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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  10/6/22
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nOctober 6\, 2022 \n  \nAmanda Waldroupe gave permission to reprint this article that was published by The Guardian (theguardian.com/us) on September 28\, 2022. \n  \nThe story of one US governor’s historic use of clemency: ‘We are a nation of second chances’ \nAmanda Waldroupe \n  \nLast October\, Kate Brown\, the governor of Oregon\, signed an executive order granting clemency to 73 people who had committed crimes as juveniles\, clearing a path for them to apply for parole. \nThe move marked the high point in a remarkable arc: as Brown approaches the end of her second term in January\, she has granted commutations or pardons to 1\,147 people – more than all of Oregon’s governors from the last 50 years combined. \nThe story of clemency in Oregon is one of major societal developments colliding: the pressure the Covid-19 pandemic put on the prison system and growing momentum for criminal justice reform. \nIt’s also a story of a governor’s personal convictions and how she came to embrace clemency as a tool for criminal justice reform and as an act of grace\, exercising the belief that compassionate mercy and ensuring public safety are not mutually exclusive. \n“If you are confident that you can keep people safe\, you’ve given victims the opportunity to have their voices heard and made sure their concerns are addressed\, and individuals have gone through an extensive amount of rehabilitation and shown accountability\, what is the point of continuing to incarcerate someone\, other than retribution?” Brown said in a June interview. \nNotable clemency acts \nWhen Brown\, a Democrat\, became governor in Oregon in 2015\, she received the power of executive clemency – an umbrella term referring to the ability of American governors and the president to grant mercy to criminal defendants. Clemency includes pardons\, which fully forgive someone who has committed a crime; commutations\, which change prison sentences\, often resulting in early release; reprieves\, which pause punishment; and eliminating court-related fines and fees. \nDuring the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic\, Brown was one of 18 governors across the US who used clemency to quickly reduce prison populations in the hopes of curbing virus transmission. \nShe approved the early release of 963 people who had committed nonviolent crimes and met six additional criteria – not enough\, according to estimates by the state’s department of corrections\, to enable physical distancing\, and far less than California\, which released about 5\,300 people\, and New Jersey\, which released 40% of its prison population. \nBut Brown’s clemency acts stand out in other ways. Brown removed one year from the sentences of 41 prisoners who worked as firefighters during the 2020 wildfire season\, the most destructive in Oregon history. \nShe has pardoned 63 people. Most notably\, she has commuted the sentences of 144 people convicted of crimes as serious as murder\, yet have demonstrated “extraordinary evidence of rehabilitation”. \nDemocratic and Republican governors in North Carolina\, Louisiana\, Missouri\, Kansas and Ohio have granted clemency for similar reasons. Yet Brown’s numbers are among the highest in the US\, and the impact of her decisions are profound: Oregon’s prison population declined for the first time since the passage of the state’s Measure 11 mandatory minimum sentencing law in 1994. \nMeasure 11 codified mandatory sentences for 16 violent crimes\, required juveniles over the age of 15 charged with those crimes to be tried as adults\, and ended earned time. Since its passage\, Oregon’s prison population tripled to nearly 15\,000 people and three new prisons were built. \nBrown also stands out for who she grants clemency to. Forty per cent of Brown’s commutations are Black\, in response to Black Oregonians being incarcerated at a rate five times higher than their share of the state’s population. Nearly two dozen other clemency recipients were convicted as juveniles. Many were sentenced to life without parole and other lengthy sentences. \n‘Eradicating racism and colonialism’ \nBrown’s acts reflect the governor’s values and beliefs. She accepts research in adolescent development showing people are not fully mature until their mid-20s. She was the first Oregon governor to visit the state’s women’s prison. She believes people are not defined by their worst acts and are capable of redemption. “We are a nation of second chances\,” she said. \nA voracious reader\, she cited books such as Just Mercy\, The New Jim Crow\, The Other Wes Moore\, and Picking Cotton as influences. Before holding elected office\, Brown worked as a lawyer representing families and children in the foster care system\, as well as people who violated their parole. She says she has always opposed Measure 11 as “a one-size-fits-all approach” that eliminated a judge’s ability to consider “facts and underlying circumstances of individual cases”. \nGeorge Floyd’s murder in May 2020 further galvanized her in “eradicating racism and colonialism” in Oregon\, she said. (The state’s first constitution made it illegal for Black people to live on or own property in Oregon.) \nBrown’s use of clemency is “well within established tradition”\, said Rachel Barkow\, a professor at NYU School of Law and an expert on clemency. \nThe use of clemency has been virtually non-existent since the “tough on crime” movement began in the 1980s\, coinciding with Willie Horton committing rape while on furlough. \nBut for much of history\, presidents and governors regularly used clemency. Governors cited a prisoner’s “exceptional rehabilitation” or\, in exposing wrongful convictions\, listed witness recantation\, flawed evidence and police misconduct. “For one abuse of the pardon power\,” a 1911 Colorado Board of Pardon report noted\, “there are a thousand abuses of the convicting power.” \nAlexander Hamilton argued in The Federalist Papers that clemency is a necessary check on a justice system capable of leveling excessive punishment. Without clemency\, he argued\, “justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel”. \nThe push to curb Covid-19 via clemency eclipsed another\, growing movement. In August 2020\, the American Civil Liberties Union launched a campaign urging governors to use clemency as a “corrective tool” to mass incarceration. \n‘We’ve educated her’ \nBrown slowly became emboldened due to the work of a progressive lawyer and the legal clinic she directs. \nAliza Kaplan\, a lawyer and professor of lawyering at Lewis & Clark Law School\, founded the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic in 2015 to provide pro bono legal services to criminal defendants. By then\, Kaplan was well-known in criminal justice circles for co-founding the New England Innocence Project and working as the deputy director of the National Innocence Project. In 2011\, she moved to Oregon to join Lewis & Clark. Within years\, in addition to starting the clinic\, she helped launch an innocence project\, an organization challenging bad forensic evidence\, and another within the public defender’s office assisting people after their incarceration. \n“I don’t want to live in a world where we can’t believe people change and redemption isn’t possible\,” Kaplan said. “That’s too cruel of a world for me.” \nThe clinic launched its clemency project in 2016. Knowing Brown’s legal background\, Kaplan and Venetia Mayhew\, the project’s first staff attorney\, decided that the first applicants would be women\, people convicted as juveniles\, and those convicted of violent crimes and serving long prison sentences – people who\, Kaplan said\, “committed horrible crimes but have transformed”. \nMayhew interviewed clients at Oregon’s prisons\, wrote applications and oversaw clinic students assigned to applications. Clients “understood they had to talk about the crime and what they are most ashamed of”\, Mayhew said. “It was all about building trust. I spent time with them\, got to know them.” At the same time\, Kaplan took members of Brown’s staff to Oregon’s prisons to meet clients and other prisoners. \nThe clinic’s applications are unique. They are narratives\, drawn from interviews\, trial records\, police reports\, and prison records\, telling the story of a client’s life from childhood up to the crime\, their trial\, incarceration and work to change. “It’s not about blaming their history or background\, it’s part of understanding who they are\,” Kaplan said. “The legal system leaves out a lot of the personal stuff.” The applications include photos\, the applicant’s résumé\, and letters from family\, friends\, correction officers\, employers and volunteers. \nThe clinic’s early efforts were hit or miss. During her first three years in office\, Brown granted two pardons and one commutation. “It was heartbreaking\,” Mayhew remembered. “I felt like a snake oil salesman\, peddling hope.” \nIn 2018\, Brown’s numbers ticked up: she granted three commutations to people convicted as juveniles. \nIn 2019\, Kaplan and Mayhew published an article built from Mayhew’s research of every Oregon governor’s clemency acts\, proving clemency was not rare: governors regularly released up to a third of Oregon’s prison population\, recognized rehabilitation and corrected wrongful convictions. \nThat year\, Brown commuted a murder conviction for the first time\, in the case of a woman sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 25 years\, a sentence both the judge and prosecutor thought too harsh. \nAfter that\, Brown’s clemency numbers shot up: in 2020\, she granted 65 pardons and commutations; in 2021\, she granted 36. \nBrown approves approximately 7% of the applications her office receives. The clinic’s success rate is far higher: 45 of 179 applications have been approved (an additional 116 are pending; 18 have been denied). \nEach application tells an individual story. Collectively\, they exposed systemic inequities: of people who were exposed to drugs as children\, endured child abuse\, neglect and sexual abuse\, or became inescapably entrenched in gangs. \n“We’ve educated her\,” Kaplan reflected. “But she already had it in her.” \nMaking the world a better place \nOver time\, Brown and her legal counsel have created a six-month process to winnow out all but the 10% of applications that reach Brown’s desk. \nBrown’s decisions\, she said\, do not result from satisfying a checklist\, but a “totality of circumstances”. Applicants’ expressions of accountability and remorse are critical. “It’s not just ‘I understand\, and I regret\, and I feel remorse’\,” Brown said. “How is that lived? What are the actions to show that?” \nShe values a “lifetime commitment” to community service\, inspired by her mother’s decades of volunteering for the American Cancer Society. It is proof applicants “understand what they have done and are committed to making the world a better place”\, Brown argued. \nBrown also gives a lot of weight to applicants’ plans post-release. \n“They want him to succeed if she grants it\,” Kaplan said. Kaplan spoke via telephone with a clinic alumna\, now working as a public defender\, on an early June afternoon. Brown’s counsel requested a more detailed release plan – a strong sign the application is moving forward. \nThe application was open on Kaplan’s laptop. Beyond her laptop\, taped to a window in her office\, a piece of paper reads “Imagine”. Another\, at her office entrance\, says “Empathy”. \nLeaning forward toward the phone\, Kaplan rattled off potential questions: family he could live with\, jobs he wants to apply for\, exercise. “The more detail\, the more we can show what his life could be like\,” she said. \nA release plan\, submitted in July\, included information about plans to join a gym to work out and play pickup basketball games for stress relief\, living with two relatives\, and applying for jobs at a nearby ferry. \nIf the application makes it to Brown’s desk\, it will receive thorough consideration. She is known to read the applications carefully. “They’re incredibly extensive\,” the governor said. \n“How do you plan to deal with your sobriety?” Brown said at an interview with one of the clinic’s clients in 2020. “What kind of job do you want to get?” \nWhen the interview ended\, Brown granted the client clemency. \nEveryone present began crying\, Kaplan remembered. \nInspiring hope \nBrown says her clemency acts are “part and parcel” of recent criminal justice reforms in Oregon. \nIn 2020\, Brown supported the end of non-unanimous jury decisions in criminal cases when she signed on to a brief\, written by Kaplan\, urging such a move in the US supreme court case Ramos v Louisiana. In doing so\, she opposed her own state justice department. (Oregon and Louisiana were the two states left using such juries\, which convict criminal defendants without a unanimous vote and have racist origins.) \nIn recent years\, the Oregon legislature passed laws redefining aggravated murder and restricting death penalty eligibility\, broadening expungement and allowing district attorneys and defendants to petition to change a prison sentence. \nIn 2019\, legislation gutting Measure 11’s provisions relating to juvenile offenders passed\, in recognition of supreme court rulings\, based on decades of research in adolescent development\, ending harsh sentences for people under 18. \nBrown made that law retroactive when\, last October\, she signed the executive order commuting the sentences of 73 juvenile offenders. They “are capable of tremendous transformation”\, Brown wrote\, citing research in adolescent development. \nIt wasn’t the first time clemency was used to make a law retroactive: in 1974\, the legislature passed a new criminal code\, and the then-governor\, Tom McCall\, commuted the sentences of 48 people to prevent “disparity” and “unequal treatment”. \nBrown’s executive order prompted a firestorm of media coverage. The fiercest response came from Kevin Mannix\, a lawyer\, former Republican state legislator\, and author of Measure 11. Representing two district attorneys and three crime victims\, Mannix sued Brown in January\, attempting to overturn the group commutations related to Covid-19\, the firefighters and the executive order. \n“The governor is not the super legislature\,” Mannix argued in a June interview. He said the “process” dictates the governor not “decide on a broad brush”\, and that “the victim is heard and the district attorney is heard”. \nMannix thinks “there may be individual cases” where prisoners show rehabilitation. “I don’t want to say no one is capable of rehabilitation\,” he said. But those convicted of violent crimes\, he believes\, should be “incapacitated” and “taken off the streets”. \nThe lawsuit and local media coverage galvanized criticism from district attorneys that Brown’s decisions lack transparency and that she is disregarding crime victims. State law requires district attorneys to keep victims apprised of defendants’ appeals\, as well as submit statements to the governor’s office in response to clemency applications. \nBrown has acknowledged victims of violent crime are “traumatized – sometimes violently and irreparably”. Her office recently hired a victim’s advocate to work directly with victims. Her clemency reports also reveal that not all victims oppose clemency: some are neutral\, while others are supportive. Victims opposed to clemency “have been given more attention in the press”\, said Mary Zinkin\, founder and executive director of the Portland-based Center for Trauma Support Services. “They do not represent all crime survivors.” \nDue to the controversy\, Kaplan and Mayhew regularly receive hate mail. Soon afterward\, Kaplan received a thank you card signed by the dozens of inmates at a men’s prison. Kaplan and her colleagues\, one wrote\, “is inspiring a lot of hope inside these walls”. \n‘Prison cleaned me up’ \nBrown’s office has received more than 2\,100 clemency applications since 2020 –100 times more than five years ago. \nIn January\, Kaplan and her students wrote a “step-by-step guide” to clemency that circulates in the prisons. And there are more lawyers than ever telling their stories; clemency is now a major part of pro bono work at four large law firms\, and more than a half-dozen lawyers – graduates of Lewis & Clark or mentored by Mayhew\, now in private practice – represent dozens of clemency cases. \n“People just see that word ‘murderer’\,” said Patty Butterfield. “But did that person [Brown] is letting out change their life in prison? Did they clean up their act?” \nButterfield received clemency in April 2020. Butterfield was 74 years old – one of the oldest people in Oregon’s prison system. She had served 23 years for shooting her abusive boyfriend during a fight\, injuries which later killed him. \nIn prison\, she maintained a spotless disciplinary record and became a mother figure to younger female prisoners. “I changed my life\,” Butterfield said. “Prison cleaned me up\, gave me a sense of worth again.” \nShe began crying as she recalled Mayhew calling to tell her she had been granted clemency. She now lives in central California with friends\, who have given her free rein of the garden. “I love doing yard work here\,” she said. \nIn March\, a county judge upheld Brown’s Covid-19 and firefighter commutations but halted the parole hearings for the juvenile offenders. Brown appealed\, the Oregon court of appeals heard oral argument in June\, and\, in early August\, issued a 44-page opinion entirely rejecting Mannix’s case. Mannix has asked the Oregon supreme court to review the decision. The court has not yet indicated whether it will. \nThe recent controversy does not dissuade Brown\, who leaves office in January\, from continuing to grant clemency. She said: “I have the ability to make these decisions” – just like all governors before her.
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-10-6-22/
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SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  10/15/22
DESCRIPTION:photo by Kim Stafford \n  \n  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nOctober 15\, 2020 \n  \nWhy the Beach? \n  \nHalf the horizon is ancient: no wires\, no roads\, no \ndevelopment. Maybe a boat out there tracing lonesome. \nWaves make a roar\, a whisper\, a heartbeat. People \nare here to be here. They walk barefoot\, like children. \nChildren run wild. Weather rules it all. Something \nbigger is in charge of you. And every night\, she \nreasserts her sovereignty. And every night\, she \ncleans up. Yesterday’s tracks are gone\, even \nthe dance of a dog’s joy. Lots of soaring goes on— \ngulls\, crows\, pelicans\, maybe a kite\, maybe your gaze\, \nyour spirit spiraling the sky. Each day an old man \nwalks to pick up litter. Each day an old woman walks \nto find the perfect stone. You can walk without a plan. \nYou can sing the wind. You can cry in peace. You can \nremember being small. You can be small beside immensity. \nYou can be the simple you. When you said\, “I’m \ngoing to the beach\,” no one said\, “Why?” \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \n#321  Be There For Breakfast \n  \n“”When you eat your breakfast\, even if it is just a small bite early in the morning\, eat in such a way that freedom is possible While eating breakfast\, don’t think of the future\, of what you are going to do. Your practice is to simply eat breakfast. Your breakfast is there for you; you have to be there for your breakfast. You can chew each morsel of food with joy and freedom.”  Thich Nhat Hanh (from Your True Home) \n  \nA few years ago I was hiking with several women friends\, and they were talking about a streamlined new model of a Vitamix blender/food processor. “You can put anything in there to make a breakfast smoothie\,” they said. “Kale\, arugula\, garlic\, blueberries\, yogurt\, zucchini\, ice cream…you name it. All these good -for-you foods blended so you can’t taste a thing except something like a sort of vanilla milkshake flavor. Better yet\, you can just drink it down in a minute and be out the door!” \n  \nI thought about that for a minute\, kind of confused\, and said\, “But I like to CHEW my food!” And it’s true; I love the squish of blueberries and the crunch of an almond and the squeeze of a raisin and the creamy splash of almond milk — well\, you get the picture.  \n  \nPlus it’s about fifteen minutes of time when I don’t have to do anything except eat food. Nor do I do much talking to my husband when I am eating breakfast\, because that can totally suck away my concentration\, my attention to that luscious bowl of cereal and fruit and nuts. \n  \nI might have trouble paying attention to a number of other things in life\, but paying attention to breakfast is not one of them. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nI love Thomas Traherne. I often start my day by reading his poems and meditations. Here are a couple of his meditations: \n  \n48  \nLove is so divine and perfect a thing\, that it is worthy to be the very end and being of the Deity. It is His goodness\, and it is His glory. We therefore so vastly delight in Love\, because all these excellencies and all other whatsoever lie within it. By Loving a Soul does propagate and beget itself. By Loving it does dilate and magnify itself. By Loving it does enlarge and delight itself. By Loving also it delighteth others\, as by Loving it doth honor and enrich itself. But above all by Loving it does attain itself. Love also being the end of Souls\, which are never perfect till they are in act what they are in power. They were made to love\, and are dark and vain and comfortless till they do it. Till they love they are idle\, or mis-employed. Till they love they are desolate; without their objects\, and narrow and little\, and dishonorable: but when they shine by Love upon all objects\, they are accompanied with them and enlightened by them. Till we become therefore all Act as God is\, we can never rest\, nor ever be satisfied.  \n  \n49  \nLove is so noble that it enjoyeth others’ enjoyments\, delighteth in giving all unto its object\, and in seeing all given to its object. So that whosoever loveth all mankind\, he enjoyeth all the goodness of God to the whole world: and endeavoreth the benefit of Kingdoms and Ages\, with all whom He is present by Love\, which is the best manner of presence that is possible.  \n  \n(from Centuries of Meditations\, Second Century) \n  \npeace\, love & happiness to y’all \n—Johnny \n* \n  \nLife is amazing. And then it’s awful. \nAnd then it’s amazing again. And \nin between the amazing and the awful \nit’s ordinary and mundane and routine. \nBreathe in the amazing\, hold on through \nthe awful\, and relax and exhale during \nthe ordinary. That’s just living \nheart-breaking\, soul-healing\, amazing\, \nawful\, ordinary life. And it’s \nbreathtakingly beautiful. \n  \n—LR Knost\, from The Idealist Facebook page\, sent by Jason Beito \n* \n  \nAshes and mist\, \nMemories and smiles\, \nTears. \nUnexpected joy\, \nAcceptance and fate \nFulfilled. \nSo much gained\, \nout of a life lost\, \nUnderstanding. \nGood times echo\, \nBad times too\, \nTogetherness. \nThe love we all \nHave\, \nIs never ending\, \nIt has no boundaries\, \nAnd if there are boundaries\, \nLove breaks them all. \n  \nLove you mom. \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \nHere are some excerpts from Michel Deforge’s meditation journal. The numbers refer to meditations in Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. \n  \nSeptember 5\, 2022  #353  Why Hurry to the Grave? \n  \nThis is a curious question. I wonder…how many of us are hurrying towards the final conclusion? It’s kind of a cop-out—to run pell mell ahead towards an obvious end. Some cheat and check out early. Some live life at an aggressive pace\, most failing to participate in the few brief precious moments as they fly by. It’s almost as if they are in a hurry to find out what’s next. Which would be great\, except for one thing. No one has reliably and credibly done so and revealed what is the next step after death. So\, why hurry? \n  \nMore importantly: why not slow down and enjoy the moments we have NOW? Is it not in our best interest to not only live a rich\, textured\, deeply rewarding life\, one where it is possible to savor each moment\, instead of scratching our noggins wondering\, “What just happened? Was I there?” It is certainly possible to live robustly and not have clue one what going on\, or why. Many do this\, or hope/believe they do. I propose that the age-old addage “stop and smell the roses” was coined by one who realized life was warping past him and\, somehow\, this was the cause of life’s dissatisfaction. For a moment\, maybe\, he did settle and renewed his energy\, vitality\, spirit\, inner self/being. We too can do this with mindfulness practices—simply focusing on the relaxing act of breathing and allowing awareness to expand and welcome everything. \n  \nSeptember 7\, 2022  #355 Your Suffering Needs You \n  \nThây aks us to think of suffering as a pet\, one needing attention. I like this. Wouldn’t any compassionate being attend to the needs of an animal (pet) which could not attend to its own needs? Of course. Look at all the people up in arms about having pets (and children) unattended in hot summer cars (ovens). I think it’s possible to do better for our own suffering. I’ve seen lately\, having created anxiety for myself over an aversion I developed\, that suffering is self-imposed. No one creates suffering for me. Suffering occurs as part of my response to events\, regardless of who initiated the events. Suffering is merely a state of mind—one way of seeing events unfold\, never as they are. Suffering is self-inflicted\, by choice. (Active or passive\, known or unknown.) We can end it any time with a different choice. \n  \nBut\, Thây here is asking us to “take care of” self. It’s more than your suffering that needs attending. We also have bodies\, minds\, sensations\, emotions: these all will benefit from attention and compassionate treatment. It is so very easy to get tied up chasing life experiences that a time out to care for mind and body are either neglected entirely\, or provided only cursory attention to resolve immediate needs. For example\, a “quick shower\,” a “brief meditation\,” a “hasty meal. I’m not suggesting that we always drop everything (frequently) and take a “spa day.” Yet…what would it hurt to have a regular mindfulness practice of more than 5-15 minutes? Or\, to plan a soothing hot shower\, maybe after a rigorous physical exertion. (We don’t have bathing tubs or I’d suggest a long hot soak!) A mindfulness practice is not just the time spent sitting on a cushion in meditation practice—it’s more than this. I see an opportunity to bring awareness (even if informally) to any thing I do…. \n  \nSeptember 8\, 2022  #356  The Buddha’s Highest Teaching \n  \nThis is an idea for which I have little to say. Maybe that’s good. In the end\, each of us must find our own way. Whatever path (or stage of the same one) we are on\, it is the personal decision that commits to and follows the path. Our only certainty is that\, at some future point\, the road will end for each of us\, or we’ll transition to another “plane” to continue our journey—no one really knows. \n  \nPain\, although unpleasant at the time\, is important. It reminds us to be present NOW. Nothing keeps me focused on the present like pain. If I don’t attend to NOW\, looking ahead or behind too much\, pain will happen and bring me back to this. Pain—temporary discomfort to sharp\, searing\, stabbing fire—is only temporary. The challenge I faced this past operation [for a hip replacement] is to welcome pain as the friend it is\, instead of an enemy to be feared. Pain reminded me to breathe. It was a stream I had to pass (wade) through—one which I could not go around. The only way is through\, with breathing. \n  \nPain is our teacher\, providing experiences of what to do/not do—essentially teaching each of us attentiveness to NOW. Some lessons are unavoidable. They make us more resilient when other pains arrive. Still\, it’s: “Just breathe!” That’s the solution. Pray\, chant mantra\, meditate\, exercise\, move with purpose and extreme focus—be in the “flow”—all of this in preparation for attention to NOW. When I lose my NOW-focus\, pain isn’t far behind to bring me back home. Maybe that’s Thây’s\, or the Buddha’s\, point: we’re never too far away that we can’t get back with a breath or two. \n  \nSeptember 9\, 2022  The Simple Act of Walking \n  \nI’ve oft heard others grouse that “back in the olde days” life was more…(whatever they miss). But what if what we miss is the relaxed pace of life? The solution is simple—become a Luddite! No! Walk! \n  \nAs one who recently was restored to the gift of walking\, relatively pain-free—(my second surgery now looms)—I realize I forgot how wonderful walking can be. Although I am limited to a 1/16 mile concrete track/walkway—(check TRCI out at Google Earth)—being able to walk for any length of time is a treat. Now I can stroll\, or meander\, get some exercise\, or just stand outside and breathe…. \n  \nWalking takes time. As a result\, life operates at a slower pace. Yet we yearn for this pace. \n  \nThe solution is easy: Walk more! Make it a choice\, preferably a happy one. Revel in your ability to stroll\, promenade\, wander\, roam. Breathe. Smile. Be aware of your surroundings. And above all\, enjoy a walk! Do it for me!! \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \nOctober 10\, 2022 \n  \nToday is the recognition and celebration of Native Americans\, known now as Indigenous People’s Day. This is only the second year our state has officially designated the second Monday in October for this holiday. It is not only an honoring of Native American’s past but a pause for the present and future generations suffering from loss of lives and language and culture and years of institutional oppression. \n  \nDriving out to Two Rivers has become a meditation for me on the presence of these ancestors and those still here struggling. The Columbia River and the expanse of the Gorge time-worn hills has a way of making my heart and mind expand with spaciousness. Passing through Celilo and Umatilla and further on toward Joseph or Warm Springs we know so many stories and become affected once again by their stories. Their present story is more than casinos or being devastated by past trauma. Oregon has many Indigenous communities across the state; it is home to nine federally recognized tribes\, mostly confederated which include many tribes. Native organizations and communities now partner with their own voices and their own leaders\, with a variety of cultural centers from universities to Arts Councils. \n  \nAs part of our mindfulness community\, we can share a sacred practice in the Buddhist tradition\, called Touching the Earth. Its focus is on spiritual awareness\, recognizing and connecting with our ancestors of our blood family\, our spiritual family\, and our ancestors of this land. \n  \nHere are Thay’s words for touching our ancestors of this place we live. To begin\, you might want to make an altar with something from your blood ancestors or spiritual ancestors\, and something from the earth. Take a few breaths in and out. Feel your feet\, or your whole body lying down—supported by the Earth. Feel the spaciousness of your mind and heart\, as we practice for our own understanding of interbeing and for peace for all beings. \n  \nFrom Thich Nhat Hanh’s book\, Creating True Peace: \n  \n“In gratitude\, I bow to this land and all of the ancestors who made it available.” \n  \n(Sound a bell if you have something at hand\, or maybe hum a deep tune\, then touch the earth.) \n  \n“I see that I am whole\, protected\, and nourished by this land and all of the living beings who have been here and made life easy and possible for me through all their efforts. I see Chief Seattle\, Dorothy Day\, Cesar Chavez\, Martin Luther King\, Jr.\, and all the others known and unknown. I see all those who have made this country a refuge for people of so many origins and colors\, by their talent\, perseverance\, and love—those who have worked hard to build schools\, hospitals\, bridges\, and roads\, to protect human rights\, to develop science and technology\, and to fight for freedom and social justice. I see myself touching my ancestors of Native American origin who have lived on this land for such a long time and known the ways to live in peace and harmony with nature\, protecting the mountains\, forests\, animals\, vegetation\, and minerals of this land. I feel the energy of this land penetrating my body and soul\, supporting and accepting me. I vow to cultivate and maintain this energy and transmit it to future generations. I vow to contribute my part in transforming the violence\, hate\, and delusion that still lie deep in the collective consciousness of this society so that future generations will have more safety\, joy\, and peace. I ask this land for its protection and support.” \n  \nThank you for your practice and may we become more Native to this place as our Mindfulness evolves\, \n  \nwith love\, \n—Katie Radditz \n* \n  \nPrayer For the Great Family \n  \nGratitude to Mother Earth\, sailing through night and day– \n  and to her soil: rich\, rare and sweet \n    in our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Plants\, the sun-facing light-changing leaf \n  and fine root hairs: standing still through wind \n  and rain; their dance is in the flowing spiral grain \n    in our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Air\, bearing the soaring Swift and the silent \n  Owl at dawn. Breath of our song \n  clear spirit breeze \n    in our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Wild Beings\, our brothers\, teaching secrets\, \n  freedoms and ways; who share with us their milk; \n  self- complete\, brave\, and aware \n    in our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Water: clouds\, lakes\, rivers\, glaciers; \n  holding or releasing; streaming through all \n  all bodies salty seas \n    in our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to the Sun: blinding pulsing light through \n  trunks of trees\, through mists\, warming caves where \n  bears and snakes sleep–he who wakes us– \n    in our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to the Great Sky \n  who holds billions of stars–and goes yet beyond that– \n  beyond all powers\, and thoughts \n  and yet is within us– \n  Grandfather Space \n  The Mind is his Wife. \n    so be it. \n                      \n                         after a Mohawk prayer. \n  \n—Gary Snyder (sent by Jeffrey Sher) \n  \nI have always experienced this poem as a meditation though I do not have a formal practice. The sense of gratitude pervades my life: I look out my kitchen window and witness a hummingbird feeding on the last of the hot lips salvia and am filled with awe and gratitude. Taking a shower and having the luxury of clean hot water and once again I feel a deep sense gratitude. I think of the wonderful friends I have been fortunate to have over the years and am flooded with gratitude. There are so many moments in life that are worthy of a moment’s reflection upon how fortunate most of us are. Gratitude is the response to the gift we have been given. \n  \n—Jeffrey Sher
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-10-15-22/
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