Simone Butler's Blog

An ancient Chinese story tells of a fisherman whose wife was gravely ill and near death. When doctors could not help, the man visited a small temple dedicated to Guanyin, goddess of compassion and healing.…

Bob Findle died of cancer on March 16, 2012. A regular at Tish Sjoberg’s Expressive Arts Studio in San Diego, Bob was inspired by a Daily Art Show at the studio to begin his own daily art project.…

Sometimes an awe-inspiring creature appears on the scene just when it’s most needed, sparking widespread devotion. Like gentle, loving Aloka (faithful companion to the peace-walking Buddhist monks, who has become a superstar during a time of rampant hatred and division), the racehorse Man O’ War held a similar level of fame in his day.…

On the morning of January 24, on a frigid Minneapolis street, all hell broke loose as intensive care nurse Alex Pretti was brutally murdered trying to help a woman who’d been accosted by masked ICE agents.…

When photographer Henry Eiland heard that Buddhist monks on a 2,300-mile Walk for Peace were coming to Alabama, he felt compelled to see them. So, on Christmas Day, he attended their peace gathering at a church in Opelika.…

In her audacious memoir The Reluctant Psychic, Suzan Saxman tells the story of an elderly woman who once came to her for a reading. The client remained stern and unemotional throughout the session, though she did acknowledge things that the psychic pointed out.  …

My mom’s father, who grew up on a Kansas farm in the early 1900s, had a front row seat for the tail end of the wild west. And as a Sagittarian, he loved to tell tales.…

Recently, the 75th birthday of Archbishop Bernard Boberg was celebrated with a full-on rave. The event, at a 14th-century Slovakian cathedral, was emceed by Pope Leo XIV. To the sound of pumping beats and the brilliance of flashing lights, he extoled the virtues of coming together and living life with enthusiasm.…

Gratitude is the most powerful emotion of all. If you can be grateful no matter what, you’ll be the happiest person on earth. (Buddhist saying).

When San Diego resident Tracey VanSteenhouse’s elderly cats died, she and her husband decided not to adopt again.…

In her thought-provoking book Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World, Perdita Finn pierces the veil between this world and the next. She assures us that our ancestors are standing by to help us overcome obstacles, seize opportunities and conjure miracles.…