Picking and Choosing
“Nothing Jewish is alien to me.” [Gerschom] Scholem liked to say that. We argued about it many times. I objected that a great deal that is Jewish is alien to me (and to him, too)….
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Andrew & Joan
Andrew Ivers continues to guide me when it comes to the delights of the Western Canon. Last week I asked him where I should start with Joan Didion and without hesitation he suggested Slouching towards…
Simple Advice
If we have spiritual wisdom, it has to show itself in our daily living. 301 You get rid of bad habits by bringing in good habits which will force them out…. 241 If you want…
Our Emanation Bodies
At the time I wrote that small book [The Miracle of Mindfulness], I could not have imagined the effect it would have in the world. It has been translated into twenty-five languages, reprinted many times,…
Long Live Peretz!
Today we must take the most important thing that [Peretz] possess and that shines through in all his works, in all their times: his love for Jew and man. Also his universalism and humanism, his…
Appreciating Jack Appreciating
Jack Kerouac, Selected Letters: 1940-1956, v. 1 As I’m convinced of the the utility of “pulling”* from my reading, I found the following gems in some of Kerouac’s letters up till he had to deal…
“Words Words Words”
Indeed, the very use of the word “revolution” is suspect because every historical event that people want to invest with drama and importance is given the honorific title “revolution.” –Avishai Margalit, Views in Review: Politics…
Open Your Eyes
Untold opportunities arise in one’s householder existence to practice sadhana. –Sri Anandamayi Ma, in Joseph Fitzgerald, The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma: Life and Teachings of a 20th Century Indian Saint There is no time or place…
Instagram, Shminstagram
Central to the private life of the Taoist is the art of concealment. In Taoism, to conceal does not mean to be aloof and disengaged. Rather, it means not to dazzle or make ourselves the…