Dharma Sister
From the Cover of Amy Schmidt’s book on Dipa Ma Revision The poet W. H. Auden wrote “The funniest and kindest of mortals Are those who are most aware of the baffle of being” (A…
Category: Wisdom Traditions
The Prophetic, the Socratic, and the Democratic
Cornel West, Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight against Imperialism Pat Geier, a dear friend in Louisville, once told me of one of her favorite adages that dated back to the civil right movement: “If you see…
Sangha/1
With the Sangha I meditate to decelerate my rampaging mindI meditate to focus on clear image of you smiling in TahoeI meditate on words of Hanshan and Wang Yang-ming I meditate to be able to…
Political Holiness
Pedro Casaldáliga & José-Maria Vigil, Political Holiness: A Spirituality of Liberation Those who struggle for utopia, for radical change, saints marked by the liberating spirit, are all of a piece; they carry faithfulness from the…
Darshan
The Power of a Photograph In the last couple of years I’ve read whatever books I could get my hands on Whose subject is Sri Anandamayi Ma (Her parents gave her the name Nirmala Sundari…
“Olympian, Philosophical, Seamless, and All-Encompassing”
Edmund White, Marcel Proust Saturday 29 May 1999 Cullings A captivating, informed, discerning, spirited little biography, one could say that it is a bio of the gay Proust, as the author makes frequent reference to…
Solidaridad/1
In the mid-1980s while working at St. William Church in Louisville, I was involved with the Sanctuary Movement. The church offered hospitality to a couple from El Salvador, Manuel and Maria Elena. They were the…
Writing Our Own Histories: A Fall Class
This is the second time this year I am facilitating a course on this do-it-yourself theme, which comes from Allen Ginsberg, “You have to write your own history, nobody’s going to do it for you.“…
A Yogi
Breakdown Precedes Breakthrough Graham earned enough to be under the taxable limitBecause he didn’t want to pay for war He couldn’t say “No” when someone asked“Would you help us fight back?” He gave and gave…
“C’mon, You Can’t Really Be Serious with All This Buddhism-Shmuddism!”
Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey, Advice from a Spiritual Friend The faults we criticize in others are only our own projected onto them; if they were not, they would not bother us, and…