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
Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, Part 50
A poem by Walt Whitman in our issue, Happiness.
Meditation and Service: A Conversation with Nipun Mehta
A conversation with visionary philanthropist Nipun Mehta
The Great Unknown Is Me, Myself: A Conversation with Jacob Needleman
Jacob Needleman’s voice has been prominent in the conversation about man’s inner possibilities for some forty years.
Into the Heart of Persian Sufi Poetry, by Marian Brehmer
Impressions from the land of Rumi
“I Will Teach You” by Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim
To meet her destiny, she needed a miracle
As Time Goes By, by Kent Jones
The special power of classic films
An Intelligence That Bypasses Thought: On Retreat with Michel de Salzmann, by Fran Shaw
Recollected talks of Michel de Salzmann at Chandolin
The Word for Soul
A lyrical song of love, nature, the sacred
Lesson from Volume 37 No. 3, Fall 2012: The Unknown
Helen Berger, “A Shift in Vision”
The Ladder of Heavenly Unity, by Sister Joanna
Continuing Orthodox monasticism’s oldest unbroken tradition, Sinai monks still liturgize, shoeless, over the roots of the Burning Bush. On the holy ground where Moses was commanded to remove his sandals—together with all earthly logic—monks turn diversity’s polarizing forces to unity: some of the ways St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai (Egypt) brings Byzantium’s patristic spirit…
The Night of the Hessian Soldier, by Tracy Cochran
A haunted inn inspires deeper questions
Verbum Ineffabilis, by Anita Doyle
Cezanne, Fruit and Jug on Table, Detail (1890-94). “Before she could speak, my daughter taught me the language of silent things: fruits, flowers, an oaken chair. I came to understand, through my relationship to this small being, why the word adult forms the root of adulteration and adultery. Watching her, it became…
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.”
The Pipe of Reconciliation, by Joseph Epes Brown
Dr. Joseph K. Dixon, A Native American sends smoke signals in Montana, June 1909, National Geographic Creative. The sacred pipe of the Native Americans is a potent symbol of relationship. Through it the human breath sends to all the six directions the purifying smoke that connects the person to the divine and…
Encountering the Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Young Man’s Search, by David Ulrich
On my college campus in the late Spring of 1970, I witnessed the events surrounding the deaths of four Kent State students from National Guardsmen’s bullets. Something changed in me.
“What Dreams May Come”: Ancient holistic healing at the Asklepion, by Seraphim Winslow
cultivation of the integrity and soundness of body, mind, soul, and spirit in the ancient Mediterranean world
Indigo Animal: The Complete Trilogy
Indigo Animal is original, delightful, and profound. The artist, Rue Harrison, has given us wonderful characters in illustrated books in which she has raised the bar on a certain kind of content. […]
Refugee Camp Alchemy, by Kenneth Krushel
A Palestinian rapper and the music of hope
Parabola Podcast, Episode 5: “Embodiment”
Story editor Betsy Cornwell looks at our Summer 2014 Issue, EMBODIMENT, in Parabola Magazine’s monthly podcast.
The Very Rev. James Parks Morton (1930-2020)
The Very Rev. James Parks Morton (1930-2020). Photo: stjohndivine.org Parabola regrets the passing of James Parks Morton. He served for many years on the Board of the Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition, which publishes the magazine, and so was a great friend to us as well as to the…
The Thanksgiving Prayer, Adapted from the Mohawk
Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. […]
Remarkable Beings, by Eleanor O’Hanlon
Among elephants, it’s a family affair
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.
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.
Circles of Time, by J. Stephen Lansing
Being “old” in Bali
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…
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…
The Golden Rule and the Transformation of Being, by Stephen Aronson
How the Golden Rule can be the Golden Path
Parabola Podcast Episode 47: The Golden Rule
Parabola Magazine · Parabola Podcast Episode 47 The Golden Rule Story Editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the Winter 2021-2022 issue of Parabola, “The Golden Rule,” including this year’s grand prize winner of the Poetry of the Sacred contest from the Center for Interfaith Relations.
Repairing the Fabric of the World, A Conversation with Jonathan F.P. Rose
A conversation with civic visionary Jonathan F.P. Rose
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. […]
The Moon is Like a Boy
and the Sun is Like a Girl
Anonymous / Jewish Retold by Maia Zelkha
Parabola Podcast Episode 50: FIRE
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 Season.” Read the full issue by subscribing to Parabola. Parabola Magazine · Parabola Podcast Episode 50: Fire
Ceremony, an Aztec myth, By Fray Juan de Torquemada and Translated by David Johnson
How the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca created a fiesta of music.
Part of an Ancient Story: A Conversation with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Full Version)
Llewellyn-Vaughan-Lee photographed by Richard Whittaker One August day recently in Northern California, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee sat down with Parabola in to speak about free will and destiny. The English-born Vaughan-Lee is a Sufi mystic and lineage holder in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order and the founder of The Golden Sufi Center. Sitting in…
Rated “Condemned”, by Jean Iversen
Tasting the forbidden fruit
The Wizard of Oz as a Parable, by Lillian Firestone
What makes the Wizard of Oz an iconic American tale that has entered into the language? Some expressions are so well known they need no further explanation, as for example “You’re not in Kansas anymore”.
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff: The Man, The Teaching, His Mission
Readers will find here an expertly assembled narrative—a chronological mosaic of the activities, inner and outer, of Gurdjieff and his followers, pieced together from the records kept by many. …
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? …
Driving Lessons, by Snigdha Manickavel
A young woman navigates the roads outside—and within
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
In Search of Bombadil, by Keith Badger
Tracking J.R.R. Tolkien’s Keeper of the Forest
The Dawning Moon of the Mind: Unlocking the Pyramid Texts
That a book on the Pyramid Texts of ancient Egypt has been favorably reviewed by the New Yorker is surely a sign of a significant cultural shift, but if you take the time to read this extraordinary book you will quickly see why. […]
How Do We Reclaim The Heart Of Humanity?, by Trebbe Johnson
A Report on the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions.
In the Midst of Winter, an Invincible Summer, by Tracy Cochran
Seeing the light when it is darkest
Spirit of the Earth: Indian Voices on Nature
As contemporary life becomes more and more fragmented and unsustainable, many individuals are left perplexed and searching for more complete and sustainable models to understand themselves and their place in the world around them. […]
Growing a Cross-Cultural Garden, by Padma Hejmadi
Connecting with the cosmic through the grace, hardship, and gifts of a garden.
Parabola Podcast Episode 39: The Wild
Story Editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the current issue of PARABOLA: The Wild.
A Miracle in the Pueblo, by Lillian Firestone
What happened at the Hopi Corn Dance
Parabola Podcast, Episode 7: “Ways of Healing”
Story editor Betsy Cornwell explores our current issue, “Ways of Healing,” in PARABOLA Magazine’s podcast. Learn more about this issue or become a subscriber at parabola.org. This episode also includes Kenneth Lawrence’s retelling of the Japanese tale “Kiyotsune.” Please consider supporting this podcast and Parabola Magazine by purchasing a back issue or becoming a subscriber. This…
Down the Well, by Tracy Cochran
What we need is right at hand
Making God Necessary, by Deepak Chopra
Why God is a verb, not a noun
Gurdjieff’s Apartment: “Here there are no spectators”, by Roger Lipsey
A universe of meaning in a small Parisian abode
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. …
Hands, by Robinson Jeffers
Inside a cave in a narrow canyon near Tassajara
The vault of rock is painted with hands,
A multitude of hands in the twilight, a cloud of men’s
palms, no more,
No other picture. […]
A Matter of Life and Death, by Rosalind Bradley
Reflections from a Death Row inmate; inspired thoughts from a Sikh guide
“Because of You!”, by Lillian Firestone
Among fields of lavender, understanding comes
Days with Michel Conge, Part One, by Rami Kalfon
Close encounters with a student of Gurdjieff
Seeing in the Fog, by Lydia Bailey
A story on homelessness, the deep woods, and wonder
I Have A Suitcase, by Lee van Laer
I have a suitcase
Packed with many things. …
The Rusalki, by Jane L. Mickelson
Beautiful, mysterious, deadly: mermaids of Russian folklore
The Lesson, by Fred Cheney
An encounter to last a lifetime
A Week at the Hermitage, by Br. Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O.
A Trappist monk’s sojourn at Thomas Merton’s hermitage
The Yoga of Sacred Knowledge and Discernment, by Ravi Ravindra
Life lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
A Moment with Mister Rogers, by Jeff Zaleski
Chatting with America’s favorite saint
East Hill Farm, by Jonathan James
A leap of faith into an “intentional” community
Out of the Box: How Raven gave light to the world, by Leslie Hebert
Anonymous / Haida
Retold by Leslie Hebert
Seeking Verity, by Tracy Cochran
Verity climbed down from the scaffold and stood with me, looking up at his work. I murmured something about how otherworldly the statue looked. “I look for something other when I carve them,” he said. “They’re not connected to this world. They’re in another place, in their heavenly robes.” I was wearing the clothes of…
Everything is Burning, by Tracy Cochran
In a world on fire, finding the light that guides
The Nothingness of Time, by Alexandra Haven
Encountering eternity in the treasures of Egypt
A Touch of Divine Grace: A Conversation with Mother Teresa, by Lex Hixon
In April 1976, Mother Teresa spoke before the United Nations. The following day, she was interviewed by spiritual teacher and radio host Lex Hixon. What follows are some of Hixon’s introductory remarks and a brief portion of his rare interview with Mother Teresa.
HOW GOD BECAME GOD: What Scholars are Really Saying About God And the Bible
“We have been thrown into this world without knowing why or how. As people sometimes say, “I didn’t ask to be born.” And you didn’t (at least as far as you can remember). But you are here, and you have to deal with it.”
Love and Money, by Richard Smoley
The secret prices of love
O Little Town of Riverside, by Mary A. Osborne
Frederick Law Olmsted’s village in the woods
Four Meditations on Seeing, by David Appelbaum
The student of seeing has to unlock the mystery first, Eckhart tells us, and it begins—here, now—with the question of who is seeing.
Suvannavanna Hamsa Jataka: The Golden Swan, by Margo McLoughlin
Long, long ago the Bodhisatta was born as a swan…
The Endless Vows, by Mark Nepo
Four statements to transform your life
Yin-Yang and Awakening Awareness, by Robert Peng
Advice and exercises from a Qigong master
Mercy, by Lee van Laer
Understanding mercy as a force from on High
Freedom from Addiction: The Presence of a Moment
The remarkable story of A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson
Who Am I?, by James George
The Tamils of Sri Lanka called him the Sage of Jaffna.
The Lazy Girl and the Butter-Yellow Pot, by Nartana Premachandra
Anonymous / African
Retold by Nartana Premachandra
The Golden Rule Tetraflexagon, by Steffan Soule
The Golden Rule Tetraflexagon is a magic device created by Steffan Soule in order to teach the Golden Rule.
THE PILGRIM SOUL: A Path to the Sacred Transcending World Religions
The movement in my self from the mask to the face, from the personality to the person, from the performing actor to the ruler of the inner chamber, is the spiritual journey. […]
Lesson from Volume 40 No. 2, Fall 2015: Intelligence
Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer, with Peggy Bagley, “Spiritual Laws: The Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah”
In the Hands of the Sea, by Surnaí Molloy
A rapturous elegy to love
Grace is Here!, A Conversation with Ram Dass
A conversation with spiritual pioneer Ram Dass
Into The West, by Tracy Cochran
Photograph by Peter Cunningham The rain was coming down in sheets as I drove down a wooded road in rural Montague, Massachusetts, towards the opening ceremony of the Maezumi Institute, the new training center of the Zen Peacemakers Order. “The End” by the Doors was playing on the car stereo. “The…
The Wall and the Mirror: Forgiveness in the Work of Martin Scorsese, by Kent Jones
Forgiveness in the work of Martin Scorsese
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.
Waken, Valkyrie!, by Richard Wagner
Waken, Wala!
Wala! Awake!
From thy long sleep,
Slumberer, wake at my call! […]
Parabola Podcast Episode 49: Young & Old
Story editor Betsy Cornwell and Parabola intern Surnaí Molloy read excerpts from the Summer 2021 issue, Young & Old, in this episode of our free podcast.
Parabola Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the arrival of Paramahansa Yogananda in America
With a gaze of majestic power, the master electrified me with a glimpse of his cosmic consciousness.
I Knew Two Men
Remembering Harold Bloom and Jacob Needleman
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…
What Happens in Mindfulness, by Cynthia Bourgeault
A review of John Teasdale’s “What Happens in Mindfulness” by Cynthia Bourgeault
“Find Noor Sher. Noor Sher Knows.”, by James Opie
A remarkable man of old Afghanistan
The Desk, by Kenneth Krushel
A miracle made of wood
Becoming Part of It, by Joseph Epes Brown
Roland W. Reed, Alone With the Past, The Life and Photographic Art of Roland W. Reed, Afton, MN: Afton Press. In terms of interconnections, a dominant theme in all Native American cultures is that of relationship, or a series of relationships that are always reaching further and further out; relationships within…
For a Man There’s an Order in Life, by James Opie
Homespun advice to a young man in need