Awakin Readings

Remembering the Sacred

Every week, we post a short reading from various wisdom traditions that points to the sacred. Each excerpt is also accompanied by an audio recording, an illustration and translations. Subscribe Here.

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We Are Contextual Beings

Pir Aga Mir

Here is one of my central inquiries: If our spiritual and religious practices are not expanding our circle of empathy, compassion, love and care, what is their purpose? If they are not preparing us fo...

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11K reads, 9 comments

Our Early Experiences

Dr. Gabor Maté

My mother had muscular dystrophy, which is a degenerative disease of the muscles. It’s hereditary, runs in our family. And so, she could no longer walk, get out of bed, even feed herself very we...

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10K reads, 14 comments

Sacred Mess Of Nature

Lucy Grace

A seed eventually blooms into the most beautiful flower. But first it must break down, crack open, travel through mud without any guarantees and give over to instinct and the will of existence. It doe...

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9K reads, 15 comments

I No Longer Pray

Chelan Harkin

I no longer pray—  now I drink dark chocolate  and let the moon sing to me. I no longer pray— I let my ancestors dance  through my hips at the slightest provocation....

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9K reads, 26 comments

The False Self From Childhood

Eric Jones

I ran across a developmental psychology theory not long ago that I’ve had bouncing around in the back of my head ever since. It comes from the pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, wh...

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9K reads, 14 comments

What Is Mu?

Robert G. Harwood

“What is mu?” By contemplating such zen koans, students sometimes have deep existential insights, and it was this question that I now asked myself. In the past, I had no idea what an appro...

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9K reads, 10 comments

Genjo Koan

Dogen Zenji

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected in the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wid...

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8K reads, 7 comments

Is There A Real World Out There?

Anil Seth

Here’s a commonsense view of perception. Let’s call it the “how things seem” view. There’s a mind‑independent reality out there, full of objects and people and place...

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8K reads, 17 comments

Yodeling Above Freedom

David Bullon

There is a thrushing light alive - dancing and whirling; concealed by midlife shadows in my antsy eyes. My snow-shining mountainous essence beams luminously through that shade, but somehow its rest...

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8K reads, 7 comments

Listening Is A Great Art

J. Krishnamurti

You know, listening is a great art. It is one of the great arts we have not cultivated: to listen completely to another. When you listen so completely to another, as I hope you are doing it now, you a...

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8K reads, 9 comments

The Eagle And The Chicken

Jamie Glenn

A fable is told about an eagle that thought he was a chicken. When the eagle was very small, he fell from the safety of his nest. A chicken farmer found the eagle, brought him to the farm, and raised ...

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8K reads, 27 comments

The Great Divide

Mark Vandeneijnde

The great divide: On the left there is business It loves to think and problem solve Move fast and talk with resolve Perform so hard it wears you down If only it would stop to breathe and look a...

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7K reads, 6 comments

In Hardship, Choose Bewilderment Over Cleverness

Toko-Pa Turner

In grappling with degenerative autoimmune disease, I often wished for a speedy redemption, for something meaningful to come out of my pain and suffering. But every time I tried, I’d be humbled b...

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7K reads, 19 comments

ABOUT AWAKIN READINGS

Awakin Readings started in 1996 as a way to remind ourselves of universal truths. Soon after, it began to be utilized as a discussion topic in weekly Awakin Circles in living rooms around the globe. Different artists and photographers offer a unique image for every reading; an audio recording is offered each week; and many volunteers collaborate to translate it into various languages. Our repository has over a thousand readings.

What is perhaps noteworthy about this effort is that it is entirely volunteer-run, and non-commercial, and has stayed that way for the last 25 years. For the many dozens of volunteer who contribute every week, this website is a labor of love.

We are grateful to Somik Raha, Liz Helgesen, and Rupali Bhuva for their consistent service for more than a decade. This website wouldn't be possible without the pioneering example Dinesh and Harshida Mehta's Awakin Circle of 25 years, and the larger field of ServiceSpace. Thank you.

To get engaged, join our newsletter or join the ServiceSpace community to explore volunteering.

"Compassion is a spontaneous movement of wholeness. It is not a studied decision to help the poor, to be kind to the unfortunate. Compassion has a tremendous momentum that naturally, choicelessly moves us to worthy action. It has the force of intelligence, creativity, and the strength of love. This vast intelligence that orders the cosmos is available to all. The beauty of life, the wonder of living, is that we share creativity, intelligence, and unlimited potential with the rest of the cosmos. To realize that we are not simply physical beings on a material planet, but that we are whole beings, each a miniature cosmos, each related to all of life in intimate, profound ways, should radically transform how we perceive ourselves, our environments, our social problems. Nothing can ever be isolated from wholeness." --Vimala Thakar