The Spirit Filling the Soul Leads to Wisdom

IF JESUS CHRIST HAD LIVED TO A RIPE OLD AGE, AS DID SIDDHARTHA BUDDHA, I think Jesus still would have become one of the greatest spiritual teachers in human history. Instead of falling prey to a tragic and brutal Roman execution after only a year or so of ministry, Jesus would have been able to …

The Problem with Advice

IT’S ODD, BUT WHEN WELL-MEANING FRIENDS TELL ME, “YOU SHOULD JUST …,” the solutions they offer all too often miss the mark. The effect of the offer can be the opposite of what was intended: the advice can feel like a judgment amplifying a sense of failure. Carl Jung says, “People think you have only …

Move In Circles

Mist on a Breeze #15 Move in circles, you see, that’s how we go.We live and love until we finally know. Move in circles, one day it all must end,With open eyes, we’ll go ‘round again. Move in circles, yes, life goes ‘round and ‘round,Searching for a secret rarely found. Move in circles, just like …

When Compassion Dies

COMPASSION MUST BE THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR, especially among the instigators of war. And when compassion dies, the soul dies with it. For compassion is the essential core of the human soul. Thus, the loss of compassion is at the same time a loss of soul. Dehumanizing the “Other” is the weapon that delivers …

The Evil Visited Upon Ukraine

ONLY AUTOCRATS FEAR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ON THEIR BORDERS. When an autocrat acts aggressively and violently against a neighboring nation, for no other reason than such a fear, that autocrat becomes an agent of evil. In the Russian war against Ukraine, now underway, the Russian autocrat is raining down suffering, destruction and death on the …

Creative Tension

IN THE 4TH CENTURY, C.E., MONKS IN UPPER EGYPT BURIED DOZENS OF TEXTS. Why? Because a powerful bishop in Alexandria had condemned the use of non-canonical books. We can assume the texts were buried rather than burned because the monks valued the texts and hoped they might be welcomed again at a later date. Instead, …

When You Feel Like a Stranger

IT’S AN UNCANNY FEELING, WHICH I SUSPECT MOST OF US HAVE from time to time, to wonder whether you belong, to wonder whether you might not be a stranger in a strange land. In fact, it’s a timeless and universal feeling, one that has left traces in our literary history as far back as the …

Moving in Time with Life

Mist on a Breeze #14 It has been said that the highest wisdom lies in detachment, which means to have neither regrets for the past nor fears for the future; to let life take its course without attempting to interfere with its movement and change, neither trying to prolong the stay of things pleasant nor …

Spirit, Matter and Soul

THE WORLD’S GREAT SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS ALL AGREE, with a few exceptions, that the material world is at least unreal, if not fundamentally false and evil. To state the case in overly simplistic generalizations, the spiritual is exalted over the material in Buddhism, in most Hindu traditions, in Daoist spirituality, in Christian theological and mystical traditions, …

The Boy Who Would Be King

WHAT THE RISE OF DONALD TRUMP HAS SHOWN US IS THE MAGICAL POWER a massively inflated ego has to attract “wounded” people who fear loss and diminishment, that is, people who have developed the so-called “victim mentality.” Inflation, however, is not enough by itself to explain the magical power of the attraction. An unconscious archetypal …