Kokoro Lesson Plan

What does Sensei seem to think about K's traditionalism, based on today's reading?

Sensei writes about K's traditionalism: "You must understand that to K, his own past seemed too sacred a thing to be thrown away like an old suit of clothes. One might say that the past was his life, and to deny it would have meant that his life thus far had been without purpose." It seems to make sense that K took to the Western ideas that conformed to his preexisting Eastern ideas, which created a dangerous mixture.

Although the "true way" suggested by ascetic Buddhism would perhaps have just caused him to live a life as a selfless priest or monk, the egoism of Western idealism and its...