“Nhat Hanh Is My Brother”
Dear Friends, I invite you to a second “Merton Hour” to consider Thomas Merton’s short intervention on behalf of Thich Nhat Hanh in 1966. We will read together “Nhat Hanh Is My Brother,” discuss in…
Category: Wisdom Traditions
A Great Form of Self-Care
For those who have access to Facebook, check out my student Rosie’s project on Meditation in College!
The Kindom of Heaven Is…by Alex Gaynor
Cami Kasmerchak got me connected with Alex when she was in Sacramento with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in 2015-2016. She’s in a class with me now, These are a Few of Our Favorite Things. She…
The Art of Living: Munindra/2
Earlier this week, I shared some of Munindra’s teachings. Today, I want to pass on several observations of those who knew him and learned from him. He was like a scientist who had just made…
The Art of Living: Munindra/1
The following reflections by Bengali Buddhist Anagarika Munindra come from the inspiring book by Mirka Knaster, Living This Life Fully: Stories and Teachings of Munindra. Mostly you’re living in the world of thoughts. 11 I…
Inflaming the Soul
While reading Stephen Clissold’s The Wisdom of the Spanish Mystics, I was most taken by the passages that spoke of love and detachment. Once again, thanks to New Directions for publishing this series decades ago….
Forever on the Alert
I’ve known Pat Geier almost 40 years. Not two months into the pandemic, we began Zooming on Fridays, then added Mondays, and before too long were immersed in reading and discussing the works of French…
Not Flustered, Not Melancholy, Not Anxious
James Laughlin, Ezra Pound’s publisher, observed that “Pound’s translations of Confucian texts, beautiful as is their language, are seldom applauded by Sinologues.” But we common readers may appreciate such versions from the Analects, when they…
Making Everyone Happy
Melita Maschmann, Encountering Bliss: My Journey through India with Ānandamayī MāDelhi : Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2002 It is as difficult to escape the grace of a Guru, as the revenge of a tiger.Indian proverb Last…
Spinoza Sees into the Future When Twitter Reigns
“The love of esteem [Gloria] which is called empty [vana] is acquiescentia in se ipso that is encouraged only by the opinion of the multitude. When that ceases, the acquiescentia in se ipso ceases, i.e….