Jalaladin Muhammad Balkhi, the wondrous Jalaladin Rumi was born on this day, the 30th of September, in 1207. I write about him every once in a while. Here, for instance, I devoted a whole dharma talk to him. In 2007 he got a lot of press as “America’s most beloved poet.” And you know, he probably still is. Rumi was a Muslim theologian, sometimes these days people slide over this fact while celebrating that other... Read more
Satya Narayana Goenka died on this day, the 29th of September, 2013, at his Mumabi home. He was survived by his wife Elaichi Devi Goenka, six sons, and a generation of Vipassana meditation practitioners. It is probably not possible to overstate his importance at the foundation of the modern insight meditation movement. He trained more than 1300 “assistant teachers,” who conduct retreats led by, at least as counted at Wikipedia, by 120,000 people a... Read more
Jan and I were at a gigantic annual booksale in Santa Barbara. We go there every year. This time was difficult as we are in the midst of dramatically shrinking our personal library. But. Well. There we were. I was halfheartedly poking through the books when I saw the title Christ the Eternal Tao. I poked through it. The author is Hieromonk Damascene, a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church, and a disciple of and biographer of the... Read more
(A sermon by James Ishmael Ford, delivered at the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, on the 24th of September, 2023) *** One day while walking quietly together, out of the silence the Buddha’s attendant Ananda declared, “Teacher, to have companions and comrades on the great way is so amazing! I have come to realize that friendship is fully half of an authentic spiritual life. They proceeded along quietly for a while more, before out... Read more
I saw a huge form, rounded and shadowy, and shaped like an egg… Its outer layer consisted of an atmosphere of bright fire with a kind of dark membrane beneath it… From the outer atmosphere of fire, a wind blew storms. And from the dark membrane beneath, another membrane raged with further storms which moved out in all directions of the globe. Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, Book One, Vision Three It’s been such an... Read more
The other day I came across a wonderful little essay “The Minimum Working Hypothesis,” It was Aldous Huxley’s attempt at providing a core to his belief in a perennial wisdom. It triggered a wave of thoughts for me. And in particular how much I owe to him and two of his colleagues Gerald Heard and Christopher Isherwood. One more distantly, but two inescapably. It inspired me to pause and gather a few thoughts about these three... Read more
This essay by Aldous Huxley was first published as “The Minimum Working Hypothesis” in Vedanta for the Western World edited by Christopher Isherwood (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1948, pp 33-35. The book notes it also appears as part of Sebastian’s notebook in Huxley’s philosophical novel, Time Must Have a Stop. In the novel he explores many of the themes in his classic study Perennial Philosophy. I suggest all are worth a read, although this essay... Read more
Jan & I have now seen two episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We both have enjoyed them very much. We thought of it sort of as the original Star Trek, but done better. I’m pleased to note that at Rotten Tomatoes, the pros give it a 98% thumb’s up. And cautioned at how a solid but much less commanding 78% of viewers like it. Now, while I’m fond of the Star... Read more
The living way is like a well: You can constantly use it, and yet it never dries up. It is the eternal boundlessness; Birthing the infinite worlds. It is hidden from sight and yet always present. I have no idea who gave it birth. It is older than God. Tao Te Ching, Chapter 4 (my paraphrsase) There are elements that we can discern as “religious-like” in some animal behaviors. Of course, there is nothing to suggest... Read more
Me, I’m endlessly fascinated by the monks and nuns we now call the Desert Fathers and Mothers. They represent a movement that began in the third century in what we think of today as Israel and Palestine, Syria, Arabia, and most of all in the Egyptian desert. They first captured my imagination through Thomas Merton’s carefully curated collection, the Wisdom of the Desert. And this interest has continued on since. Today, the 9th of September (in... Read more
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