Happy New Year
January 1, 2016
“For those who have come to grow,
the whole world is a garden.”
“For those who wish to remain in the dream,
the whole world is a stage.”
“For those who have come to learn,
the whole world is a university.”
“For those who have come to know God,
the whole world is a prayer mat.”
— from the teachings of Bawa Muhiayaddeen, from The Illuminated Prayer by Coleman Barks
I suppose we have all assumed more than one of these roles over the course of our lives, but I think I most often see the world as my university. In which world do you find yourself?
Wordless Wednesdays: 12 Views of Stairs
December 3, 2014
The Path Between Reality and the Soul
April 21, 2014
National Poetry Month. 21
“Folks expect of the poet to indicate more than the beauty and dignity which always attach to dumb real objects. . . they expect him to indicate the path between reality and their souls.”
— Walt Whitman, from the 1885 preface to Leaves of Grass
“Against daily insignificance art recalls to us possible sublimity. It cannot do this if it is merely a reflection of actual life. Our real lives are elsewhere. Art finds them.”
— Jeannette Winterson, “Testimony Against Gertrude Stein,” from Art [Objects]: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery
Celebrating National Library Week, April 10 – 16, 2011
April 12, 2011
This week is National Library Week, and I celebrated by visiting a few of the libraries on the University of Washington campus. The UW Visitor’s Center has a map of the various libraries on campus, some of which are housed in their departments. I didn’t have time to stop in at all of them.
Catalogues for Contemplation
March 6, 2010
“The library is often the place where you can find the spirit of the monk: in silence, the lustre of old woodwork, the smell of ageing paper, reading, retreat from the world, rules and authorities, tradition, volumes of wisdom, catalogues for contemplation.”
— Thomas Moore, Meditations
While I was on the University of Washington campus viewing the cherry blossoms, I stopped by Suzzallo Library just to experience the hallowed atmosphere of one of my favorite libraries. I suppose that it brings a taste of Hogwarts to the current generation of undergraduate students, who grew up with the Harry Potter novels!
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