isaiah knows nothing

Around the Sun Again

2009-06-07T00:20:00.005-04:00

"Everybody knows it sucks to grow up and everybody does,
It's so weird to be back here, let me tell you what.
The years go on and we're still fighting it, we're still fighting it."

I can honestly say I'm a fortunate soul who doesn't mind growing older. I'm fairly sure much of this "not minding" is the middle aged body and mind-me, who knows nothing of inhabiting an old and broken body. I'm sure there will come a day when my body fails me and I'll have my gripes and days when it will 'suck', but right now my boat is in the water where it is and I'll row it as best I can.

The months of watching my mother whither from cancer and then pass brought forth that part of me I believed in but had never had cause to practice. Namely the belief we are not our body; that we are spiritual beings experiencing a divinely human form. This human form doesn't define who we are.

I hope it may have given my mother some comfort, some peace throughout her struggle and into her final days when I would hold her hand and look into her eyes and say with all the courage I could muster that our bodies cannot define us. I know it brought peace to me to speak words I believed in, words that then sustained me in her passing and that still bring comfort.

So I don't mind growing older even though my body is changing and will continue to deteriorate and then break down beyond all hope. It's happening to everyone I love- to everyone I see... the same thing is taking place: we are dying. But, my hope doesn't rest in my body not failing me, it rests in my knowing the illusion is perfect and that in it's perfection I see through it and into another reality.

It's a privilege to be alive- at any age. "As a white candle in a holy place, so is the beauty of an aged face." Joseph Campbell

Flow

2009-05-13T05:34:00.003-04:00

There is the Laurel Creek cutting through the NC mountainside
its very flowing has something to show me; something of infinite value
full of happiness and hope.

There is only this flowing hidden under all my ideas of water
its real purpose, the purpose it shares with all the universe
is singing "awaken"

Why Was I Born?

2009-05-04T15:02:00.002-04:00

I looked for my true calling
I looked for my true purpose
What I am supposed to do on the planet
why was I born?
and I asked the question deep inside me
beyond logic, beyond thought, deep in the bowels
of the space where I connect to the universe
where I can be thrown into the raging storm of 'not knowing'

and the answer hit me in an immense tidal wave of understanding

"you are your own purpose
nothing more, and nothing less
a bundle of purpose and karma
all existing within itself
and the only thing holding it back
is the separation created by
words like 'I' and 'my' and 'me'"

Shekhar Kapur

Stir It Up

2009-04-06T14:56:00.006-04:00

After some exploration I'm realizing exactly where I am in my spiritual work- I'm stirring up sludge and it isn't pretty. Guess it isn't meant to be pretty, but could be beautiful...if I could grasp the whole truth of what I'm learning and how this sludge, this density is invaluable to clarity.

Talking with a friend today about the lull I find myself in. Just talking on the experience for a few minutes raised my spirits and put some perspective on where and why I am here, right now. I'm tired of not being happy and yet not too tired to keep on doing the things, thinking the things that lead to unhappiness.

I'm going to concentrate on my being the most undisciplined, sludgiest, self-absorbed me I can be until I've thoroughly exhausted myself and I quit beating myself up for not 'doing' the things that will lead to happiness.

I'll show me- and when I'm through and finished... well, I'm not thinking about tomorrow, I'm just going to sit in the sludge for today and be here now.

I know there are lessons- right here, right now.
_______________________________________________________

Tuesday, April 7-

Just a quick note: someone asked me in an email why I was so unhappy and depressed with life. I feel I must clarify a little here on my unhappiness. It's more an unhappiness with my perception and resulting projection with the small things- that are compounded into self created nightmares.

I'm so done with being down on myself for not have the organized garage I've wanted for years, not meditating, not being able to exercise (still recovering from surgery), not being able to control my emotions when someone cuts me off in traffic, not being able to explain that underlying buzz of 'things not being quite right' when everything is basically 'all-right.'

No, I'm not in the throes of depression. My unhappiness is more a term for my 'suffering' in the Buddhist sense: something we all experience. I'm just holding up an unusually large mirror right now (which is my perception) and seeing my reflection staring back at me.

I'm actually working through this unhappiness and trusting in wiser words, trusting in a higher 'me', trusting I can't fully move further and learn these particular lessons until I'm content to simply experience it all and let it be.

It's actually all good- just a little 'hide and seek' with myself right now. Oh! Here I am!

I'm sure there will be more to add later :)

What Am I Thinking?

2009-03-05T19:28:00.004-05:00

“If during the night you dream that someone beat you horribly, assaulted you and inflicted horrific pain upon you- when you woke in the morning… would you call the police?”

Is it within me to grow in awareness that perhaps I'm seeing the world through my past and through my expectations, and this seeing exists to nudge me to awaken, at my own unique pace, to a reality that all my pain, frustrations, and hurt as well as those I think are keeping me from realizing my bliss are MY master teachers saying, ‘aha! So you’ve noticed! What else is there that isn’t true?’

(that's one hell of a long sentence, isn't it)?

Thoughts from and about, The Course.

Good Stuff

2009-01-17T01:04:00.005-05:00

I am what I think I am not- I am not what I think I am.

“O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form; that which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, formations, and consciousness." from Heart Sutra

"The way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization?" By Eihei Dogen, Zenji

Dying To Live

2008-11-09T00:15:00.001-05:00

“In My tradition we try to practice dying everyday so that we may be fully alive. What I understand of my prayer life is to place myself on the threshold of death, to participate in my dying, so that I may live each day and each moment as a gift. What I cultivate is a grateful heart; each moment then becomes a new thing. My gratitude comes from the sheer gift of life.

Who you are cannot be contained in what is happening to you just now. You are part of a love story. You are desired and longed for. There are thousands of witnesses before you who would claim that you are held in the arms of love.”

“Oh my God, you are here. Oh my God, I am here. Oh my God, we are here.
And always, always, you love us. Always, you love us.”

The Very Reverend Alan Jones
From The Gift of Life: Graceful Passages

Opening

2008-09-07T01:33:00.003-04:00

When you want to lay yourself open for the divine,
like a snare that is hollowed out to its depth,
like a canopy that projects a shadow
from the divine heat and light
into your soul,
then go into your inner place physically,
or to that story or symbol that reminds you of the sacred.

Close the door of your awareness to
the public person you think yourself to be.
Pray to the parent of creation, with your inner sense,
the outer senses turned within.
Veiling yourself, the mystery may be unveiled through you.

By opening yourself to the flow of the sacred,
somewhere, resounding in some inner form,
the swell of the divine ocean can move through you.

The breathing life of all reveals itself
in the way you live your life.

~ Neil Douglas-Klotz ~

(Interpretive version of Matthew 6:6 in The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus)

Psst! Wanna do some fruit?

2008-05-28T17:59:00.003-04:00

"Carrie Dashow dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a "chocolate shake."

"Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: "Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!"

It's all the rage now- 'flavor tripping parties' using a berry called miracle fruit to dazzle the senses- and, it's perfectly legal and harmless!

"The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy. Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientists who has studied the fruit."

Read more, here.

RockOm

2008-05-27T11:02:00.015-04:00

Musician Glen Hansard of The Swell Season spins a poignant story about decision and expectation that’s really inspiring. Regarding writing the soundtrack for the movie Once and the song “Falling Slowly,” which won the Academy Award for Best Song this year, Glen says:

"A couple years ago, we decided to kick our ball as hard as we could, and see how far it would go. We were hoping it would reach the end of the garden, but we watched it go . . . across the street, over the next town, into a place we'd never even heard of before."

"And the great thing about (success) is that it sort of quiets the 1% of you that wishes you could have your ball back."

This story gives me hope that a wild dream whose time seems to be ripe can be propelled farther than the imagination can conceive.

www.rockom.net

Three partners and I will soon be launching the first phase of a new world-music website called RockOm. RockOm will be a crossroad for spirituality in its many and various expressions and faith. Each partner is madly in love with music and recognizes this passion as emanating from a sacred source that's inside each and every human being. This ‘always- already’ space paradoxically is clarified by an absence of any need of explanation, is best understood from the heart center in place of the mind, and resonates to the language of rhythm and sound. Every sort of barrier is broken and cultural divides are bridged when music takes the place of conventional forms of communication.

RockOm will feature compelling top- down information and inspiration in the form of exclusive interviews and features with award winning professional musicians. It will also offer harbor for amateurs and not yet established musicians and music lovers who wish to make a home at the first of its kind, music website through:

* User-uploaded songs and profiles, lyrics and "song stories" with room for reader feedback

* Featured user track of the week

* Contemplative practices based on music, music-themed meditations and spiritual disciplines for the music-centered individual

* Album reviews, inspiring podcasts and much, much more

We hope you’ll join us at RockOm and that our “ball will reach the end of the garden,” even “into a place we’ve never even heard of.” We know that if we are successful to a degree where we can play a small part in music changing one person's opinion of who they are and what they can accomplish then we will have succeeded in changing the entire world... and that is a blessing for everyone.

Coming June 2008

Everyone

2008-05-12T18:55:00.002-04:00

"Be kind to those you meet, for everyone is fighting a battle of some kind."

You're Probably Right

2008-04-25T18:11:00.004-04:00

It’s looking pretty rough out there in the world. No doubt people are suffering and it seems to just keep on getting worse and worse. You name it; food prices, gas prices, a weakening economy, slumping housing market, foreclosures, unemployment, personal problems- when will it all end?

I don’t know- but, I'm sure of one thing: whatever your situation you can guarantee there’s someone, somewhere out there worse off that you. I’m not saying this to make you feel better- I’m saying it because it’s true and… once we realize this we have an opportunity to look at things from a different perspective--- and maybe, just maybe it’s not as bad as it seems.

If you’ve got someone to love- love ‘em hard and often… none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

If you’ve got your good health- be thankful and take proactive steps to stay healthy.

If you go to sleep tonight with a full belly and a roof over your head- give thanks because billions of people haven’t enough to eat and lack proper shelter.

If you’re only paying $4.00 a gallon for gas- realize that in Europe they're paying $8.00.

If you’ve got a job, even one you hate, be thankful you can go to work and earn a wage.

If you're convinced things are pretty bad, there’s no hope, and it’s everyone for themselves- you’re probably right.

If you think times are rough but with a little love, hope, and faith things will get better- you’re probably right.

Music Everywhere

2008-03-19T07:48:00.017-04:00

Cathy and I have cleared our calendars to make way for plenty of live music this Spring starting with the kickoff of the Savannah Music Festival tomorrow.

March 20 Savannah Music Festival - Yundi Li: The 25-year old Chinese piano phenomenon Yundi Li was the youngest to ever win the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2000. Since signing a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon at age 19, Li has played in nearly every major concert hall in the world, entrancing audiences with his fluid, graceful performances and astounding technique. “Mr. Li has major manual skills, including an octave technique scarcely to be believed. The sound he makes on the piano is both vivid and enormous ... a very real musicality.” - The New York Times The program tomorrow evening includes Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330, Chopin's Mazurkas No.22-25, Op.33, Nocturne in E-flat Major, Opus 9, and Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise in E-flat Major, Opus 22, Liszt's Widmung, S. 566 and Mussorgsky's: Pictures at an Exhibition .

Notes from the evening: If you have never heard Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition performed live you should treat yourself to an unforgetttable experience. The piece runs a good 30 minutes long and is simply divine to hear performed live. The Chopin was superb and Liszt's Widmung was executed flawlessly.

March 20 Savannah Wild Wings- Danielle Howle: Oft-compared to Nina Simone and Flannery O'Connor, Danielle Howle is a powerful frontwoman whose vivid yet off-kilter musical stories weave a sweet sensibility and bare honesty into her work. Her solo performances are breathtaking, with captivating vocals. A comedian between songs, her prattles are filled with insight, inquiry, and wonder that speak of true romanticism. Howle's polished yet spontaneous hilarity creates a singular experience on the music scene. The New York Times calls her "an extraordinary mind, a southern storyteller with a gorgeous sense of melody that should be pouring out of stereos everywhere. She is one to be treasured." Danielle's a great friend of mine!

March 26 Savannah Music Festival- Stewart Copeland: Fresh off of his world tour with The Police, drummer/composer Stewart Copeland hosts a compelling night of music featuring original compositions, special guest artists, the premiere of a new work featuring SMF Associate Artistic Director Daniel Hope. The evening will conclude with a screening of Copeland’s original documentary, “Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out,” a film he made about being on tour with The Police and a question & answer session.

April 5 Savannah Music Festival- Abigail Washburn and Béla Fleck (The Sparrow Quartet): This all-star acoustic quartet led by Abigail Washburn (Uncle Earl) and partner Béla Fleck exploring intricate, thoughtful arrangements of old songs and gripping instrumental tunes, all with the underlying influence of the Far East. Along with co-members Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee, the Sparrow Quartet has visited China and Tibet as musical ambassadors, doing what mass media cannot in representing contemporary American culture.

April 3 Savannah Music Festival- The World of Slide Guitar featuring Derek Trucks, Jerry Douglas, Debashish Bhattacharya and Bob Brozman: This guitar summit will showcase four completely different variations of slide guitar in an unprecedented concert that should be one of the Festival’s most unique productions. Derek Trucks has developed one of the most distinctive voices on electric slide guitar by incorporating southern blues, jazz, gospel and Indian music to form his unique phrasing. Jerry Douglas is responsible for countless innovations on the resophonic guitar, a.k.a. dobro, as evidenced by more than 1,000 recording credits and twelve Grammy® Awards. Debashish Bhattacharya is one of the standard bearers in contemporary Indian classical music. His playing has produced new techniques and maximized the range of each of his three instruments. Through his studies of music in many different societies, and involvement in recording projects and tours featuring Hawaiian, Delta Blues, West African, Indian, Okinawan, Caribbean, Gypsy and world island music, Bob Brozman now performs what he calls “World Blues” music on traditional acoustic guitars. All four artists will perform with their ensembles and in a variety of pairings throughout the evening.

April 6 Charleston, SC- Joan Baez: The living legend who continues to sing and march for freedom and human rights on most every continent across the world is back in the South. This will mark my 9th Joan Baez concert.

April 17 Jacksonville, FL & July 20 Charlotte, NC- RUSH: Only The Greatest band touring presently! This will mark my 10th & 11th Rush Concert!

May 13 Atlanta, GA- The Swell Season: Playing under the name The Swell Season, Irish singer Glen Hansard and Czech newcomer Markéta Irglová sing affecting folk-rock songs with blissful harmonies. The song, "Falling Slowly" (performed by the duo) from the soundtrack of the movie Once, in which both Hansard & Irglová starred, won an Academy Award in 2008 for best song.

Expanding Awareness

2008-03-05T08:18:00.008-05:00

Watch this entire video and see if it doesn't cause you to change your thoughts, from this point on, in a more positive direction. The first 3 minutes is the "silent" expression of an autistic individual; the remaining is her communication using "our" language via type- written word and mechanical voice (Amanda Baggs types 120 words a minute) of what she experiences and how we fail to understand her world.

"Only when the many shapes of personhood are recognized will justice and human rights be possible." Amanda Baggs

PS: Not even 30 minutes after posting this amazing video I was driving across town for a meeting and was stopped by a line of 50-60 special needs adults, some most likely autistic, who were being directed across the road, in a single line, on their way to the developmental center. I watched as they passed in front of me and silently sent thanks and blessings to each person for the delightful experience they offered me... a chance to remark that each and everyone of us is so very special and desires to communicate the unique gift instilled within.

Sometimes we are literally forced to stop and witness the ordinary miracle that is simply being. Where will you be stopped today... and will you be able to see the miracle right in front of you?

$3 Trillion & Counting

2008-03-05T07:48:00.004-05:00

How will we respond to those in need when the time comes? Surely not as the Bush administration has. Now that McCain has locked in the Republican nomination could we afford another 100 years of Iraqi occupation? As Clinton & Obama fight for a nomination- who is fighting for the American people and for common sense?

From today's NY Times:

"Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz (who believes the overall costs of the war — not just the cost to taxpayers — will reach $3 trillion) noted that nearly 40 percent of the 700,000 troops from the first gulf war, which lasted just a month, have become eligible for disability benefits. The current war is approaching five years in duration.

"Imagine then," said Mr. Stiglitz, “what a war — that will almost surely involve more than 2 million troops and will almost surely last more than six or seven years — will cost. Already we are seeing large numbers of returning veterans showing up at V.A. hospitals for treatment, large numbers applying for disability and large numbers with severe psychological problems.

Said Mr. Stiglitz: “Because the administration actually cut taxes as we went to war, when we were already running huge deficits, this war has, effectively, been entirely financed by deficits. The national debt has increased by some $2.5 trillion since the beginning of the war, and of this, almost $1 trillion is due directly to the war itself ... By 2017, we estimate that the national debt will have increased, just because of the war, by some $2 trillion.”

Can we comprehend what we have allowed to happen and what our children and grandchildren will inherit?

Here's a Thought-

2008-02-23T16:25:00.002-05:00

"Of the many earnest, and how earnest, people we may observe reading, attending lectures, studying and practicing disciplines, devoting their energies to the attainment of a liberation which is by definition unattainable, how many are not striving via the ego-concept which is itself the only barrier between what they think they are and that which they wish to become but always have been and always will be?" Wei Wu Wei

Liberal vs. Conservative: Our Bleeding Hearts

2008-02-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

From Sojourners and SojoMail; a weekly email- zine of spirituality, politics and culture.

"Bleeding-heart liberals could accomplish far more if they reached out to build common cause with bleeding-heart conservatives.

- 'Columnist Nicholas Kristof, in an article titled, Evangelicals a Liberal Can Love. One example he cites: "In parts of Africa where bandits and warlords shoot or rape anything that moves, you often find that the only groups still operating are Doctors Without Borders and religious aid workers: crazy doctors and crazy Christians.'"(Source: The New York Times)

Makes sense to me....

Ordinary moments

2008-02-04T07:59:00.000-05:00

"There are no ordinary moments."

This is really a trip. Is this art or an exercise in reality (is there a difference between the two)?

How many thought patterns and routines are we willing to have broken so radically?

Perhaps such dramatic events are happening all around us and we fail to see... after all, "there is never nothing going on."

Thanks, Julie.

Sometimes Capitalism is for The Stupid

2008-02-01T08:22:00.000-05:00

Today's News

"Google reported a 17 per cent rise in profits for the fourth quarter to $1.2 billion or $3.29 a share alongside a 51 per cent increase in sales.

Analysts were expecting profits of $4.45 per share.

Shares in the company fell by nearly 7 per cent at one point in after hours trading, or $36.90 to $527.40.

The shares are now nearly 30 per cent below the $747.24 all-time high in early November."

How far are we Capitalists (nations) gonna push the issue of making more and more and more and more and..........

We most always walk feeling like shit because of what could have been.

Now, Bill Gates wants to buy Yahoo- well there you go- another bandwagon to jump onto.

Here's another thought... "Peace sells, but who's buying?"

What The F*&@!

2008-01-31T07:58:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A video showing California slaughterhouse workers abusing dairy cows -- a violation that raises questions about U.S. food safety -- was released by the Humane Society of the United States on Wednesday.

The video, which one lawmaker said raises questions about the safety of the nation's food supply, shows Hallmark Meat Packing Co. workers administering repeated electric shocks to the downed cows -- animals that are too sick, weak or otherwise unable to stand on their own. Workers are seen kicking cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and shooting high-intensity water up their noses in an effort to force them to their feet for slaughter.

Hallmark Meat Packing Co., based in Chino, California, sells beef to its sister company, Westland Meat. The facility is a major supplier to a USDA program that distributes beef to needy families, the elderly and to various other federal food programs including the National School Lunch Program.

Read more here.... if you think you want to... needless to say, the video is extremely disturbing.

On Being Alive

2008-01-29T08:20:00.000-05:00

Reality can not be a matter of facts.
Fact derives from thought, indeed from thinking about thought.
What, then, of unthinking experience?
Where is the fact in that?
The fact of an experience is not the experience.
The everyday wonder of being alive is not in the thinking of being alive-
but in the being alive of being alive.
Alan Watts

Can we refuse to not be alive?

The Fountain

2008-01-28T09:11:00.000-05:00

What if we could live forever?

In "The Fountain" director Darren Aronofsky explores love and mortality, death as creation, and the futility of trying to hold onto life too tightly. The story unfolds over the course of a thousand years within three stories: a Spanish Conquistador searching for the tree of life in the Mayan jungles to save his Queen from the Inquisitors reign, a present day physician frantically searching for a cure for his dying wife using compounds derived from tree bark from the rain forests of South America, and a futuristic meditating space traveler nurturing a withering ancient tree while encapsulated in a eco-spheric starship journeying towards a golden nebula.

Mythological themes abound with enlightenment, redemption, the Hindu concept of cycle of birth and death, the Biblical tree of life, the Buddha, and the world-tree Yggdrasil- even the possibilities of altered states of consciousness through psychotropics or grief-induced hallucinations are explored.

If you prefer, the film also has an atheist meaning explained by Aronofsky; "It's about this endless cycle of energy and matter, tracing back to the Big Bang. We're all just borrowing this matter and energy for a little bit, until it goes back into everything else, and that connects us all."

The cinematography is stunning; a surreal and beautiful visual language of ethereal transitioning scenes utilizing light and shapes. Aronofsky chose to do the special effects for the film by using micro-photography of chemical reactions on tiny petri dishes.

Reprising his duties as composer for The Fountain is Clint Mansell, the composer for Aronofsky's previous films, Pi and Requiem for a Dream. Mansell crafts a sound-scape both brazen and light, impressionistic and minimalist (reminiscent of Javier Navarrete's score to Pan's Labyrinth) involving cyclical rhythms and evolving variations of central themes. The San Francisco-based string quartet Kronos Quartet, who had previously performed for the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack, and Scottish post-rock band Mogwai also contributed to the film score.

Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn (who once again stays true to her old-soul self in choosing roles) star.

"Every shadow no matter how deep is threatened by morning light."

Why I Support John Edwards

2008-01-22T08:01:00.000-05:00

January 20, 2008

The Honorable John E. Edwards
410 Market Street
Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Dear Senator Edwards:

It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father’s legacy. On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.

There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father’s legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.

I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.

You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don’t have lobbyists in Washington and they don’t get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.

I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.

From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.

I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.

So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.

Sincerely,

Martin L. King, III

Merry Christmas

2007-12-22T19:30:00.000-05:00

Celebrating all that is good, all that is giving this Holiday season. Thanks for all my friends here on this little on-line experiment. Taking some time away for the next couple of weeks.

Holding us all in the light of mysterious Love, celebrating the birth of Christ consciousness and marking the beauty in nature at Winter solstice- perhaps they are all, we are all one- here & now.

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

Learning

2007-12-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

"I tell you one thing. If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own."

Holy Mother Sarada Devi

On Being Monday

2007-12-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

Took an online IQ test today and rediscovered why I used to create random patterns on fill in the bubble standardize tests during school. According to the results, I have no brain.

"So much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens"

William Carlos Williams

My father went back to live with my sister today. He left me with a card that said, "Thank you. Can't count the times I've counted on you. Love Dad." Our little family is really all he has.

The high tomorrow is suppose to be 82 degrees.

A great friend sent me a book to read, "The Way of The Superior Man."

I am officially the father of a teenager!

We find out this week how much progress my mother has made in beating the cancer in her body. I'm optimistic- and more importantly, so is she.

I've been thinking lately that all that exists seems so very fragile... but thrives anyway.

If Mike Huckabee becomes the next president, I'm moving to New Zealand.

Learning Who We Are

2007-11-28T15:39:00.000-05:00

Ram Dass, that big, beautiful old wise man is teaching me something new. This new lesson is also being taught to me by my equally beautiful mother who was recently diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. The lesson is this: we can choose to perceive our bodies in various ways but we should be careful to not confuse who we are with the condition our body is in at any given moment.

This fits perfectly with what I sent my mom this morning- a quote from Graceful Passages by The Very Reverend Alan Jones:

“Who you are cannot be contained in what is happening to you just now. You are part of a love story. You are desired and longed for. There are thousands of witnesses before you who would claim that you are held in the arms of love.”

No matter how strong or weak our bodies may be- there is more to our being than what we are experiencing through our senses; through our flesh and bone. But, I believe, only through our bodies and through our egos can we learn what it is we are meant to learn and allow our soul to heal realizing the perfection of here and now.

Be kind to yourself, be gentle with yourself, be loving to yourself- in doing so you will feel the way to open wider and embrace all beings with the same intensity and tenderness.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

Susuan Estrich's Essay on Thanksgiving.

"This is the week we hear everything about what we don't have and can't do, about the challenges we face and how ill-prepared and powerless we are to meet them.

You know what I mean. Some of it you can laugh at. Most of it isn't funny, or meant to be. The challenge of cooking a moist turkey, as if turkey isn't destined to be dry. The challenge of avoiding eating too much, when you're surrounded by food. The challenge of not gaining weight over the holidays, when almost everyone does. The challenge of not spending too much, not buying the wrong thing, when everything is so expensive and you have no way of knowing what's wrong. The challenges of holiday travel, of traffic jams and delayed flights, lost baggage and missed connections, all things you simply can't control.

The challenge of imperfect families, thoughtless relatives, empty chairs at the table and empty places in our hearts.

How can you feel thankful when all the messages that surround us are about what's wrong and can't be righted, what's missing and can't be filled in, what's beyond us and behind us? How can you feel grateful when you are constantly told about what you don't have, can't do, won't get?
Everywhere we look, we're told how to be better, younger, thinner, richer, smarter, and the not-so-subtle prompt is that what we are, who we are, what we have, is not enough.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time for acceptance and forgiveness, for seeing our way past our differences, for civility between opponents. But the world we live in isn't one that prizes those values, rewards those traits, recognizes those goals.

Turn on the television and radio, and the most successful people are almost always the nastiest, the ones who are best at belittling, most condescending, most unforgiving. They fight hard, hit back, overwhelm and overpower. We say it's edgy, when what we should say is that it's mean. We say it's amusing, when what we should say is that it's degrading.

I watch the political debates where strength and success are measured by how much you attack, how pointed your barbs are, how squarely your assaults land. Obama had a good debate a few weeks ago not because he said anything new, or added to his platform, but because he was on the attack. Hillary won last week because of what all the reporters are calling her "counter-offensive," because Obama didn't stay on the attack, because Edwards' jabs fell short. The peacemakers get nowhere, a mention at the end.

Go on-line and the viciousness is palpable. People say things in e-mail and on blogs they would never say to your face. They express opinions they would never own up to in person. What has happened to us?

I want my children to grow up to have drive and amibiton. But I also want them to feel that what they do, what they accomplish, what they have, is enough; that more is not always better, and farther is not always further. I want them to believe that who they are and what they do is enough, to measure success in kindness as well as coin. I want them to succeed in this culture but I also want them to keep it at arm's length, to live by better rules than the ones it enforces.

I want to feel that way myself.

The challenge of Thanksgiving is not to make a better turkey, not to lose 10 pounds, not to get there first or faster or cheaper, or with the most money in your pocket or the most gold stars on your forehead. It's to remember that those things don't really matter, and to be grateful for what does."

Just What I Needed

2007-10-29T08:06:00.000-04:00

Words of wisdom "discovered" this morning on musician David Orri's website.

Check out his beautiful song, "Chicago"

"I don't know if I believe in the idea that there's one person out there for us. That seems a little limiting for such an expansive universe. But I do like the word "soul" and I do like the word "mate."

I've heard Wayne Dyer say, many times, that our soulmates are most often the ones who can just totally get our proverbial goat. The person who can just get right into that disarming, sometimes disorienting, and always very sensitive point right at our center, and in one way or another, drive us to edge of crazy and 100 miles beyond that edge. Most of us have a sibling who is a soulmate of sorts in that way- - for good and otherwise.

Only the people who get right into the center of our heart like that can get a rise out of us-- again, be it a 'good' or 'bad' one-- either way. And man, have I been given plenty of evidence of that lately.

But it's also interesting to 'take the seat of the observer' and watch what 'I' am doing in the moment of reaction. And it's interesting because, to reference Dyer again, if you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out, the kind of juice is what is because it's in there to begin with, not because it got squeezed. If life squeezes me-- applies pressure or stress, or if a person or a relationship offers a stress or pressure point, and what comes of me is anger, defensiveness or negativity, that's what was in there. The only thing the stress did was reveal what was already there, laying in wait to reveal itself.

Life is full of little Buddhas, teachers, who cross our path and shine a light for us. And again as Dyer points out, sometimes our soulmates in life are those Buddhas and we'd like to kick their ass for shining it right in our face. But as I learn to allow more deeply, see myself in the center of some negative reaction, I am learning to relax into it- keep part of myself seated in that observer's position and just note, "Yep, there's sadness masquerading as rage" and not grab onto it and turning it into something tragic-- "MY" sadness or "MY" rage. I'm learning to allow the coming and going of the different tides, and not let it run away with me. I'm learning to stay present. Breathing. But also not getting down on myself when I'm in a place of not-allowing, as well. And little by little, those soulmates and Buddhas come along to show me where I'm clinging or resisting, and I do loosen my grip. Just a little. And then a little more the next time. Until finally, there is a little more space.

And ironically, in the increasing openness of allowing and not needing to grab onto anything or repel anything-- including my own negative reactions-- my life becomes a little more spacious and a little more expansive. And has room for those things I always wanted to flow into my life-- things I had so wanted to clutch onto and cling to, but no longer need to. Because when I step out of the way, it just flows in on its own.

Including those much sought-after soulmates and Buddhas who come to shine their lights. And the best part is that it turns out, their lights are not as blinding and irritating as I might have previously thought once the eyes have adjusted. They're just illuminating.

So, to the handful of 'soulmates' who I think are shining some pretty intense spotlights on areas of my life... I kind of wanted to kick your collective ass for that. But it turns out, that's probably just proof I really did need what you were offering up... so... thanks. I appreciate you."

Healing Colors

2007-10-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

Reality

2007-10-12T07:59:00.000-04:00

My son brought this interesting article to my attention yesterday. It raises some very intriguing questions and delves into the metaphysical world asking the timeless question: Just what is this reality, this life... and what's beyond our awareness?" Needless to say I'm delighted my son found this article and the questions raised interesting enough to share with me. I'll let him draw his own conclusions as to his reality; it's his life and he's learning to deal with questions on his own terms. It's both satisfying and heart wrenching, letting go, watching your child mature into their own being.. by making their own "mistakes" and wise decisions. Enjoy the article and leave some feedback on its content if you wish :)

Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch

By JOHN TIERNEY
The New York Times: Science Dept.
Published: August 14, 2007

Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else’s hobby. I hadn’t imagined that the omniscient, omnipotent creator of the heavens and earth could be an advanced version of a guy who spends his weekends building model railroads or overseeing video-game worlds like the Sims.

But now it seems quite possible. In fact, if you accept a pretty reasonable assumption of Dr. Bostrom’s, it is almost a mathematical certainty that we are living in someone else’s computer simulation.

This simulation would be similar to the one in “The Matrix,” in which most humans don’t realize that their lives and their world are just illusions created in their brains while their bodies are suspended in vats of liquid. But in Dr. Bostrom’s notion of reality, you wouldn’t even have a body made of flesh. Your brain would exist only as a network of computer circuits.

You couldn’t, as in “The Matrix,” unplug your brain and escape from your vat to see the physical world. You couldn’t see through the illusion except by using the sort of logic employed by Dr. Bostrom, the director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford.

Dr. Bostrom assumes that technological advances could produce a computer with more processing power than all the brains in the world, and that advanced humans, or “posthumans,” could run “ancestor simulations” of their evolutionary history by creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems.

Some computer experts have projected, based on trends in processing power, that we will have such a computer by the middle of this century, but it doesn’t matter for Dr. Bostrom’s argument whether it takes 50 years or 5 million years. If civilization survived long enough to reach that stage, and if the posthumans were to run lots of simulations for research purposes or entertainment, then the number of virtual ancestors they created would be vastly greater than the number of real ancestors.

There would be no way for any of these ancestors to know for sure whether they were virtual or real, because the sights and feelings they’d experience would be indistinguishable. But since there would be so many more virtual ancestors, any individual could figure that the odds made it nearly certain that he or she was living in a virtual world.

The math and the logic are inexorable once you assume that lots of simulations are being run. But there are a couple of alternative hypotheses, as Dr. Bostrom points out. One is that civilization never attains the technology to run simulations (perhaps because it self-destructs before reaching that stage). The other hypothesis is that posthumans decide not to run the simulations.

“This kind of posthuman might have other ways of having fun, like stimulating their pleasure centers directly,” Dr. Bostrom says. “Maybe they wouldn’t need to do simulations for scientific reasons because they’d have better methodologies for understanding their past. It’s quite possible they would have moral prohibitions against simulating people, although the fact that something is immoral doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Dr. Bostrom doesn’t pretend to know which of these hypotheses is more likely, but he thinks none of them can be ruled out. “My gut feeling, and it’s nothing more than that,” he says, “is that there’s a 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation.”

My gut feeling is that the odds are better than 20 percent, maybe better than even. I think it’s highly likely that civilization could endure to produce those supercomputers. And if owners of the computers were anything like the millions of people immersed in virtual worlds like Second Life, SimCity and World of Warcraft, they’d be running simulations just to get a chance to control history — or maybe give themselves virtual roles as Cleopatra or Napoleon.

It’s unsettling to think of the world being run by a futuristic computer geek, although we might at last dispose of that of classic theological question: How could God allow so much evil in the world? For the same reason there are plagues and earthquakes and battles in games like World of Warcraft. Peace is boring, Dude.

A more practical question is how to behave in a computer simulation. Your first impulse might be to say nothing matters anymore because nothing’s real. But just because your neural circuits are made of silicon (or whatever posthumans would use in their computers) instead of carbon doesn’t mean your feelings are any less real.

David J. Chalmers, a philosopher at the Australian National University, says Dr. Bostrom’s simulation hypothesis isn’t a cause for skepticism, but simply a different metaphysical explanation of our world. Whatever you’re touching now — a sheet of paper, a keyboard, a coffee mug — is real to you even if it’s created on a computer circuit rather than fashioned out of wood, plastic or clay.

You still have the desire to live as long as you can in this virtual world — and in any simulated afterlife that the designer of this world might bestow on you. Maybe that means following traditional moral principles, if you think the posthuman designer shares those morals and would reward you for being a good person.

Or maybe, as suggested by Robin Hanson, an economist at George Mason University, you should try to be as interesting as possible, on the theory that the designer is more likely to keep you around for the next simulation.

Of course, it’s tough to guess what the designer would be like. He or she might have a body made of flesh or plastic, but the designer might also be a virtual being living inside the computer of a still more advanced form of intelligence. There could be layer upon layer of simulations until you finally reached the architect of the first simulation — the Prime Designer, let’s call him or her (or it).

Then again, maybe the Prime Designer wouldn’t allow any of his or her creations to start simulating their own worlds. Once they got smart enough to do so, they’d presumably realize, by Dr. Bostrom’s logic, that they themselves were probably simulations. Would that ruin the fun for the Prime Designer?

If simulations stop once the simulated inhabitants understand what’s going on, then I really shouldn’t be spreading Dr. Bostrom’s ideas. But if you’re still around to read this, I guess the Prime Designer is reasonably tolerant, or maybe curious to see how we react once we start figuring out the situation.

It’s also possible that there would be logistical problems in creating layer upon layer of simulations. There might not be enough computing power to continue the simulation if billions of inhabitants of a virtual world started creating their own virtual worlds with billions of inhabitants apiece.

If that’s true, it’s bad news for the futurists who think we’ll have a computer this century with the power to simulate all the inhabitants on earth. We’d start our simulation, expecting to observe a new virtual world, but instead our own world might end — not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a message on the Prime Designer’s computer.

It might be something clunky like “Insufficient Memory to Continue Simulation.” But I like to think it would be simple and familiar: “Game Over.”

My Kid

2007-10-03T11:30:00.000-04:00

My kid rocks!

Not only does his “Due to the presence of fools- wise people stand out” Myspace page have John Lennon wallpaper- the featured song is Schubert’s Piano Trio in E Flat!

How’s that for culture?

Now I’m not so worried about his future.

Yes

2007-10-01T08:34:00.000-04:00

"If you travel far enough, one day you will recognise yourself coming down the road to meet you. And you will say - YES. "
- Marion Woodman

Johari/ Nohari Window

2007-09-25T18:32:00.000-04:00

I've been exploring some things lately; Enneagram Personality Systems, Jung-Myers-Briggs personality approach and now, Ethan has brought the Johari & Nohari Window to my attention.

If you get a second, visit this site and lend a word or five. The Johari Window can be limiting here in digital reality but, those who have read here for a while may be able to assist- those that know me... really, really know me...go easy, OK?

There is also an inversion of the Johari called Nohari, where you assess your negative personality traits. Please visit this site as well (those who really, really know me- and anyone else for that matter)!!

Feel free to leave entries anonymously on either or both.

Love

2007-09-13T18:30:00.000-04:00

The abandoned monkey who has found love with a pigeon.

"They're an odd couple in every sense but a monkey and a pigeon have become inseparable at an animal sanctuary in China. The 12-week-old macaque - who was abandoned by his mother - was close to death when it was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province.
After being taken to an animal hospital his health began to improve but he seemed spiritless - until he developed a friendship with a white pigeon.

The blossoming relationship helped to revive the macaque who has developed a new lease of life, say staff at the sanctuary. Now the unlikely duo are never far from each other's side, but they aren't the only ones to strike up an unusual friendship. Earlier this year a pig adopted a tiger cub and raised him along with her piglets because his mother couldn't feed him. "

Dreaming

2007-09-13T11:49:00.000-04:00

“…and then I realized I must be dreaming because she was speaking to me but her lips, her lips were closed and then she smiled as if to say, 'but I am speaking to you', and I heard her say to me,

Once upon now, there is us, being. I will use the word ‘we’ so as not to confuse you… there is only One experiencing a ‘we.’ We are experiencing this being now as we have always experienced being. Our thoughts about our being do not change the fact we are; here, now.

There’s only being. We are not separate individuals; we are One. One with all that is- One with all that can be thought of as past, One with all that can be thought of as the future.

We are all… here, now… being One.

We cannot, not be- here, now. Even in ‘death’ we have gone no where… now here.

Every thought outside of 'One… here, now'- serves to remind us how silly our thinking is. It is fun to think we are separate, to think we are divided, to think there is good and bad. Drama is fun.

There is only Us… One- being.

Not one thing we experience doesn’t serve our awakening to this One- being. Nothing is out of order, nothing needs mending, nothing is not perfect, as it is. We know this now, even if we don’t…and so our being evolves into beautiful soul after beautiful soul until we arrive at a point called; Here, Now... and our being One is fully realized, we know the whole story from now till now of how we dreamed we were two and came home again to our self, to our lover, and we whisper… ‘welcome home.’”

Hot Springs, NC

2007-09-10T10:32:00.001-04:00

"The sun shines not on us but in us. The Rivers flow not past, but through us. - John Muir

"The river has taught me to listen; you will learn from it, too. The river knows everything; one can learn everything from it. You have already learned from the river that it is good to strive downwards, to sink, to seek the depths. - Herman Hesse

"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. - A. A. Milne

"We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one. - Jacques Cousteau

"A river sings a holy song conveying the mysterious truth that we are a river, and if we are ignorant of this natural law, we are lost. - From the ReEnchantment of Everyday Life by Thomas Moore

"Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known. - A. A. Milne

Growing Orbits

2007-09-05T08:31:00.000-04:00

"I live my life in growing orbits
which move out over the things of the world.
perhaps I can never achieve the last,
but that will be my attempt.

I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for a thousand years,
and I still don't know if I am a falcon, or a storm,
or a great song."

Rilke, 1899

Come Be My Light

2007-08-23T20:10:00.000-04:00

"Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear."

Mother Teresa to the Rev. Michael Van Der Peet, September 1979

What are we to make of these words from Mother Teresa? Is it disturbing knowing she experienced a crisis of faith, a "dark night of the soul" lasting close to five decades?

Mother Teresa never abandoned her faith or her work even though in letters published in Come Be My Light she compared her spiritual pain to hell and even stated at one point it drove her to doubt the existence of heaven and even of God.

Is her legacy lessend by her doubts? What can we learn about faith, love, hope and charity from her life revealed more fully?

See the informative, inspiring TIME article for more on Mother Teresa's revelations.

In Ireland

2007-08-22T08:43:00.000-04:00

River Shannon

Abbey Shrule (f. 1150)

In Parish Milltown

Milltown Flower

Bunratty Castle

Ice Cream

Trinity College, Dublin

Spire of Dublin

The Cliffs of Moher

Family Marker: Milltown

Milltown

County Westmeath

Bunratty Window

Cliffs of Moher

The Sweetest Face

Near Abbey Shrule

The Burren & Green

Near Milltown

In Dublin

Parish Milltown Cross

Near Milltown

Milltown Neighbor

Country Road near Milltown

Parish Milltown Belltower 1855

Inside Parish Milltown

Mother Mary, Parish Milltown

Mullingar

2007-07-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

We've reached the part where our trip to Ireland is upon us and how I believe it is going to change our lives.

Well I’ve never worn the green,
or stood beside the cliffs of Moher
Mary says, “You’ve never seen the likes of them before”
and if we’re bound- can it be far?
all our roads lead to Mullingar

and a cool August eve; how many of us? Who can say.
Mothers, fathers, all the love of yesterday
I feel them here, can’t you see their light
In the eyes of each one here tonight.

Be back soon :)

Now

2007-07-23T14:30:00.000-04:00

"I have heard what the talkers were talking. The talk of the beginning and the end. But I do not talk of the beginning or the end. There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now; And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now."

-Walt Whitman

Drum Meditation

2007-06-07T14:08:00.001-04:00

Mystic drummer Neil Peart of the band Rush has posted a recording of his drums only from an instrumental on their new album, Snakes & Arrows.

Listen to the track, close your eyes and see where the rhythm, dynamics, pauses and silence lead.

Random 8

2007-06-01T11:20:00.000-04:00

Cyber friend Hamza Darrell Grizzell from Metro Atlanta has “tagged” me on his blog to play “Random 8.”

Here are the rules:

Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them that they have been tagged.

So here are 8 random facts about yours truly:

1. While driving, instead of abruptly switching tracks or turning off a song that holds meaning- I slowly turn down the volume, fading the song out. Strange, I know.

2. I enjoy being a Gemini- and so do I.

3. I could easily live most anywhere, city or country, doesn’t matter to me.

4. Our family is traveling to Ireland in August- I feel deeply the trip will change our lives.

5. My idea of relaxation and adventure is to take a long drive, preferably on a road I’ve never driven before, and sample life in small towns, small crossroads. It’s almost inevitable that a song will be written (or half a song- at least) while on my adventure.

6. I find whitewater rafting or simply being on a river enlightening.

7. I recall vividly being three years old.

8. I miss Carolina Pride all beef hotdogs most on my vegetarian diet.

OK, that’s 8. And here are the 8 fellow-bloggers I hereby tag to continue this meme…

Amy
Ethan
Buford
Julie
Andrew
Layla
Kev
Cat

A Green Way

2007-05-31T10:42:00.000-04:00

Photo by Anton Leroy

I have this map that I own and keep out of sight
for no particular reason,
fold-worn and frayed with penned remarks
highlighting back roads, bends marking season
and at times when I feel I need some direction
I unfold what has become my arrangement,
I go where I go, never lost, although
my meandering is a peculiar estrangement
with what most hold to firmly, dear and deep in their hearts-
bless them, we all must be true
to the compass that steers and guides us along
making me, me and you, you
but, never the less, I am what I am
and I’m glad you are what you are,
us all quite the same would be a most curious game
and life’s riddle even more so bazaar.

So, on days like today when the air around stirs,
when the road clear is unbound and alluring,
I look to my map and chart a new path; a route green,
unmarked, reassuring.
How else could it be? I feel more alive
and there’s no sure course set for the knowing,
I’ve planned my stay the opposite way
I’m at my best when I don’t know where I’m going.

Continuation

2007-05-30T13:14:00.000-04:00

Indian Blanket in Central Texas Hill Country

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson

Indian Fire Wheel (Indian Blanket) up close

Be Back

2007-04-26T11:29:00.001-04:00

Gone to India to study with my new Guru, Puppetji.

See Puppetji's Myspace

Thanks, Dan!

Full Of It

2007-04-24T14:01:00.000-04:00

I am so full of it.

Isn’t it funny how it usually takes others to point out how full of it we are instead of us recognizing it ourselves? And what do we do, we generally go off on the person who’s doing us a great favor, and tell them we think they’re the one full of it and we hold a grudge instead of thanking them for allowing us to…to… dump our load.

Bono's Web

2007-04-20T12:28:00.000-04:00

Please, someone wake me up and say that Bono & the Edge aren't really writing the music & lyrics for Broadway's Spiderman: The Musical! Now, Springsteen will pop up soon on TV singing his heart out for American Express or Ford... wait and see.

When I first started cringing with fear after Michael Jackson bought the Beatles Catalogue it was some time before my heroes (not that Michael Jackson was ever one of them) started selling off their catalogues for cash-olla. Hearing a Beatles tune to sell shoes, financial advice…and Target brand merchandise turns one’s stomach. The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Sir Paul, even Bob Dylan have sold their music for cars, TV programs, credit cards, financial firms, etc. Who would have ever thought?

When U2 turned down money from Apple a few years back to partake in the i-pod campaign… I thought that was class. Fitting with what one would expect U2 to do.

Spiderman? Bono, the Edge? I just don’t get it.

This Is Depressing

2007-04-18T15:32:00.000-04:00

U.S. has best depression money can buy
By Julie DeardorffMcClatchy-Tribune News Service
Published Tuesday, April 17, 2007

America is one of the richest countries in the world. It's also one of the worst industrialized places for kids to grow up and has a greater percentage of depressed people than impoverished, war-torn nations do, according to two major studies.

The first finding comes from a recent UNICEF child-welfare study that measured everything from the number of books in the home to infant-mortality rates, drinking and drug use and the percentage of children who eat meals with their families.

Of 21 wealthy nations surveyed, the U.S. ranked second to last. Child well-being was highest in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, places that invest heavily in their children. (*As we Americans file tax returns this week, let's consider what we are getting for our money . For every dollar we pay in federal income taxes, 36 cents goes toward past and present military spending.)

The problem isn't just that, compared with the European countries, the U.S. lacks day-care services and has poorer health and preventive-care coverage, which has left 9 million children without health insurance.

America finished dead last in terms of infant-mortality rates, vaccinations, the percentage of newborns with low birth weights and deaths from accidental injuries. We finished second to last when the researchers assessed a child's diet, physical activity and weight, exposure to violence and bullying and the number of 15-year-olds who smoke and drink and have sex.

And, in what could explain why we're among the most depressed people on Earth, according to a study of 14 nations conducted jointly by the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School, we finished second to last when researchers examined relationships with family members, friends and family structure.

American children often don't eat the main meal of the day with their parents. Children say they don't spend time "just talking" to their parents. And they generally don't find their peers "kind and helpful," according to the study.

It shouldn't be a surprise, then, that 9.6 percent of Americans suffer from depression or bipolar disorder, according to the WHO/Harvard study, that binge eating or drinking is up or that children are medicated heavily for depression and attention-deficit disorder.

In material goods, American children have it all. But to make them feel loved, cherished and supported, they need family, community, and meaningful cultural traditions -- all things money can't buy.

*I added this sentence from Sojourners as it seemed fitting to the discussion.

When There Are No Answers

2007-04-16T21:55:00.000-04:00

"In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing, in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see."

Today's events in Virginia leave us with many questions, many broken hearts.

My heart goes out to the families and friends.

Where Am I?

2007-04-11T09:28:00.000-04:00

Working with Where We Are

When people start to mediate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, the often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. It's a bit like saying, "If I jog, I'll be a much better person." "If I could only get a nicer house, I'd be a better person." If I could meditate and calm down, I'd be a better person."...

But loving-kindness--maitri--toward ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy after all these years. We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness.

The point is not to try to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest. ~Pema Chodron

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thought. With our thoughts, we make our world." ~The Buddha

Thanks to James at The Buddhist Blog for posting this thought by Pema Chodron

Darshan: The Embrace

2007-04-09T18:25:00.000-04:00

"...There is an unchanged truth for changing the universe."

Amma

See the theatrical trailer for Darshan here.

I Am Reminded...

2007-04-04T09:58:00.000-04:00

...that, I Am. And so are you.

What to do?

2007-03-14T10:02:00.000-04:00

"Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." - The Talmud

Translucent

2007-03-13T15:48:00.000-04:00

The great playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote in Act 2 of his play, Ghosts:

"I almost think we're all of us ghosts. ... It's not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us. It's all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we can't get rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see Ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be Ghosts all the country over, as thick as the sand of the sea. And then we are one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light."

In reflecting on a book I’m devouring, The Translucent Revolution by Arjuna Ardagh, I found it astonishing to come across this passage by Ibsen, which at first reading, chills me to the bone. Yes, I know of these ghosts ‘all the world over,’ more so I am reminded of the ghosts residing inside of me…but, I’m learning a valuable lesson from them at the same time.

Do we need to fully exercise our ghosts away to recognize, even befriend the completely unfinished business that is confusing us, as us. Is it too simplistic to say all we must do is recognize even embrace these pieces of ourselves in order to be done with their haunting? Perhaps we will never entirely lose their grip…but should we allow their weight to hold us spellbound?

Why should we deny those parts of ourselves we’re so intimately, inextricably still in love with- it is such a compelling, heart breaking drama after all, isn’t it? Who are we without our drama? Shouldn't we embrace all that makes us human, even that part of us that is so pitifully afraid of the light?

Our experience surely cannot be fully contained by what we perceive is happening to us. I choose to trust we are more than what we believe ourselves to be and yet every feeling we experience is valid including our fear of the light as well as the draw to our source. I'm learning I don't need to understand our being, simply learn to rest in it while experiencing the mystery.

I'm sure we've done our part by showing up; the agreement is complete, even as we are complete, ghosts and all.

Being Cheesy

2007-03-01T12:13:00.000-05:00

Moon River is being honored with our very own organic cheese from the award winning Moon Shine Dairy Farms in Mullingar, Ireland!

Our cousins in Mullingar who own and operate the very successful organic farm as well as Lake Shore Bed and Breakfast were thrilled to hear the name of the agency and decided to name their newest hard cheese with herbs, "Moon River." They also have a stock bull called Moon Raker and produce a smoothie named Moon Shine!

We are going to Ireland this August to visit and can't wait to see them all once again and taste what is sure to be a very delicious, wholesome Moon River organic cheese!

Sometimes things happen which are so serendipitous that you can't help but smile from ear to ear. What a magical existence it is!

" All of our grasslands are rich in clover and so many herbs that it gives a truly lush, soft and floral flavour to the milk and this contributes to the rich texture and flavour of these artisan farmhouse products. All herbs and rennet used in our cheese making are organic and vegetarian. Our products are free from any preservatives and artificial colours of any kind.....just pure fresh organic milk.

At this point, we should mention that any planting and processing work on the farm is guided by the moons cycles, i.e. any growing of vegetables, reseeding, harvesting, and also cheese making. It is for this reason that we call our farm, Moon Shine Dairy Farm."

Sounds great to me!

Tuesday's Smile

2007-02-20T09:34:00.000-05:00

"There's a statue of the Buddha, very equanimous, except that at the edge of the mouth there's a tiny smile. It's called the "Smile of Unbearable Compassion". That's the place we embrace. If we stretch, we can see the perfection of the universe. Because we can see that we can keep our hearts open.

We do what we can do, without getting burned out by what we can't do. We appreciate the perfection of it - including what we can't do."

Baba Ram Dass

Wendell Berry

2007-02-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Knowledge, Knowing and Ignorance

"The modern scientific enterprise apparently is directed toward the goal of complete knowledge. But if you had complete knowledge, if you knew everything, could you then act? Could you apply what you knew, or would you be paralyzed by a surplus of considerations? If you were to map within a circle all possible relationships among all the points along its circumference, you would end up with a black circle—an engorgement of "information" that would not be knowledge, but rather the practical equivalent of the blank circle you began with. Thus the proposition that it would be good to know everything is probably false.

The real question that is always to be addressed is the one that arises from our state of ignorance: How does one act well—sensitively, compassionately, without irreparable damage—on the basis of PARTIAL knowledge?

Perhaps the most proper, and the most natural, response to our state of ignorance is not haste to increase the amount of available information, or even to increase knowledge, but rather a lively and convivial engagement with the issues of form, elegance, and kindness. These issues of "sustainability" are both scientific and artistic."

I Love You

2007-02-15T08:35:00.000-05:00

"The common expression is 'I love you.' But instead of 'I love you,' it would be better to say, 'I am love — I am the embodiment of pure love.' Remove the I and you, and you will find that there is only love. It is as if love is imprisoned between the I and you.

Remove the I and you, for they are unreal; they are self-imposed walls that don't exist. The gulf between I and you is the ego. When the ego is removed the distance disappears and the I and you also disappear. They merge to become one — and that is love.

You lend the I and you their reality. Withdraw your support and they will disappear. Then you will realise, not that 'I love you,' but that 'I am that all-embracing love.'" ~Amma

Blogger Woes- Period (one space.)

2007-02-15T08:04:00.000-05:00

OK, Blogger Beta still has massive kinks in it. I can't log in at blogger.com, but- I can comment at someone’s blog and then type "blogger.com" in my address bar, click, and there I am at my dasherboard.

Go figure.

Interesting note, and maybe someone can clarify this for me. My webpage guru at moonriverproductions.com tells me that the correct grammar for computers is one space after a period, not two, as we were taught using typewriters (anyone remember those?) It seems two spaces causes a large gap between sentences when he programs the MS Word copy I forward him to place as text on my webpage.

If correct grammar means only one space after a period- it's gonna take me forever to get this down. It's like having someone say metric measurements only are the rule now.

Space

2007-02-12T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is my space in Savannah. Still tweaking the room, need some larger pictures and art for the walls- but, it will come.

The space works for me even though I have no windows to the outside.

I was contemplating building a window frame and adding a poster behind it. This way I could change my view anytime!

I like how the lamp light to the right overloaded the settings on the camera creating the sureal aspect to this section of the office.

I am happy to be of service here in this space.

Healing Ourselves- Healing Mother Earth

2007-02-02T08:32:00.000-05:00

Warming 'Likely' Man-Made, Unstoppable
Climate Scientists Say Global Warming Is 'Very Likely' Caused by Man and Will Be Unstoppable

By SETH BORENSTEIN
The Associated Press

PARIS - The world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

The scientists using their strongest language yet on the issue said now that world has begun to warm, hotter temperatures and rises in sea level "would continue for centuries" no matter how much humans control their pollution. The report also linked the warming to the recent increase in stronger hurricanes.

"The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice-mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that is not due to known natural causes alone," said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change a group of hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments.

The phrase "very likely" translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that global warming is caused by man's burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame.

Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

_____________________________________________________

___________________________

______

What an opportunity we are granted now and now and now...to change our way of life, to influence others in changing their lives and to become wiser consumers, more compassionate citizens and therefore be the change which we seek.

The proof is irrefutable, now we must become aware of our actions, change our beliefs and allow Mother Earth to heal. Mother Earth heals when we allow ourselves to heal.

"Unstoppable?" We must not resign ourselves to this way of thinking...and at the same time neither should we attach our Self to what we observe in this world. We must simply heal ourselves and Mother Earth will heal too.

Nothing is broken, nothing is wrong, and there is nothing to worry about. Everything is in order.

Om Shanti-

Jamaica Three

2007-01-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

Jamaica Too

2007-01-29T09:36:00.000-05:00

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!”

Bob Marley

Jamaica

2007-01-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

Hello from Jamaica

2007-01-21T09:08:00.000-05:00

A couple of pics of the view we will be enjoying this week. The house we're staying at is owned by our friend, Peter, and sits atop his property at Whitehouse, near Black River. Our room faces the pool and looks out over the western waters. This setting is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Randomness

2007-01-15T12:24:00.000-05:00

Thoughts just before I head to Savannah…

In 25 years, my grandson and all children will be studying the Civil Rights Movement and the needless death & dying, suffering and ignorance wondering just how this could have been. I imagine myself back to 67 and the retreat Dr. Martin Luther King held at The Penn Center months before he was murdered. What he must have been thinking. His last retreat to my home county, Beaufort, and to Penn Center was to focus not on the rights of Black Americans, but to focus on the rights and the plight of all of America’s poor. Martin received much criticism for this shift away from Civil Rights to embrace all of America’s poor. I pray my grandchild will inherit an America that finally realizes Martin’s dream come true. God bless Martin on this day. God bless us all.

The New Year has come and I find myself still whittling away on last years resolutions realizing that we are all works in progress, evolving with our every choice. Yesterday, Cathy and I went kayaking on the Calibogue Bay, which includes a stretch of the Intra-Coastal Waterway. The weather was in the mid- 70’s, light breeze, bright and sunny. It was my first time out with Cathy in the double kayak. I’m glad I made the choice to go out with Cathy, for the afternoon was mesmerizing. Being on the water, inhaling the salty scent of the oysters and ocean and navigating through the marsh grasses and oyster beds left me feeling invigorated and at peace with myself and the world. We witnessed many dolphin swimming around us and got so close to a few that we could hear their calling to each other and feel their dolphin- chatter through the hull of the kayak. We also saw many varieties of birds. Ibis, pelicans, gulls, sand-pipers, cormorants, and a small variety of what looked like baby ducks. It was a beautiful experience and I’m glad to have shared it with Cathy.

Moon River is up and running- even booking business. The Website is slowly taking shape. I’m eager to have it up in its entirety; it’s been a huge investment. We are doing a tradeshow on Tuesday and Wednesday; our first venture into the business world, side by side with other businesses. I received all my collateral materials late last week. The business cards, letterhead and envelopes look very professional. We’re very excited!

Cathy and I are heading to Jamaica on Sunday to do some business and then relax for a while. We are staying with some of Cathy’s associates, friends who live there. Hope to do some whitewater rafting in the mountains of Jamaica as well as catch as much local flavor and music as we can. Really looking forward to the trip.

How about you? How’s the New Year shaping up? Any big plans, new directions, exciting possibilities?

Wetness

2006-12-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

Saraswati

She is playing me, through me
and I pretend this all is of my doing…

Flowing down from the highlands, born
of the snow shower and sun drenched peaks
there are miles of stretching on before
we unite. We are the water, drop by drop
we realize until once again we pool by green
meadows and merge with our ocean- lover.

We dreamed along our way of our separateness,
and veered into divided streams and stagnated puddles.
We transformed into the invisible, falling again on fields
and city pavement, never once losing our essence.
Our wholeness, our nature is to merge again with that
which we already are.

So these polished words by the grace of Saraswati
meet you and intertwine us as they may.
My only instrument, my being bowing to
your being pretending I am playing, all the while,
flowing river of her essence keeps promises made
before time.

We are one again and I dreamed we were two.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T06:47:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. May we all see the many, many blessings we possess and give from this perspective.

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

from "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

Moon River Productions

2006-12-15T12:38:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been spend starting up our very own entertainment agency and special event production company. Going in to this venture I intended all aspects of the start up to run smoothly and for the most part, everything has.

I'm crafting the mission statement right now and again, I choose to intend words with meaning that will convey not only our commitment to outstanding service but also our understanding that it is not by chance our clients come to us for service. Be it our years of experience and the many benefits attached, our commitment to serving others, our level of involvement in the communities we serve- whatever the case may be, it is by no accident that our clients and Moon River Productions come together. By a conscious decision we agree to be on purpose together and we are thankful for the opportunity to be of service.

Some pretty amazing coincidences have occurred since intending this business into a reality. We have been offered free rent of our office in Savannah, GA with a former associate there. We have also been offered assistance from a friend who wants to operate her own business, doing business as Moon River Productions in Beaufort, SC and has free office space in a historical antebellum mansion in the heart of the historic district.

So now, Moon River Productions has three locations: Savannah, GA, Bluffton/ Hilton Head Island and Beaufort, SC. I have been preparing myself for such bewildering instances and although they do come as a surprise- I know they were intended into reality and there's more where that came from!

I hope to catch up with all my friends soon. In the meantime, keep writing...I'm reading, just not able to comment as much as I wish.

Whatever it is that you think is missing in your life, right now take a moment to be thankful for all that you do have and realize whatever you desire will happen as soon as you intend.

Peace & blessings this Holiday Season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Eid.

12 Years Ago

2006-12-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

We were gathered on Hilton Head awaiting your arrival. Christmas time 12 years ago was so special because you were to be our most precious gift ever. At 5:15 pm you came into this world as Silent Night played softly in the background.

Thank you for choosing us to be your parents and for every gift you bring. We love you so much.

Happy Birthday Tommy.

Perfection in Groundlessness

2006-12-05T09:02:00.000-05:00

Last night while watching the PBS special, Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason featuring an interview with Ani Pema Chödrön, which you may view online, here- I said to my wife as she was reading, "did you hear what she just said?"

My wife, being one of my Master Teachers (my son is another of my Master Teachers) replied something along the lines of, "...but I don't understand, you don't practice anything of what you preach. "It was the most perfect thing she could have said!! It was in fitting exquisitely with what Pema Chödrön was saying, which is: "one can't know one's true self, until there is groundlessness beneath one."

At first, Cathy's words cut me, because as a Master Teacher she often holds nothing back in telling it like it is. But then I realized, "Tommy, this is one of the many experiences of "groundlessness." The rug's been pulled out from under you and you have nowhere to stand. It's true...there are many instances of you not practicing what you believe."

But that's precisely why I am so drawn to the spiritual teachings that I am...because they do express all that which I feel to be perfect and true- all that, which "I am, too" yet, can't quite perfect within myself.

There will never be perfection equal to what I desire. I want to be perfect in my spiritual practice but, I will always get in my way- until I choose to learn the lessons of groundlessness and realize... "It’s all good- it's all perfect as it is, here and now." Even feelings and thoughts that matters aren't perfect are in order; it is a "perfect" opportunity to choose and align myself again with higher awareness. Any opportunity that allows us to realize where our awareness is and to be drawn back into alignment with that which is perfect- is a blessing.

All this time I've been searching for my true Master Teachers. What perfect teachers I have, my wife and son, for they show me the way...when I choose to see.

Awareness

2006-12-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

Things I don’t have, don’t possess, who I am not- I can choose to focus on these things and create a myriad of imaginable, minute dramas each portraying why I don’t have these things, how I can get them, how I would feel owning them- and still, I’m no where closer to what I desire. Sometimes I fall in love with the drama, the play of consciousness most rewarding; that which I choose to feed.

Things I do have, tangible or intangible, and who I truly am- I tend to overlook, and here is where I am becoming more aware- I am in possession of all that I need, as I am. Desiring more, results in resistance and that guarantees more of what I don’t have. But even desiring to not desire brings about a resistance, which offers its own paradoxical guarantee. Becoming aware of where my head is at and seeing desire for what it is: a thought process composed of lower energy seeking attunement with highest energy, is enough (what is highest energy but a realization that all is perfectly fine, here & now- even thoughts that things are not.)

It involves a most peculiar navigation into something profoundly mysterious where I must, must lose my way- even my very self, to arrive at the end, which is where I began. My “wayward” expedition into the mystery is a journey shared by every living soul. I know I am never alone. We are collectively on this journey, each of us trading turns showing the way.

Sitting around the fire last week, Trev Diesel played an original song called “Sharptooth” which is “a retelling of an ancient Indian tale about a tiger being raised by goats (thereby believing he himself is a goat)” in which he sang the following lines,

“Lift your voice and let out a shout, you’ll see the limits you’ve lived with, you’ll know the power you’ve lived without.”

We are destined to own the paradox of being both tiger and goat, which is the same as the journey into the mystic. Each of us while on the same path feels like we are alone, that there is something we are missing, something we are or we are not holding us back, but this is a falsehood which is in place so that at our weakest, we can call forth that which is always already in us- that will save us. Only when we’ve seen the limits we’ve lived with can we know the power we’ve lived without.

“At any moment in time, all Spirit is concentrated at the point where we focus our attention.” Wayne Dyer

Another Reminder

2006-11-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

“A deep sense of things being the way they are.”

"…Things are the way they are. Allow them to be exactly the way they are. All the social consciousness stuff, the social, political, economic change-for-the-better stuff… let it go, allow things to be as they are, don’t resist, don’t hold on to your concept of good/bad, right/wrong.

Trust existence. Who is it that thinks she can improve upon existence? This is the thinker, the ego. Much arrogant mischief arises from this thinking. Existence is pure and perfect as it is. First things first.

Find out who you are first, then you will find your way in this world - with grace, with love, with understanding.

Then your eyes are open, you have access to the wisdom and love of the whole, and you will not be moving from ego fixation, from arrogance, aggression, want and fear. Instead you will flow with existence, the Tao. Your actions will be non-action, your doing will be non-doing. You will act in harmony with the whole moment to moment. And in this way, as a non-entity, you will be immensely helpful to others."

taken from a comment by Meredith at The Sound Of Diesel Musing; Meredith is quoting Akilesh

________________________________

Why do we think circumstances and people

need to change to fit our expectations of reality?

What are we so afraid of?

Love -The Beatles

2006-11-14T14:36:00.000-05:00

"After being asked by the remaining Beatles, Ringo and Paul, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, to make experimental mixes from their master tapes for a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, Sir George Martin, The Beatles legendary producer, and his son Giles Martin have been working with the entire archive of Beatles recordings to create LOVE.

The result is an unprecedented approach to the music. Using the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios, Sir George and Giles have created a unique soundscape. The release of this album, which is also featured in the Cirque du Soleil/Apple Corps collaborative production of the same name at The Mirage in Las Vegas, has been much anticipated."
Starpulse News Blog

What a treat to hear some of the new mixes at The Beatle's website, especially a remix of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and George Harrison's acoustic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" which includes a verse that didn't make it to the White Album:

"I look from the wings at the play you are staging
while my guitar gently weeps,
as I'm sitting here doing nothing but aging
still my guitar gently weeps."

The 5.1 disc is a DVD-Audio/DVD-Video hybrid and is out November 21st.

Hafiz

2006-11-13T08:59:00.000-05:00

What Should We Do about that Moon ?

A wine bottle fell from a wagon

and broke open in a field.
That night hundred of beetles and all their cousins

gathered and did some serious binge drinking.

They even found some seed husks nearby

and began to play them like drums and whirl.

This made God very happy.
Then the 'night candle' rose into the sky

and one drunk creature, laying down his instrument

said to his friend - for no apparent reason,
"What should we do about that moon?"
Seems to Hafiz most everyone has laid aside the music
tackling such profoundly useless questions.

From: 'The Gift' translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Rumi

2006-11-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

I never grow tired of Rumi...

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.

__________________________________

If your guidance is your ego, don't rely on luck for help.
You sleep during the day and the nights are short.
By the time you wake up your life may be over.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
Let yourself be silently drawn by the
stronger pull of what you really love.
Become the light.

________________________________

The minute I heard my first love story

I started looking for you,
not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.

Inspired by a visit to The Path, by Kuan Gung

Go Here Now

2006-11-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

One of my cyberfriends, Trev Diesel, has moved his blog, The Sound of Diesel Musing, to a new web address:

http://trev-diesel.blogspot.com/

Bliss

2006-11-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

In speaking of goals Steve Pavlina writes, “What determines the goals you set? The answer is your context, which is your full collection of beliefs about reality. You’ll always set goals congruent with your current understanding of the universe.” No argument here, for to me this statement is perfectly understandable and provides some answers for what is unfolding presently in my life.

Sometimes being able to grasp what’s really going on is simply a matter of living long enough: plain and simple. Through experiencing life there comes a point when all we’ve encountered reaches a mystical ‘critical mass’ or point and our eyes open up brighter than ever before. We begin to see clearly how our past shaped today and how our choices today will shape tomorrow. Things begin to make sense in a whole new way.

I’ve always been a firm believer one should always follow one’s bliss, but I couldn’t see clearly where this path would lead, how to stay on the path of my bliss, and the fact that sometimes we must close our eyes and walk in the dark trusting the path will rise up to meet us and never lead us astray. In my heart I’ve always known that music was my path but haven’t always trusted that everything was working congruously after all.

Now, in designing my intentions and in creating the collage I intend to manifest I feel a peace I’ve never experienced before. This peace is saying, “Be still and know.” I know now and yet it’s still all a mystery to me. I’m trusting with my heart instead of my mind.

My goals have all changed. Paradoxically I don’t want the same kind of success I longed for years ago. I know now that as I follow my bliss and stay true to my heart success will meet me halfway and in a way I cannot and should not expect. I am free, however to write any ending I choose knowing all endings are simply beginnings thinly veiled and in disguise. I’m glad it never ends.

“After all these years the warmth and glow of the fireplace in the old country cabin we call home settles our hearts and minds as nothing else can. We stare outside silently, mesmerized as the snow gently cascades onto our valley farmland. The only sounds breaking the stillness are a few notes I strum on the guitar and Cathy’s pen crawling across paper. It’s good we both have something inside us tonight, words and music longing to escape out into the world still.

I look to the mantle above the fireplace that is lined with photographs of our son, our entire family, each one gazing back at us and frozen in time. I love them all and I'm thankful for who they are and the happiness each has found as well as brought to me. I look over at Cathy and she turns her head in my direction to catch me softly smiling. She asks me what I’m thinking. I whisper back, "I love you.”"

Nothing To Do?

2006-11-01T19:31:00.000-05:00

"And the only thing that needs to be seen is that there's nothing to be seen. There's nothing to get. There's nothing to do. Just to be finished with looking anywhere for anything that you think you need. And you are free in this moment to do that. This is perhaps the only choice."

John Sherman

My friend, Dan, has many more wonderful words at his special site. You should check it out...if you're looking for ordinary blissful quotes :)

Love

2006-10-31T10:55:00.000-05:00

Carving a pumpkin at Nana & Papa's

Halloween 06

Tommy as a member of the

Black Parade (My Chemical Romance)

“I swear with all my heart, this little boy is all that I know to be true
The sweetest day of all for me was when I first laid eyes on you
I believed in a higher power for I was holding his finest hour
And my first prayer was, may you find your way.

And I was always someone every time I stood by your side
With a heart about to break with all the love I held inside
To put it simply, life’s very essence was
Always found when I was in your presence
And my every pray is, may you find your way.”

Tony Arata, "May You Find Your Way"

Warm Hollow-A Reminder To Myself

2006-10-27T10:10:00.000-04:00

Whenever we have an opportunity to get away from our normal setting and experience the diversity that is nature it's always nice to discover our newness with loved ones sharing in the experience. When we return back to our respective homes it seems all too soon we miss the newness, the experiences and the company of those we love most.

All of the adventure, the love of newness, beauty and sharing doesn't have to stop because we find ourselves back into our routine...there must be a way to find this same joy and love here, now.

I believe what seems to be missing isn't really missing at all- it's found in our hearts and is always waiting for us to rediscover, over and over again. Each of us is the unfolding of a great Love story and perhaps we should stop and consider how much we are loved by others and the deep capacity we possess to love in return.

It is all we ever really have- our ability to love one another, to share this love. Sometimes we forget, very often it seems, who we really are and what we are capable of.

We are love itself, unfolding and always already complete.

"Realize what is present here and now."
Ramana

View from atop Max Patch

Warm Hollow Reflection

Cathy & Tommy on Max Patch

Warm Hollow near Spring Creek, NC

Smokey Mountains from Max Patch

Carolina Blue Skies

All photos by James Berry, my brother-in-law

More photos coming as soon as Blogger stops acting up!

Holiday

2006-10-16T16:28:00.000-04:00

Leaving on Wednesday for Hot Springs, NC and Warm Hollow. Looking forward to rafting down the French Broad on Thursday morning, sleeping by the water's edge that night and discovering the new get- away; a country home in Warm Hollow we have rented where the rest of our family will be joining us on Friday.

Until then-

Intention & Manifesting

2006-10-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

“Are you still interested in Alaska?” Her voice was sweet, not a typical sales pitch on the other end of my mobile phone (where did she get my number)?

“Is it free?” I jokingly replied.

“Well, no…but it’s at a very attractive price,” she said.

“You must want my father,” I said to her. “He’s been doing some traveling lately and planning for more, let me give you his number.”

Call it a case of synchronicity slightly a whack because I was just thinking about Ireland and a trip we want to take next summer when the telemarketer called. I had also just finished reading a really great article at Religion and Spirituality.com about a women, Arianne, who completely manifested her new love (right down to his first name) and how their life together became an adventure instead of…well, what most relationships turn into.

I was thinking how it is time to dig deeper into intending and manifesting what I desire in my life, in my relationships and in pursuit of my bliss. I am a firm, albeit lazy believer in the power of Intention and in manifesting: we get what we desire and manifest, or we get what happens to us.

“If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice,” as the saying goes and we manifest “happenings”; dull, lifeless, trivial, “things” that just happen to us. Choosing to decide, through intending and witnessing and we co-create our destiny; an adventurous, love-filled, enchanting reality (umm...had some, have some... want more)!

I want to manifest more (higher) through Intention (have been all along- it’s just a matter of awareness and “what have I been doing with my life?”) but it takes work. A lot. It takes “the vision thing” and it takes honesty, two qualities I know I need to focus on intensely and nurture so they may grow further in every dimension of my being. It takes work and then it takes relaxing- honest relaxing into the arms of what is- through dancing a most unusual and awkward ballet of perseverance and yet surrender too.

“What do I want?” What a powerful, invigorating question!

Arianne, the enchantress from the article at Religion & Spirituality began her manifesting by becoming clear on what she wanted. She became still (through deep reflection or meditation), began a fast (of one day) and decided to ‘create’ her manifestation on poster board, cutting out pictures and images carefully thought over of what she intended for herself.

She then created a collage of her intended future, even choosing a picture of Jean-Claude Killy, a French skier to represent the man of her dreams. The man she eventually met and married two months later was named Jean-Claude Gerard Coven (Jean-Claude Coven wrote about the experience at Religion & Spirituality.com).

She then placed the poster board so it would be the first thing she saw upon rising and the last before she closed her eyes for the night.

So, I guess it’s Arts & Crafts time… time to clearly be still, imagine, intend and manifest.

Call it silly, I believe in things like this. I believe.

Intention Graphic by Tribal Harmonix Music

Autumn

2006-10-07T18:14:00.000-04:00

My friend Ethan took this picture and I have to say....it captures the essence of Fall. The temperature fell into the high 50's this morning here in the South Carolina Lowcountry- a welcome change.

Can you feel the magic in the air?

Daring Authenticity

2006-10-04T08:42:00.000-04:00

Excerpts from The Exquisite Risk
By Mark Nepo

In the 1600s, the Japanese master Basho spoke profoundly to his student Kikakou:

We shouldn’t abuse God’s creatures.
You must reverse your haiku, not:

a dragonfly;

remove its wings-
pepper tree.

But:

a pepper tree;
add wings to it-
dragonfly.

The destruction or healing of the world hinges on how this thought unfolds. Whether we pull things apart or put things together makes all the difference.

The question put to our daily lives is: In love, in friendship, in seeking to learn and grow, in trying to understand ourselves, how often do we, like Kikakou, remove the wings of the thing before it has a chance to free us?

If you don’t know the kind of person I am
And I don’t know the kind of person you are
A pattern that others made may prevail in the world
And following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
William Stafford

13 Years

2006-10-03T09:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Anniversary Baby! 13 years ago today... and you're still my main squeeze.

Dreaming of the day we'll sit on the front porch in our rockers asking the grandkids to turn up the Pink Floyd and RUSH.

They won't know what to think of us.

Things That Make Me Feel Good, Inc.

2006-09-27T19:29:00.000-04:00

Photo by Jaan, at Rama's Cuckoo's Call.

Be sure to see all of Jaan and Rama's amazing photography!

____________________________

Feel Good Now!

Gotta watch this video- Thanks Miriam!

"I'll take you for who you are, if you'll take me for everything...

It's all the same."

from "All The Same" by The Sick Puppies

Choices

2006-09-22T11:12:00.001-04:00

My friend, associate and employer for the last five years died this past Monday morning. He drank himself to death over the course of a week. Those closest to him knew it was coming, were powerless to stop him, and in what could be seen as either an act of extreme selfishness or selflessness, coldness or compassion chose to let him choose whether he wanted to live or to die.

We now must live with our decision and with the actuality that he chose differently than what we wanted.

For some of us, there will never be an understanding as to his choice. The acute pain of knowing the end could have been avoided, we could have intervened will be a part of us, maybe forever. Could the end have been avoided? Can we shape time and our experience as we desire with happy endings always?

I know my friend for who he really was. He was not his disease, he was not his loss, and he was not his bank account or his past. He was and is still very much a part of me, and a part of you. I choose to see him and each of us as a whole and wholly complete, aware we are not what we perceive and acknowledging we cannot ever truly know or understand what is intrinsically unknowable.

As far as order- what is order other than what is and what appears to be-to each of us. No manner of order, not even divine order offers us complete understanding, does it?

Appearances are at the mercy of our dulled senses, but to the heart it is a different matter. From a still, silent heart- center appearances fall away and divine order reveals itself. It is from here that we live, move and have our being.

For me, it is simply a place to rest.

Thank you Meredith and Aki for your ongoing discourse of the past two weeks. Your words have helped me move from dulled senses to Heart- Center as I remember my friend for who he really was.

Matthew Diaz

2006-09-11T09:21:00.000-04:00

In Memory of Matthew Diaz

The following is part of 2996 , A Tribute to 9/11 Victims.

The project was started to honor those who died on September 11, 2001.

I found out about this through Barbara and felt that I wanted to contribute as well.

After several attempts to compose a tribute to Matthew Diaz I realized I would never be able to write honestly about a man I never knew. The last thing I wanted was to trivialize his memory by pretending to know anything about him. What I can do is share with you stories written about Matthew and his family. I can also share with you words composed by some of his family and friends.

I will say to the family of Matthew Diaz: Matthew seemed like such a good man, a loving husband and father. I’m sure he had many, many friends who will always remember him. The manner in which you have risen in the wake of Matthew and Karen’s death is inspirational. No one will ever know of your loss in the same way you know. I am sorry I cannot do justice to the memory of Matthew or Karen- this is something only you that knew them and loved them can do. I hope that my sharing of these stories and memories will shed light on the lives of Matthew and Karen and that those who read them will come to catch a glimpse of these two bright lives that were tragically cut short.

We who know little of personal loss from that day still desperately search for meaning and encouragement too. One of the ways we find this is by learning from you, the family and friends of those who died on 9/11. Thank you for allowing us to share in your loss and grief. We celebrate the lives of those 2,996 who died. Know they and you, the families, will always be remembered.

Thank you, Ms. Kneff for speaking with me about your son in-law, Matthew and daughter, Karen. Again, I apologize I cannot compose more fitting words than these.

God bless you, God bless us all.

From THE NEW YORK TIMES

December 11, 2001.

Matthew Diaz was a man with a conflict on his hands.

A carpenter specializing in laying floor tile and carpets, he had a friendly wager that he could put in more hours than his foreman during 2001. But his desire to get an early start on each workday was impeded by his late-night routine: he liked to stay up until midnight or later, playing video games with his two sons.

"He couldn't stop talking about his kids," said William Gonzalez, Mr. Diaz's friend and foreman at New York City District Council of Carpenters Local 2287. On Sept. 11, Mr. Diaz, 33, was laying tile in the elevators of the Cantor Fitzgerald offices [at the WTC].

Long before, he and his sons, Michael 7, and Christopher, 4, had a lot to deal with. His wife, Karen Diaz, received a diagnosis of late-stage breast cancer a year earlier. Mr. Diaz had been caring for her, and preparing their sons for carrying on without one of their parents, but not without him.

The older son still goes to the front door some days, hoping his father will come home — to build more Star Wars figurines, skateboard or ride bikes with him, go to his soccer practice, listen to the stereo. "He was just a family man," said Florence Kneff, his mother-in-law. "He worked, and he came home."

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

December 23, 2001 by MICHELE MCPHEE

New York -- When Karen Diaz learned she was in the advanced stages of breast cancer a year ago, the Brooklyn mom began the agonizing process of preparing her two young sons for life without her.

"Mommy's sick," she told Michael, 7, and Christopher, 4, again and again. "I might not be here, but Daddy will always be here to take care of you."

Her husband, Matthew, also reassured his boys: "We're a family," he would say. "We'll always be a family."

Then, early on September 11, Matthew Diaz, 33, a union carpenter, was asked for a favor by his foreman: Could he finish laying some tile in the 105th-floor offices of Cantor Fitzgerald?

Diaz was killed in the terrible minutes after the World Trade Center was attacked.

"My mommy was supposed to die first, not Daddy," Michael keeps telling his grandmother, Florence Kneff, 59.

One night recently, Kneff overheard Christopher whispering to a picture of his father, as the boy lay in bed.

"Do you have a bed in heaven, Daddy? Is the food good?" Christopher asked. "Please, can you come home?"

As they face their first Christmas without their father -- and possibly their last Christmas with their mother -- Michael and Christopher have been adopted by a group that also has seen more than its share of loss: the firefighters of Ladder Co. 147 and Engine Co. 281 in Flatbush.

Two dozen firefighters from the Cortelyou Road firehouse plan to surprise the brothers with an early visit from Santa, who will land on their roof, courtesy of a tower ladder.

The firefighters are carrying out the yuletide blessing in memory of Capt. Timmy Stackpole -- a legendary former Ladder 147 firefighter who was among the 343 FDNY members killed Sept. 11.

"These kids' father might not have been a fireman, but he's still not going to be home on Christmas," said Ladder 147 Firefighter Bobby Fraumeni, a 20-year FDNY veteran. "That guy's family deserves the same as everyone else's family."

"It will be really nice to take the focus off our losses," said Ladder 132 Firefighter Vinny O'Grady, another close friend of Stackpole's. "There were so many people hurt by this. It's going to be a tough holiday for everyone in New York City."

Kneff, who retired and gave up her apartment in the Rockaways to help care for her daughter and grandsons, said she's grateful that the firefighters have joined her extended family. She hopes the early visit from Santa will give the boys a moment of joy amid their heartbreak, and a happy memory to look back on in the tough times ahead.

From Friends and Family

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you Matt. You were a true friend that I miss dearly. Your friend.”
Joe Marrone

"We miss you Matt. Karen, you know how I feel about you, you were like a mother to me. The jokes, seeing you rise and then seeing you fall was the hardest thing to witness. I miss you so much, not a day goes by without thinking about you. I'll see you........."

Sarah (last name not given)

"Matt We miss you and you are in our hearts, prayers everday that goes by. You were a very special friend to me and to a lot of other people, I can still see your smile and remember all the good times we had together. I will always cherish those good times and you will always be in our hearts."

A Friend

“I went to school with Matt. We went to Ridgewood High School in New Port Richey, Florida. Matt was sure one funny guy. I remember how we would get the class all laughing, (just doing silly high school things, like fart noises in the middle of class). One thing for sure, if Matt was your friend he stuck behind you no matter what. I never thought I would know anyone that was in the WTC that day. If his children read this [know] your dad was a very good man. He had his moments, but he could always get us to laugh. Just remember to continue on in life no matter how hard it gets, because that is what your father would have done. He had heart & soul. Never give up. Bless you all. Never forget.”
Danny Blaszczak

"I am Matthew's second cousin. His father, Anthony was my first cousin. I saw [Matthew’s boys] pretty often-they were really so cute and sweet. Really good boys. I loved them then and love them now. Matthew has three brothers, Anthony, Michael and Christopher. Matthew was always concerned [with] and loved his sons, talking about giving them all the toys they wanted as well as buying a house. He was and will always be remembered as [being] big hearted, loving, warm, and as a adorable kid as well as a man, with a happy disposition with a big smile. God bless and keep you forever.”
Elvira Corrado

“I am Matthew's Aunt, Carmela. There are no words to express the pain that we the family of Matthew and Karen Diaz are feeling in our hearts. Some say as time goes by the pain will diminish. I don't think so. This young man who had worked so hard, loved his family so deeply, and was so proud and thankful to have two beautiful sons and his lovely wife. He wasn't given the gift of years but was certainly given the gifts of love and happiness. I am so thankful that for so many years Matthew was surrounded by the love of Karen’s family and friends. I know that Matthew rests in heaven with Karen, his mother, and father.”
Carmela Diaz Brown

“Matt and Karen were my aunt and uncle, and I miss them every day. I hope that they are in heaven looking down on their boys, because I know that they miss their mother and father very much.”
Brianna Diaz

“My respects to all the Diaz family and my good friend, Chris Diaz, Matthew's older brother. I know this was very hard for you and I hope the best for Matthew's sons coming from someone who also lost their father at a young age."
Matt Geere

"Matthew was my son in law. He was a devoted father and husband. Matt worked very hard and came home and played videos with his son Michael. Christopher, his other son was still too little to play videos would just sit and watch. He was a very good son in law. I loved him like my own son. He was very good to my daughter who was just diagnosed with breast cancer in October of 2000. He went to work that day thinking he would be coming home to help with the boys. He died knowing his wife didn't have long to live. She thought he would be here to care for his children. He is missed very much by his sons and by everyone who knew him."

Florence Kneff

Florence Kneff, whose son-in-law, Matthew died at the WTC and daughter , Karen died of cancer- with her grandsons Michael, 7 (right) and Christopher, 5. By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

The Diazes:

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY: September 11, 2002

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Four-year-old Christopher Diaz would sometimes talk to a decoupage of photographs showing his father. It was his way of coping with Sept. 11. His older brother, Michael, who just turned 8, doesn't talk at all — at least not about a world now so radically altered, one without parents.

"Michael is very, very angry," says his grandmother, Florence Kneff. "You say something, he'll say, 'I don't want to talk about it.' And, 'Why do those people hate us?' And, 'Why did they do that?' And, 'Why did my daddy have to go to work that day?' "

One year ago this morning, the boys had a mother and a father — Karen and Matthew Diaz.

The children could barely understand at the time — and Christopher, who was only 3, not at all really — that an aggressive breast cancer was killing their mother. The family lived in a Brooklyn apartment then. Diagnosed a year before, in September 2000, Karen Diaz, 35, had prepared bravely for her absence.

By the summer of 2001, she had written out tips for her husband to follow in raising two boys by himself. She wrote letters to each son, keepsakes for them to absorb when they were older.

"I hope when you get married," she wrote to Michael, "that the girl loves you as much as I do."

And then Karen sat down with the boys to try to explain how she might not be around, and "Daddy was going to be here to take care of you," Kneff recalls.

On Sept. 11, hijackers who crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center made a mockery of those arrangements. Matthew Diaz, 33, was a union carpenter who on that Tuesday was called in to finish floor tile repair work in the north tower offices of the bond-trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald. He was never heard from again, his body never recovered.

The event sapped Karen of whatever strength she had left, her family says.

"She didn't have a will to live any more," says Kneff, her mother. "She wanted to know why. It wasn't fair. Why are these boys going to be with no mother and no father?"

Karen's younger sister, Stacey Monaco, 31, says: "She felt like she was in a dream. She felt like she would wake up and everything would be better again."

The family retrenched and tried to absorb this latest blow. From Sept. 11 onward, Kneff, who is divorced and will turn 60 next month, left her home in the Rockaways and her job as a customer service representative at a bank so she could move in with Karen to help with the boys. She was named legal guardian.

The two physicians who treated Karen at the Nassau Hematology Oncology practice on Long Island created a college fund for her boys.

All the while, the cancer advanced. By October, Karen's vocal chords were becoming paralyzed. In time, she spoke only in a whisper. She was hospitalized for a week in December. By January, she wanted to be placed in a hospice.

"She went in on a Friday, and by Wednesday she had died," her mother says.

That was Jan. 30.

"A lot has happened since I last wrote," Karen said in a revised journal drafted for the boys before her death. "Daddy is no longer with us. He's in heaven. And Mommy is not getting any better. Grandma is now taking care of us, thank God."

The seismic shift over the past 12 months has left Kneff feeling overwhelmed at times.

"I just hope I have the strength to cope with all this," she says. "It's a big change. It's very different, raising two boys."

Stacey Monaco's husband, Frank, a custodian at Curtis High School on Staten Island, offered to share his house with his mother-in-law and two young nephews. The Monacos have three small children of their own.

Matthew Diaz's union, the New York City District Council of Carpenters, volunteered to finish the Monacos' basement into a bedroom and bathroom for Kneff and a playroom for the kids.

Despite all the reordering of their lives, Florence, Stacey and Frank always saw the changes as a given, not a choice.

"You have to do what you have to do, yes, but it's something that we wouldn't have any other way," Kneff says. "I had people calling me asking if they could adopt the boys because they heard the boys had nobody to go to. But I don't know where these people got that idea from."

Both boys returned to school last week. Christopher, the youngest, talks often about his parents being in a better place.

"He'll always say to me, 'Can I talk to Mommy and Daddy in heaven?' I tell him yes," Kneff says. "Sometimes when he gets upset, he'll cry that he wants to be in heaven with Mommy and Daddy. And I'll tell him, 'No, it's not your time.' "

For Michael, who saw his father vanish and his mother fade, reality is less acceptable. When officials closed out the recovery effort at Ground Zero on May 30, Michael asked whether searchers had found his father's remains. He was told that they had not.

"You see," he replied, with some bitterness in his voice, "I told you it was a joke. My daddy's still alive."

Matthew and Karen Diaz Family photo from 1994

A pair of shoes coated with dust and ash lie amid candles and flowers on New York's Union Square Monday, Sept. 17, 2001 at a memorial for victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attack. The message attached to the shoes is written to Matthew Diaz, saying in part: "I looked for you my union brother, I looked for you my baby brother. I love you Matthew Diaz. Your brother Michael." (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

...Now, and Now, and Now...

2006-09-06T11:52:00.000-04:00

Listen closely,
the Universe whispers,

“I will repeat this only every moment,
and you will understand now, and
if not now, then now, or perhaps now…

everything that you see, imagine,
or touch; every cloud, drop of rain, golden flower,
or dying child,

is You.

You cannot be torn away from this maze,
you cannot exist alone, and even your thought
otherwise, is still me in you.

You are the unfolding of me,

of it all,

my perfection and love personified."

Power of One

2006-09-05T10:52:00.000-04:00

Chen Si spends his weekends searching into the eyes of those traveling the Nanjing Bridge spanning the Yangste River in Nanjing, China. He is searching for desperation in the eyes of those he meets, the kind of desperation and depression that would cause someone to fling themselves over the bridge railing and into the water below.

So far, Chen Si has saved 99 people from jumping to their deaths. Many times by simply spotting their desperation and talking with them, other times by grabbing onto their arms or legs as they cross over the railing and literally dragging them back to safety. The Nanjing Bridge is the longest road and railway bridge in the world and suicide is the leading cause of death for Chinese men between the ages of 15 and 34. Chen Si can only be in one spot on the bridge at any given time.

Not only does Chen Si take on the responsibility of saving lives, he also feels he must try and make life better for those he saves by offering hope.

"What should I do with the people I save? I don’t have that much money," he says. "When I save people, I don’t want to just cheat them into living another day."

"Give me some time," Chen Si says. "I’ll think of something."

Quotes by Chen Si taken from a story on NPR's Morning Edition

Core

2006-09-03T12:26:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, there was a congregation of fish, who got together to discuss who among them had seen the ocean. None of them could say they had actually seen the ocean. Then one fish said, ‘‘I think my great grandfather had seen the ocean!’’ A second fish said, ‘‘Yes, yes, I have also heard about this.’’ A third fish said, ‘‘Yes, certainly, his great grandfather had seen the ocean.’’

So they built a huge temple and made a statue of the great grandfather of that particular fish! They said, ‘‘He had seen the ocean. He had been connected with the ocean.’’

"Enlightenment is the very core of our being; going to the core of our self and living our life from there."-- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Lesson taken from the Blog: Bird On A Wire

Photo from the Blog: Anonymous Dharma

Thursday Thoughts

2006-08-31T10:40:00.000-04:00

"Endless Day" May River

Bluffton, SC 1993

“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.
That is how important you are!”
Eckhart Tolle

If you understand, things are just as they are...
if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
Zen proverb

Learning

2006-08-25T06:19:00.000-04:00

I’ve learned that if you’re looking for answers, they won’t arrive until you realize the searching is just as vital and necessary as the finding and are essentially one and the same.

The most important thing is to be kind to yourself and be compassionate towards others.

Changing Mood

2006-08-24T10:51:00.000-04:00

I’ve been reading One Man's Wilderness- the journals of Richard Proenneke, a remarkable outdoorsman, craftsman, and photographer who chose to get away from everything, build a cabin in Alaska, and become part of the country. A most remarkable book which is in keeping with my mood lately… adventure, exploration, creation, a need to be in the mountains. One of the best reads I've ever purchased (also bought the two DVDs as well).

I’ve discovered some new music inside of me, a sound very different from what I usually hear. The resulting songs are…well, I don’t know what to think of them except to say that songs are like your children; they come from you, born into the world through love, and you can’t deny them a home.

The sound is Alternative Country-ish; simple guitar, light piano, some fiddle, harmonica… the bare essentials so as not to smother the songs, to let them breath of their own accord and emerge as they will. Less is more with what I’m hearing and writing. I just need to get into the studio and get them down before the mood changes.

Abbot Pass Hut

I feel the urge to get snowed in somewhere and write for a few weeks.

This Morning's Song

2006-08-23T09:41:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning and here's what was waiting for me, music and all...

(verse 1 & 2)
I’ve been waiting on a song
A song I can believe in
A song that I can cleave in
As it carries me away

I’ve been waiting on a song
One that has no ending
That’s always just beginning
And is written for today

(chorus 1)
Right outside my window
In a field of amber grain
The birds begin their singing
And I join in the refrain

(verse 3 & 4)
I’ve been waiting on a love
A love I can’t imagine
That’s never without passion
And knows no dreamless night

I’ve been waiting on a love
That passes understanding
And never is demanding
steering closer towards the light

(chorus 2)
When everything seems hopeless
And I am empty to the soul
Your love appears before me
And once again I am made whole

(verse 5 & 6)
If you’re waiting on someone
Or anything that seems missing
And still you are insisting-
The way is to be still

Just open up your heart
And your wishes, they will come true
There’s nothing more that you can do
Except to learn they live inside you.

It's been a good morning.

Who We Are

2006-08-21T09:52:00.001-04:00

“I am not here to prove that I am divine- I am here to prove that you are divine.”
Sri Nidthyananda

We quietly, sometimes desperately, live into an answer so staggering it seems beyond belief, that it cannot be true. We shake inside at our discovery but don’t dare speak to others of our knowing- of our bliss; after all, what would they think of us?

It’s best we continue bantering on about the weather, the world, our worries, who has done what to whom, and go about numbing ourselves and the few short hours each day we are free to do with what we want.

Why don’t we speak to each other of what truly matters? Why must we disguise ourselves in trivial and mundane issues when deep inside, we are about to explode with our passion for life?

What if today we talk with just one person we love and remind them of their inspirations, even ask of a stranger what inspires them and then offer encouragement to pursue their bliss. Simply thanking them for being who they are is enough.

Everyone of us is special, so very special in that within, each of us is bursting with life. Give someone the opportunity to bloom today then witness the most incredible feeling well up inside your being- it is your own blossoming. Together, in the awareness of who the other truly is, we continue making the world a better place.

Thank you to my friend Sadiq for the introduction to
Paramahansa Sri Nithyananda whose words inspired today's post. You, also inspire me Sadiq!

The End & Beginning

2006-08-17T10:23:00.000-04:00

The end of this story is a new beginning.

Endings always signal the start of something revolutionary advancing us on to another ending, where a new beginning waits.

I met my wife as a result of pursuing my bliss, fell in love, got married, and we had a son and lived happily ever after. The End.

I’m sure it’s not the ending you were expecting…yeah I did meet one of the Allman Brothers when I was 16 and we played guitar and drove around the mountains making music and getting drunk…I toured with bands, made music, had fun, got drunk (a lot), etc. etc.

And had each and every step along the way not happened- I would never have met Cathy and we would not have fallen in love, nor would we have our son, Tommy.

See, the way it all happens is never the way we imagine. We’re not so great that we are able to clearly have it all happen the way we plan- until we rest in the moment and realize it all happens for a reason… and we’re never gonna know THE REASON (if you do know, please tell me). When this realization comes along- we begin to see it all clearly fall into place in a whole new way. Everything becomes beautiful and every person and experience vital, connected, and above all- exquisitely mysterious. Nothing is broken, nothing needs mending, everything and everyone is perfect as is.

You’ve got to embrace each moment as it is because there’s a path you’re blazing every second, it doesn’t exist beyond this moment; you’re co- creating your way into your destiny. How you embrace the moment determines the quality of the next moment, and the next, and the next. It's all really just "One Big Moment" anyway.

I’m creating a new space for my path ahead by realizing I’m not the business man I thought I was and never will be the business man I need to be, to be “successful” in my world. I just don’t operate that way, I’m “too gentle to run with the wolves” in the business world and don’t really care to try anymore.

What do I really want to do? I want to be that cowboy I dreamed of being when I was a kid. I want to grow my hair, slip my earrings back in, make music, and buy a farm. I’ve got it in me, it’s there waiting right now, all I’ve got to do is pick up my guitar and start writing. Anything can happen if you believe enough.

“I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy, and Lovin' the cowboy ways.”

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, recorded by Willie Nelson