Epicycles

The Awakened Eye, by Frederick Franck

April 2, 2018By Frederick Franck

A recollection of the first moment of being at one.

The Unasked Question, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith

June 9, 2017By Parabola Editors

A classic quest seen anew

The Demands of the Way, by Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch

May 17, 2017By Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch

A spiritual master on what it takes

Tsunemasa, Retold by Kenneth Lawrence with Artwork by Kumiko Lawrence

April 29, 2017By Kenneth E. Lawrence

Tsunemasa, Attributed to Zeami Motokiyo / Japanese Noh. Retold by Kenneth E. Lawrence, translated by Edward Kai Lawrence. Art by Kumiko Lawrence

Kuzunoha

February 26, 2017By Parabola Editors

Kuzunoha is a popular figure in Japanese folklore

The Brave Little Parrot, Retold by Rafe Martin

January 31, 2017By Rafe Martin

Rafe Martin offers a retelling of a traditional Buddhist Jataka tale.

Two Stories, by Mullah Nasr Eddin

December 7, 2016By Parabola Editors

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 Thanksgiving Prayer, Adapted from the Mohawk

November 24, 2016By Parabola Editors

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. […]

The Verses of Ambapali, by Margo McLoughlin

November 8, 2016By 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.

Again and Again Anansi Tried To Climb the Tree

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race, by Anonymous (West African)

April 11, 2016By Parabola Editors

There once lived, in Fanti-land, a man named Father Anansi. He possessed all the wisdom in the world. People came to him daily for advice and help.

“You cannot serve both God and mammon,” advises Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew, but many of us spend our lives trying to do just that. Our inner search is real—and so is our desire for the pleasures of this world and the money that can buy them.

In this Spring 2018 issue on “Wealth,” we explore how men and women, great teachers and ordinary sinners alike, have approached this fundamental challenge of human existence: God, mammon, or both? The ways are many. Read more>

Stephen Weiss, MD, portrait of Brother David Steindl-Rast, Mt. Saviour Monastery, Elmira, NY

Learning to Die, by Brother David Steindl-Rast

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 […]

The Art of Cleaning, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and Hilary Hart

Housework as spiritual practice, from a Sufi master

Marion Woodman and the Search for the Conscious Feminine, by Patty de Llosa

“The true feminine is the receptacle of love. The true masculine is the spirit that goes into the eternal unknown in search of meaning. The great container, the Self, is paradoxically both male and female […]

Hearing the Cries of the World, by Mark Nepo

This story is so old we don’t know who told it or who it’s about, except that it speaks to all of us. We no longer know if it was a “he” or “she” at the center of the story. […]

To Go Beyond Thought, an Interview with Karen Armstrong

One bright spring day, Parabola met with Karen Armstrong in her suite at the Parker Meridian hotel in Manhattan. The petite, friendly 62-year-old British ex-nun, arguably the most influential commentator on religion in the English-speaking […]

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