Death, the Dark Brain and Transformations in Light
Many people may be surprised to learn that the surface of our brain is actually dark and that this darkness has consequences for our experience of consciousness and transformation itself, including our ultimate transformation at death. It also has consequences…
A Welcome Oasis: The 27th All & Everything International Humanities Conference
I would first and foremost like to follow an age-old injunction that every writer, before giving out any advice or critique to anyone else, should obligingly give an honest account of their journey. So before doing an appraisal of the…
My Ancestor
In my mid-thirties I found myself in Dante’s dark wood, where my way was entirely lost. My marriage was falling apart. My primary mentor, Reynolds Price, seemed to be dying of a weird spinal cancer that was slowly paralyzing him. …
Parabola Podcast Episode 50: FIRE
Story editor Betsy Cornwell shares excerpts from the Fall 2021 issue of Parabola Magazine, Fire, including the lead essay by Sufi master Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, “Fire Season.” Read the full issue by subscribing to Parabola. Parabola Magazine · Parabola Podcast Episode…
Parabola Podcast Episode 49: Young & Old
Our younger selves seed what we become and, as we age, we carry our earlier years with us. A sage elderly woman once told me, “some things you can only understand when you’re old”; yet equally true is that the…
Gifts for Gifted Children
Each summer I teach creative writing classes at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. It’s a wonderful job for many reasons: my colleagues are uniformly, eccentrically brilliant, I’ve taught…
THE NEW SCIENCE: Changing Ourselves by Changing the Brain, by Patty de Llosa
McKay Savage, Close-up of the Buddha head in the banyan tree at Wat Mahathat, Wikimedia “Does mind exist?” asks neuroscientist Daniel Siegel, as he opens a…
In and Out of Sight, by Padma Hejmadi
By age twelve I’ve learned umpteen natural methods to combat my nearsightedness. These include the dictates of the Bates method via Aldous Huxley: eye exercises, palming, imagining a darkness against…
Spiritual Intelligence, by Gerald Epstein
Intelligence is a quality available to choose, as a function of mind that can live itself through us. In this article, I will focus on spiritual intelligence as understood within…
Parabola Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the arrival of Paramahansa Yogananda in America
On September 19, 1920, Paramahansa Yogananda arrived in Boston, bringing with him spiritual teachings that would inspire millions in years to come, He conveyed those teachings through his presence, his…
Walking with George
I had never been good at practicing mindfulness, or being mindful—period—until I got a dog. Observing your breath, extolled as the surefire way to become present, left me in such…
The Very Rev. James Parks Morton (1930-2020)
The Very Rev. James Parks Morton (1930-2020). Photo: stjohndivine.org Parabola regrets the passing of James Parks Morton. He served for many years on the Board of the…
Coronavirus: A New Responsibility
Photograph by Lee van Laer In the midst of our anxiety and our reaction to the danger of infection, life seems somewhat surreal—compelling, distracting. I’m taken by the moment,…
Parabola Podcast Episode 49: Young & Old
Our younger selves seed what we become and, as we age, we carry our earlier years with us. A sage elderly woman once told me, “some things you can only…
Already Broken, by Joyce Kornblatt
Although it felt like flight, I knew the fall was wrong: body upended, working to right itself even as it spiralled head-first, it seemed, down. I’d gone over the tiniest…
The Heights of Machu Picchu, by J.M. White
Photograph by J.M. White Machu Picchu is one of the most spectacularly beautiful sites on earth. It is an ancient Inca ceremonial center perched on top…
Encountering the Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Young Man’s Search, by David Ulrich
David Ulrich, Untitled, 1970 “Above all, you must feel the need to know yourself. You are something and you don’t know it. You have to acknowledge…
Part of an Ancient Story: A Conversation with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Full Version)
Llewellyn-Vaughan-Lee photographed by Richard Whittaker One August day recently in Northern California, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee sat down with Parabola in to speak about free will and destiny.…
An Amazing Childhood Experience, by James Opie
Margaret Weir (Unsplash) During my mid-twenties I became interested in a facet of phrenology—the study of peoples’ heads, their shapes, contours and bumps. I focused on only one aspect: forehead lines,…