In the tea room, in Chinese ink paintings, in the arrangement of rocks in a traditional Japanese garden, and in the development and organization of a beautiful essay, asymmetry provokes the viewer to move about the piece. The movement is prompted by a sense of disjuncture between asymmetrical parts. It invites us to look for places to link. If nothing is forced, the sense of potential, on a subconscious level, is encouraged to fruit. As Okakura writes: The dynamic nature of the Zen and Taoist philosophy laid more stress upon the process through which perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty could be discovered only by one who mentally comp... posted on Mar 6 2023 (2,708 reads)

together, we work with the child, then they might add something to the conversation. The parent might add something to the conversation. There's this dynamic fluid exchange that's constantly unfolding, and then that process -- it's literally a process, because the intelligence is leading us through it -- that will guide us ultimately to an outcome. And often it is a piece of the story within that child that is searching for transformation. Right? Because ultimately the fundamental nature of healing itself is transformation. In order to heal, something must change. Something needs to move and shift and transform. That's the essence of it. So at some point we'll reach ... posted on Mar 16 2023 (2,826 reads)

anything below people's shoulders. I don't know why I have nothing against what's below the shoulders, but I am just drawn to this, the bit above the shoulders. I don't know why, but I just like it. So I do it and it draws my full attention. In fact, I once went to a conference and it was about presence, apparently. That was the central focus and I was introduced as someone who would help us to be more present. And I had to say straight away to say, oh no, that's not the nature of it. That's not how I think presence works. Presence isn't something that you do. It just is there. It doesn't need anything. I can show you that. It doesn't need anything. No... posted on Apr 11 2023 (3,387 reads)

9, 2020 As we grapple with the first global pandemic lockdown of our lifetime, our daily routines have been upended, and it’s difficult to keep up with new changes. Many of us are overwhelmed by the precarious nature of our health, our loved ones’ well-being, and our financial security. But in the midst of uncertainty and fear, inspiring videos are emerging from the countries most affected by coronavirus—Iranian doctors and nurses dancing in hospitals and Italian residents singing from their balconies. This footage not only uplifts the spirit of those in close proximity, it also brightens the mood of people watching from around the world.  ... posted on Apr 18 2023 (26,291 reads)

Offering wild prayers for all the beings who come after us, as well as gratitude to all of the teachers, both human and wilder Ones, is a practice to help destabilize my everyday mind and perceptions. Sometimes it is as if I hear the world breathing in response to the melodies.   The everyday mind might intellectually understand that the world is saturated with intelligent presences, but experiencing the world’s animate and participatory nature is a different dimension of depth and heft, and likely engages the body, felt-senses, emotions, and imagination as well as the intellect. In an alluring shift from a human-centered perspecti... posted on Jul 1 2023 (2,607 reads)

of cheerfulness, of love, and of poesy. These little joys … are so inconspicuous and scattered so liberally throughout our daily lives that the dull minds of countless workers hardly notice them. They are not outstanding, they are not advertised, they cost no money! Illustration by Maurice Sendak from Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss He points to the most readily available, most habitually overlooked of those joys — our everyday contact with nature. A century before throngs of screen zombies began swarming the sidewalks of modern cities, Hesse writes: Our eyes, above all those misused, overstrained eyes of modern man, can be, if only... posted on Jul 2 2023 (6,392 reads)

go unfulfilled. Should you find yourself teeming with dreams without strong inclinations towards any particular direction, make do for a spell by hedging your bets. Place your many eggs into many baskets and see what springs forth, as amphibians do with their jellied prospects while living ambivalently between worlds. You could get lucky. Up might hop a red-eyed tree frog and accompanying agency seeking photogenic talent! Up might slither a slender salamander partner of the most gregarious nature! But most likely nothing will rise from those waters and never will, for the majority of hopes unfostered are swallowed up by opportunists lurking in the reeds, or swept out to ill ends by ill ... posted on Jul 10 2023 (2,836 reads)

beneath our fanged fears, beneath the rusted armors of conviction, tenderness is what we long for — tenderness to salve our bruising contact with reality, to warm us awake from the frozen stupor of near-living. Tenderness is what permeates Platero and I (public library) by the Nobel-winning Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (December 23, 1881–May 29, 1958) — part love letter to his beloved donkey, part journal of ecstatic delight in nature and humanity, part fairy tale for the lonely. Healer on a Donkey by Niko Pirosmani, early 1900s. Living in his birthplace of Moguer — a small town in rural Andalusia &mdash... posted on Jul 25 2023 (4,361 reads)

sister who had been the picture of perfect health when he left Austria, sent him a photograph in 1876 showing how afflicted she had become.  She died three years later.  “But I love this life.” He wrote of her death, “for the sake of the work that I do, and I love my fork for the sake of my life and that of my dear wife and children.  I did not wish to die, and I fully made up my mind to fight death.”  He set upon a life’s work of studying the nature of breath, both from the standpoint of anatomical studies and practical exercises.  By 1887, he gained the position of organist and choirmaster of St. Paul’s Chapel in Manhattan, a p... posted on Sep 17 2023 (2,582 reads)

poem The Best Friend, the Welsh poet and occasional vagabond W.H. Davies pondered a timeless question: “Now shall I walk, or should I ride?” This seemingly simple dilemma encapsulates the modern industrial choice between slow-paced ageless wandering on foot or embracing the thrill of motorized transport, along with the attendant speed and freedom it offers, which has become such an integral part of our contemporary lifestyle. It likewise speaks volumes about us and about the nature of the choices we make daily. Gone perhaps are the days of poetic musings over the merits of walking versus riding. Yet one can’t help but wonder if we have lost something essential al... posted on Nov 22 2023 (2,766 reads)

I thought and much more fragile. And this creates a different feeling towards people in general. I found, anyway. I hear that a lot, that grief and empathy are very much connected, in the same way as loss and love are very much connected, too. And that the common energy running through life is loss, but you can translate that into love too, quite easily. They’re very, very much connected. And that comes around from an understanding of just how fragile and vulnerable and precarious the nature of life seems to be. Tippett:There’s something that you said in the book, and I think you’re talking about this, but I’d like to hear a little bit more. So: grief makes dem... posted on Dec 6 2023 (3,900 reads)

have a moment of silence, just to let that magnificent song, the images, the words, settle into a deep place. Let's just pause for a moment….Mary Ann, please speak to us of spiritual literacy.Mary Ann: Okay. Spiritual literacy is, we define that as the ability to recognize the presence of the sacred all around us. And we did a book called Spiritual Literacy, in which we collected about 600 examples of spiritual takes, spiritual visions of everyday life from experiences with animals and nature and creativity and service.And in doing that, we decided that we needed some markers of the spiritual life that would be signals or evidence of spiritual literacy. And that's how this alphabet ... posted on May 5 2024 (3,289 reads)

graduated with his class in 1993. Two years later, the university and shuttle operator, New Jersey Transit, agreed to pay him a multimillion-dollar settlement, which included safety upgrades to the train station where previous incidents had occurred. Over time, Miller has undergone many operations and often experiences nagging discomfort, as well as significant pain on occasion. "BJ's doctor said, 'When people have these life-altering injuries, it doesn't change their nature,' " said Miller's mother, Susan Miller. "BJ was a sweet, affectionate, loving child. It didn't change who he was at all." It might not have changed Miller'... posted on Oct 17 2011 (45,004 reads)

culture and people, as showcased during the tsunami. I pontificated that Japanese have a higher propensity to be in contact with their spiritual selves because the culture immerses a Japanese person in empathy, sensitivity, gratitude. Great spring board into finding our inner voice, and getting in touch with our spirit. She agreed. I asked her about her 50 years of teaching Ikebana. She talked about how the process of creating the arrangement is co-creation between herself and a nature force of sorts. She explains how sometimes when she is done with creating the arrangement, that she herself is amazed to find beauty she they did not consciously create herself. We talked about... posted on Nov 14 2011 (34,518 reads)

it resides in a host of personal values that are closer to our hearts, as illustrated by the Himalayan nation of Bhutan (population: about 700,000). For many years, Bhutan has measured its general well-being—as the people themselves subjectively report it—using a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index. Its government bases policy decisions on how they might effect the kind of happiness associated with contentment, family, community, spirituality, education, compatibility with nature and good physical health. After years of primary research, the Bhutanese have identified nine domains for assessing happiness:  psychological well-being, physical health, time use (work-li... posted on Nov 20 2011 (23,740 reads)

already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start off your day than to wake early, in my experience. 3. Quietude. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no television noise. The early morning hours are so peaceful, so quiet. It’s my favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that time of peace, that time to myself, when I can think, when I can read, when I can breathe. 4. Sunrise. People who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every day — the rise of the sun. I love how the day slowly gets brighter, when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue, when the brilliant colors s... posted on Jan 8 2012 (169,190 reads)

since then? “If that book was a warning, the warning was not heeded. We’re much worse off now, obviously. Everything can collapse at any minute. And the illusions of money are becoming painfully clear. At the same time, there’s the paradox that it is a reality. You have to take money into account in the real world. So this is still the same question: How do we realize money is a brilliant piece of social technology without defining ourselves by it? Humans are two-natured beings. One is the spirit; the other is life in the real world. We need to live in both in order to correspond to both sides of our nature. Money penetrates every aspect of our worldly life. I... posted on Feb 7 2012 (28,201 reads)

species and future generations as well as, for example, between those with great differences of wealth and opportunity.  A compassionate simplicity is a path of cooperation and fairness that seeks a future of mutually assured development for all. 3. Ecological Simplicity: Simplicity means to choose ways of living that touch the Earth more lightly and that reduce our ecological impact. This life-path remembers our deep roots in the natural world.  It encourages us to connect with nature, the seasons, and the cosmos.  A natural simplicity feels a deep reverence for the community of life on Earth and accepts that the non-human realms of plants and animals have their dignity... posted on May 1 2012 (35,245 reads)

patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms or books that are written in a foreign tongue. The point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live your way some distant day into the answers.”  Rainer Maria Rilke “In Heaven – one truth. On Earth – many truths.” “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature. But beautiful old people are works of art.”  E. Roosevelt “Intelligence and competence are not enough. We must be doing something beautiful.”   Dr. &ld... posted on May 6 2012 (9,488 reads)

being a mere math primer or trivia aid, In Pursuit of the Unknown is an essential piece of modern literacy, wrapped in an articulate argument for why this kind of knowledge should be precisely that. Stewart concludes by turning his gaze towards the future, offering a kind of counter-vision to algo-utopians like Stephen Wolfram and making, instead, a case for the reliable humanity of the equation: It is still entirely credible that we might soon find new laws of nature based on discrete, digital structures and systems. The future may consist of algorithms, not equations. But until that day dawns, if ever, our greatest insights into nature’s laws take th... posted on May 8 2012 (15,601 reads)