Lafcadio Hearn on the Evolution of Souls

[sdi]

I chanced across Lafcadio Hearn's In Ghostly Japan the other day. I've been enjoying its mix of travelogue, topical studies, and ghost stories—but what I wanted to call out here is this pleasant meditation analogizing the evolution of the domesticated silkworm moth to the evolution of the soul.

It is a good reminder that while the goal is, in a sense, to leave material existence behind; doing so does not escape us from our troubles, but rather prepares us for their intensification.