Gratitude/3

For Jim Grote, who introduced me  in my late twenties to the work of Rene Girard, whom I am still reading, especially through three recent works by Cynthia L. Haven.  Girard’s ideas inspire, humble, energize,…

Choosing Guiding Means

A few years ago I read Amos Oz’s trenchant book, How to Cure a Fanatic.  His context was the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Therein, Oz noted that “the essence of fanaticism lies in…

Diligence

Every man has experienced how much of this ardour has been remitted, when a sharp or tedious sickness has set death before his eyes. The extensive influence of greatness, the glitter of wealth, the praises…

Chris Wallach and I Inter-Are

 Care is something one learns by observing the way careful/caring people live. It is not a quality that can be learned from a text on moral psychology or Buddhist ethics but only by living and…

Chris Wallach

Some people are able to focus, laser-like, on one thing—athletes, musicians, scientists. For Chris Wallach, it’s mindfulness. It’s a gift. It’s a talent she’s deliberately cultivated over the last many years. It’s a whole set…

June Journal 2019

Hanna Krall: “All my books are about how very good human beings can be, and about how very bad they can be—something we are constantly discovering over and over again.” Chasing the King of Hearts,…

In Medias Res/2

This Is What I Can Do When it comes to righteous indignation Reshma makes Arundhati Roy seem timid At a public reading of The Book of Mev I made sure she went last and read…

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…