If you could wash away the sands of time you might be able to see your roots—the things you learned in your earliest childhood, the teachings you gleaned from your parents and ancestors without ever being aware that you were learning.
What of your roots is visible to you at this moment?
There’s nothing so cute as a picture of a dog that’s befriended a rabbit, or a moose that is best friends with a cow. It warms the heart to think of love flourishing in unlikely places. But sometimes it is worth celebrating the ways in which we simply manage to peacefully share space with those who are near us: the neighbors or co-workers who we may not enjoy, but who have as much right to the rock as we.
How do you make space for people you don’t care for, or with whom you disagree?
Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year for trees, begins this evening. You might not think that late January makes sense as a time of beginning for trees, since in many places they are still dormant and leafless. But in a climate like that of Israel, you can see buds starting to form this time of year. It’s still a considerable wait until leaves are out, let alone until harvest, but all of that is implicit in the first little buds.
What buds do you see in your life that might lead to a harvest down the road?
Generally people think of religion as, by definition, something that you take on faith. And indeed most religious questions aren’t subject to scientific testing—there isn’t an experiment that will prove or disprove the existence of God or an afterlife. And yet, our religious convictions are only really meaningful if they hold up in the context of our lives and our other beliefs, to the tests of whether they make sense and whether they help us to live better lives.
What religious beliefs have changed for you as you’ve tested them against your life and values?
“There is no one way to salvation, whatever the manner in which a [person] may proceed. All forms and variations are governed by the eternal intelligence of the Universe that enables a [person] to approach perfection. It may be in the arts of music and painting or it may be in commerce, law, or medicine. It may be in the study of war or the study of peace. Each is as important as any other. Spiritual enlightenment through religious meditation such as Zen or in any other way is as viable and functional as any “Way.”… A person should study as they see fit.”
―Miyamoto Musashi
What practice moves you toward salvation?
