Zen Roshi and Christian minister, Lola McDowell Lee, illustrates the many harmonies between Eastern spiritual practices and Western mystical traditions.

Lola looks at the traditional nativity story and Christian parables and urges us to look beyond literal interpretations to uncover deeply transformative inner meanings within scripture.

She introduces the concept of the "subsistence of existence," the invisible ground or foundation of all being. While humans live outwardly, navigating the world through the cortex of the brain and accumulated societal roles, there remains a deeper, unspoken root consciousness. Maturing spiritually requires shifting our point of view, evolving beyond the literal, childlike understanding of parables to form an internal realization of the divine power that operates through us.

We are like a seed tha ...