The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the Named is the mother of all things. – Lao Tzu[i] One day, while shepherding sheep somewhere in the Sinai desert, Moses saw... Continue Reading →
Love Is A Verb
Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he/she incurred the disorder. -Ambrose Bierce In his book, The Devil’s Dictionary, Mr. Bierce classifies love as a noun, since it identifies a type of mental disorder. People in love have an illness typified by transitory... Continue Reading →
The Physics Of Miraculousness
God doesn’t play dice with the universe. – Albert Einstein In the rough and tumble world of theoretical physics, there are two opposing parties. On the right, as represented by Albert Einstein, is the law and order crowd. Their platform states that certain rules must be followed, by dictate of the universe, and that nothing... Continue Reading →
Be Like Buddha
It is good to reflect about whatever forces us to come out of ourselves. - Simone Weil[i] We all have our motivations. Even irrational acts have reasons. We may not understand some of the things we do, but that’s because we don’t understand ourselves. The nature of self-awareness makes us complicated creatures. Perhaps, as some... Continue Reading →
What’s A Person To Do?
My first experience with God occurred when I was fourteen-years old. My mother, after finding racy pictures and lingerie pages from the Sears catalogue hidden under my bed, confronted me about them in the middle of family dinner. The trauma has largely erased all specific memories, but lasting guilt about masturbation was one of them. ... Continue Reading →
Being Born
He not busy being born is busy dying. - Bob Dylan[i] Have you ever wondered why birth is viewed as something over and done once we emerge from our mothers? We may struggle with everything that comes after, but that part of things is out of the way. The gauntlet has been endured. It’s as... Continue Reading →
Heaven
Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens. – David Byrne[i] Heaven is a peculiar idea. Nobody has ever visited and come back with a report; for all we know, it’s a myth like Atlantis. Nevertheless, lots of people are planning to reside there, and even brag about it. The general consensus about heaven seems... Continue Reading →
Spiritual Practice
There is much about the world to which we are blind. It is estimated that humans can only see about 0.0035 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum, otherwise known as light. Spend a day at the beach and your skin may turn red, but your eyes won’t notice the ultra-violet rays that cause it. If dogs... Continue Reading →
Listening
Even though listening to someone is a foundation for any loving relationship, the act of listening is surprisingly difficult. We could even say, like unconditional love, that paying full attention to another person is not a natural human behavior. Instead, due to our egos and their constant yammering, we usually pay more attention to ourselves... Continue Reading →