Author: william

  • Rengetsu — a Nun Poet Who Brought a Civil War to a Peaceful End

    Rengetsu — a Nun Poet Who Brought a Civil War to a Peaceful End

    I recently encountered the story of Rengetsu (1791-1875) — a Japanese Buddhist nun with an extraordinary story.

    She was the love child of a geisha and a high ranking samurai. At 10 days old she was adopted by new parents. As a teen she was called to serve as an attendant at Kameoka Castle, and during her 9-year stay she received a samurai education in deportment, calligraphy, painting, poetry, tea ceremony, flower arranging, dancing, and a thorough grounding in the martial arts. At age 16 her troubles began — she married, then her husband died, she married again — he died too. So did her brothers and all five of her children, about which she wrote a poem: (more…)

  • Sacred Geometry: The Language of the Cosmos

    Sacred Geometry: The Language of the Cosmos

    Mighty is geometry — joined with art, irresistible.
    — Euripides (480-406 BCE)

    The idea of ‘Sacred Geometry’ is that mathematics can be beautiful. For example, here’s one of the most famously beautiful equations in mathematics:

    eiπ + 1 = 0

    It’s called “Euler’s Identity,” after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783, pronounced “OIL-er”) who first discovered it. You have to be far into math for this equation just to make sense, much less to find it beautiful.

    Geometry is another story. Here’s a geometrically generated image: (more…)

  • What Is ‘Spiritual Alchemy’?

    What Is ‘Spiritual Alchemy’?

    Introduction

    Spiritual alchemy uses the quest for turning physical base metals into gold as a metaphor for the path of transforming the ‘base’ human soul into the ‘gold’ of enlightenment and our best/highest selves. Rooted in mystical and philosophical teachings, it is the art of transmuting the soul, leading to spiritual enlightenment and inner transformation.

    Historical Background

    The origins of alchemy date back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and the Islamic world, where it was practiced as both a proto-scientific and spiritual discipline. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, alchemy flourished in Europe, often interwoven with Christian mysticism, Jewish Kabbalistic teachings, and Islamic alchemical texts. (more…)