The Dewdrop
THIS WEEK'S BLOG
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’.
Philip Booth – First Lesson
A father teaches his daughter the art of buoyancy and incants a blessing for her survival.
Discourse on the Absolute Truth
According to Buddhist teaching, clinging to views is an empty and futile way of interfacing with the world.
INTERVIEWS
Stephanie McConnell – Palms
Shanley McConnell – Mary sings a lullaby to her baby God
Lawrence Bridges – Lake Hughes Road
Read deep - breathe easy
This Is For You
BY BETH SHELBURNE
This is for you, he says, dropping the wet, glistening shell into my open palm like a coin.
Last Temptation
BY MARY DOWNES
How Nikos Kazantzakis’ “The Last Temptation of Christ” changed my understanding of Christianity – at 24, Jesus of Nazareth became personal.
MICRO GALLERY
Adam Powers – Relative
Adam Powers’ understated photographs draw out beauty from the forgotten corners of urban and commercial landscapes.
Passersby
BY JOANN STEVELOS –
What happens when an abandoned child grows up and one day buries her estranged father
To Walk the Stones
BY MATTHEW WILLIS –
What the stones at Kyoto’s Jishu Jinja shrine can teach us and warn us about love in our lives
FEATURED AUTHORS AND POETS
BOOK EXCERPTS
Normal Days – A Tribute to the Ordinary From the Far Edge of Life
After a glioblastoma diagnosis, Tallu Schuyler Quinn wrote about what dying meant to her body, mind and heart in this series of moving essays.
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 Full Awareness of Breathing
In the Anapanasati Sutta, the Buddha presents a visceral kind of practice with the breath, that illuminates the experience of joy, calm and impermanence.
The Self is Tied to This Body Like an Ox to a Cart
One of the most well-known sections of the Chandogya Upanishad is the story of Indra, King of the Gods, Virochana King, of the Godless and their encounter with the sage Prajapati.
Each Breath One Takes is a Step Towards One’s Destiny
Teachings about the cultivation of wisdom by the Sufi Master and the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, Hadrat ‘Alî.
The Buddha’s Last Teaching: Be Your Own Island, Your Own Refuge
The Buddha’s final words of advice to his students before he died were to take refuge in the dharma and in themselves.
Dogen’s Seal of the Ocean: How Meditation and Life Can Flow Like Water
Japanese Zen Master Eihei Dogen invokes an oceanic state of non-identification as something that expresses the true Dharma, or our true nature, according to the teachings of Buddha.
Want More?
THE ALAN WATTS CORNER
Running With Life: Alan Watts on Freedom and Poverty
Alan Watts unpacks the imperative not to hold on to things, but to adopt a kind of psychological poverty—or simplicity— in which the mind is clear and unfettered in a way that allows it the space for true spontaneity.
Alan Watts and Divine Play
Alan Watts delves into one of his favorite and recurring subjects – the way in which we over-identify with the parts we play.
What Have You Left Out? Alan Watts on the Limits of Perception
Alan Watts often said that in order to come to your senses, you have to get out of your mind. Watts was emphatic about self-realization and breaking through cultural and psychic barriers in order to live as a fully-fledged, fearless human being.
Brahman, God, Allah and the Tao – Alan Watts
Among Alan Watts’ most compelling qualities was his fascination with different systems of faith and his
Gil Fronsdal on Immanent and Naturalistic Buddhism
Buddhist teacher and author Gil Fronsdal on the meanings of naturalistic Buddhism, religion, life and death.
Body Like a Rag, Mind Like a Mirror – Guo Gu Breaking Through Boundaries
Chan teacher Guo Gu on silent illumination, punk music and his teacher Sheng Yen’s legacy.
Surviving Intact – Norman Fischer on Zen, Language and Growing Old
Zen teacher and poet Norman Fischer on where and how poetry and Zen practice meet and interact.
Why I Write – A Conversation with Kathleen Dean Moore
Author and activist Kathleen Dean Moore on what inspires her, what drives her, and her struggle to write about hope.
‘Telling Stories is the Single Thing That Makes Us Human’ – A Conversation with Adam Mansbach
A conversation with Adam Mansbach about loss, grief, and the process of writing his new book, I Had a Brother Once, in the form of an epic poem.
Embodying Grief – A Conversation with Liz Tichenor
Author and priest Liz Tichenor talks about her book The Night Lake, about dealing with loss and what the topography of grief looks like after seven years.
THE BEATS
BROWSE BY THEME
MYSTICS
Eighteen Thousand Universes Through Eighteen Thousand Eyes
The Sacred is the Everyday – Joan Chittister
Thomas Merton on Solitude, Authenticity and Being
Gurdjieff and The Two Rivers
Blinded by the Sun – St Teresa of Avila
“Don’t Tell Me Who I Am Yet. It Is Still Being Spelled Out”
Kabir – The Moon Shines in my Body
Rumi’s Guest House
POPULAR READS
BROWSE SUBJECTS
FROM THE ZEN GARDEN
Elisabeth Preston-Hsu – Kitsune Udon
Like a steaming bowl of delicious flavors, Elisabeth Preston-Hsu’s “Kitsune Udon” is a recipe of mythology, Zen simplicity, and storytelling.
Hiatt O’Connor – Waiting for Gravity
Seemingly a lesson in simplicity and silence, Hiatt O’Connor’s wonderful poem Waiting for Gravity is, in fact, a work of layers.
Suzanne Eaton – windchimes
Suzanne Eaton’s windchimes is a meditative discourse on wind and sound, and the tranquility and openness manifested by the simple act of stillness.
Spence Pfleiderer – A Simple Morning Prayer
The aptly-named A Simple Morning Prayer pleads for understanding and love, for connection and illumination in a handful of terse lines. This piece is evidence that a poem need not be complex or long-winded to be a thing of authentic beauty and power.
Vanessa Able – Bhakti
In her beautiful poem Bhakti, Vanessa Able gives life and imagery to action–specifically the action of the devotional philosophy of Bhakti yoga, which is focused on the love for a personal deity.
Gay Guard-Chamberlin – “Do You Have Any Advice for Those of Us Just Starting Out?”
In “Do You Have Any Advice for Those of Us Just Starting Out?”, Gay Guard-Chamberlin poses a common question with the poem’s title, which is then succinctly answered in the four brief lines that comprise the poem itself.
Jane Hirshfield – All The Difficult Hours and Minutes
In Hirshfield’s poem, calamity turns to calmness when things turn into themselves, a principle that goes to the heart of transformative practice.
Leonard Cohen – Roshi
Leonard Cohen on how the teachings of a Zen master can manifest in unexpected and obtuse ways.
You Have To Say Something: Dainin Katagiri on What To Say When There Is Nothing To Say
According to Katagiri, it can be difficult to find the words or modality to enter back into the world from a place of silence, but it is something we ultimately have to do.
The Koan of Baso’s Very Mind
Baso’s Very Mind is the 30th case or koan in the Mumonkan, The Gateless Barrier, a collection compiled in the 13th century by Rinzai master Wumen Huikai.
Anger Is Me and I Am Anger
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on how we can become intimate and compassionate with our own anger and even transform it into love.
Dave Sims – Watercolors
Dave Sims’ watercolor paintings are a submission to the chance of creation and a surrender to emptiness.
KEEP READING
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.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Letting the Old Thrills Die: C.S. Lewis on Being Alive to New Joy
Holding on to what is thrilling to us can be stifling and prevent us from paving the way for new experiences.
Working With the Soul Nerve – Resmaa Menakem on Grounding Our Bodies
Starting with the damage done by racism to human bodies, Resmaa Menakem presents a pragmatic approach to healing through the body.
What is Meditation? Shinzen Young on How to Deepen Our Focus
Shinzen Young on the most basic principle of mindfulness meditation: the cultivation of focus that can be practiced at any moment of the day, during any activity.
The Most Beautiful Thing We Can Experience Is The Mysterious: Albert Einstein’s Living Philosophy
Albert Einstein lays out his living philosophy and the set of ideals that he held in his personal, spiritual and political life.
Joseph Campbell On Experiencing Mystery
Joseph Campbell takes on the notion of experiencing mystery and considers how religious narratives can actually stymie the expansive human experience of transcendence.
You Have To Say Something: Dainin Katagiri on What To Say When There Is Nothing To Say
According to Katagiri, it can be difficult to find the words or modality to enter back into the world from a place of silence, but it is something we ultimately have to do.
Astronomer Pippa Goldschmidt on Seeing Far and Seeing Up Close
Astronomer Pippa Goldschmidt on working in the starry deserts of Chile during a time when new technologies meant a more remote relationship to the act of stargazing.
Carl Jung and The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man
Carl Jung knew that the sense of something important missing from our lives would eventually lead to the search for a path back into ourselves.
Welcome to The Dewdrop! This little journal is a digest of reflective and powerful writing focused on reading, writing and being. Scroll on for poetry, essays, book excerpts and classic texts.
Stephanie McConnell – Palms
Pennsylvania poet Stephanie McConnell’s “Palms” is a work of beauty, illuminating Saint Francis of Assisi.
Shanley McConnell – Mary sings a lullaby to her baby God
Gently illuminating a story long important to civilization, poet Shanley McConnell grants readers a glimpse of Mary and the birth of her son.
This Is For You
BY BETH SHELBURNE
This is for you, he says, dropping the wet, glistening shell into my open palm like a coin.
Lawrence Bridges – Lake Hughes Road
Los Angeles poet Lawrence Bridges makes his return to The Dewdrop with the disarmingly quiet and sparse “Lake Hughes Road”.
Brigitte Goetze – How We Come to Understand or the Heart, the Right Brain, and the Left Brain Muse about Science’s Most Famous Equation
Poet and retired biologist Brigitte Goetze digs into her scientific background to offer readers something beautiful and wholly original.
Like Silt in a Flowing Stream – May Sarton on Solitude and Clutter
May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude is the upshot of a journey into herself, into simplification and self-examination.
E.E. Cummings – Let It Go—The
E.E. Cummings reflects on the necessity of clearing, of letting go of the things we cling to, in order to make way for love.
Nicole Grace – One Note
Nicole Grace’s “One Note” is a sensory exploration of contemplation, alive with natural and meditative imagery.
Patrice Bavos – Sedona Prayer
New Jersey poet Patrice Bavos offers a gracious praise poem of a spiritual place with her lovely “Sedona Prayer”.
Eloise Klein Healy – Iris
Eloise Klein Healy, former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, has encapsulated so much in the two short stanzas of her poem “Iris”.
Normal Days – A Tribute to the Ordinary From the Far Edge of Life
After a glioblastoma diagnosis, Tallu Schuyler Quinn wrote about what dying meant to her body, mind and heart in this series of moving essays.
Kurtis Ebeling – Snowmelt
With the quietude of the rising sun and melting snow, Kurtis Ebeling’s “Snowmelt” serves as an ode to springtime and a requiem to winter.
Last Temptation
BY MARY DOWNES
How Nikos Kazantzakis’ “The Last Temptation of Christ” changed my understanding of Christianity – at 24, Jesus of Nazareth became personal.
Mark Hammerschick – Permafrostedness Rising
“Permafrostedness Rising” is a tragic poem written from the perspective of native arctic people, detailing a world altered by climate change.
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.
Kazim Ali – Ramadan
Kazim Ali’s ‘Ramadan’ touches on the mysterious dimension of spiritual practice and reflects on what is known and what can never be known.
Breathing
BY SONIA TRICKEY
We began our ascent of the South Cirque at 5:20am. Snow had fallen thickly overnight, the path was invisible and it was very dark. Most of us had barely slept.
Gil Fronsdal on Immanent and Naturalistic Buddhism
Buddhist teacher and author Gil Fronsdal on the meanings of naturalistic Buddhism, religion, life and death.
Nathaniel Grayson – Some Distant Island
Melancholic and visceral, poet Nathaniel Grayson’s “Some Distant Land” takes an unflinching look at faith, connection, and the places we find ourselves.
R. B. Simon – Shorn
Poet R. B. Simon’s “Shorn” is a concise self-reflective piece, in which the narrator desires to be unburdened and liberated of decades’ worth of burdens.