Angkor Boogie; The Importance of Dance in Ancient Cambodia
January 3, 2024
I was in Preah Khan’s Hall of the Dancers, hoping that one of the female celestial dancers carved on the pillars and lintels would materialize and
Finding Jesus in China; The Way Meets the Dao
January 3, 2024
Yes, Dao also means way. And Jesus, in John, said, “I am the light and the way.” But Chinese and Western cultures have often interpreted salvation
A Different Way of Thinking about Geometry in Islamic Thought and Art
January 2, 2024
You’d think a circle is a circle. The most basic description of a circle in Western culture is a line around a central point, which
Light from Medieval Europe’s Jewish Heritage
January 2, 2024
Something was missing. Those stately Romanesque and Gothic arches in the cathedrals I spent 4 months exploring in a trip through Northern Europe were supposed
The Universe’s Abundance in Traditional India
January 1, 2024
Things often seem to happen on a cosmic scale in India. While living in the school outside Chennai in 1996 (it was called Madras then),
The Emotional Side of the Acropolis at Athens
December 31, 2023
Most people have seen the acropolis at Athens as an expression of rationality. But next to the Parthenon was a highly emotional building, the Erechtheion.
Exploring Hidden Treasures at Petra
December 31, 2023
This is a rather long article for my website, but I found Petra as magnificent as the pyramids of Giza. To appreciate it well, you
The Buddha’s Footprint in Bangkok’s Wat Pho; Prettier than Zeus and Indra Combined
December 26, 2023
Greek gods and Indian concepts of the universe’s vastness–I’ve gotten into humongous things in the last few posts. I need a break. Yeah, Wat Pho’s
Mt. Meru, Everest on Steroids in Ancient India
December 26, 2023
Ideas of geography in ancient India kept getting bigger and bigger. Most ancient cultures imagined a cosmic mountain, that’s either the home of the gods,
Great St. Martin, The Most Beautiful Romanesque Church in Germany?
December 26, 2023
Cologne is best known for its towering cathedral, but only its choir (the cathedral’s back end) is from the Middle Ages. The soaring entrance was