Writing Our Own Histories: A Fall Class
This is the second time this year I am facilitating a course on this do-it-yourself theme, which comes from Allen Ginsberg, “You have to write your own history, nobody’s going to do it for you.“…
Month: September 2020
Mentshes/1
Dear Shannon, I enjoyed our long conversation on Saturday afternoon at 6 North Coffee. I appreciate you taking the time to visit on such a busy weekend. After our chats, the strong impression I am…
Share the Wealth with Magan Wiles: Decolonizing Tango
Three days after the video of George Floyd’s murder went viral, I saw a video on Facebook of my friend Jay standing at a busy intersection in LA, holding up a sign that said “where…
A Youth
The Daily Mailby Hedy Epstein In those first years of the Nazi regime, it was hard for me to grasp the import of politics writ large. However, I would soon come face to face…
A Yogi
Breakdown Precedes Breakthrough Graham earned enough to be under the taxable limitBecause he didn’t want to pay for war He couldn’t say “No” when someone asked“Would you help us fight back?” He gave and gave…
In Medias Res/1
Beautiful Friendshipsby Clara Takarabe Mark, I’ve been ruminating on your last email. There are a few things that come to mind really strongly when you asked that question, “what is important and what…
Glossary
Mentsh, Yiddish, noun; decent, upstanding person. –Michael Wex, Born to Kveetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods (Saint Martin’s Press, 2005). Ekāgratā, Sanskrit, noun; one-pointedness, doing only one thing at a time,…
“C’mon, You Can’t Really Be Serious with All This Buddhism-Shmuddism!”
Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey, Advice from a Spiritual Friend The faults we criticize in others are only our own projected onto them; if they were not, they would not bother us, and…