Reading/713 (Master Chu)
In reading, you must keep your mind glued to the text. Only when every sentence and every character falls into place have you done a good job of thinking through the work. In general, the…
Category: Reading
May We Always Be Amateurs
Nonrequired Reading: Prose Pieces Wislawa Szymborska Translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh Herein are a few score short pieces by the Nobel laureate (Literature, 1996), usually no more than a page or two, although…
Drugged by Books
Soon after my father’s death, I started reading Leon Wieseltier’s Kaddish, his journal of reflections on his year of going to shul and saying Kaddish. In the days and weeks ahead, Wieseltier offered me some…
Books
My father had an Appalachian education That went through sixth grade I went after and got a BA, MA And a PhD I doubt my father Ever finished reading a book (I once asked him…
Kafka’s Axe
Dear Bella Levenshteyn, Was reading Kafka’s letters earlier today. The passage caught my eye: “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading…
An Inspiring Evening by Jenn Reyes Lay
I was once again inspired and on fire this evening from the beautiful collection of stories from Brazil compiled by Mev Puleo entitled The Struggle Is One. Gathering with many who have also been touched by…
Good Citizens/1
Dear Friends in the Sangha, I first encountered The Miracle of Being Awake (later published as The Miracle of Mindfulness) in 1982, when a monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani gave me a mimeograph of…
Dear Mark
Dear Mark, Here is my reflection of Dear Layla, I thought at first that I should apologize for the scatter-brained style of writing I’m sure this letter will take. Then I thought, he probably doesn’t…
Some French writer once posed this question: “Do you want to be read one time by 10,000 people, or 10,000 times by one person?”
I could identify with some of the following, as regards both The Book of Mev and Dear Layla…. “Some people may have thought that this book was too personal, too confessional. But what these people…
Ekāgratā*/2
I received this post from actor, visionary, disturber of the peace, and forever maestra, Miss Magan Wiles. Professor Friend – I am excited to read your play/book/literary experience. I want to read it all in one…