Parabola 35:4

Beauty

"Ask a toad what beauty is." Voltaire's words imply that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

The Winter 2010-2011 issue of Parabola explores beauty from a rich variety of spiritual and cultural perspectives...

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Contents:

6 BEAUTY REDEEMED Trebbe Johnson - Enter a world of beauty, ugliness, and unexpected transformation

14 THE RICKSHAW DRIVER Nipun Mehta - An act of kindness reveals beauties of the heart

18 ON BEAUTY Brian English - A Portfolio

24 THE BEAUTIFUL MIND - A conversation with meditation teacher Gina Sharpe

32 THE ZEITGEIST OF BEAUTY Olivier Bernier - Is beauty only in the beholder's eye? A noted historian weighs in

44 SURVIVAL OF THE INTERESTING David Rothenberg - The surprising evolution of beauty and desire

51 DISTANT BEAUTY Richard Whittaker - Glimpses of . . . celestial beauty?

59 THIS RUINED HOUSE Joyce Kornblatt - In praise of the worn, the aged, the “un-beautiful”

66 TIFERET Gilla Nissan - Beauty in the realm of the divine

72 IS NOT BEAUTY ITS OWN REWARD? Patrick Laude - Beauty and the sacred

86 A REVERENCE FOR THE DIVINE - A conversation with visionary philosopher Peter Kingsley

98 ANOTHER VISION Jeanne de Salzmann - "I seek what I am, to be what I am"

POETRY: THREE NEW POEMS BY MARY OLIVER

56 I GO DOWN TO THE SHORE

57 AFTER I FALL DOWN THE STAIRS AT THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

58 AND BOB DYLAN TOO

ARCS

84 BEAUTY IN ALL THINGS

EPICYCLES

38 THE NIGHTINGALE Hans Christian Andersen/Fairy Tale - Retold by Diane Wolkstein

80 THE VERSES OF THE THERI AMBAPALI Ambapali/Buddhist - Translated and retold with commentary by Margo McLoughlin

TANGENT

98 A GEOMETRICAL VIEW OF THE CRUCIFIX Richard Jagacinski - How to think and live outside the box

Book REVIEWS

106 MYSTERY CULTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD - Hugh Bowden | reviewed by Richard Smoley

110 THE CASE FOR GOD - Karen Armstrong | reviewed by Bill Williams

114 A STORY WAITING TO PIERCE YOU - Peter Kingsley | reviewed by Thomas Moore

119 FREEING THE BODY, FREEING THE MIND - Edited by Michael Stone | reviewed by Alexandra Yurkovsky

121 ELEGANT FAILURE - Richard Shrobe | reviewed by Patty de Llosa

128 ENDPOINT

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Parabola is published quarterly by the Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition. Each issue includes: * Original articles and interviews on mythology, spiritual practice, religious tradition, literature, popular culture, science, and the arts * Retellings of traditional stories, myths, and fairy tales * Book reviews * Comments on contemporary film, theater, music, art, and events * Artwork ranging from the traditional to the contemporary

(Daimon distributes Parabola only outside America.
On the American continent please order directly from: www.parabola.org.)