Rising Above
From slavery to the priesthood
Voice and Freedom
Expressing our essential self
Meeting the Teacher
A life-changing encounter with spiritual authority
I Knew Two Men
Remembering Harold Bloom and Jacob Needleman
The Word for Soul
A lyrical song of love, nature, the sacred
Browse
Daily Life as Spiritual Exercise, by Karlfried Graf Dürckheim
In the Middle Ages people were well aware of the inexhaustible power that arises simply from sitting still. After that time, knowledge of the purifying power of stillness and its practice was, in the West, largely lost.
A Parabola Bestiary: Tadpole, by Janwillem van de Wetering
The fluidity of who and what we are reflected in embodied transformation
Bosch Decoded: The Esoteric Bosch, Vol. II, by Lee van Laer
Announcing the publication of Senior Editor, Lee van Laer’s new book on symbolism in the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch. […]
Lucky Man, by Tracy Cochran
Life lessons from William Segal
Our April Gift to You: A Free PDF of “The Search for Meaning”
These are challenging times for all of us. We at Parabola are offering a free PDF of our “The Search for Meaning” issue from Spring 2017 to anyone who would like one, and we hope you will find comfort in its pages. Click here to access your free PDF. You can also purchase a print…
Ceremony, an Aztec myth, By Fray Juan de Torquemada and Translated by David Johnson
How the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca created a fiesta of music.
Remarkable Beings, by Eleanor O’Hanlon
Among elephants, it’s a family affair
The Courageous Mary Oliver, by Lisa Starr
Remembering the beloved poet
Hagoromo, Retold by Kenneth Lawrence, translated by Kai Lawrence. Art by Kumiko Lawrence
A fisherman, a celestial maiden: a fateful decision
Parabola Podcast Episode 43: God
“For it seemed to me certain, and I still think so today, that one can never wrestle enough with God if one does so out of pure regard for the truth. Christ likes us to prefer truth to him because, before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go toward…
On Hopelessness and Hope: A Conversation with Deep Psychologist Michael Penn
A conversation with deep psychologist Michael Penn
Parabola Podcast Episode 32: Animals
Story editor Betsy Cornwell shares Ursula K. Le Guin’s “A Parabola Bestiary: Bear” and Eleanor O’Hanlon’s “Remarkable Beings” in this episode of Parabola magazine’s free monthly podcast
Light and Danger through the Crack in the Door, by Trebbe Johnson
A lively report from the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions
Søren Kierkegaard on Silence and Prayer
As my prayer become more attentive and inward
I had less and less to say.
I finally became completely silent. […]
Baking with Metta, by Lynda A. Archer
Lynda A. Archer
Walking the Maze, by Pamela Travers
The way in, the way out
Bose, Το πιο Ριζοσπαστικό Μοναστήρι στη Γη
Από τη στιγμή που ιδρύθηκε, πενήντα χρόνια πριν, η κοινότητα του Bose ήταν προορισμένη να λειτουργήσει ως οδοδείκτης […]
Renewal at the Rubin Museum
A podcast from Parabola Editor, Tracy Cochran’s mindfulness meditation talk at the Rubin Museum of Art on January 6th, 2016.
Equipment List for the Journey Home, by Trebbe Johnson
A guide to exploring, inner and outer
Parabola Podcast Episode 27: “The Maze”
Story editor Betsy Cornwell shares PL Travers’ stunning essay “Walking the Maze” and William Segal’s wise poem “The Middle Ground” in this episode of Parabola Magazine’s free podcast.
I Knew Two Men
Remembering Harold Bloom and Jacob Needleman
A Parabola Bestiary: Goat, by Joseph Cary
The trouble with goats
These Are the Words of the Secret: The Gospel of Thomas Revealed, by Jean-Yves Leloup
Yeshua said: Whoever lives the interpretation of these words shall no longer taste death.
Emptying the Cup, by Elizabeth Napp
To learn is to be vulnerable. It is to have the courage to say, “I don’t know” and the wisdom to know the difference between knowing and not knowing.
Playing With God, by Tracy Cochran
Photograph: Girls exploring rock pools, Cameron Bay by State Library of Victoria Collections, 1909 “Religion isn’t for me,” announced my eight-year-old daughter, Alexandra, as we ate dinner together one January night. “I think of it like an old spider on the wall. I know that it’s there but I try to…
Beyond Words, by William Segal
How, indeed, could it be possible for a man, who is limited on six sides—by east, west, south, north, deep, and sky—to understand a matter which is above the skies, which is beneath the deep, which stretches beyond north and south, and which is present in every place, and fills all vacuity? —St. Gregory the…
Arrernte Land, by Karen Lethlean
A child visits her ancestral land
What Is The Weight of Wealth?, by Amy Barnes
What is the weight of wealth? Is it the weight of the money itself or is it the weight of responsibility of having that money?
George Adie: A Gurdjieff Pupil in Australia
A review of “George Adie: A Gurdjieff Pupil in Australia” by Jeff Zaleski
Surrounded by Water and Dying of Thirst, by Lambros Kamperidis
Saint Anthony Abbot Tempted by a Heap of Gold, Tempera on panel painting by the Master of the Osservanza Triptych, ca. 1435, Metropolitan Museum of Art “As I commute to work every day, I leave behind a quiet country road for a highway that takes me to the city. Nature still…
A Welcome Oasis: The 27th All & Everything International Humanities Conference, by Keith Badger
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 obligingly give an honest account of their journey. So before doing an appraisal of the 27th All & Everything International Humanities Conference I offer a short yet pertinent brief. Having…
A Turning Point in the Cosmos, by Mary A. Osborne
Owen Barfield and the history of consciousness
The Flight from Disunity: Thomas Merton on Suffering, by Vanessa Hurst
“Some men believe in the power and value of suffering,” writes Thomas Merton. “But their belief is an illusion. Suffering has no power, no value of its own.”
Parabola Podcast Episode 34: Hope
Story editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the current issue of Parabola, “Hope,” in this episode of the magazine’s free monthly podcast.
Journey of the Rainbow Serpent, by Nartana Premachandra
Anonymous / Aboriginal
Parabola Podcast, Episode 11: “The Value of Education”
Story Editor Betsy Cornwell reflects on the spiritual value of education in this new episode of Parabola’s free monthly podcast.
Awakening in the Yard D Sangha, by James Gross
A conversation with former prisoner and Buddhist practitioner Edwin Paragas
The Art of Budo, by John Stevens
The calligraphy and paintings of the martial arts masters
Make This Moment a Diamond, by Jon Pepper and Patrizia De Libero
A conversation with Italian priest and spiritual guide Father Guidalberto Bormolini
A Conversation with Alexandra Isles
I follow two rules. The first is that my presence is invisible and silent. The film belongs to the storytellers. The second is to do as much research as possible, trust the material, and never film re-creations.
Not Knowing, Non-Being, and the Power of Nothingness, By Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, with Hilary Hart
Exploring the “hidden face of God”
Part of an Ancient Story: A Conversation with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
One August day recently in northern California, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee sat down with Parabola to speak about free will and destiny.
Parabola Podcast, Episode 5: “Embodiment”
Story editor Betsy Cornwell looks at our Summer 2014 Issue, EMBODIMENT, in Parabola Magazine’s monthly podcast.
Alice Coltrane’s “Om Shanti”
In the early 1980s, jazz pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane devoted herself to the Hindu tradition, adopting the name Swamini Turiyasangitananda and established the 48-acre Sai Anantam Ashram outside Los Angeles.
The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation
“The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation” by Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell. Reviewed by Patty de Llosa
Down the Well, by Tracy Cochran
What we need is right at hand
A Parabola Bestiary: Horses, by Alice van Buren
Meeting a horse to find peace, war, and the sea
Without Pause, by Mark Nepo
They say the legendary hitter Ted Williams could see the seams of the ball as it came out of the pitcher’s hand. …
What Happens in Mindfulness, by Cynthia Bourgeault
A review of John Teasdale’s “What Happens in Mindfulness” by Cynthia Bourgeault
The Compassionate Warrior, by Elsa Marston
This was the time in his life that Abd el-Kader had intended to devote to peaceful pursuits such as prayer, teaching, and charitable deeds. He might have turned his back on the growing tensions in Damascus: It would not have been unreasonable. Yet he could not escape the world around him, or the role that…
To Struggle, by Lee van Laer
The word [struggle] is of unknown origin; and although it is presumed to have come from Scandinavian and Germanic roots (there are no clear parallels or roots in Latin) the connections are uncertain […]
Walking with George, by Sofía Vélez-Calderón
learning mindfulness and connection from a dog named George Lucas
Grace is Here!, A Conversation with Ram Dass
A conversation with spiritual pioneer Ram Dass
Agencies, by Anthony Blake
The idea of a “fall of man” is not confined to Christendom. Krishnamurti in his famous dialogues with physicist David Bohm on “The Ending of Time” asked the question: What went wrong in human life? …
THE NEW SCIENCE: Changing Ourselves by Changing the Brain, by Patty de Llosa
“Does mind exist?” asks neuroscientist Daniel Siegel, as he opens a two-day conference on his favorite subject […]
Moving Toward Hope: A Conversation with Elaine Pagels
How can religious tradition be literally true when language is symbolic, intrinsically?
Free, by Paul Reps
Paul Reps (1895–1990) was an American artist, poet, and author best known for his pioneering book that helped introduce Zen to the West, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Parabola is honored to have the opportunity to […]
Signore: Parabola visits the Monastero di Bose in the Foothills of the Italian Alps, by Roger Lipsey
Photograph courtesy of Monastero di Bose “There must be monasticism in the twenty-first century!” So said a friend not long ago. Both his implicit protest and his conviction make sense. The landscape of the spirit in the West would be torn and lacking if the monastic way vanished in our time….
How to Reach Where You Already Are, by Alan Watts
Previously unpublished commentary from Alan Watts, a pioneer of East-West spirituality.
The Unasked Question, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith
A classic quest seen anew
The Natural Order of Things, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
A Sufi master on finding balance in an unstable world
Three Poems by Stephanie Unger
Stephanie Unger is a writer who lives in Buffalo, NY. She has studied poetry at workshops led by Martha Heyneman and others at the Rochester Folk Art Guild in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.
Parabola Podcast Episode 45: Presence
The miracle is that the practice of presence not only enlivens ourselves, but allows us to share that new life with others and also to receive the presence of the Divine. It is the foundation for truth, and it is the genesis of hope. With practice, presence can, in the words of John G. Bennett,…
I Have A Suitcase, by Lee van Laer
I have a suitcase
Packed with many things. …
Whence Cometh Our Help? by Roger Lipsey
Guidance for our time from three wise men
Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Mindfulness and the roots of war
A Miracle in the Pueblo, by Lillian Firestone
What happened at the Hopi Corn Dance
Plant Healing and Shamanism in the Deep Amazon, by Jorges Hachumak with David L. Carroll
Inside an Ayahuasca ceremony
Who Are You? by Jennifer Skiff
A human, an orangutan, a heart-to-heart communion
Healing the Wounds of War
In contrast to our modern situation, traditional and indigenous peoples had extensive spiritually and communally based warrior medicine, practices and lineages. […]
NO BATTERIES REQUIRED, by Iven Lourie
A review of Ellen Dooling Reynard’s “No Batteries Required”
The Lazy Girl and the Butter-Yellow Pot, by Nartana Premachandra
Anonymous / African
Retold by Nartana Premachandra
Repairing the Fabric of the World, A Conversation with Jonathan F.P. Rose
A conversation with civic visionary Jonathan F.P. Rose
Meeting the Teacher
A life-changing encounter with spiritual authority
Helen Keller, by Langston Hughes
She,
In the dark,
Found light
Brighter than many ever see. […]
The Fellowship, by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
Oxford skyline. Photo by David Iliff During the hectic middle decades of the twentieth century, from the end of the Great Depression through World War II and into the 1950s, a small circle of intellectuals gathered on a weekly basis in and around Oxford University to drink, smoke, quip, cavil, read…
Isaac Newton: Magician, by Soraya Field Fiorio
Newton’s inward search for hidden truth
A Week at the Hermitage, by Br. Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O.
A Trappist monk’s sojourn at Thomas Merton’s hermitage
Stones in the Sacred Household: The 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions, by Trebbe Johnson
A hopeful report from the 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions
Parabola Podcast Episode 35: Change & the Changeless
Story Editor Betsy Cornwell shares Jim White’s moving essay “The Esoteric Shakespeare” and Scottish and Chinese fairy tales, as well as wise advice from Rainer Maria Rilke, in this episode of Parabola magazine’s free monthly podcast.
Intelligence and Service
Lee van Laer, Red-Tailed Hawk, Piermont, NY Like the rest of the Parabola readership, I’ve been watching the developments on the borders of Europe — the influx of desperate refugees, the corpses of children — in a mixture of astonishment and horror. We live in what we believe to be an…
Unity of Spirit
A conversation with intuitive and healer Laura Day Ivisited Laura Day in her apartment in Tribeca in lower Manhattan to talk about intuition. Since her early twenties, Day has been internationally famous for her uncanny ability to know things immediately, without the aid of research or reasoning, accurately seeing the outcome of even arcane events….
Poetry of the Sacred
The annual winners of the Poetry of the Sacred Contest (2021), chosen by the Center for Interfaith Relations.
Desire for Truth, by Roger Hawkins
Sick of what it is called
Sick of the names
I dedicate every pore
To what’s here.
—Ikkyu
THE ETERNAL LAW: Ancient Greek Philosophy, Modern Physics and Ultimate Reality
“The Eternal Law: Ancient Greek Philosophy, Modern Physics and Ultimate Reality” by John Spencer. Reviewed by Ocean Malandra.
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Virgin and Child in Majesty, 1150–1200, Made in Auvergne, Walnut with paint, gesso, and linen Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is discord, union; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where…
Lessons from Lucifer, by Tracy Cochran
Lucifer is the most compelling character in Milton’s Paradise Lost. He is the most dazzling angel. In Hebrew his name means “to shine” or “to bear light.” In Latin it means “morning star.” […]
Let it Be, by Tracy Cochran
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
A Stopinder Anthology, Edited by David Kherdian
The first issue of Stopinder: A Gurdjieff Journal for Our Time appeared in the year 2000. […]
Let Them Be, by Luis Fernando Llosa
America’s children are being robbed of their childhood. It’s as simple as that.
Yin-Yang and Awakening Awareness, by Robert Peng
Advice and exercises from a Qigong master
Los Ángeles de Navidad, por Risa Levenson Gold con las ilustraciones de Jean Zaleski
ilustraciones de Jean Zaleski Era un lluvioso y helado atardecer de diciembre en Manhattan unos días antes de Navidad. Esperaba bajo una llovizna persistente el autobús de la Sexta Avenida para que nos llevara a mi y a mis cuatro hijos desde Greenwich hacia el norte de la ciudad hasta nuestro…
Looking for Gold: The Alchemy of Cinderella, by Mary A. Osborne
The hidden teachings of a beloved fairy tale
Parabola Podcast Episode 33: Guidance
Betsy Cornwell shares Josh Boettiger’s essay on King David and Leonard Cohen, “The Poet and the Shepherd,” and Susan McCaslin’s meditation on spiritual journeys, “Guidance,” in this episode.
The Moon is Like a Boy
and the Sun is Like a Girl
Anonymous / Jewish Retold by Maia Zelkha
Metaphors of Movement, by Keith Badger
Walking with an Inkling or two
Parabola Podcast Episode 39: The Wild
Story Editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the current issue of PARABOLA: The Wild.
The Buddha Calling the Buddha, by Kinrei Bassis
Odilon Redon, Buddha Walking Among the Flowers, 1905. “Most of us are like a fish caught in a hook. The Buddha is trying to reel us in; the hook holding us is our deep spiritual longing. We spend most of the time struggling, not wanting to be reeled in, not wanting…
Growing a Cross-Cultural Garden, by Padma Hejmadi
Connecting with the cosmic through the grace, hardship, and gifts of a garden.
Make Peace Before the Sun Goes Down, by Roger Lipsey
The long encounter of Thomas Merton and his Abbott, James Fox.