Essays in IdlenessNew to Penguin Classics, these two Japanese texts are timeless reflections on Buddhism, nature and the value of being idle These two works on life's fleeting pleasures are by Buddhist monks from medieval Japan, but each shows a different world view. In the short memoir H j ki, Ch mei recounts his decision to withdraw from worldly affairs and live as a hermit in a tiny hut in the mountains, contemplating the impermanence of human existence. Kenko,