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The Shape of the Bowl: Lessons in Purpose, Impermanence and the Beautifull Ordinary
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Aug 28 2025
Pages: 86
Weight: 0.28
Height: 0.18 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The Shape of the Bowl: Lessons in Purpose, Impermanence, and the Beautiful Ordinary is a lyrical exploration of Japanese wisdom for a modern world hungry for meaning.
Through reflections on timeless concepts-Ikigai (purpose), Wabi-Sabi (the beauty of imperfection), Kintsugi (repair with gold), Gaman (strength in endurance), Mono no Aware (the tenderness of passing things), and more-Marco J. Olivier shows how ancient traditions can illuminate everyday life.
Each chapter combines story and philosophy: a rooftop glimpse of Yūgen beneath a city sky, a cracked bowl restored with gold, an old man bowing before fire. These moments reveal how strength, beauty, and peace are often found not in perfection, but in what is fragile, fleeting, and ordinary.
Written in meditative, poetic prose, The Shape of the Bowl is both a guide and a companion-a book to sit with, return to, and carry into daily life. It does not offer quick fixes, but instead opens space for readers to breathe, reflect, and rediscover harmony in themselves and the world around them.
If you are seeking meaning, resilience, or simply a gentler way of being, this book will help you see that the shape of the bowl-the form of your life-is already whole, even with its cracks.
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