Are you spiritual, but not religious? If so, you’re in good company. Greater numbers all of people all over the world are identifying themselves this way. And, as a friend of mine said recently, “it’s not a good time to be in the religion business.” He talked about the decline of the churches in Europe and the United ... Read More
Animal Companions On the Path
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” (Anatole France, French novelist, 1844-1924) The crows were mocking my dad. Growing up in rural Connecticut with all kinds of animals, wild and domestic, I’d had plenty of experience to convince me how smart animals were, but I hadn’t seen ... Read More
Ways of Action
Alan Watts, philosopher and popularizer of Eastern spiritual ideas to the West, observed that “everyone’s a philosopher; most are poor ones.” That is, just in the nature of human life itself, you can’t get away from reaching conclusions concerning “what it’s all about” and the meaning and purpose of your life, yet few ... Read More
“Renewal at Nature’s New Year” (or “Anybody Can Meditate!”)
I’ve never really understood why we make resolutions in the dead of winter, at the darkest, coldest time of the year. Or even why we celebrate the New Year at that time, just because Julius Caesar said so and had the calendar set up that way (before 45 B.C.E., the New Year started in March). The obvious time to ... Read More
The Neurochemistry of Hope
As I write, it’s one day past the start of Spring, and we’re in the middle of a Nor’easter dumping six inches of snow so far on New York City. So it seems worth reminding ourselves of the old familiar saying of the English poet Alexander Pope, “hope springs eternal.” So, hopefully, will Spring--eventually. Although ... Read More
Minding the World with Care
“Mindfulness” is an idea that seems to be everywhere, sometimes; at least, if you hang out in spiritual, recovery, therapy, or other healing-based places. It’s an idea that began to gain a toehold here in the west back in the 1970s, when adventurous spiritual seekers like Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and Sharon ... Read More