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SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue
DESCRIPTION:Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nSeptember 15\, 2020 \n  \nWelcome to our first meditation and mindfulness dialogue! The numbers below refer to passages from the book Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. (JS) \n  \n#159  A Healing Mantra \nAlthough I myself am locked within walls & a structure of rules\, the cosmos still sustains me and it still nourishes me. I am isolated yet I feel no alienation from the world. I cannot touch a tree or a cloud\, but yet I still feel them. I know they are there for me just outside the walls. For now\, my friends & my family are the light of the sun\, and the door of my heart is filled with love\, light & sun from theirs. Being stripped to the simplest form of oneself will allow you to be filled full of all the beauty that the cosmos has to offer. Empty yourself to be filled with the wonders of life. \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n#49 – What is a leaf? \nIs one of my favorites! In segregation we have paintings that are of different scenes. At first it was cool\, then I and others got over it. But since putting this wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh in perspective you see more than a painting. For it opens my eyes to the time\, the painter\, the painter’s years of art skills\, everything down to what makes paint…paint. There are so many miracles that came together to make these paintings! It’s amazing. Now I try to be mindful of what miracles come into place to make people I meet\, foods I eat. Being conscious of what had to come together to create your best friend or your favorite food gives you much more appreciation for how they come to be in your life. \nThank you for giving me a chance\, Johnny. I’m really working on myself. My goal is day by day. (Today be less ego-oriented.) Trying to not care who judges me for being me. Because that’s not my problem\, I am happy and peaceful. It’s been a sacrifice\, but as I’m learning sacrifice is the way to a peaceful life! \nPeace Love Happiness \n—Jake Green \n* \nOriginally\, I had no intention of sharing this\, as it was written by inspiration to myself as though it were a summation of what I see as the core of my soul\, for lack of better words\, and also like a mantra and daily meditation. Here it is: \n  \nI am the good man. \nI am the good decisions that I make. \nI am compassion\, I do not fake. \nI am kindness\, I am love. \nI am by choice\, not by chance. \nI am intent\, not happenstance. \nI am in servitude of good. \nI am alive and I am living. \nI am grateful I am. \n  \n—Joseph Opyd \n* \n#6  Concentration \nConcentration is an interesting concept in prison—Why should I want to concentrate on my situation being what it is? But as I’ve grown spiritually\, I’ve come to realize how useful concentration can be.  \nThere is a lot to complain about in life\, but there is also a lot to enjoy! Concentration\, or focusing on what I think as I’m thinking it\, and what I feel as I’m feeling it\, has taught me that my life is richer if I concentrate on the “good” and the “bad”—accepting both for what they are and their role in my life. The passage in the book (#6) talks of the power of concentration in creating happiness at any time. I do think this is important\, however the more useful aspect of concentration for me is being able to be fully—(or as close as I can come for now)—aware of the situations that I find myself in\, and what ripples I make in that environment. Concentration\, or mindfulness\, has also helped me embrace the “bad” parts of life. By being mindful of the roots of my reactions and feelings when a “bad” thing happens I have learned to cope\, embrace and/or overcome these situations\, while gaining a little more skill in mindfulness. \nMy point is that by being mindful I have learned that there is value in all situations. While I suffer I learn\, while I’m happy I learn. Mindfulness is our tool to dig through the layers of our minds and be really truly in the moment\, allowing us to remove reaction and embrace each event for what it is truly worth\, “good\,” or “bad.” \n—Cody Dalton \n* \nI find myself\, my soul\, my beliefs and my being saturated in belonging—belonging to a love so deep\, so real\, so unreal. Coming from a life of nothing and going to a life full of love I never knew I could be a part of. A love that I knew was there\, there for others\, but for me…well\, it was only window shopping. \nNow I long to be drenched in the core of my soul\, always and forever drowning in this love\, this love that has pierced my cosmic veil. This love for all\, for beauty\, for the ones who opened so many doors into and onto the mind\, heart and truth that dwells within my being. \n  \n#191  Love is Understanding \nWhen we do not understand things we fear them. There was a time for myself\, and not too long ago\, when I was fearful of myself. Fearful of who I used to be\, and fearful of the things I had done. Fearful of what I was capable of. I did not fully understand myself\, because I was hiding from myself. When I opened up and allowed someone in\, someone who is truly there for me—only then did I have the strength to face myself and understand why I did what I did\, who I am\, and who I was. Only then did I find the compassion to forgive my demons\, and leave them\, and forgive myself. Love is understanding not just our own faults\, but the faults of others—loving them and loving ourselves. \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n#4  Ambassador of the Cosmos \nI love Thich Nhat Hanh’s word “interbeing” and what it suggests to my imagination—the interdependence and interconnectedness of everyone and everything! In this passage he doesn’t use the word\, but he describes how when he looks deeply into a piece of bread\, he sees the sunshine\, the rain and the earth without which there would be no bread. Some people imagine that they are somehow “independent\,” but with every breath we take\, oxygen revitalizes our blood\, and we exhale carbon dioxide which nourishes the trees\, which produce oxygen… I’m glad I get to be part of this whole miraculous process that has no beginning or end. \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \nWhat is it that you really know? Not just what you have been told or what you think or have read or surmise but something that you deeply know. And how is that different from the other kind of knowing where you think it or have heard it? I think starting with what your base understanding is one of the most crucial steps in meditation. Knowing your own inner ground….and what you don’t know. Write it down. And maybe a few months or years from now you can come back to it and see if anything has changed. \n  \nWhat Do I Know? \n  \nClosing my eyes\, \na silent darkness\, \nlight \nat the edges. \nMy breath moves \nup and down\,  \nholding each moment\, \ninhalation \nthen release. \nThe human heart \nis quixotic\, \nmalleable\, \nalmost like a berry \nin the palm of my hand. \nIn my ears\, \na deeper space \nthat stretches out\, \na disappearing \nreverberation. \nWe touch nothingness. \n  \n—Deborah Buchanan\, from Layers of Sediment \n* \nWhen I invited people who don’t live in prison to be part of our new meditation and mindfulness community\, I included Jake Green’s meditations on “What is a Leaf?” Scott Teitsworth was reminded by Jake’s “sweet words” of a passage from a book he edited by his guru\, Nitya Chaitanya Yati. (JS) \nEven when you do something as simple as sip a cup of coffee or tea\, think about what you are doing. Your morning tea begins in some far-off land\, where very poor people get up at four o’clock. They crowd onto a battered bus\, then walk to the plantation where ripe leaves are waiting to cut into their fingers. Leeches climb on them to drink their blood. All day long they fill their baskets\, then they go home to a meager supper. The tea leaves are hauled to huge mills employing hundreds of people\, where they are cleaned\, dried\, and made into the kind of blend you want. Then it is put in tins or boxes\, and sent by truck down the mountains and out to the coast. The shipyard is filled with more poor laborers\, who load the tea onboard ships. Then across the ocean it comes to your port.The distributors parcel and package it and send it to your local market\, where you buy it and take it home. Thus the whole world participates in one cup of tea. If you like sugar with your tea\, there is another world of production and distribution behind that spoonful of white grains you tip into the cup. So should you not look into the numinous aspect of just a cup of tea? \nIf you become sensitive to the numinous aspect of life\, gratitude will naturally fill your whole being. Each time you put a morsel of food in your mouth or sip your tea or coffee\, you will become so grateful to the corporate life of mankind for giving you so much for so little effort. You will see nothing but the unity underlying the many forms of the world. Great will be your joy to share\, to give\, to receive. Then you won’t fight. The belligerency comes in where you see only your own personal interests—“my home\,” “my family\,” or just“my self.” The superficial form of your self interest should be subsumed in the ocean of the general interest\, and you should feel the world is your country\, your home. That humanity is your family\, filled with your brothers and sisters. \nThe Guru* wants us to really feel this: to stand united\, to find peace and become peacemakers. We have to first be peacemakers in our own lives. We bring peace to ourselves. By putting all the peaces together\, we make peace with the world.If you fragment it\, you lose it. So let us gather all the peaces together in one meaning\, in one divine thread of love and compassion and understanding. \n  \n—from That Alone: The Core of Wisdom by Nitya Chaitanya Yati pp. 140-141 \n*Narayana Guru (1856-1928). This book is a long commentary inspired by a philosophical poem by Narayana Guru\, Ātmopadeśa Shatakam. \n—Scott Teitsworth \n* \n#7   Why we suffer \nThich Nhat Hanh reminds me that all things change\, and I will suffer if I refuse this truth\, like a stone in the river trying to stop water’s journey\, I will be rolled and all my rough edges worn away. When he speaks of the river\, I remember a time we went to a back channel and wandered along in a canoe\, and I entered a kind of trance of well-being as the river flowed and sunlight splashed everything alive. When I suffer sometimes\, when I wake at night and remember my failures\, I go back to the river in my mind\, and try to see it for what it is: \n  \nCall me the scruffy hermit of willow islands. \nCall me the skipping stone eager to squander all \nfor a few joyful episodes of buoyancy. I could be \ncounting money? I could be a hero of fame? \nCall me one lost to water’s wonders\, far gone \ndown a back channel gaping at water beads \ndripping brilliant from the paddle’s blade.  \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \nI look through my study cards. Today’s contemplation is “Observation of the Mind.” Do I have solid mindfulness established\, or is my mind more of the scattered quality? To what degree are desire/lust\, anger\, and confusion present or absent in my mind? This is not about judgement; as humans\, we spend so much time with these mental qualities that we might as well use them as meditation tools. This is more like a checklist\, is a quality present or absent? The card reminds me: all mental contents arise and pass away. Can I observe that right now? Can I see that my thoughts now are different than my thoughts 10 minutes ago? Bonus points if I can train myself to have some awareness of others\, that other people also have rapidly changing mental qualities. “Your True Home” (YTH) speaks about this exercise at item 120\, “Mindfulness of the Mind.” Another exercise I can do with my mind\, and its contents\, is to ask if current thoughts are beneficial to my wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around me\, or if they detract from wellbeing. Again\, this is not about judgement or criticism\, it is about taking inventory of the mind. Flipping through YTH\, I find this in item 47. \n—Shad Alexander \n* \nSpaciousness \nIt is 4:45 am. A small glimmer of light in the eastern sky\, but a mass of stars still predominates in the dome above. My favorite time of the day: mornnight. My mind is rested and fresh\, still empty. \nI have two and a half days of precious spaciousness. My husband is away for a couple days of bike riding while I had planned to go away camping with women friends. My outing was cancelled because of high winds\, falling trees and fire danger. David said\, “Oh well\, I won’t go if you’re going to be here alone.” I said\, with a duplicitous smile\, “Oh no\, you go ahead. You don’t want to disappoint your friends by not showing up. I’ll be fine.” \nDon’t get me wrong; I love my husband\, but he should know\, after 36 years\, that I treasure these infrequent\, but cherished times of aloneness. And this one is serendipitous spaciousness. I am never lonely being alone. I am filled with empty spaciousness. The house feels bigger. It is breathing and expanding\, and I breathe and expand\, in tandem\, like singing a harmonious duet. \nDuet. Round: In my family we played duets on the piano and sang rounds. “Go to Joan Glover and tell her I love her\, and by the light of the moon I will come to her.” Repeat one bar after the first has been sung. Etc. And\, “Orléans\, Beaugency\, Notre-Dame de Cléry\, Vendôme\, Vendôme…”  Sung as a round\, it sounds like cathedral bells tolling throughout the city. We sang dozens of rounds. \nSpaciousness allows my mind to remember things like this. My mind can rest or wander; either way\, it awakens refreshed\, mindful. \n—Jude Russell \n* \nReading some passages in Your True Home\, I was again impressed with how beautifully Thich Nhat Hanh expresses complex Buddhist concepts in clear\, easy to understand language. One of these concepts that touched me this morning was #9: I Have Arrived. So much of our lives are concerned with striving–we want to learn things\, we want to get better at things\, we want to excel\, we want to create. And this striving is wonderful: it has produced our art\, science\, architecture\, literature\, airplanes\, medicine…our civilization\, the civilizations that came before us and those that will come after us. But the most important thing about life–greater than any discovery\, creation\, or attainment– is the simple fact that we are alive. When we’re in great danger\, or facing a serious illness\, we often remember that nothing is more important than protecting our precious life. But the practice of meditation is taking time to appreciate this fact without the stimulus of danger. If we open our eyes and ears we can remember how fantastic it is\, how precious\, how exciting\, how beautiful\, how crazy it is that we are here. We have arrived. We are not only alive but we can be aware of our life and we can appreciate our life. Meditation practice is taking time to appreciate this amazing fact.  \n—Howard Thoresen \n* \nI’ve tried to learn meditation a few different times and I’ve never succeeded. My self-discipline is spotty\, my posture’s always off\, and I forget the proper hand positions. My body gets uncomfortable and my brain rebels against meditating. My thoughts increase instead of quieting down. Plus\, I’m not a very Buddhist-like person\, thanks to my intemperate ways. I gave up trying to meditate years ago.   \nAfter giving up\, though\, a funny thing started happening. I noticed that my mind would sometimes quiet down on its own\, without much effort from me. When I’m outside I get absorbed by the awesome fullness of life. When I sit in my house and pay attention I feel content with my heartbeat and the peace in my local airspace. When I let my thinking and my judgements be calm the outer and inner worlds do just fine. This balance doesn’t last indefinitely; there are things to do—groceries\, e-mails\, etc. But I can return pretty easily to what Alan Watts calls “sitting quietly\, doing nothing.”  I’ll leave the meditating to the pros. I’m simply grateful for the moment\, and being part of it\, and having people to share it with. \n—Bill Faricy \n* \n78  The Wounded Child \nI was planning on writing about another part of the book\, but I read this\, this morning\, and it kind of hit me like I needed to write about this instead. \nI guess a good question is: what is the child inside of us? I suppose it is part of us\, the child that is\, just because we grow into adulthood we don’t necessarily leave that child behind—he or she comes with us. I believe children are more susceptible\, at a young age\, especially to trauma. I think a traumatic experience as a child can have more of an effect than experiencing that same trauma at an older age. \nI sometimes struggle with a lack of self worth\, and have some insecurities. I am sure most people do\, and maybe being in prison just heightens them. For instance\, sometimes I struggle to even call my family. I will convince myself that they don’t want to hear from me and they have better things to do than talking to me. \nI have recently reconnected with a girlfriend from my past. Talking to her has been great\, but when she says\, “I love you\,” in my mind I say that doesn’t make sense. I have made so many mistakes. Am I worthy of Love? I feel I have worked very hard these last fourteen years to become a better human being. I try to be kind and compassionate to others. Is that enough? I don’t have much else. What if I screw up again? I think maybe that is the child inside of me that is scared. \nI think in these moments of insecurity if we are able to recognize the source\, and why we are feeling this way\, we can begin to heal them. I realize I have done some amazing things with my time in prison. I have met some amazing people along the way that have taught me so much about life and its true meaning. I am not angry anymore and have become a very patient\, understanding person. Maybe sometimes too patient—it may take me a couple days to answer someone’s  question sometimes. I want to make sure I understand what they are asking before I answer though. Geez! I do truly believe that all humans are worthy of being loved\, so I guess that includes myself. Dang it! I know the best thing I can do for myself is continue to live a healthy clean life\, love others\, and surround myself with like-minded people—and when she answers my call\, enjoy it for all it’s worth in the here and now. My hope is that someday I will be a successful productive member of society\, and when that child inside comes calling I can reassure him that we have the tools to live a healthy life\, and everything is going to be okay. \n—Aaron Gilbert \n* \nYour True Home: It is in the now\, the breath\, the fully aware moment. I can’t add to or take away from it. And\, if I hold on to it\, I get stuck because new “now” moments have begun piling up behind this one. If I touch it\, let it go—not holding on to anything—then I can flow from one now to the next\, feeling everything.  I see a connection to Kristen’s topic of “Contentment.” When I can be content with life as it is\, instead of wasting energy with how it was\, I have one less roadblock to the “now” moment.” When I can allow my guard down\, for myself at least (if not for others)\, I can enter that moment to begin the experience as it is. Then I can breathe and allow each “now” moment to come and go as they wish. \nIn spite of all this “now” mindfulness\, “in the moment” talk is that I can’t\, (won’t or don’t)\, just let go of ego\, barriers\, worries past and present\, judgements\, etc. Well\, not for as long as I think\, or tell myself I should. I tell myself that I “want” to do this. I attend the Zen practice sessions so I can practice being more skilled at this—sometimes I even succeed at something\, which leads me back to all that I judge. (Thanks\, Jake.) I “need” to let go. Once in a while\, I do somehow\, more by happy accident than skillful action\, manage to set everything down\, breathe\, and contentedly exist. The more often I struggle with this\, the more often I manage to stumble into aware\, conscious breathing\, where thoughts come and go without my bidding\, or following another white rabbit. Someday\, I want to arrive at my True Home. \nEven this work is plagued by ego\, self-aware judgement\, criticism\, worry about the opinions of others—that I don’t somehow measure up to some arbitrary standard. (All of this is more in my head than in reality.) It all comes from awareness that I am no expert\, guru\, or skilled practitioner of mindfulness\, but find myself at the beginning. Always At The Beginning!!—just like everyone else: breathing\, just breathing\, being gentle and kind when I see I have followed another wild hare off into some dark forest and away from my thoughtful breath. \n—Michel Deforge \n* \nThis is one of my favorite guided meditations from Thich Nhat Hanh.  \nIt begins with his signature meditation on being aware of our most basic source of life. \nTake three deep breaths then breathing normally\, gently\, follow someone saying to you the following\, or say to yourself:  \n  \n“Breathing in I am aware that I am breathing in.  Breathing out I am aware of breathing out.”  \nIn\, out. . . . . in\, out . . . .  \nIn\, out. . . . . in\, out . . . .  \nIn\, out. . . . . in\, out . . . .  \n  \nBreathing in\, I see myself as a flower. \nBreathing out\, I feel fresh. \nFlower/Fresh  (say this to yourself\, for three in and out breaths) \n  \nBreathing in\, I see myself as a mountain. \nBreathing out\, I feel solid. \nMountain/Solid \n  \nBreathing in\, I see myself as a mountain lake. \nBreathing out\, I reflect things as they are. \nWater/Reflecting \n  \nBreathing in\, I see myself as the sky or space. \nBreathing out\, I feel free. \nSpace/Free. \n  \nSome of my reflections on this practice. \nOn being a flower: \nWhen I sit and see myself as a plum blossom\, I feel delicate and careful\, I want to be aware of the subtle fragrance and the fresh air. I feel still and listen for the insects and the breeze in the tree.   \nLater\, when I want to thank someone\, like my yoga teacher or a friend that brings a gift\,  I remember feeling like a flower\, and I will put my palms together and offer a “flower bud” of thanks.  \nOn being a mountain: \nMoving from feeling like something delicate to feeling solid as a mountain\, grounds me and I feel a strength\,  and a knowing  that makes me feel more steady than any fleeting emotions.  \nOn being a mountain lake: \nThe water is still\, we can reflect what is aroud us\, like trees on the shore that are inverted but without distortion.  Such a sense of calm.   \nOn being the sky : \nThe feeling of spaciousness fills me with each breath.  Beyond judgement\, I feel space in and out\, and appreciate the space we need to give one another to be fully human and unique. \nThis simple meditation moves us through an expansive experience with just four images that are familiar to us all\, because we are alive on this planet.   \nThere is a song that goes along with this meditation\, that can help tune us up.   I will find a copy with the music and send it next time if you all are interested.  \nI hope you will find some peace\,  be well.   \nA plum blossom to you\,  Katie \n(I wish I could send you some plums that are growing now on the plum tree) \n—Katie Radditz \n* \nOur dialogue begins. Thank you. We’re off to a good start!  \nToday\, on September 15th\, I’m mailing this to just under a dozen people living in prison and emailing it to just under two dozen people who aren’t. It’s a conversation. Feel free to write and email me in response to something somebody shared. That will be the basis of the next letter\, which will go out on October 15th. Also\, between now and then\, please send me your ruminations on passages from Your True Home or other poems or texts. Or just your thoughts. Or a poem. \nMay all people be happy. \nMay we live in peace and love. \n  \n—Johnny
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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  10/1/20
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nOctober 1\, 2020 \n  \nOn September 27\, at our Bibliophiles Unanimous! Zoom gathering\, we were talking about “Nature\, Ecology and the Environmental Crisis.” Katie Radditz mentioned Gary Snyder’s essay “Fire\, Floods and Following the Dao\,” from his book Back on the Fire\, published in 2007. She mentioned how relevant it is to our current wildfires in Oregon\, California and Washington. That reminded me of Gary Snyder’s great essay from 1969: “Four Changes\,” which came at a time when a lot of people were waking up\, and which helped that to happen. Later\, it was published in his Pulitzer Prize winning book Turtle Island. But before getting to that\, I’d like to start this issue with one of Kim’s recent poems: \n  \nHoly Smokes \n  \nDownwind from where the forest burns \nwe inhale the cindered souls of trees \nthat in a whoosh became particulate \nand rode the wind to enter us. With \nthis breath take in the spirit whisker \nof a mouse\, incinerate wren’s cry \nclenched and tumbled from the sky\, \nmoss that leaped from green to nothing\, \nflailing leaf that in a fiery gasp \nrushed through charcoal into dust \ninside the billow flame that roiled and— \nholy\, holy\, holy became the smoke-smudge \npall that smuggled mountains into us. \n  \nNow freighted for life with dusky mist\, \neven as we help sustain our neighbors \nwho lost everything but life\, we survivors \nare the walking shrine of little lives. We are them\, \nare earth mind suddenly\, to weigh by human choice \nwhat’s best for upward yearning seed of cedar\, \nfootfall of mouse\, wingbeat of wren. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nAnd now… \n  \n  \nFOUR CHANGES \n  \nI. POPULATION \n  \nThe Condition \n  \nPosition:  Human beings are but a part of the fabric of life — dependent on the whole fabric for their very existence. As the most highly developed tool-using animal\, we must recognize that the unknown evolutionary destinies of other life forms are to be respected\, and we must act as gentle steward of the Earth’s community of being. \nSituation:  There are now too many human beings\, and the problem is growing rapidly worse. It is potentially disastrous not only for the human race but for most other life forms. \nGoal:  The goal would be half of the present world population\, or less. \n  \nAction \n  \nSocial/Political:  First\, a massive effort to convince the governments and leaders of the world that the problem is severe. And that all talk about raising food-production — well intentioned as it is — simply puts off the only real solution: reduce population. Demand immediate participation by all countries in programs to legalize abortion\, encourage vasectomy\, sterilization (provided by free clinics)\, and try to correct traditional cultural attitudes that tend to force women into childbearing\, remove income tax deductions for more than two children above a specified income level\, and scale it so that lower-income families are forced to be careful too\, or pay families to limit their number; take a vigorous stand against the policy of the right-wing in the Catholic hierarchy and any other institutions that exercise an irresponsible social force in regard to this question; oppose and correct simple-minded boosterism that equates population growth with continuing prosperity; work ceaselessly to have all political questions be seen in the light of this prime problem. \nIn many cases the governments are the wrong agents to address. Their most likely use of a problem or crisis is another excuse for extending their own powers. Abortion should be legal and voluntary. Great care should be taken that no one is ever tricked or forced into sterilizations. The whole population issue is fraught with contradictions\, but the fact stands that by standards of planetary biological welfare\, there are already too many human beings. The long-range answer is a steady\, lower birthrate\, area by area of the globe. The measure of optimum population should be based on what is best for the total ecological health of the region\, including its wildlife population. \nThe Community:  Explore other social structures and marriage forms\, such as group marriage and polyandrous marriage\, which provide family life but many less children. Share the pleasure of raising children widely\, so that all need not directly reproduce in order to enter into this basic human experience. We must hope that no one woman would give birth to more than one child or two children\, during this period of crisis. Adopt children. Let reverence for life and reverence for the feminine mean also a reverence for other species\, and for future human lives\, most of which are threatened. \nOur Own Heads:  “I am a child of all life\, and all living beings are my brothers and sisters\, my children and grandchildren. And there is a child within me waiting to be born\, the baby of a new and wiser self.” Love\, lovemaking\, seen as the vehicle of mutual realization for a couple\, where the creation of new selves and a new world of being is as important as reproducing our kind. \n  \nII. POLLUTION \n  \nThe Condition \n  \nPosition:  Pollution is of two types. One sort results from an excess of some fairly ordinary substance—smoke\, or solid waste—that cannot be absorbed or transmuted rapidly enough to offset its introduction into the environment\, thus causing changes the great cycle is not prepared for. (All organisms have wastes and by-products\, and these are indeed part of the total biosphere: energy is passed along the line\, refracted in various ways. This is cycling\, not pollution.) The other sort is powerful modern chemicals and poisons\, products of recent technology that the biosphere is totally unprepared for. Such are DDT and similar chlorinated hydrocarbons—nuclear testing fallout and nuclear waste—poison gas\, germ and virus storage and leakage by the military; and chemicals that are put into food\, whose long-range effects on human begins have not been properly tested. \nSituation:  The human race in the last century has allowed its production and scattering of wastes\, by-products\, and various chemicals to become excessive. Pollution is directly harming life on the planet: which is to say\, ruining the environment for humanity itself. We are fouling our air and water\, and living in noise and filth that no “animal” would tolerate\, while advertising and politicians try to tell us “we’ve never had it so good.” The dependence of modern governments on this kind of untruth leads to shameful mind-pollution through the mass media and much school education. \nGoal:  Clean air\, clean clear-running rivers\, the presence of Pelican and Osprey and Gray Whale in our lives; salmon and trout in our streams; unmuddied language and good dreams. \n  \nAction \n  \nSocial/Political:  Effective international legislation banning DDT and other poisons — with no fooling around. The collusion of certain scientists with the pesticide industry and agri-business that is trying to block this legislation must be brought out in the open. Strong penalties for water and air pollution by industries — “Pollution is somebody’s profit.” Phase out the internal combustion engine and fossil fuel use in general\, do more research into non-polluting energy sources such as solar energy and the tides. No more kidding the public about nuclear waste disposal: it’s impossible to do it safely. So nuclear-power generated electricity cannot be seriously planned for as it stands now. \nStop all germ and chemical warfare research and experimentation; work toward a safe disposal of the present staggering and stupid stockpiles of H-Bombs\, cobalt gunk\, germ and poison tanks and cans. Provide incentives against the wasteful use of paper\, and so on\, which adds to the solid waste of cities\, develop methods of re-cycling solid urban waste. Recycling should be the basic principle behind all waste-disposal thinking. Thus\, all bottles should be re-usable; old cans should make more cans; old newspapers should go back into newsprint again. Establish stronger controls and conduct more research on chemicals in foods. A shift toward a more varied and sensitive type of agriculture (more small scale and subsistence farming) would eliminate much of the call for blanket use of pesticides. \nThe Community:  DDT and such – don’t use them. Air pollution: use fewer cars. Cars pollute the air\, and one or two people riding lonely in a huge car is an insult to intelligence and to the Earth. Share rides\, legalize hitchhiking\, have hitchhiker waiting stations along the highways. Also — a step toward the new world – walk more; look for the best routes through beautiful countryside for long-distance walking trips: San Francisco to Los Angeles down the Coast Range\, for example. Learn how to use your own manure as fertilizer if you’re in the country\, as the far East has done for centuries. There is a way\, and it’s safe. Solid waste: boycott bulky wasteful Sunday papers which use up trees. It’s all just advertising anyway\, which is artificially inducing more energy consumption. Refuse bags at the store and bring your own. Organize park and street clean-up festivals. Don’t work in any way for or with an industry that pollutes. Don’t be drafted into the military. Don’t waste. (A monk and an old master were once walking in the mountains. They noticed a little hut upstream. The monk said\, “A wise hermit must live there” — the master said\, “That’s no wise hermit\, you see that lettuce leaf floating down the stream\, he’s a Waster.” Just then an old man came running down the hill with his beard flying and caught the floating lettuce leaf.) Carry your own jug to the winery and have it filled from the barrel. \nOur Own Heads:  Part of the trouble with talking about DDT is that the use of it is not just a practical device\, it’s almost an establishment religion. There is something in Western culture that wants to totally wipe out creepy-crawlies\, totally\, and feels repugnance for toadstools and snakes. This is fear of one’s own deepest inner-self wilderness areas\, and the answer is\, relax. Relax around bugs\, snakes\, and your own hairy dreams. Again\, we all should share our crops with a certain percentage of bug life as “paying our dues.” Thoreau says\, “How then can the harvest fail? Shall I not rejoice also at the abundance of the weeds whose seeds are the granary of the birds? It matters little comparatively whether the fields fill the farmer’s barns. The true husbandman will cease from anxiety\, as the squirrels manifest no concern whether the woods will bear chestnuts this year or not\, and finish his labor with every day\, relinquishing all claim to the produce of his fields\, and sacrificing in his mind not only his first fruits but his last fruits also.” In the realm of thought\, inner experience\, consciousness\, as in the outward realm of interconnection\, there is a difference between balanced cycle\, and the excess that cannot be handled. When the balance is right\, the mind recycles from highest illuminations to the muddied blinding anger or grabiness that sometimes seizes us all. That is the alchemical “transmutation.” \n  \nIII. CONSUMPTION \n  \nThe Condition \n  \nPosition:  Everybody that lives eats food and is food in turn. This complicated animal\, the human being\, rests on a vast and delicate pyramid of energy transformation. To grossly use more than you need to destroy is biologically unsound. Much of the production and consumption of modern society is not necessary or conducive to spiritual and cultural growth\, let alone survival; and is behind much greed and envy\, age-old causes of social and international discord. \nSituation:  Humanity’s careless use of “resources” and its total dependence on certain substances such as fossil fuels (which are being exhausted\, slowly but certainly) are having harmful effects on all the other members of the life-network. The complexity of modern technology renders whole populations vulnerable to the deadly consequences of the loss of any one key resource. Instead of independence we have over-dependence on life- giving substances such as water\, which we squander. Many species of animals and birds have become extinct in the service of fashion fads — or fertilizer — or industrial oil. The soil is being used up; in fact\, mankind has become a locust-like blight on the planet that will leave a bare cupboard for its own children — all the while in a kind of Addict’s Dream of affluence\, comfort\, eternal progress — using the great achievements of science to produce software and swill. \nGoal:  Balance\, harmony\, humility\, growth that is a mutual growth with Redwood and Quail — to be a good member of the great community of living creatures. True affluence is not needing anything. \n  \nAction \n  \nSocial/Political:  It must be demonstrated ceaselessly that a continually “growing economy” is no longer healthy\, but a cancer. And that the criminal waste which is allowed in the name of competition — especially that ultimate in wasteful needless competition\, hot wars and cold wars with “communism” (or “capitalism”) — must be halted totally with ferocious energy and decision. Economics must be seen as a small sub-branch of Ecology\, and production/distribution/consumption handled by companies or unions or cooperatives with the same elegance and spareness one sees in nature. Soil banks; open space; logging to be truly based on sustained yield (the US Forest Service is sadly now the lackey of business). Protection for all predators and varmints. “Support your right to arm bears.” Damn the International Whaling Commission which is selling out the last of our precious\, wise whales! Ban absolutely all further development of roads and concessions in National Parks and Wilderness Areas; build auto campgrounds in the least desirable areas. Initiate consumer boycotts of dishonest and unnecessary products. Establish Co-ops. Politically\, blast both “Communist” and “Capitalist” myths of progress\, and all crude notions of conquering or controlling nature. \nThe Community:  Sharing and creating. The inherent aptness of communal life — where large tools are owned jointly and used efficiently. The power of renunciation: If enough Americans refused to buy a new car for one given year it would permanently alter the American economy. Recycling clothes and equipment. Support handicrafts — gardening\, home skills\, midwifery\, herbs — all the things that can make us independent\, beautiful and whole. Learn to break the habit of acquiring unnecessary possessions\, a monkey on everybody’s back — but avoid a self-abnegating anti-joyous self-righteousness. Simplicity is light\, carefree\, neat\, and loving — not a self-punishing ascetic trip. \n(The great Chinese poet Tu Fu said\, “The ideas of a poet should be noble and simple.”) Don’t shoot a deer if you don’t know how to use all the meat and preserve that which you can’t eat\, to tan the hide and use the leather — to use it all\, with gratitude\, right down to the sinew and hooves. Simplicity and mindfulness in diet are the starting point for many people. \nOur Own Heads:  It is hard to even begin to gauge how such a complication of possessions\, the notions of “my and mine\,” stand between us and a true\, clear\, liberated way of seeing the world. To live lightly on the Earth\, to be aware and alive\, to be free of egotism\, to be in contact with plants and animals\, starts with simple\, concrete acts. The inner principle is the insight that we are interdependent energy-fields of great potential wisdom and compassion expressed in each person as a superb mind\, a handsome and complex body\, and the almost magical capacity of language. To these potentials and capacities\, “owning things” can add nothing of authenticity. “Clad in the sky\, with the Earth for a pillow.” \n  \nIV. TRANSFORMATION \n  \nThe Condition \n  \nPosition:  Everyone is the result of four forces — the conditions of this known-universe (matter/energy forms\, and ceaseless change); the biology of his or her species; individual genetic heritage; and the culture one is born into. Within this web of forces there are certain spaces and loops that allow to some persons the experience of inner freedom and illumination. The gradual exploration of some of these spaces constitutes “evolution” and\, for human cultures\, what “history” could increasingly be. We have it within our deepest powers not only to change our “selves” but to change our culture. If humans are to remain on Earth they must transform the five-millennia-long urbanizing civilization tradition into a new ecologically-sensitive\, harmony-oriented\, wild-minded scientific/spiritual culture. “Wildness is the state of complete awareness. That’s why we need it.” \nSituation:  Civilization\, which has made us so successful a species\, has overshot itself and now threatens us with its inertia. There is also some evidence that civilized life isn’t good for the human gene pool. To achieve the changes\, we must change the very foundations of our society and our minds. \nGoal:  Nothing short of total transformation will do much good. What we envision is a planet on which the human population lives harmoniously and dynamically by employing various sophisticated and unobtrusive technologies in a world environment that is ‘”left natural.” Specific points in this vision: \n  \n\nA healthy and spare population of all races\, much less in number than today.\nCultural and individual pluralism\, unified by a type of world tribal council. Division by natural and cultural boundaries rather than arbitrary political boundaries.\nA technology of communication\, education\, and quiet transportation\, land-use being sensitive to the properties of each region. Allowing\, thus\, the Bison to return to much of the high plains. Careful but intensive agriculture in the great alluvial valleys; deserts left wild for those who would live there by skill. Computer technicians who run the plant part of the year and walk along with the Elk in their migrations during the rest.\nA basic cultural outlook and social organization that inhibits power and property-seeking while encouraging exploration and challenge in things like music\, meditation\, mathematics\, mountaineering\, magic\, and all other ways of authentic being-in-the-world.\nWomen totally free and equal. A new kind of family — responsible\, but more festive and relaxed is implicit.\n\n  \nAction \n  \nSocial/Political:  It seems evident that there are throughout the world certain social and religious forces that have worked through history toward an ecologically and culturally enlightened state of affairs. Let these be encouraged: Gnostics\, hip Marxists\, Teilhard de Chardin Catholics\, Druids\, Taoists\, Biologists\, Witches\, Yogins\, Bhikkus\, Quakers\, Sufis\, Tibetans\, Zens\, Shaman\, Bushmen\, American Indians\, Polynesians\, Anarchists\, Alchemists . . . the list is long. Primitive cultures\, communal and ashram movements\, cooperative ventures. Since it doesn’t seem practical or even desirable to think that direct bloody force will achieve much\, it would be best to consider this change a continuing “revolution of consciousness” which will be won not by guns but by seizing the key images\, myths\, archetypes\, eschatologies\, and ecstasies so that life won’t seem worth living unless one’s on the side of the transforming energy. We must take over “science and technology” and release its real possibilities and powers in the service of this planet — which\, after all\, produced us and it. More concretely\, no transformation without our feet on the ground. Stewardship means\, for most of us\, find your place on the planet\, dig in\, and take responsibility from there. The tiresome but tangible work of school boards\, county supervisors\, local foresters\, local politics\, even while holding in mind the largest scale of potential change. Get a sense of workable territory. Learn about it and start acting point by point. On all levels\, from national to local\, the need to move toward steady state economy\, equilibrium\, dynamic balance\, inner growth stressed must be taught – maturity\, diversity\, climax\, creativity. \nThe Community:  New schools\, new classes\, walking in the woods and cleaning up the streets. Find psychological techniques for creating an awareness of “self” that includes the social and natural environment. “Consideration of what specific language forms — symbolic systems — and social institutions constitute obstacles to ecological awareness.” Without falling into facile interpretations of McLuhan\, we can hope to use the media. Let no one be ignorant of the facts of biology and related disciplines; bring up our children as part of the wildlife. Some communities can establish themselves in backwater rural areas and flourish — others maintain themselves in urban centers\, and the two types work together — a two-way flow of experience\, people\, money\, and home-grown vegetables. Ultimately cities may exist only as joyous tribal gatherings and fairs\, to dissolve after a few weeks. Investigating new lifestyles is our work\, as is the exploration of ways to explore our inner realms — with the known dangers of crashing that go with such. Master the archaic and the primitive as models of basic nature-related cultures — as well as the most imaginative extensions of science — and build a community where these two vectors cross. \nOur Own Heads:  Are where it starts. Knowing that we are the first human beings in history to have so much of our past cultures and previous experiences available to our study\, and being free enough of the weight of traditional cultures to seek out a larger identity – the first members of a civilized society since the early Neolithic to wish to look clearly into the eyes of the wild and see our selfhood there\, our family there. We have these advantages to set off the obvious disadvantages of being as screwed up as we are — which gives us a fair chance to penetrate some of the riddles of ourselves and the universe\, and to go beyond the idea of “human survival” or “survival of the biosphere” and to draw our strength from the realization that at the heart of things is some kind of serene and ecstatic process that is beyond qualities and beyond birth and death. “No need to survive! In the fires that destroy the universe at the end of the kalpa\, what survives?” — “The iron tree blooms in the void.”  \nKnowing that nothing need be done is the place from which we begin to move. \n  \n—Gary Snyder (Summer of 1969) \n* \n  \nHere’s a link to an audio recording of Gary Snyder reading “Four Changes”: \n  \nhttps://www.garynabhan.com/news/2020/04/four-changes-by-gary-snyder/ \n  \npeace\, love & ecology \n  \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-10-1-20/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201001
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201015
DTSTAMP:20260503T115107
CREATED:20201202T223748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201202T224819Z
UID:1531-1601510400-1602719999@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Beginner's Mind by Shunryū Suzuki
DESCRIPTION:Beginner’s Mind \n  \nPeople say that practicing Zen is difficult\, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross-legged position\, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense. The Zen school developed in many ways after it was established in China\, but at the same time\, it became more and more impure. But I do not want to talk about Chinese Zen or the history of Zen. I am interested in helping you keep your practice from becoming impure. \n  \nIn Japan we have the phrase shoshin\, which means “beginner’s mind.” The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind. Suppose you recite the Prajna Parmita Sutra only once. It might be a very good recitation. But what would happen to you if you recited it twice\, three times\, four times\, or more? You might easily lose your original attitude towards it. The same thing will happen in your other Zen practices. For a while you will keep your beginner’s mind\, but if you continue to practice one\, two\, three years or more\, although you may improve some\, you are liable to lose the limitless meaning of original mind. \n  \nFor Zen students the most important thing is not to be dualistic. Our “original mind” includes everything within itself. You should not lose your self-sufficient state of mind. This does not mean a closed mind\, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty\, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s there are few. \n  \nIf you discriminate too much\, you limit yourself. If you are too demanding or too greedy\, your mind is not rich and self-sufficient. If we lose our original self-sufficient mind\, we will lose all precepts. When your mind becomes demanding\, when you long for something\, you will end up violating your own precepts: not to tell lies\, not to steal\, not to kill\, not to be immoral\, and so forth. If you keep your original mind\, the precepts will keep themselves. \n  \nIn the beginner’s mind there is no thought\, “I have attained something.” All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement\, no thought of self\, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner’s mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate\, it is boundless. Dogen-zenji\, the founder of our school\, always emphasized how important it is to resume our boundless original mind. Then we are always true to ourselves\, in sympathy with all beings\, and can actually practice. \n  \nSo the most difficult thing is always to keep your beginner’s mind. There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature\, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind. You should not say\, “I know what Zen is\,” or “I have attained enlightenment.” This is also the real secret of the arts: always be a beginner. Be very careful about this point. If you start to practice zazen\, you will begin to appreciate your beginner’s mind. It is the secret of Zen practice. \n  \n—Shunryū Suzuki\, the Prologue to Zen Mind\, Beginner’s Mind  (1970)
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/beginners-mind-by-shunryu-suzuki/
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