Art mirrors life, as usual. In the West, success and happiness come—or so we believe—by avoiding losses and accumulating more stuff: more money, more accomplishments, more relationships, more experiences, more prestige, more followers, more possessions. Meanwhile, most Eastern philosophy warns that this acquisitiveness leads to materialism and vanity, which derails the search for happiness by obscuring one’s essential nature.[1] We need to chip away the jade boulder of our lives until we find ourselves. As we grow older in the West, we generally think we should have a lot to show for our
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