Reading Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, my students experience literature as never before. No more symbol hunting, artful theorizing, or smug political judgment: the Russians address the questions that really matter in a way that teaches readers…
To have a scapegoat is to not realize you have a scapegoat. –René Girard, Maxim #58, in All Desire Is a Desire for Being: Essential Writings, edited by Cynthia L. Haven.
The face offers itself to your compassion and to your obligation. –Emmanuel Levinas, in Jill Robbins, Is It Righteous to Be? Interviews with Emmanuel Levinas
Be here now. Title of Ram Dass’s manual.
bi you shi yan. –Mengzi, “Always have a task” Wang understood Mengzi’s teaching of bi you shi yan as “always have a task.” One must maintain a constant vigil over one’s thoughts and ideas and…
May I be a light for those in need of light. –Shantideva, The Bodhicaryavatara: A Guide to the Buddhist Path of Awakening, translated by Kate Crosby & Andrew Skilton
Do not waste time on nonessentials. –Miyamoto Musashi, Nine Articles, in John Stevens, Budo Secrets: Teachings of the Martial Arts Masters
Arise with a brave heart, Shimmelstoy, and destroy the enemy. —Bhagavad Gita, 2.3
This is a tough time. As the election approaches, our collective psyche is berated with polarized messages amid widespread lack of faith in the political system of the United States. Surviving the next five months…
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…