Category: Essays

Abba, tell me a word

Scenes from the Lives of the Desert Fathers (Thebaid). Fra Angelico, 1420. Tempera on poplar wood. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Wikimedia Commons. Source/Photographer: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/VAHKpwvs_fhZ-A

The Desert Fathers and Mothers— and their culture of search

Looking for Gold: The alchemy of Cinderella

Cinderella. Carl Offterdinger, nineteenth century. From My First Book of Fairy Tales. Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Harke

The hidden teachings of a beloved fairy tale

The Art of Budo

Portion of a facsimile of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi. All images courtesy of John Stevens and Shambhala Publications

The calligraphy and paintings of the martial arts masters

Testimony

Truong Son National Cemetery, memorial to North Vietnamese soldiers, Vietnam. Photograph by Gonzo Gooner, 2010. Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Gonzo Gooner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons

A powerful remembrance of war and peace

In the Hands of the Sea

Landscape, seascape: Vågen VIII (Wave VIII). August Strindberg, 1901/1902. Nordic Museum, Stockholm. Wikimedia Commons. Source/Photographer: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/ygHgZV4EYwrCtQ

A rapturous elegy to love

Out of the Dark Depths

Photograph by Jared Rice. Tulum, Mexico

Within a Mayan burial cave, understanding comes

Everything is Burning

The Burning of the Houses of Parliament. Author unknown. C.1834, oil on panel. Yale Center for British Art. Wikimedia Commons. Source/Photographer: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/RgGPJOYOSROUkw

In a world on fire, finding the light that guides

With Outstretched Arms, Like Wings

John the Baptist, Forerunner. Father William Hart McNichols, 1997. Wikimedia Commons. Author: Texas A&M University Libraries

A visit with the famed nun and art historian

Yin-Yang and Awakening Awareness

Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi holding the Yin-Yang symbol. Nineteenth century watercolor. Hsi (c. 4,000 B.C.) is widely considered the father of the Chinese Tai Chi philosophy of yin and yang and thus of the I Ching. Wikimedia Commons. Wellcome Images. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

Advice and exercises from a Qigong master

The Only Black Person in the Room

Unsplash.com. “Portrait of Xavier Evans.” Photo by Jurien Huggins

What that means and how that feels