Out of the Dark Depths
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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, 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
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
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…
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,…
The Miracle of Consciousness, by Christian Wertenbaker
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
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
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…
Queen of Angels, by Tracy Cochran
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
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…