Buddhist Teacher Jack Kornfield on Sex, Drugs and Enlightenment
Want to know more about the sex lives of Buddhist teachers in America? Are you considering downing some ecstasy or a bit of mushroom to fast-track your spiritual growth? Wondering about that person in the meditation hall who seems to be having a psychotic break? Check out Jack Kornfield’s book.
My Mother’s Goneness
My mother is gone, but when she died, she left a few things behind — a battered old purse, a small sofa she liked to call the loveseat. Read more.
To Finish My Book I Need a Muslim Woman With a Story to Tell
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Berkeley CA artist Salma-Arastu with her painting “Expansion of the Universe.” Photo by BF Newhall[/caption]
I still need to find myself a few more people to interview for my book. A nice, talky Muslim woman, for one. Read more.
In My Rain-Battered Garden — Nothing Is Forever, Not Even Those Poppies
St. Jerome kept a human skull on his desk to remind him of his mortality. We gardeners don’t need a skull . We’ve got stuff dying on us every day. Read more.
Why Meditate — When I Could Be Sweeping the Garage?
I’ve tried meditating a few times – a very few times. I’m well read on the subject, however. Indeed, I’ve spent way more time reading about meditation than I’ve spent doing it.
GodsBigBlog: What Ever Happened to God?
The category GodsBigBlog is now called My Rocky Spiritual Journey.
At Tuolumne — Celebrating Getting Born
Turning 70 was way better than turning 8 — because I spent the day at Yosemite’s beautiful Tuolemne Meadows with friends. Read more.
Book Openers: How’d He Get an Audience with Her?
By Barbara Falconer Newhall Yes. That’s me with the Pope. OK, he’s cardboard. But I’m real. The cardboard Pope and I were
Book Openers: Why Are All Those Catholics – So Darned Catholic?
What is at the heart of Catholicism? What makes all those Catholics so tenaciously Catholic? The Rev. Robert Barron would say – the Incarnation. Read more.
The Hagia Sophia: Where Christianity and Islam Coexist — and Clash
As an American Christian, I’d never known how it feels to have my faith’s most cherished symbols obliterated by a colonizing force. Until I entered the Hagia Sophia. Read more.