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 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 …
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, …
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 …
When Thoughtlessness Is a Good Thing
USUALLY, WHEN SOMEONE SAYS, “YOU’RE SO THOUGHTLESS!” IT MEANS you’ve done something wrong, something about which you should feel shame; but it’s not always so. Recently, I’ve been re-reading Brian Walker’s rendition of the Hua Hu Ching (now spelled Huahujing), a Daoist text attributed to Laozi, which had been preserved only through oral tradition for …
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 …
Hide and Seek
Alan Watts told a remarkable story about God playing hide-and-seek. It was a playful presentation of key ideas from Hindu philosophy. The Upanishads say, "You are That." Watts said, "You're IT!" The story goes something like this ...
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 