what we’re debating here

Do we accept that anyone who wants to master a wisdom tradition must study under a lineage master? That’s what we’re debating here, to my way of thinking.

People are writing and speaking about the wisdom traditions. The more I read what the real scholars have to say, the more I realize how much was borrowed, how much was improvised, how ...  read more

Waking Up and Falling Asleep

sunlight through canopy of small oaksAs I listen to the lectures at the Zen Center, I keep thinking that I too want to offer something about a practice that we all share. I’m referring to a practice that everybody already knows intimately, even if they don’t usually think of it as a practice: waking up and falling asleep.

For me, waking up and falling asleep is one practice, ...  read more

On the Egyptian ‘akh’

“The word ‘akh’ as a verb means ‘to be effective’ and the ‘akh’ as an entity was seen as a shining being who could come and go as it pleased. This means that the akh was not impelled by the forces of the universe to follow a set path but had achieved a state of freedom and ability to act in any situation.”
 ...  read more