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
The Night of the Hessian Soldier, by Tracy Cochran
A haunted inn inspires deeper questions
Longing for Wholeness: An Interview with Satish Kumar
When you accept the state of being a stranger, you are no longer a stranger. […]
The Way of the Householder, Retold by Rama Devagupta
An anonymous Hindu tale retold by Rama Devagupta.
Parabola Podcast Episode 31: The Journey Home
Betsy Cornwell shares Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush’s “Going Home” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Our Journey Had Advanced” in this episode of our 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…
The Miracle of Consciousness, by Christian Wertenbaker
The science and spirit of awareness
Portfolio: Brian English
Brian first studied the history of photography and Black & White printing in 1985 with Teacher and Mentor William Abranowicz at Parsons New York City. …
Portfolio: Barney Taxel, Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland
Seeing in the Fog, by Lydia Bailey
A story on homelessness, the deep woods, and wonder
Meeting Remarkable Trees, by Keith Badger
What our arboreal friends can teach us
Lesson from Volume 36 No. 3, Fall 2011: Seeing
Anonymous, “Nomad Girl” retold by Barbara H. Berger
Waken, Valkyrie!, by Richard Wagner
Waken, Wala!
Wala! Awake!
From thy long sleep,
Slumberer, wake at my call! […]
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? …
Learning to Die, by Brother David Steindl-Rast
David Steindl-Rast (2004) Wikipedia The only point where one can start to talk about anything, including death, is where one finds oneself. And for me this is as a Benedictine monk. In the rule of St. Benedict, the momenta mori has always been important, because one of what St. Benedict calls…
Who Decides History’s Future?, by Alexandra Zaleski
Of might and right, and the future of the world’s art
Icon and Mirror, a Photo Project by Pola Rader
The photo project “Icon and Mirror” by Pola Rader analyzes the Orthodox woman and her social role in feminist context.
Parabola: The Search for Meaning : Free Complete Digital Index, 1976-2019
The Gurdjieff Foundation of Illinois has generously assembled a free searchable index for Parabola magazine readers.
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,…
Lesson from Volume 40 No. 2, Fall 2015: Intelligence
Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer, with Peggy Bagley, “Spiritual Laws: The Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah”
Meeting Krishnamurti, by Ravi Ravindra
Memorable encounters with an extraordinary being
Healing Water Goddesses, by Betsy Cornwell
Four Sacred Guardians
Walking with George, by Sofía Vélez-Calderón
learning mindfulness and connection from a dog named George Lucas
The Verses of Ambapali, by Margo McLoughlin
In Vesali, in ancient India, at the time of the Buddha, a baby girl was born spontaneously at the foot of a mango tree in the royal garden. She was given the name Ambapali.
Determination, by Tracy Cochran
When most of us think of determination, we think first of imposing our will on the world, insisting on a particular outcome, our vision. Yet real determination appears when we keep going, surrendering what the ego wants, which is always to look good, to sound good, to win. Real perseverance is willingness, not will. […]
My Ancestor, by David Guy
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 Price, seemed to be dying of a weird spinal cancer that was slowly paralyzing him. My visits to him brought up visits I’d paid to my father in the hospital…
George Adie: A Gurdjieff Pupil in Australia
A review of “George Adie: A Gurdjieff Pupil in Australia” by Jeff Zaleski
The New Year, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Transforming repetition into renewal
Portfolio: Amanda Means
In the Midst of Winter, an Invincible Summer, by Tracy Cochran
Seeing the light when it is darkest
A Parabola Bestiary: Sea Creatures, by Robert Bly
Finding life between sand and sea
Portfolio: David Ulrich
Can my inner work towards stillness and consciousness be reflected in images? Perhaps the moments of presence I, at times, experience can be extended outward to you, the viewer.
THE STILLNESS OF THE LIVING FOREST: A Year of Listening and Learning
THE STILLNESS OF THE LIVING FOREST: A Year of Listening and Learning by John Harvey. Reviewed by Jan Cheripko
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 […]
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.
The Awakened Eye, by Frederick Franck
A recollection of the first moment of being at one.
Gastronomy in Ancient China, by Donald Harper
Cooking for the sage king
An Intelligence That Bypasses Thought: On Retreat with Michel de Salzmann, by Fran Shaw
Recollected talks of Michel de Salzmann at Chandolin
Sacred Time, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
The seasons and the Cosmos
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…
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…
Ayni: Living Life in the Round, by Patricia Soledad Llosa
Giving and receiving in a Bolivian marketplace
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. […]
A Parabola Bestiary: Tadpole, by Janwillem van de Wetering
The fluidity of who and what we are reflected in embodied transformation
The Soul, Like The Moon
The soul, like the moon,
is new, and always new again. …
Remarkable Beings, by Eleanor O’Hanlon
Among elephants, it’s a family affair
My Journey to Qigong Master, by Robert Peng
Training the body, training the mind
On Hopelessness and Hope: A Conversation with Deep Psychologist Michael Penn
A conversation with deep psychologist Michael Penn
Two Stories, by Mullah Nasr Eddin
Mullah Nasr Eddin, or Hodja Nasr Eddin, is a legendary Turkish teller of tales, a sort of wise fool, to whom all sorts of exploits are attributed.
The Temple of Amount, by Eliezer Shore
Searching for symbol in a world of number
Painting Enlightenment, Paula Arai / Artwork by Iwasaki Tsuneo
A remarkable gallery of Heart Sutra Art
Repairing the Fabric of the World, A Conversation with Jonathan F.P. Rose
A conversation with civic visionary Jonathan F.P. Rose
A Stopinder Anthology, Edited by David Kherdian
The first issue of Stopinder: A Gurdjieff Journal for Our Time appeared in the year 2000. […]
Parabola Podcast Episode 37: Remembering
Story Editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from PARABOLA’s forty-three year archive on the theme of remembering.
Three Poems by Jane Yolen
Three Poems by Jane Yolen
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…
Wordly Happiness / Buddhist Happiness, by Mu Soeng
Happiness is everywhere. Not that anyone is claiming to be really, truly happy but everyone is talking about wanting to be happy. Wanting to be happy is not news. […]
The Meaning of Tradition: A Conversation with Huston Smith
Parabola’s first issue, Winter 1976, included the magazine’s first interview. Conducted by then-editor John Loudon, it questioned religion scholar Huston Smith, author of the bestseller The Religions of Man, whom Loudon described as “a man who has traveled widely, but deeply, learning the many languages for what is primordially true.”
Awakening Higher Consciousness: Guidance from Ancient Egypt and Sumer
When two ecologists and biologists, who have spent a year together exploring the wisdom hidden in ancient Egyptian temples, decide to share their discoveries about awakening higher consciousness […]
Let Them Be, by Luis Fernando Llosa
America’s children are being robbed of their childhood. It’s as simple as that.
Baking with Metta, by Lynda A. Archer
Lynda A. Archer
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…
Finding Joy: The Science of Happiness, by Patty de Llosa
Sound, scientific advice on attaining happiness
Gifts for Gifted Children
Each summer I teach creative writing classes at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. It’s a wonderful job for many reasons: my colleagues are uniformly, eccentrically brilliant, I’ve taught at campuses all over the country, from Los Angeles to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and since the program is a sleepaway camp, the mood is…
Lesson from Volume 40 No. 4, Winter 2015-2016: Free Will and Destiny
Part of an Ancient Story: A Conversation with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Inanna: Relevance and Return, by Christine Irving
A report from the new Goddess Spirituality
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 40: Mercy & Forgiveness
This episode shares excerpts from Parabola‘s current issue, “Mercy and Forgiveness.”
Inanna and the Land of No Return, by Rachel Nora Greene
A child retells the legend of the Sumerian goddess Inanna and her descent to the Nether World.
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.
Golden Temple, by Neil Patel
Julian Nyca, Golden Temple, Amritsar, India, Wikimedia Commons The night Nimo, Jay, and I arrived in Amritsar, India, we made a cursory survey of the Sikh Golden Temple, wandering around the outer area and meditating at its river banks. The next morning, we woke up at 3:00 A.M. to get there…
Snow Day Reflection, by Tracy Cochran
There are different kinds of realizations. They are not always lightening bolts but sometimes soft and slow, as if snow were quietly falling and settling.
“Find Noor Sher. Noor Sher Knows.”, by James Opie
A remarkable man of old Afghanistan
Speechless, by Tracy Cochran
A meditation teacher loses her voice—and finds her way
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.
On Unknowing, by Pamela Travers
Travers in the role of Titania in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, c. 1924 (Wikipedia) It is not ignorance. Rather, one could say, a particular process of cognition that has little or no use for words. It is part of our heritage at birth, the infant’s first primer. And the…
Boethius, rendered into modern English by Thomas Powers (Free Download)
Download a free PDF of a new rendering by Thomas Powers of “Consolation of Philosophy” (c. 524 A.D.), the classic and influential work by the Roman senator Boethius (c. 477-524 A.D.).
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
“I Will Teach You” by Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim
To meet her destiny, she needed a miracle
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. […]
Cosmos in Stone, by Hélène Fleury
Researches into the source of megalithic culture.
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. […]
Awakened Awareness, by Adyashanti
The ultimate practice?
Not Knowing, Non-Being, and the Power of Nothingness, By Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, with Hilary Hart
Exploring the “hidden face of God”
Participators of Sacred Things, by Roger Lipsey
The structure of traditional art
The LSD Experience, by Laurence Rosenthal
A celebrated composer hears celestial music
Honey Song, by Neil Rusch
What the bees—and the Bushmen—know
To Try To Have Some Healing, A Conversation with Silas Hagerty
Silas Hagerty was a young filmmaker in his twenties when I met him at a Servicespace retreat. […]
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…
Presence and Prayer, by Michel Conge
To cherish the divine spark
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.” […]
A Parabola Bestiary: Horses, by Alice van Buren
Meeting a horse to find peace, war, and the sea
A Parabola Bestiary: The Cow, by Pamela Travers
Remembering the sacred mother animal
To Honor the Sacred, by David Ulrich
A photographer envisions the sacred and the profane on a Hawaiian island
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.
The Wisdom of the Animals, by Phil Borges
A conversation with wildlife educator Steve Karlin
Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper
More than three-quarters of the way through this extraordinary biography (though that label barely captures this book’s breadth and richness) of the scholar of religion Huston Smith …
The Fairies’ Right of Way, by Betsy Cornwell
Protecting the places where the magic folk roam
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 Turn of the Dial: Seeking God in the Fringes, by Susan Ishmael
A tale of snake handlers, faith healers, and speakers in tongues.