Essays

Out of the Dark Depths

Out of the Dark Depths

Lane IgoudinOct 30, 202210 min read

“We used to bury our people down there, at the bottom,” said Mario, my twenty-something Yucatec Maya guide, a history major from the University of Valladolid Yucatan nearby, as he pointed at the cave’s dark mouth, dropping underground at about…

Everything is Burning

Everything is Burning

Tracy CochranOct 30, 202212 min read

Months after he attained enlightenment, the Buddha delivered what came to be called his Fire Sermon on a hilltop in India. He spoke to a thousand ascetics who, he knew, were used to performing daily fire sacrifices. The Buddha set…

With Outstretched Arms, Like Wings

With Outstretched Arms, Like Wings

March 10, 2018 Dearest Sister Wendy, I wanted to share this dream with you. I was in Dorothy Day’s old room in Maryhouse. She was very old. There were other people in the room but we were able to talk…

Yin-Yang and Awakening Awareness

Yin-Yang and Awakening Awareness

Robert PengOct 30, 20228 min read

All of us experience events and environments that cause us stress and may disrupt our Qi in various organs. We are exposed to pollutants, noise, and crowded spaces. We may not have enough time to restore ourselves with rest and…

The Only Black Person in the Room

The Only Black Person in the Room

Lisa TeasleyJul 28, 20228 min read

Belonging was a concept I could long neither feel nor grasp. Eight years ago while on a yacht circling the Marina del Rey channel, I answered my then white German partner why I didn’t know anyone besides the hosts of…

The Golden Rule Tetraflexagon

The Golden Rule Tetraflexagon

Steffan SouleOct 28, 20214 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDkitP7lTc The Golden Rule Tetraflexagon is a magic device created by Steffan Soule in order to teach the Golden Rule. It has myriad applications including in schools, where Soule and…

Living as Spiritual Practice, by Tracy Cochran

Living as Spiritual Practice, by Tracy Cochran

Tracy CochranJul 27, 201414 min read

The Life and Death of Laura Rothenberg In February 2003, I went to Laura Rothenberg’s apartment to talk about her book, Breathing for a Living, which she wouldn’t live to see…

Painting Enlightenment, Paula Arai / Artwork by Iwasaki Tsuneo

Painting Enlightenment, Paula Arai / Artwork by Iwasaki Tsuneo

Paula AraiJul 25, 20196 min read

Healing visions of the Heart Sutra Mandala of Evolution. Iwasaki Tsuneo The extraordinary paintings on the next several pages were begun at age seventy by Iwasaki Tsuneo (1917-2002), a retired…

On Unknowing, by Pamela Travers

On Unknowing, by Pamela Travers

Pamela TraversSep 22, 20156 min read

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…

Amma, by Lillian Firestone

Amma, by Lillian Firestone

Lillian FirestoneJan 29, 20168 min read

Amma, 2009 The Hindu spiritual teacher known as Amma (“Mother”), or Mata Amritanandamayi, was born to a family of fishermen in southern India in 1953. Today…

The Simple Joy of Being, by Adyashanti

The Simple Joy of Being, by Adyashanti

AdyashantiJan 30, 201914 min read

Landscape. Kanō Isen’in. Edo period, c. 1802-1816, ink and color on paper. Honolulu Museum of Art It is useful to reflect on what happiness is. The Sierra Nevada mountain range…

Arrernte Land

Arrernte Land

Karen LethleanJul 28, 202214 min read

A jumble of buildings squatted some distance away, dark, and low. Not a sight I, at my age of eight, imagined part of Dad’s homeland. Funny how things stick in…

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Beyond Words, by William Segal

Parabola EditorsJun 10, 20152 min read

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,…

The Miracle of Consciousness, by Christian Wertenbaker

The Miracle of Consciousness, by Christian Wertenbaker

Christian WertenbakerApr 29, 201817 min read

Photograph by Vidar Nordli-Mathison The science and spirit of awareness Consciousness can be regarded as a miracle from many different points of view. Introspection alone suggests…

From Bad to Good, by Patty de Llosa

From Bad to Good, by Patty de Llosa

Patty de LlosaNov 17, 201410 min read

One of some seven-hundred current members of Ready Willing & Able, the Doe Fund’s flagship training and sustaining organization, Joe will spend the next few months cleaning the streets for…

East Hill Farm

East Hill Farm

Jonathan JamesJul 28, 202210 min read

Once upon a time… many years ago, when a now very old man was but a youth, he felt something was mysteriously missing in his life, but he didn’t know…

The Dark

The Dark

Barbara Wright GeorgeNov 1, 20207 min read

How to face the cold dark days of winter in Toronto? I noticed that I am not the only one who feels the strain of winter—the faces of people in…

Queen of Angels, by Tracy Cochran

Queen of Angels, by Tracy Cochran

Tracy CochranApr 30, 201516 min read

Annunciation, Master of the Louis XII Triptych, c. 1498–1514 We parked in a field and walked half a mile down a road with the other pilgrims,…

Holy Women

Holy Women

Robert EllsbergJan 28, 202017 min read

Mother Mary Joseph, founder of the Maryknoll Sisters. The history of Christianity is marked by the stories of countless holy women who struggled to assert their full humanity and to…