Solnit pays tribute to the color that fills the space between herself and the object of her longing, and reflects on how this blue can in some ways be understood as love itself.
Category: Book Excerpts
Wandering in the Desert: This is our Life
Charlotte Joko Beck was an American Zen teacher who insisted that Zen training must directly address our conditioned reactions, and that meditative awareness was the key to understanding the emptiness of ego. She also underlined the value of bringing practice insights into daily life by living compassionately and with recognition of the interconnectedness… Continue reading Wandering in the Desert: This is our Life
On Falling in Love – James Baldwin
For activist and writer James Baldwin, falling in love was, 'Not merely the key to my life, but to life itself.' In this excerpt he talks about falling in love, a powerful event that shaped him and how he interacted with the world.
Am I Conscious Now?
"What does it mean to ask a question? Is there some magic in the inquisitive brain?" Susan Blackmore's lifelong investigation into consciousness encompasses Zen practice and the recurring question: Am I conscious now?
Year in Recap: The Most Read Dewdrops of 2019
Thich Nhat Hanh, Toni Morrison and Seung Sahn: the ten most popular posts from The Dewdrop's first year.
Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Cosmic Perspective
We marvel at our intelligence, but what we often miss is the miracle of our own existence and our interconnectedness with everything else in the Cosmos.
You Must Go Beyond All Words – Achaan Chaa
Achaan Chaa was a Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition who taught a simple practice in nature that did not depend on reading or studying.
Phil Jackson and the Zen of Basketball
'Selflessness is the soul of teamwork' was former basketball coach Phil Jackson's mantra when coaching his players in the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson coached his players along the lines of wisdom he had gleaned from his own study of Zen Buddhism and the Lakota Sioux, emphasizing group consciousness and non-ego.
“The Hawk, the Swoop, and the Hare are One” – Gary Snyder on Radical Social Change
There is nothing necessarily natural or inevitable, argues Gary Snyder, about repression, violence and frustrated personalities, and the more we are able to practice and connect with our deeper natures, the more apparent this becomes. Snyder's vision for a more enlightened society stems from his conviction that the 'joyous and voluntary poverty of Buddhism' is… Continue reading “The Hawk, the Swoop, and the Hare are One” – Gary Snyder on Radical Social Change
‘The Only Thing You Have to Fear is Fear’ – Ram Dass on the Anxiety of Extinction
In 1961, Ram Dass famously collaborated with Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Aldous Huxley, and Allen Ginsberg, to carry out pioneering research on research psilocybin, LSD-25, and other psychedelic chemicals. This experience led Ram Dass, who was then an academic called Dr Richard Alpert, into a lifelong inquiry into the human condition and its mysterious psyche.… Continue reading ‘The Only Thing You Have to Fear is Fear’ – Ram Dass on the Anxiety of Extinction