Why do we tell stories? Throughout history, the storyteller was the sage, the wise one. Stories have a mythic, primeval place in human society and culture. They are expressions of our deepest intuitions, our oldest folk memories, and our sense of ultimate destiny. At a social level, they speak to our times and advise us […]
coronavirus
A Buddhist Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic
Recently on the PBS News Hour, David Brooks called COVID-19 a national stress test for how well and long we can maintain our collective faith in institutions and each other. Indeed, the coronavirus has shaken the very foundations of society as we all know it. But to call it a stress test is, given what […]
The Life Waiting for Us (For Joseph Campbell)
You are not living unless youhave at least one crisis beforebreakfast. The crisis of adventure. The crisis of receiving supernatural aid. The crisis of not receiving it. The crisis of meeting with the Goddess and being spit on. Or being embraced likea child. The crisis of faith that is not knowinghow much faith is enough, and when […]
A Pandemic of Hope
As fast as the virus and then some, Love is spreading. In the hands of doctors and nurses, it spreads. Through the central nervous systemof the species like an electric shock. Love grows with invisible power. Love is spreading. Everywhere, in more places than the virus could ever be, Love is taking over. We are on lock down andLove is our […]
Love and Unity Must Rise to Meet Sorrow and Anxiety
I’ve written briefly about my afternoon at World Religion Day in Hong Kong, which was organized by the local Baha’i community. It took place only a couple of weeks before the coronavirus crisis took hold in Wuhan and spread across China and the world. The virus has plunged the global community into a crisis – […]