Category Archives: Spiritual

Life In Japan: Benten Shrine Ceremony

Posted on July 12, 2017 by johnrachel

This past weekend was our annual Benten Shrine ceremony. The whole celebration took about an hour. Lots of smiles, good will, warm feelings. Life in Japan is still full of wonder for me. What a fascinating country! Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: I Love Japan Redux

Posted on June 12, 2017 by johnrachel

Japanese have kept alive some traditions which promote sense of community, and the shared responsibility of living in that community. They create opportunities to work together for the common good, get to know one another, and just enjoy other folks who happen to live in the same geographical setting. This is what America desperately needs to overcome the fear, divisiveness, isolation, fragmentation. Here’s a challenge to my fellow Americans: How do you think people would react if you went from house to house and said, “How about if we get together and clean up the neighborhood, plant some flowers, then have a nice barbecue?” Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Clouds of Pollen in the Spring

Posted on April 25, 2017 by johnrachel

Nothing like some scientific knowledge to fill in the blanks, those blanks being the desolate stretches in our brains which result in a lack of understanding and appreciation for the magnificent workings of nature. Continue reading →

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It’s a very special time of year!

Posted on January 1, 2017 by johnrachel

May the new year finally bring peace to the world. May we discover and embrace the understanding needed to live together in genuine and lasting harmony. Continue reading →

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Just a little . . .

Posted on June 21, 2016 by johnrachel

It’s easy to confuse the little questions with the big questions. Language itself is often imprecise and misleading. Yet at other times it offers the appearance of an exactitude which is unwarranted, or at least inapplicable. Can we see the difference when we need to? Have we become so smart that we are outsmarting ourselves? Have we become victims of a conflation of logic and hubris? Continue reading →

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Update: Stairway To Heaven

Posted on May 31, 2016 by johnrachel

Why do we seek high places? We generally look up when we pray. We don’t send our prayers into the dirt, we launch them out and upwards to float into the ether of spiritual space. We certainly don’t ever aspire to the lower moral ground. We don’t say, ‘I’m at the bottom of the world.’ We don’t declare, ‘I had a valley experience.’ When we smoke a joint, we don’t get low. I guess we just assume that somewhere “up there” is some comfort. Maybe some answers. And if we don’t get the answers we need, at least we have a nice view or easy exhilaration. Continue reading →

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Still Crazy After All These Years

Posted on February 9, 2016 by johnrachel

My wife, Masumi, has yoga and ballet. Even in the cold, twice a week I stumble up and down a big mound of dirt. Works for me. Is it so unreasonable to think that every single person in the world deserves this? Just a simple, basic shot at happiness, free from hunger, fear, war, oppression. Continue reading →

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Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2016 by johnrachel

My heartfelt holiday song, performed by my lovely wife Masumi and I. Continue reading →

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Imagine

Posted on December 31, 2015 by johnrachel

John Lennon’s song is a landmark achievement. But we need to imagine what is ennobling of the human spirit, morally sound, spiritually uplifting, socially constructive, liberating and fair, at the same time sticking to what’s achievable and truly consistent with the limitations of our species. Continue reading →

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Beauty . . . is everywhere!

Posted on August 28, 2015 by johnrachel

“There is beauty everywhere.” I am learning to look for it. Continue reading →

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