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…
Mist on a Breeze #13
Be Still and Listen. Get Up and Dance. There are those who say that to attain the highest wisdom we must be still and calm, immovable in the midst of turmoil.And there are those who say that we must move on as life moves, never stopping for a moment either in fear of what is…
Now Is a Good Time to Begin Healing
ALTHOUGH THE NEW YEAR BEGINS ON AN ARBITRARILY CHOSEN DAY IN TIME, the possibility for renewal a new year offers is both real and important. A new beginning is always a good time to begin to heal. Healing, however, is not the same as curing. Where curing an illness is a bio-medical procedure, healing is…
Mother and Child – Part 2
IMAGINE YOU’RE IN THE AUDIENCE AT A CHRISTMAS PAGEANT and the oh-so-familiar story is unfolding before you. It’s nighttime in Bethlehem, where a wondrous star hangs overhead. Angels watch over the birth. Because there was no room at the inn, the baby Jesus lies in a manger, in the stable, under the loving gaze of…
Mother and Child – Part 1
THE MUSES BROUGHT PAUL McCARTNEY A MAGICAL BIT OF ARCHETYPAL INSPIRATION to get him started on the song “Let It Be” — (sing along with me now) “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me …” The image evokes not only millennia of Marian veneration, but also our collective affection…
The Spiritual Path Jesus Taught (Probably)
MOST PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE JUST HOW RADICAL JESUS REALLY WAS. Even most committed Christians seem to overlook this truth about Jesus. Perhaps they miss it because their churches focus on the teachings of Paul more than the teachings of Jesus. It is easier to believe in Christ, to feel justified by faith alone, than it…
Dreamwalking
WHAT A REMARKABLE AND REVEALING SCENE. One of the cable news shows aired a brief video clip of the FBI interviewing a young man who admitted using a Taser to assault a police officer during the January 6 attack on the capitol. There were two FBI agents in the room, sitting calmly on opposites sides…
Mist on a Breeze #12
Thank You If the only prayer You say in your entire life Is “Thank You,” That would suffice. — Meister Eckhart (1260-c.1329) (from Meditations with Meister Eckhart, Matthew Fox, Bear & Co., 1983) Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoyed this post or found it insightful, please share it with your friends. And…
The Simplicity and Subtlety of the Way
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT DAOIST THOUGHT AND WRITINGS THAT MAKES THEM APPEALING. Even though they seem simple, even simplistic, they nonetheless give one the sense that they are also subtle, inscrutable and profoundly wise. As I re-read the “further teachings of Lao-tzu” in Thomas Cleary’s translation of the Wen-tzu (a Daoist classic from the Han Dynasty,…
Life in a Neurotic Society
EVERY DAY, AGAIN AND AGAIN, THE NEWS SHOWS US HOW DIVIDED WE ARE and how hostile some of us have become toward the others of us who see things differently. What’s going on? How did we become so uncivil toward one another? Denial. If you understand the mechanisms and effects of a collective denial of…
Mist on a Breeze #11
The Way (Laozi) There is something before heaven and earth —An undifferentiated whole.It has no concrete form, only abstract images.It is deep, dark, silent, undefined.To give it a name, I call it Dao, the Way. Mountains are high, oceans are deepBecause of it.Animals run, birds flyBecause of it.Unicorns roam, phoenixes soarBecause of it.The stars run…
Soul Spirit Wisdom 