In 2013, the summer after graduating from college, I read the Tao Te Ching. In the edition I picked up from the library, the preface began by making a startling claim: between eastern and western philosophies, the latter was simply wrong. As someone who’d minored in philosophy while in college, this claim rattled my presuppositions,… Continue reading The west need not be saved
Tag: Spirituality
My relationship with rock climbing
Ducking under a volume, leaning back against scant holds in order to make the most of my weight. A swivel of my hips, a crank of my calf and thigh muscles to push me up the wall, and I leap higher and catch hold of a small crimp. Again shifting weight, shuffling feet. With a… Continue reading My relationship with rock climbing
What we owe one another: a spiritual perspective
This piece was written for and placed third in the Santa Fe Reporter's 2021 nonfiction contest, in response to the prompt "What do we owe one another?" The Reporter's publication of the piece can be found here. I believe that happiness—and not just happiness but profound, unabating bliss—is our birthright. Let me explain. When we… Continue reading What we owe one another: a spiritual perspective
Holding the symbols generously: marriage, child-rearing, and existential purpose
Does marriage hold meaning outside of convention? If all lives end, then isn’t marriage’s “permanency” a passing illusion? Don’t the joined souls ultimately separate in the great beyond or, if they remain merged, doesn’t that merging collapse any notion of their being separate to begin with? The same could be said of child-rearing; if the… Continue reading Holding the symbols generously: marriage, child-rearing, and existential purpose
Dragged through the tunnel blind: Coronavirus and a rejoinder with faith
Returning to “normal” in New Mexico has been like awakening from a long-held dream: the masks come off, revealing faces I had never before glimpsed; tactility and motion reemerge, acquainting me with senses I had forgotten. Prior to this dream, there was a dream in which I seemed to be an entirely different person; between… Continue reading Dragged through the tunnel blind: Coronavirus and a rejoinder with faith
Jackson Holzberg Buckley 