à la carte spirit by ilona fried
ilona fried
Remembering a Holy Maverick: Encounters with Reb Zalman (z”l)
The world lost one of its luminaries, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z”l), in early July. At a moving celebration of his life last weekend, I recalled a few of the more powerful times when my life intersected with this amazing being, with a “heart as big as the world”, if not as large as the cosmos. Grief introduced me to … Continue reading
Road Trip: My American Camino (Part I)
Before setting off on my last minute road trip, the voices of fear gave me a lot of flak for not having planned it in advance, or “enough” in advance. Still, days into my trip, demons continued to berate me (“What the hell are you doing?!” they asked), anxiety held me in its death grip, and I was … Continue reading
Menu of Awareness: Food
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” – Anthelme Brillat Savarin At a group dinner at a bright cafeteria style restaurant in Santa Fe, nearly half of us ended up ordering fish tacos from the diverse menu. A late arrival, surveying our plates, wondered if someone had told us that the … Continue reading
On the Perils of Unsolicited Advice
In our talk-centric culture, opinions are exchanged as unconsciously as oxygen molecules. Many people apparently enjoy conversations that more closely resemble ping-pong matches than genuine inquiry. For some, offering advice is a compulsive habit. Regardless of whether anyone is interested, they are like fountains that gurgle their viewpoints on humans within hearing distance or on social media. But many folks, even non-gurglers, often … Continue reading
Texting to Enlightenment? Spiritual Practice on the Go
Not to fear, I don’t text while driving, cycling, or walking for that matter. But after getting an iPhone after years of resisting (and recoiling from texting), I began exploring its possibilities. On my road trip, texting comes in handy when visiting friends in different cities and confirming last minute logistics. At times, texting was more reliable than e-mail, when my phone’s wireless … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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