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What Shapes Us

All that passes descends,and ascends again unseeninto the light: the rivercoming down from skyto hills, from hills to sea,and carving as it moves,to rise invisible,gathered to light, to returnagain. “The river’s injuryis its shape.” I’ve learned no more.We are what we are givenand what is taken away;blessed be the nameof the giver and taker.For everything…

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In September

I saw you standing with the wind and the rain in your faceAnd you were thinking ’bout the wisdom of the leaves and their graceWhen the leaves come falling downIn September when the leaves, come falling down— Van Morrison, When the Leaves Come Falling Down The puppy is having her first autumn, and in New…

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Swapping Idols for Vanaprastha

“The first ashrama is brahmacharya, the period of youth and young adulthood dedicated to learning. The second is grihastha, when a person builds a career, accumulates wealth, and maintains a family. This second stage seems fairly straightforward and uncontroversial, but in this stage the Hindu philosophers find one of life’s most common traps: People become…