The Paradox of ‘Turning Towards’

In The Mystics Of Islam, Reynold A. Nicholson (1914) relates the following Sufi story: Someone said to Rabi‘a:   “I have committed many sins; if I turn in penitence towards God, will He turn in mercy towards me?” “Nay,” she replied,” but if He shall…

Two Types of Strength

According to James Carse there are two ways of being strong. The first type of strength is what he calls ‘power’ and he defines this as the ability to influence other people without being changed or influenced in return. Power is what is exercised in…

The Good Mind

According to Tibetan Buddhism we each have two minds – the good mind and the bad one. As simplistic as this may sound, this turns out to be a far more helpful psychological model than anything we in the West have come up with. It…