The following excerpt is from The Thorn Puller, the first novel by the Japanese poet Hiromi Ito to be translated into English. With dark humor and refreshing candor, the novel explores the complexities and absurdities of illness, aging, and death as the...

It’s 6:30 a.m. and still dark outside. Rain falls silver under a street lamp. The moon’s reflection floats on Bow Lock. I am getting dressed and will soon make my way to Bromley by Bow Underground station. A usual early morning in East London. But today, Monday, December 1, 2025, marks a difference. Instead of my fourteen-minute tube ride to Bethnal Green, I’ll be making my w...

An experimental composer by trade, David Shea’s recent works have found a new audience within electronic and ambient music listening communities. In the early 1990s, he started out as a turntablist and sample manipulator on John Zorn’s ensembles, cutting his teeth on New York City’s Downtown music circuit. In his own pieces, he would compile elements of classical, avant-garde...

We don’t know much about Shantideva. We do know that the author of How to Lead an Awakened Life (Bodhicaryavatara)—the text from which these verses are drawn—lived in the 8th century and taught at Nalanda University, which was in the present-day state of Bihar in eastern India. From its founding in the 5th century until its destruction in the late 12th century, ...

The following excerpt is from Shoukei Matsumoto’s Work Like a Monk: A Buddhist Guide to Embracing What Matters. Written as a dialogue, with two people exchanging words and listening deeply, this excerpt represents insigh...