Category: Wisdom Traditions

Merton’s Journal

Calcutta is shocking because it is all of a sudden a totally different kind of madness,    the reverse of that other madness, the mad rationality of affluence and overpopulation. America seems to make sense,…

A Basic Seventeen

November 1999 “And so, first of all, let us remember him, gentlemen, all our lives.  And even though we may be involved with the most important affairs, achieve distinction or fall into some great misfortune…

Start Small

In The Art of Living class, we just finished considering Chan Khong’s classic work of engaged Buddhism, Learning True Love. I shared with my friends at the beginning of the course, “The Rules” of the…

Recent Reading

Sunday 11 April 2021 Dear Sarah, Thanks for your question about what I’ve been reading. Sometimes I make a plan, then other times I act entirely on instinct. So what follows are examples of each….

A Paradise for Perusers

I have given away four copies of James Mustich’s chef d’oeuvre, 1,000 Books to Read before You Die: A Life-Changing List, before I bought and kept one for myself. I became acquainted with Mr. Mustich…

This Is It !

My friend who is a Buddhist said once after coming out of a meditation retreat, “The colors were so much more vibrant afterward.” Her meditation teacher said, “When you are present, the world is truly…

Zosima-isms/2

Which of the two is more capable of upholding and serving a great idea—the isolated rich man or one who is liberated from the tyranny of things and habits? Let us preserve the image of…

Roses and Garbage

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart SutraParallax Press, 1988 A beautiful rose we have just cut and placed in our vase is immaculate. It smells so good, so pure,…

Zosima-isms/1

This is the lot that befalls you, mothers, on earth. And do not be comforted, you should not be comforted, do not be comforted, but weep. And there is more joy in heaven over one…