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, …
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, …
Confronting a Cosmic Revenge Fantasy
IMAGINE WHAT IT MIGHT BE LIKE TO DIE AND DISCOVER YOU’VE BEEN SENT TO HELL. Never mind the fact that in the cosmos, as we now understand it to be, there’s no “below” for hell (and no “above” for heaven). In the Western tradition, hell is believed to be an infernal, fiery place for eternal, …
Views and Values Transforming
IN LAST WEEK’S POST, I SUGGESTED CHRISTIANITY IS TRANSFORMING, now, and moving onto an inclusive and enchanted path of justice and deep, experiential knowing. Although I mentioned a few “old and forgotten” practices that are becoming “new” again (like meditation and contemplation), I soon realized I didn’t say much of anything about the theology of …
The Transformation, Underway (and Underfoot)
SOMETHING TRULY REMARKABLE MAY BE HAPPENING, but it seems to be as quiet as a whisper, as invisible as a breeze. Christianity appears to be in the midst of another cycle of revolutionary change, the fourth one in its history by my count. Some may want to call it another Reformation, but it feels more …
Continue reading "The Transformation, Underway (and Underfoot)"
Peeking Behind the Mask
WHAT DO IVY, GRAPE VINES, LIONS, BEARS, BULLS, AND MASKS HAVE IN COMMON? They’re all associated with Dionysus in ancient myth, literature, and art. Dionysus is not simply the god of wine. He cannot be reduced to the jovial, tipsy Bacchus immortalized in the Disney treatment of Beethoven’s “Pastoral” in Fantasia — although that is …
Triangulating
JUST AS COMPARING BIBLE TRANSLATIONS HELPS US UNDERSTAND both specific passages and the Bible as a whole, so comparing religious traditions helps us understand both specific traditions and religious phenomena more broadly. Comparative study brings witnesses with differing points of view into play, in the hope they’ll clarify one another. Last week, while re-reading The …
Different Roads, One Path
AS THE WAR AGAINST FASCIST IMPERIALISM REACHED ITS CLIMAX around the world in 1944-45, Aldous Huxley was in southern California publishing The Perennial Philosophy. The book, still in print and now a popular classic in the comparative study of religion, spells out what Huxley called the “highest common factor” in the world’s religions. While differences …
Gone Beyond and Back – Perfect Wisdom
The Heart Sutra pushes wisdom into transcendence, but then brings it back into compassion. That's why it's the Perfection of Wisdom, the bodhisattva path.
Reaching One Through Addition
THE HISTORY OF RELIGION ACTUALLY HAS SOMETHING TO SAY that’s important for us to hear, right now. Recognizing the ambiguity of the American national motto, E pluribus unum, points us toward the same understanding. How does one get to one, through subtraction or addition? In mathematics, reaching one through addition means we’re dealing with abstractions …
Soul Spirit Wisdom 