On Taste and Connoisseurship

Is it important or worthwhile to cultivate refined taste or connoisseurship in one’s aesthetic preferences? This often seems to be one of the aims of formal education. We’ll look at some Western thinking around the notion of refined pleasures, and then look at some of the Buddha’s thoughts on the same topic. Some suttas mentioned:…

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On the Skillfulness of Refined Taste

On the first day of a course in wine appreciation I was presented with two samples and asked to describe their aromas. They both smelled like wine. There was nothing else I could say about them. I remember thinking that that would change, and that by the end of the course I would be able to…

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