“Let me tell you about a Buddhist monk I met last year in the Engadine. He lives a spare life. He meditates half his waking hours and spends weeks without exchanging a word with anyone. His diet is simple, only a single meal a day, whatever he can beg, perhaps only an apple. But he meditates upon that apple until it’s bursting with redness, succulence, and crispness. By the end of the day, he passionately anticipates his meal. The point is, Josef, you don’t have to relinquish passion. But you have to change your conditions for passion.”
