Under Pressure

The Wretched Truth One of the very worst things in life… is when you cannot help or be with someone you love who is working 100 hours a week. Every week. Deepest Darkest Insecurities by…

No Lectures, No Tracts, No Prayers

Roy Morris, Jr., The Better Angel: Walt Whitman in the Civil War This book tells the story of Walt’s  practice of the 4th Tiep Hien precept, not to look away from suffering. Actually, here’s the…

Sometime, Somewhere, Someone’s Saying…

Dear Bella Balaban “That higher-up in the Vietnamese Politburo who died of cancer—what a decent guy!” “I miss—I really do—our last dictator. He was so intelligent and really tried to make la Guardia more diverse.”…

Don’t Get Rattled by Samsara

So many of my brilliant former students— Their families from Gujarat, Bijar, Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal— Would pity me Or express incredulity That I, their erstwhile quasi-prof, Hang on the words Of Sri Anandamayi Ma…

Exchange

“But how come those Palestinians can’t be like Dr. King?” Well then… “So, Rabin, did he make it even through a third of Gandhi’s Collected Works? And did Shimon Peres invite Gene Sharp to give…

“So Don’t Flip”*

When it comes to righteous indignation She makes Arundhati Roy seem timid At a public reading of The Book of Mev I made sure she read last reading aloud the last chapter To mark the…