Concentration Is Consecration

Sri Eknath Easwaran distinguishes two kinds of spiritual reading: that of instruction and that of inspiration.  Simone Weil’s book, Waiting for God, is an example of the latter, as  it is fecund with material for…

Exchange

“But how come those Palestinians can’t be like Dr. King?” Well then… “So, Rabin, did he make it even through a third of Gandhi’s Collected Works? And did Shimon Peres invite Gene Sharp to give…

Wherever We Are Useful

Katharina Mommsen, Goethe’s Art of Living Trafford, 2003 Translators: John Crosetto, John Whaley, Renee M. Schell A teacher who can awaken a sense of a single good deed or a single good poem accomplishes more…

Looking Deeply at Laos/1

Please take a look at this video by Legacies of War. It will require 2 minutes and 40 seconds of your time. Next, consider, Thich Nhat Hanh’s 4th precept of the Tiep Hien Order:  Do…

Three Questions

Gregg Krech, Naikan: Gratitude, Grace,  and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection (Stone Bridge Press, 2001) I learned of Naikan through consulting the bibliography of Patricia Ryan Madson’s book, Improv Wisdom.  Therein, she cited books on…

A Path with Pith

With the sangha a few years ago, I read many of the Buddhist sutras as well as Thich Nhat Hanh’s commentaries. It’s good to plunge in and read these classic texts in community. However, the…

Caroline Takes Refuge

“Breathing in, I go back to the island within myself. There are beautiful trees within the island; There are clear streams of water, There are birds, sunshine and fresh air. Breathing out, I feel safe….