Category: Wisdom Traditions

Word of the Day: Apokatastasis

Allen Ginsberg: …The conditions of revolution in late twentieth century are conditions unforeseen by any other civilization. We are going to the moon, we have drugs that go to the moon inside, we’ve recovered the…

Priorities

The concern for the other breaches concern for the self. This is what I call holiness. Our humanity consists in being able to recognize this priority of the other. Emmanuel Levinas, Is It Righteous to Be?…

Crosses, Values, Options

1. “Really living like Christ will not mean reward, social recognition and an assured income, but difficulties, discrimination, solitude, anxiety.  Here, too, the basic experience of the cross applies:  the wider we open our hearts…

Spiritual Exercises

Last year I read several books by French philosopher Pierre Hadot, who has focused on the role of spiritual exercises in philosophy. Through Hadot, I became acquainted with this short passage from a diary kept…

Embodiment

The philosophers and scholars said to Sri Anandamayi Ma: “We have studied dry scriptures. But, we now see before us, a living embodiment of all that is contained in our holy books of wisdom.”

Simple

One Zen Master When asked to explain the wonder of reality Pointed to a cypress tree and said “Look at the cypress tree over there.” –Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation…

Washing the Dishes

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance,…

Continuation

I just finished reading the beautiful memoir of Sister Dang Nghiem, Healing: A Woman’s Journey from Doctor to Nun.   Here is one passage… When we love someone, it’s not because we live next to the…

Twin Verses

The Dhammapada chapter 1 Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it. Our life…