After a glioblastoma diagnosis, Tallu Schuyler Quinn wrote about what dying meant to her body, mind and heart in this series of moving essays.
Category: Book Bits
In the Name of the Stranger – Pádraig Ó Tuama on the Language of The Troubles
Poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama reflects on the use of the word 'trouble' in Irish language, and its relationship to grief and mourning.
The Most Real and Creative Form of Human Presence: John O’Donohue on Soul Friendship
Ancient Celtic tradition upheld soul-friendships and the potential for inner growth that they teased out.
The First Door of Liberation: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Vision of Emptiness and Interbeing
Rather than signifying a lack or a void, Thich Nhat Hanh took emptiness to be a state of inextricable and fundamental interconnectedness.
Giving Away More Than We Keep – Ayya Khema on Cultivating Generosity
Buddhist teacher Ayya Khema on the highest level of generosity: dedicating one's own life to the service of others.
The Courage of Our Mistakes – Joan Didion on Self-Respect and Moral Nerve
In this excerpt from a 1961 essay titled On Self-Respect, Didion argued for a morally robust state of being and looked back a generation to a value that was once called 'character'.
The Glimpse of Eternity – Martin Buber and Our Relationship With The Divine
One of the central themes of the work of the Jewish mystical philosopher Martin Buber was the question of understanding our relation to God.
The Expression of a Better World – Anaïs Nin on Transience and the Painful, Familiar Beauty of Music
Anaïs Nin on music, mortality, and what it is to glimpse a joyful vision of a land from which we came and which we have forgotten.
Outer and Inner Ecologies: Activist Satish Kumar on the Importance of Seeing Our Own Divinity
If we cannot see the fact of our own divinity and nurture that most immediate light, we can break down and burn out before we are able to effect any change.
Chris Abani on the Balance and Patience of West African Beauty
In West African thought, beauty surpasses the principles of symmetry and perspective and instead goes deep into the balance of being itself.