Winter 2023-2024: COMFORT & JOY
“The insight that joy can arise from discomfort like a lotus from mud
is supported by another: that our lives, and the universe in which we live them, are meaningful and good, and that realization of this can bring comfort and joy in equal measure.”
Current Issue
- Passing Through the Storm
How can we find joy in this suffering world? - The Endless Vows
Four statements to transform your life - Meeting Krishnamurti
Memorable encounters with an extraordinary being - O Little Town of Riverside
Frederick Law Olmsted’s village in the woods - Metaphors of Movement
Walking with an Inkling or two - Light and Danger through the Crack in the Door
A lively report from the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions
Online Exclusives
Many people may be surprised to learn that the surface of our brain is actually dark and that this darkness has consequences for our experience…
I would first and foremost like to follow an age-old injunction that every writer, before giving out any advice or critique to anyone else, should…
In my mid-thirties I found myself in Dante’s dark wood, where my way was entirely lost. My marriage was falling apart. My primary mentor, Reynolds…
Story editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the Fall 2021 issue of Parabola Magazine, Fire, including the lead essay by Sufi master Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, “Fire…
Our younger selves seed what we become and, as we age, we carry our earlier years with us. A sage elderly woman once told me,…
The word “holistic” is rooted in the ancient Greek word ὅλος (holos), meaning “all, whole, entire.” It is cognate with the English adjective “whole,” a…
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Find out how you can help save Parabola!
Four times a year for nearly 50 years Parabola has gathered the wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions to illuminate the central questions of life.
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Upcoming Issues
Spring 2024:
FREEDOM (submission deadline: December 01, 2023)
Summer 2024:
REALITY (submission deadline: March 01, 2024)
Fall 2024:
GRIEF & GRACE (submission deadline: June 01, 2024)
Please note that these deadlines apply to editorial submissions; our schedule for advertisers may be found here.
The Golden Rule Pledge
All life strives to incorporate the principle of the Golden Rule. Directing our attention toward understanding this most basic principle gives us a reasonable, common sense, and compassionate direction in anything we do. Remembering to use the Golden Rule in our own lives transforms our relationship with ourselves, with others, and with planet Earth.
AN INVITATION TO ALL:
1st—Strive and Incorporate: I will strive to understand the meaning of the Golden Rule for myself and how I wish to incorporate it in my life, recognizing that this effort is sometimes hard and yet always helpful. This is my pledge.
2nd—Invite and Request: I will invite others to do the same: live by the Golden Rule. We can change the world for the better when we apply the Golden Rule in all organizations: environmental, civic, legal, economic, educational, political, or social entities, including religious and faith traditions. This is my petition.
3rd—Stand in Unity: I will join with those on this planet who wish to take real responsibility toward compassion and fairness; and to build an understanding with others about what is to be done based upon the principle of the Golden Rule. Simply stated,
Treat others and the Earth the way you want to be treated
Respect for All Life is the foundation.
The Great Law of Peace, Native American
The Golden Rule Project will continuously make the results of this pledge/petition/proclamation available for all to see and utilize. The more of us who agree and sign, the more power we share as we petition our representatives to live by and apply the Golden Rule in real life situations. This is our Proclamation.