By Daniel J. Taylor The Destruction of the Andes Before Europeans arrived to the continent en masse, many Native Americans prophesied that strange white men would arrive to their lands. These prophecies were often recorded in the diaries and logs of European travelers to the region. In one salient Sauk tribal story, the grandfather of Black Hawk prophesied meeting white men who would act as a father in four years’ time, spurring tribesman in the waking world to travel “Eastward... Read more
Some of us feel like we are slowly emerging from a long winter hibernation. We have stocked up on supplies and barricaded ourselves into a secure place. Our days have been turned upside down and we surrounded ourselves with distractions. Filling our time with crossword puzzles and streaming services and Zoom sessions, we weathered the storm. Some of us have been been overwhelmed by mourning and loss. We have lost people we love and work which gave us fulfillment. Some... Read more
We made it through the initial shock when we were all confused and panic buying toilet paper. Many of us then settled into working in our pajamas and not driving in traffic. Isolation seemed almost like a vacation. Watching movies with our families was a new adventure. Now some of us are feeling more anxious. There are a few signs of hope. Some states are “reopening.” We want to go to the beach and back to work. it is almost... Read more
We think of attention as a rare and valuable commodity and assume that distraction is a problem with an identifiable cause. A medieval monk would our find our complaints strange. They thought of distraction as the human condition itself. Above all, they maintained a remarkably patient attitude toward it. Read more
What do synchronized vibrations add to the mind/body question? agsandrew/Shutterstock.com By Tam Hunt, University of California, Santa Barbara Why is my awareness here, while yours is over there? Why is the universe split in two for each of us, into a subject and an infinity of objects? How is each of us our own center of experience, receiving information about the rest of the world out there? Why are some things conscious and others apparently not? Is a rat conscious?... Read more
Gratitude is often defined as a feeling of obligation and indebtedness toward those who give us a gift or help us out. But this sets us down a dangerous road — the value of our relationships cannot be calculated with numbers on the page, and doing so, we can miss out on what is most important. Read more
The creative power that people address as “God,” Meister Eckhart explained, is already present within each individual and is best understood as the very force that infuses all living things. Since German romantics rediscovered Eckhart in the 19th century, he has attracted many religious and non-religious admirers, including Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre, Pope John Paul II and the current Dalai Lama. The overlap of his teachings to many Asian practices played an important role in making him popular with Western spiritual seekers. Read more
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