Reading Archives (Author)
No Big Answer
Harold Kushner
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 on logic. Listen to that voice inside you which prompted you t...
See Others As Brothers and Sisters
Hasidic Tale
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 of the students, "when you can see an animal in the distance ...
Destiny is Within Us
Hawah Kasat
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 away. I saw an unorganized huddle of bodies. A few sat on the wood...
The Only Power of the Mystic
Hazrat Inayat Khan
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. Charity, generosity, kindness, affection, endurance, tolerance...
A Scheme to Change the World?
Hazrat Inayat Khan
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, 'What scheme?' 'Of bettering conditions.' I repl...
The Liminal Space
Heather Platt
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 can’t resolve it for her? Or a client has to make a big decision an...
Memnoon: Blessing The One Who Is Asked
Heather Schlessman
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 thousands of years of developing a domination over society. We ...
Meaning of Love
Helen Keler
[Helen Keller tells how, as a deaf and dumb child, she learned the meaning of love from her teacher, Anne Sullivan.] I remember the morning that I first asked about the meaning of the word, 'love'....
Rude Awakenings
Helen Keller
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 sight he thinks there is nothing left for him but heartache and de...
I Awaken Before Dawn
Helen Moore
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. Taking my cup in both hands, I lift it to my Lord and give thanks. ...
How Could There Be Wars?
Heng Ch'au
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 (nature) angry? It's because our values and priorities are upside-do...
Encounter With A Deaf Man
Heng Ch'au
A big blue Cadillac stopped and a gentle, well-dressed man in his early fifties came over and quietly watched us bow. Suddenly he became very happy and excited. He ran over to me extending his han...
Giving Leftovers
Heng Ch'au
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 food to spare. Today we got a hot dish we couldn't possibly fi...
What I Learned In Africa
Henning Mankell
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 in Mozambique. Time has passed, and I'm no longer young; in fact...
Solitude Is Where Community Begins
Henri Nouwen
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. In the middle is the hub. Often in ministry, it lo...
Putting Foundations Under Castles
Henry David Thoreau
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 spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and i...
Worn-Out Path
Henry David Thoreau
It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived [in the woods] a week before my feet wore a path from my ...
What I Learned From Trees
Herman Hesse
For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are...
The River
Herman Hesse
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 river has been nothing but a hindrance on their journey. They...
Knowledge can be Conveyed, but not Wisdom
Herman Hesse
Look, my dear Govinda, this is one of my thoughts, which I have found: wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom which a wise man tries to pass on to someone always sounds like foolishness.&q...
Trees are Sanctuaries
Herman Hesse
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 the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscri...
Surrendering To The Stream
Herman Hesse
The many-voiced song of the river echoed softly. [...] Siddhartha listened. He was now listening intently, completely absorbed, quite empty, taking in everything. He felt that he had now completely...
Become a Lake
Hindu Parable
An aging master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of...
Rich Man And The Beggar
Hindu Parable (Author Unknown)
Many years ago, a man was sitting in quiet contemplation by a riverbank when he was disturbed by a beggar from the local village. “Where is the stone?” the beggar demanded. “I mus...
We are the Ones We've Been Waiting For
Hopi Elders
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 are things to be considered… Where are you living? Wha...
The Inward Sea
Howard Thurman
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 before that altar is the angel with the flaming sword. Nothi...
Sound Of The Genuine
Howard Thurman
There is in every person something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine ... There is in you something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. Nobody like y...
A Marvelous Victory
Howard Zinn
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 been astonished by the sudden crumbling of institutions, by ex...
Do What You Please, But I'm Watching
Hubert Benoit
Alone, in a quiet place, muscularly relaxed (lying down or comfortably seated), I watch the emergence within myself of mental images, permitting my imagination to produce whatever it likes. It is...
Wide Angle View
Huston Smith
The final reason for understanding another is intrinsic -- to enjoy the wider angle the vision affords. I am, of course, speaking metaphorically of vision and view, but an analogue from ocular sigh...