Reading Archives (Author)
No Big Answer
If logic tells us that life is a meaningless accident, says Ecclesiastes at the end of his journey, don't give up on life. Give up...
See Others As Brothers and Sisters
An old Rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun. "Could it be," asked one...
Destiny is Within Us
I remember walking to the bus stop one day. Sweat was dripping down my chin, while I gazed upon the faded metal bus-stop sign a block...
The Only Power of the Mystic
The only power for the mystic is the power of love. Every kind of power lies in this one thing which we call by the simple name: love....
A Scheme to Change the World?
The other day I lectured in Paris and after my lecture a very able man came to me and said, 'Have you got a scheme?' I said,...
The Liminal Space
What do you do when a friend has lost a child and you can’t ease their grief? Or when your partner loses her job and you...
Memnoon: Blessing The One Who Is Asked
One of the keys to a happier life is doing only what you want to do. We have been taught that is being selfish. That teaching comes from...
Meaning of Love
[Helen Keller tells how, as a deaf and dumb child, she learned the meaning of love from her teacher, Anne Sullivan.] I remember the...
Rude Awakenings
The example of the newly blinded man is so concrete, I wish I could use it as a type for all life-training. When he first loses his...
I Awaken Before Dawn
I awaken before dawn, go into the kitchen and fix a cup of tea. I light the candle and sit in its glow on the meditation cushion....
How Could There Be Wars?
There is too much hate and suffering in the world. Things are out of order, out of harmony and balance. Why are heaven and earth...
Encounter With A Deaf Man
A big blue Cadillac stopped and a gentle, well-dressed man in his early fifties came over and quietly watched us bow. Suddenly he...
Giving Leftovers
As we start getting further from the L.A. area, everybody wants to have a chance to give us a meal, to help out. As a result we have...
What I Learned In Africa
I ended up in Africa because the plane ticket there was cheapest. I came and I stayed. For nearly 25 years I’ve lived off and on...
Solitude Is Where Community Begins
Solitude is where community begins. That’s where we listen to God. Sometimes I think of life as a big wagon wheel with many spokes....
Putting Foundations Under Castles
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not...
Worn-Out Path
It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived...
What I Learned From Trees
For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and...
The River
I am only a ferryman and it is my task to take people across this river. I have taken thousands of people across and to all of them my...
Knowledge can be Conveyed, but not Wisdom
Look, my dear Govinda, this is one of my thoughts, which I have found: wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom which a wise man...
Trees are Sanctuaries
Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to...
Surrendering To The Stream
The many-voiced song of the river echoed softly. [...] Siddhartha listened. He was now listening intently, completely absorbed, quite...
Become a Lake
An aging master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned,...
Rich Man And The Beggar
Many years ago, a man was sitting in quiet contemplation by a riverbank when he was disturbed by a beggar from the local village....
We are the Ones We've Been Waiting For
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there...
The Inward Sea
There is in every person an inward sea And in that sea, there is an island And on that island is an altar And standing guard...
Sound Of The Genuine
There is in every person something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine ... There is in you something that waits and...
A Marvelous Victory
There is a tendency to think that what we see in the present moment we will continue to see. We forget how often in this century we have...
Do What You Please, But I'm Watching
Alone, in a quiet place, muscularly relaxed (lying down or comfortably seated), I watch the emergence within myself of mental images,...
Wide Angle View
The final reason for understanding another is intrinsic -- to enjoy the wider angle the vision affords. I am, of course, speaking...