# Zen Buddhism's Secret Tool

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-school-of-life-7778042/zen-buddhism-s-secret-tool
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-school-of-life-7778042/zen-buddhism-s-secret-tool.md
Podcast: [The School of Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-school-of-life-7778042)
Published: 2026-06-22T01:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG4196579759.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG4196579759.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-school-of-life-7778042/episodes/zen-buddhism-s-secret-tool
Duration seconds: 332

## Resource

For Zen Buddhists, fireflies are not just a quirk of nature — they’re the perfect metaphor for the bitter-sweet brevity of life. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/9seyZ Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/Iryxa FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/3D3HMVM “One of nature’s odder creatures is the firefly, a soft bodied beetle that emits a warm yellow glow from its lower abdomen, typically at twilight, in order to attract mates or prey. Though relatively rare in Europe and North America, the firefly is a common sight in Japan, where it is known as the hotaru. Hotarus are at their most plentiful in June and July, and can be seen in groups around rivers and lakes. The glittering light of the hotaru is deemed to be so enchanting, the Japanese hold firefly festivals – or hotaru matsuri – to watch their dance…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Josh Philip Saunders https://joshphilipsaunders.co.uk/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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## Transcript

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