Clik here to view.
Yasunari Kawabata
I rediscovered this remarkable photograph of Yasunari Kawabata today, the Nobel Prize winning Japanese short story writer and novelist. It made a strong impression on me. Possibly because of the the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happy New Year!
This beautiful photograph by Julius Shulman, “Woman and the Ocean,” taken in 1930 not only epitomizes the music of Fado, the heart wrenching sorrowful melodies of Portugal, it also paints the feelings...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Thousand Secrets
“A thousand secrets are hidden in simply sitting still.” — Karlfried Graf Dürckheim A few weeks ago, my good friend Walt recommended Hara: The Vital Center of Man by the German diplomat,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Good Question
A few days ago while driving around Toronto with a friend, we started a conversation about what books we’ve been reading lately. I remarked that the current theme of Parabola’s Winter issue: Many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Settling in the Heart
The Beauty We Love, is one of my favorite places to visit on the web. There you will find a remarkable collection of passages and poetry of astonishing depth and insight. Earlier today I came across...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saint Julian Press
I am delighted to announce that Saint Julian Press has published a poem I wrote titled “Preparation” on their website Saint Julian Press is a new nonprofit imprint whose mission is to identify,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer
Sitting under a deep blue sky where the sun is rising, orange and pulsing, I find myself surrounded by a cloister of evergreens in the silence of seven in the morning. Nearby, I have discovered a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
what is
Writing on my balcony the other night under the moon and shadows, I felt anxious and wanted from the night something the night doesn’t usually bring. I sat there in the cricket filled evening for a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Live the Mystery
In early August I discovered my favorite book of this year. I came across Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists by Kay Larson at two wonderful places on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
India Photo Journal
If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most deeply pondered over the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions to some of them which well deserve the attention even of those who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Uneasy Street
“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” So taught the Gautama Buddha, some 2500 years ago, with his hands delicately poised in front of his heart. This...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spiritual Diplomacy
Here is an illuminating interview with James George, former high commissioner to India and former ambassador to Iran. The Dalai Lama calls him “my old friend.” Chogyam Trungpa referred to him as “a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Angels are Born, A Review
When Angels Are Born by Ron Starbuck Saint Julian Press I awake most mornings at 5 a.m., shuffle around the house in half sleep, make coffee, and then I sit quietly to watch the arrival of another new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Art of Meditation
I have been spending a lot of time with Sir Richard Temple’s beautiful book The Art of Meditation, which I received last week in the mail. I highly recommended it. Sir Richard Temple lives in London,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
“Settle down in your room at a moment when you have nothing else to do. Say “I am now with myself,” and just sit with yourself. After an amazingly short time you will most likely feel bored. This...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ring Them Bells
On December 31 at midnight, the New Year is welcomed in Japanese Buddhist Temples with 108 bell chimes during the Joya no Kane ritual, which means “bell rings on new year eve’s night.” The rings...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Moments
Takashi Shimura as Watanabe in “Ikiru,” (1952, dir. Akira Kurosawa) Yesterday, as I was walking down Spadina Street here in Toronto to meet someone, something within me started noticing my thoughts. It...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Newfoundland Meditations
Photograph by Keegan Gibbs, The Alchemist From on top of a hill where a small white house sits, I can see the beach below. The ocean, like life itself, creeps up the coast and falls back, merging with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
With My Back To the World
Agnes Martin, With My Back to the World, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 60” x 60″, 1997. Courtesy of MoMA. Agnes Martin Exhibition Tate Modern: Exhibition, June 3 – October 11, 2015 After having...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At the Dog Park
Photograph by Lynn Friedman, Winter Walk I took my parents’ dog, Jake out for a walk in the park this morning. The wind was cold, and the trees were icy and barren. Jake didn’t care how cold it was....
View Article
