much as we should fairly be amazed frightened grateful
and ultimately joyous to have been allocated a few brief moments in which to behold and try to make
sense of our own existence in an always largely unfathomable 13.8 billion year old universe
how to survive the modern world is a guide to coping with the present
it explores why some key features of modern life including capitalism advertising mass
media and the rise of individualism can have harmful effects on our psychological health