Izanagi and Izanami, a Japanese myth, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith
Searching the Seas with the Tenkei (天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図 Tenkei o motte sōkai o saguru no zu). Painting by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1880-90 (MFA, Boston). The story of Izanagi and Izanami has been adapted from two traditional sources of…
Ring of Wisdom, a Sufi Parable, Retold by Anne Twitty
Babur Receives a Courtier by Farrukh Beg c. 1580-85. There was a king whose kingdom stretched from east to west, from the sea below to the moon above. You would have thought that he had everything…
The First Tears, an Eskimo folktale, Retold by Anne Twitty
Photo by Steve Halama One day First Man went out seal hunting along the seashore. He saw many seals. He chose a seal, and carefully crept up behind it, but with a splash, it tumbled into…
O My Country!, A Maghreb folktale, Retold by Anne Twitty
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art. King Salomon knew the language of all living creatures, and all obeyed him, especially the birds. One day this great king, a master of wisdom, was sitting on his throne.…
The Awakened Eye, by Frederick Franck
Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926): An Orchard in Spring, 1886 I was five years old. My mother and a friend I was expected to address as “Aunt” had taken us children to a modest little tea garden…
The Unasked Question, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith
From The Boy’s King Arthur, 1922. N.C. Wyeth Anonymous | Medieval European “AND WOE TO HIM who failed to ask the question burning in his heart.…
The Verses of Ambapali, by Margo McLoughlin
A new translation and commentary by Margo McLoughlin Ambapali | Buddhist In Vesali, in ancient India, at the time of the Buddha, a baby girl was born spontaneously at the…
Ring of Wisdom, a Sufi Parable, Retold by Anne Twitty
Babur Receives a Courtier by Farrukh Beg c. 1580-85. There was a king whose kingdom stretched from east to west, from the sea below to the…
Two Stories, by Mullah Nasr Eddin
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…
The Way of the Householder, Retold by Rama Devagupta
Photograph by Hans Eiskonen Anonymous Hindu Long, long ago in a holy forest, there lived a young ascetic named Kaushika. Because he had renounced the worldly…
The Thanksgiving Prayer, Adapted from the Mohawk
Illustration by John Kahionhes Fadden THE THANKSGIVING PRAYER Adapted from the Mohawk by John Stokes and David Kanawahienton Benedict The People Today we have gathered and…
Izanagi and Izanami, a Japanese myth, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith
Searching the Seas with the Tenkei (天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図 Tenkei o motte sōkai o saguru no zu). Painting by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1880-90 (MFA, Boston). The story of Izanagi…
Sarabha-miga Jataka, The Noble Stag, Retold by Margo McLoughlin
A Deer Hunt. c.1775 from Kotah, Rajasthan, India. Pigments on paper Once the Bodhisatta was born as a deer. He grew up to be a magnificent stag—a Sambar, the largest…
Zen Moments, by Pamela Travers
Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Tea house at Koishikawa. The morning after a snowfall We sit on our heels on the tatami, the Japanese woman and myself, telling…
Out of the Box: How Raven gave light to the world
Before I gave birth to the child, I lived alone with my father in a cold world of eternal night. Outside the door of our longhouse a thick blackness covered…