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SUMMARY:COLLISION REPAIR: Jake Scharbach at Froelick Gallery
DESCRIPTION:Sisyphus\, Titian 1548\, painting by Jake Scharbach\, oil on canvas\, 60″ x 48″\n  \nDear Friends of the Open Road \n  \nNancy’s nephew\, Jake Scharbach\, has a show at the Froelick Gallery from December 1\, 2020 – January 30\, 2012. \nHere’s a link to the exhibit: \n  \nhttps://privateviews.artlogic.net/2/1cdd977e49691fb0c6d57e/ \n  \nIf you live in the Portland area\, be sure to see the show! Froelick Gallery is open by appointment\, Tuesday – Saturday\, from 11 am to 5:30 pm. \n  \nHere is a link to a conversation with Jake about his art: \n  \nhttps://youtu.be/cbVVcRRxU2A \n  \npeace & love \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/collision-repair-jake-scharbach-at-froelick-gallery/
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SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue 12/15/20
DESCRIPTION:Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nDecember 15\, 2020 \n  \nWelcome to our fourth meditation and mindfulness dialogue! The numbers below refer to passages from the book Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. (JS) \n* \n  \nDear M & M Dialogue\, \n  \nGreetings to all the mindful ones and those learning the art of being mindful. And don’t worry if you are new to mindfulness\, even the ones who have been practicing mindfulness for awhile are still learning to be mindful. \n  \nI am no expert in mindfulness\, but reading a message a day from Your True Home has been a wonderful experience and ritual\, which in itself has brought me joy and mindfulness. Then Johnny suggested that I journal my thoughts\, feelings and whatnot on my daily reads\, so I have started doing just that\, which has brought me a new level of mindfulness and joy. \n  \nAt first I thought I would have little to say\, if anything at all\, for most of the daily messages\, but I have found that to be a wrong assumption. Some of them are only one or two lines\, although I try to keep them short in order to be sure I get my point across and so that others can understand what I’m saying. Anyway\, here are a few excerpts from my journal: \n  \n10/25/20  #354 The Energy of Love: Love yourself! Without that first\, there can be no true love in your life. You cannot love another\, nor they love you without truly loving yourself first. This reminds me of a saying I found that takes today’s love and yesterday’s suffering (10/24/20  #355 Your Suffering Needs You) and puts them together. \n  \n“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering\, one must not love. But then\, one suffers from not loving. Therefore\, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy\, then\, is to suffer\, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore\, to be happy\, one must love or love to suffer\, or suffer from too much happiness.” (By unknown.) \n  \nOnce you have mastered self-love\, love of another will find you and satisfy your need to be loved. To master that will make not only them happy\, but you will be happy too. I’d rather suffer with love than suffer without love\, and suffering from too much happiness sounds wonderful to me. \n  \n10/27/20  #352 No Enemy\, No Savior: I honestly struggle with the meaning of the words “self” and “nonself.” Does it mean self is like yourself and nonself is like other people? I that is the case\, I think of neither. We are all part of humanity. There is no self or nonself\, there is one. One planet\, one society\, one humanity\, one human race\, and one love which is love for all. \n  \nThat is it for me this month. I could write more\, but Johnny said he can’t publish all my journal entries\, as he has to leave room for others. Upon my release\, I plan to loan my journal to Johnny to read and publish the entries he sees merit in. Peace\, love and happiness to you all. \n  \n—Josh Underhill \n* \n  \n(Michel is keeping a meditation journal on an almost daily basis. He sent a treasure trove of meditations. Here are the first three of twenty. Hopefully\, we’ll be able to do a special edition of the Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue that features more of Michel’s meditations.) (JS) \n  \nNovember 5  AWARENESS OF BODY \n  \nThây spoke first of sitting meditation; which reminds me of Zen—always the “sitting\,” “just sitting” (shikantaza). I’ve been told that this act of simply sitting (or sitting simply?) is the foundation of all mindfulness practice. While this may be true\, I found value and calm from sitting. In the Zen class here at TRCI\, pre-COVID\, that is what I experienced: sitting for no reason but to just sit (simply). I often struggle to make time for this in-cell. A book\, recently gifted to me\, talks about healing past traumas through several steps; the first involves an awareness of body. The author’s idea is that one effect of childhood trauma (no matter the intensity/severity) is the disconnect from body awareness. There are times when I would rather not be so aware of this body’s goings on. There are other times when I wish I could be more tuned-in to what is happening with my body. I guess I’ll be thankful for the times I am aware—pay more attention—and learn to “lean in” to the less aware times: hoping that paying attention when I’m more aware will leak over and affect the not-so-aware times. The body is always present. It is easy to become numb or ignore whatever is being experienced as common. I think by not being mindful of the “common” it is more challenging to become (or be) mindful for the extra-ordinary. It looks like I access the parts of life I think I’m missing out by paying better attention to the ordinary ones. \n  \nNovember 6  CONSTANT TRANSFORMATION \n  \nIMPERMANENCE: Thây’s first word today. Ouch! One of my biggest life challenges has been accepting the reality of change—nothing in my world can conquer impermanence\, it’s all subject to change at some point in some way (even if it is just how I “see” it). I used to hate change. I still am not very fond of it; changes have often caught me unawares and have seemed to my small mind like “BIG” upheavals and trauma in life. \n  \nAs I review my history: the problem was my efforts to fight for permanence\, resisting entropy. Maybe\, one day\, there will occur a major change\, where we all get nirvana\, paradise\, heaven\, or whatever\, and this place of “perfection” might be permanent. I am beginning to wonder if that would be “good.” I recall a saying Jake and Sara used with us last year on Julius Caesar: “‘Perfection’ is boring.” It’s true. For my experience to be “alive” it has to be imperfect\, mutable\, transient\, “impermanent.” The alternative is a kind of “Groundhog Day” sort of life\, where it is always the same\, predictable\, “Boring!” It is hard for me to not desire to be “safe.” Predictable is safe. Reliable seems safe. Change is not\, because I may not know something\, or how to do something. So\, I’m weak. I’m vulnerable. I’m not safe. That place can be scary and difficult to live in\, without some level of fear (“concern”). \n  \nLearning to be comfortable with “me” and what I can do helps\, as I learn to be comfortable with IMPERMANENCE. Thây had two more words which stood out for me today. Within each\, separately or together\, I may find an answer: SELFLESSNESS\, INTERDEPENDENCE. (hmmm….) \n  \nNovember 9   THE GREAT INSIGHT \n  \nI like\, and I’m even attracted to the idea that we all can become a buddha—fully enlightened being. Further\, while “becoming\,” we are all already Bodhisattvas on the journey; aiding and benefitting others’ journey. I am also aware\, and like the idea\, that we are all already buddhas and have only to discover the buddha within. Both of these line up in agreement\, as the second describes what I see/understand as the journey. Isn’t that always the challenge?: Getting out of the way of reality as it is\, not as ego (“I”) tells a story to convince the self that reality is something totally different. I see ego as the source of duality and suffering—the idea of a separate “self” identity. I don’t have confirmation (complete)\, but this seems to be a portion of the truth. \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \n“Teaching is not done by  teaching alone. It is done by how you live your life My life is my teaching. My life is my message.”  Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \nThis is not in the book Your True Home\, but it is by TNH\, and when I read it I thought of my parents.  \n  \nMy parents lived the life they loved. They hiked and backpacked and climbed mountains; they played the violin\, viola\, piano and harpsichord\, and welcomed twice weekly chamber music gatherings in our home. They read for hours everyday; the library and bookstores were constant haunts. And art\, all the time. They were nerds. They caused me constant embarrassment as a teenager. \n  \nOver dozens of years my mother took in friends of theirs and friends of ours who were struggling in life – for weeks\, months\, sometimes years. This was often to our young and selfish consternation: “Why do the Jacksons have to come again for Thanksgiving? Their kids always have snotty noses!”  \n  \nEvery two months\, my mom and dad donated blood. “Why in Heaven’s name wouldn’t we?” my puzzled mother mused.  \n  \nThere were vegetable gardens and flower gardens and small tree farms. I smacked my lips waiting for blueberry pie\, then watched as my mom picked and gave away our entire crop most years. “What about your own family’s needs?” we whined. Dad joined in on that one\, but he also grew and gave away every fir seedling he nurtured to Christmas tree size. One year he said\, “Don’t worry\, I’m planting a new crop and I’ll make sure to save you one.” Good luck\, he was 90 years old at the time. \n  \nSo their lives were their teaching. There was no didactic teaching\, no conscious ‘modeling’ to achieve ‘results’ in their daughters. They just lived life with passion and dedication.  \n  \nOf course now I donate blood every two months\, and am hitting 150+ units drained from my system\, having started when I was 18 yrs. old. (“Why in Heaven’s name wouldn’t I?” when someone asks me why.) And hiking\, backpacking and wildflowers are my passion. I have huge gardens so I can give away baskets of golden raspberries and strawberries\, and yes\, blueberries. I grow way too many peonies and iris so I can cut huge bouquets to give away. I read\, read\, read\, and do art\, art\, art.  \n  \nAnd if I’m not mentoring\, tutoring\, or otherwise being engaged in connection with others not like me\, I am at a loss for meaning in my life. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \n138   I Think\, Therefore… \n  \nThis insightful page has inspired my Yoga routines lately! When I do this form of Yoga\, I treat it like meditation. For me\, it’s been a struggle my whole life to just “sit there” and not “be” with so many things constantly on my mind. It’s been nice to just be in the moment and focus on form\, breathing and not everything else. For me to truly be there in that moment I cease all those fleeting thoughts for those 30 minutes every other day. Then\, when I’m done\, I enjoy the practice so much I begin doing stretches while practicing mindfulness. This has become my favorite part of my days lately\, and it’s very peaceful. I encourage everyone to\, at the very least\, stretch and practice just being. \n  \n—Jeff Kuehner \n* \n  \nWandering Thoughts \n  \nMy friends\, I must be honest. I have written this paper six times over! \n  \nI started out writing about good and evil\, page 156. Setting out\, I had in mind an ideal of vanquishing good\, evil and the universal duality….But I lost! \n  \nDuality has successfully wriggled its little fingers into every last nook and cranny; it won’t be going anywhere soon. And after thwarting my attempts at the highest level\, it opened my eyes. \n  \nI’ve realized my “Not Sowing Karma” theme is wrong. Let me elaborate; we all were born upon a set of scales that started to tip in one direction or the other since our birth. There will come a time when we all will make a choice to either live with balance\, or not. Without balance you can only tilt in one direction\, until eventually you fall. With balance you will never fall\, you only have to get there. Only then is there a chance of escape. Escape. Everyone seems to think there are a variety of ways to escape\, but true escape is when you live in every moment and every thing is balanced. \n  \nDuality seems to offer a reasonable solution\, and offers the key to any that seek. \n  \nCould co-existing be the harmony we seek\, could it shine light on the hidden path? The wonder of wonders keeps me wondering still… \n  \nWell guys\, those are this month’s thoughts. Let me apologize if it seems a little screwy. To be honest\, I didn’t think something that seemed so simple would really be complex. Maybe it’s both! \n  \nAhhhh\, I’ll sign off now\, before I have to re-write it all. \n  \npeace & love & everything else \n  \n—Joshua Barnes \n* \n  \nFrom Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Be Free Where You Are\, pages 37-40. \n  \nBeing able to practice mindful breathing under duress\, in an emotional state\, or any unhealthy mindset. This is most likely a life long journey of practice and patience. “An emotion is only and emotion\, we are much more than an emotion.” If we can recognize an emotion before it gets us on to becoming a wreck\, then we can put it under a mindful breathing exercise and meditate on it\, “you will see that you are strong—strong enough to withstand the storm.” \n  \nBut\, “don’t wait until you have a strong emotion to practice. If you do\, you will not remember how to practice. You have to practice now\, today\, while you are feeling fine.” \n  \nI will speak for myself. So often when an emotion arises that I don’t want to have I bury it. But what happens when there is no more room for them? \n  \nThis practice of mindful breathing to calm the storm or just wait it out without incident is the key\, for me\, to getting through many a bad day. \n  \nThere are many forms of breathing. The point I am trying to make is: let’s just take a look at what is going on in the inside of us\, grab ahold of it and examine it under a practice of mindfulness\, calm breathing\, and then maybe we can get a better understanding of what it is that makes us tick…or get ticked off. \n  \nThanks to everyone who writes in the M & M dialogue. This is fun. \n  \n—Brandon Gillespie \n* \n  \n#89 An Invitation from the Buddha \n  \nMr. Underhill\, I am really glad to hear you have started your countdown. I think that reading a passage a day is a good way to finish your set. I know you as a very good\, caring guy and I wish you all the success in the future. Never forget all you have learned these last years and the good people you have met along the way \n  \nThe first line of this—“We live in a time when everyone is too caught up in the preoccupations of everyday life\,…”—how true this is for this year! It seems everywhere we turn there is nothing but blame for this or that\, or: you don’t believe the things I believe\, so I hate you. I believe our differences should be the thing that makes us love and understand each other all the more. Our uniqueness is one of the most special gifts we have. \n  \nI think taking the time to discover who we are\, really down deep\, is the true essence of life. When we start to understand ourselves more deeply\, we can then open our eyes to the way others feel and have compassion for their ideas. We must remember that we are all brothers and sisters on this earth. It doesn’t matter what geographical location you come from\, or the shade of your skin. These things have nothing to do with a person’s character. If we could stop and tell someone hello\, give them an honest smile when we see they have a frown on their face\, or\, if you have to\, tell a corny joke. I am sure\, if the response isn’t immediate\, that they will think about it later and hopefully have a moment of joy—that some stranger would say something so stupid to them. These little things we can do for one another to me are the true nature of life. \n  \n—Aaron Gilbert \n* \n  \nThanks to everyone who wrote last month. It is very moving to read about your experience of meditation and of Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing.  \n  \nJohnny asked if I might write about some of my experiences hearing Thich Nhat Hanh speak. I have heard him several times\, but the only time I remember the content of the talk was the first time\, on the eve of the first Iraq war in 2003. He began by saying\, “Bodhisattva George Bush and Bodhisattva Sadham Hussein had a quarrel.” And in my heart I did a little bow and thought\, “You’re a better man than I am!” He explained that a Bodhisattva is responsible for many beings\, which\, certainly\, Bush and Hussein were. Thây (that’s what his students call him) said that the United States had barely begun to recover from the psychic damage of the Vietnam war\, and there we were embarking on another. He spoke about the young men\, the soldiers in both countries\, whose lives would be wounded by their experiences\, and the pain this would inflict on both countries after the war had ended. I don’t suppose he could have foreseen all the little wars to come\, including Afghanistan\, the longest war in our history; twice as long as the Vietnam war\, and counting. The other night I heard that Trump’s vaunted withdrawal of troops on the ground in Afghanistan only means that there will be more bombing\, hence less targeted violence\, hence more civilian casualties. Thây said\, “I have not practiced enough\, I have not practiced deeply enough…” and then he began a kind of litany: “you who are a teacher\, you who are a student\, you have to practice with us; you who are an artist\, you who are a filmmaker\, you have to practice with us…”and so on. This wasn’t really his talk\, which he also gave… it was his response to the news of the day.  \n  \nThây suggested that each one of us in the audience could adopt a veteran\, a young person who had been damaged by their experience of war and who could be helped to heal by being befriended. We could invite them into our homes\, break bread with them\, become real friends. I haven’t done this\, I confess\, although I have attempted to “adopt” some people who have been hurt by other circumstances of life. I’ve talked with many veterans who are on the streets\, and\, of course\, the healing is mutual. It’s not a question of one helping the other–if a connection is made one can be a friend\, even if the encounter is only for a few minutes. Johnny has embodied this approach to life as fellowship.  \n  \nThere were many other things in this talk–a lot of the breathing exercises in his book The Blooming of a Lotus were given that night. He told a story about his own war experience as a monk in Vietnam\, counting bodies of bombing victims and the song they sang about the beauty of the sky and earth to keep themselves in remembrance of the gifts of life. He talked about someone bringing him food and he said\, “I got enlightened” which is to say it awakened him to the blessing of preparing food\, serving it\, enjoying taste\, even in these circumstances. He said\, “Enlightenment is always about something. Buddhist enlightenment is about the nature of the self.” \n  \nSo what is the nature of the self? If you practice with Thich Nhat Hanh and sit quietly you see that the self is always changing. It has no permanent identity. In the image of Suzuki Roshi\, “I” is like a swinging door that comes in and goes out with the breath. A swinging door is not a fortress. It has a relative amount of importance\, but not much; certainly not enough to start a war over.   \n  \nAs I look over what I have written\, one thing that I notice is the absence of self-cultivation. Meditation is not about getting better. “Meditation” has been co-opted by the American religion of self-enhancement: we want to be better\, thinner\, stronger\, more beautiful\, wealthier\, and we also want to be smarter and calmer and wiser\, and we think of these properties as products that we can purchase for money or time. The meditation salespeople tell us that “practice” is a good tool to put in our shopping basket along with face cream and exercise and vegan or paleo diet and vitamins\, eight glasses of water\, and all the rest of it. But in Thây’s “Buddhist enlightenment” we meditate to end suffering\, to see clearly\, to meet life in all its beauty and horror as it is\, to get over ourselves and befriend our fellow creatures. We don’t need years of practice and we don’t need to cultivate special psychological states; right now in this very moment\, breathing in and breathing out\,  looking into the eyes of the veteran\, or the neighbor (who well may be a veteran) or the cashier or our partner\, we can be present\, awakened\, kind. I have arrived! says Thich Nhat Hanh; we have already arrived in our own true home.  \n  \n—Howard Thoresen \n* \n  \nMy homework for today: study my distress and dissatisfaction. Doctors\, nurses\, and therapists use this format to diagnose physical/mental ailments\, the SOAP format. Bhikkhu Analayo recommends applying the same format to our distress. Identify the problem by its (S) subjective and (O) objective components\, (A) assess the cause\, and then make a (P) plan. My problem today and every day is that I WANT THINGS TO BE DIFFERENT than they actually are. That person shouldn’t be rude. The rules shouldn’t be so arbitrary. The soup should not be so hot\, and it definitely should never be cold. The subjective is my experience of distress/dissatisfaction/discontentment. The objective\, the cause of my distress\, is my desire for things to be different. (Notice the cause is NOT the “errant” situation!) The assessment is that I really need to learn how to accept things as they are OR be more effective in making necessary changes (complaining is not changing). The plan\, using the jargon of this meditation tradition\, is the Eightfold Path\, or learning to behave differently\, shift my mental focus\, and learn to understand how the world actually works\, as opposed to how I fantasize it works. YTH #7\, 19\, and 317 relate to this. \n  \n—Shad Alexander \n* \n  \nAs I sat still this morning at my writing desk\, before turning on the light\, in the darkness and silence the weather in my mind began to clear from yesterday’s worries and conundrums\, something began to come into focus. In time\, I turned on the light\, and wrote down this thought:  \n  \nA loss is first a pang\, then a memory. Then \, by writing or telling\, it may become a story. Then\, if told with curiosity and courage\, the sorrow becomes a possession\, an element of identity\, and finally a treasure\, a smudge of wisdom. \n  \nThen\, as my habit each morning early\, I explored this thought by shaping it into something like a poem: \n  \n               Schooling Sorrow  \n  \nWhen a sorrow’s young\, it’s pure—stunned  \npang at breakup\, betrayal\, failure\, death.  \nYou weep\, rant\, brood\, slump. And then   \n  \nin the morning\, sorrow starts its epic  \njourney into memory\, becomes an island  \nin your archipelago of sufferings.  \n  \nThen\, if you are strong\, and lucky to have  \na listener—you begin to apprehend its quirks\,  \nto tell it\, shape it\, watch it grow into a story.  \n  \nAnd if you tell your story well\, with curiosity \nand courage\, it then becomes a possession\, \nand in time a treasure\, a smudge of wisdom.  \n  \nThis can be your gift\, your offering—but \nif you don’t school your sorrow into story \nit can never be your friend. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nDear Johnny \n  \nThank you for your continued support and love through all you do. I have very much enjoyed (and do continue to enjoy) your recent newsletters. Funny thing\, to me at least\, is I keep feeling like I want (almost to a need) to give you something profoundly insightful to share and lately felt at a loss\, as I’ve read so many things (in your publications) that seem to already say what I would say. So I keep trying to think of something new and exciting—still\, to no avail. Then\, recently (last week)\, not trying to think of anything\, a concept occurred to me on the subject of fate and “predestiny.” \n  \nThroughout my life I’ve pondered fate\, choice and destiny. There have been many times in my life when I’ve wondered about the “what ifs.” What if I had made a different choice at any number of crossroads in my life? Would I still be the same person with the same resolve? At times the “could have beens” seem whelming\, at best. Recently\, the idea occurred to me that maybe both fate\, that you make choice\, and predestiny both exist simultaneously. The example\, or visualization\, that came to me is that maybe life\, our experience\, is like a long\, vast river filled with twists\, turns\, smooth parts\, rapids\, falls\, obstacles\, and that our “fateful” choices steer us around or into these\, yet we still eventually arrive at the same “pre”destination\, no matter what course we take in this river. \n  \nAnyway\, it’s a concept I’ve been mulling over lately. \n  \n—Joseph Opyd \n* \n  \nI’m interested in co-creating “culture that nurtures” with you\, my friends. In #214\, “I Don’t Need These Things\,” Thich Nhat Hanh says: “…negative forces are everywhere. When you turn on the television\, for instance\, you run the risk of ingesting harmful things\, such as violence\, despair\, or fear.” Elsewhere\, he talks about “mental junk food”—ideas and images which don’t nurture us. \n  \nIt’s not possible to avoid mental junk food\, but it’s unhealthy as a regular diet. Where is healthy food to be found? Everyone gets to figure this out for themselves. I’m prejudiced\, but I think our monthly meditation and mindfulness dialogue is healthy food. Many of the people participating in this dialogue are currently living in prison—an environment which has a lot of negativity in it. Whether we are living inside or outside of prison walls\, it’s important to choose wisely what we read\, what we think about\, how we spend our time. Life is short. Each day is precious. \n  \nBecause most television fare feels unwholesome to me\, I’m trying to create my own culture\, my own world—one I want to live in. I make an effort to create an inner world that is rich in meaning\, that makes me happy\, broadens my understanding\, nurtures peace and love in my heart. For me\, certain writers are very reliable in this regard. And I’m always on the lookout for the next book that will teach me something new\, delight me\, give me a fresh perspective\, open my mind and heart. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \nTo: The Open Road & all its Travelers! \n  \nHsin Hsin Ming is fantastic. It’s odd\, your choice of subject\, as this is exactly what I’ve been thinking about. \n  \nIt’s funny\, because while I’ve been trying to untangle my own gordian knot\, the answers I sought were in front of me the whole time; but\, unlike the hero in the story\, I used a different way of slicing through my knot. Though I will admit\, the process was much the same. \n  \nI believe one purpose of that story was to show that when we conform to a certain belief\, or thought process\, we are limiting ourselves\, and in doing so will only fail. \n  \nI have been limiting myself for a very long time\, but\, thankfully\, we all can change! \n  \nAs I said in my last letter\, I’ve come to the conclusion that indifference will never do. Balance\, on the other hand\, is a very different story. When using both the positive and the negative\, you allow them to cancel each other out. The same goes for weights and counterweights. This\, when done correctly\, would leave you floating happily in between\, neither drifting to one side or the other\, but in the middle…Balanced. \n  \nThe Hsing Hsin Ming said: “…Make the smallest distinction and heaven and earth are far apart…” and “…If you want to experience it\, don’t be for or against anything…” \n  \nThe only way I can see this working is by achieving balance\, and\, like I said before\, there is only one way to balance the scales. \n  \nThis led me to my next thought and another very helpful piece: “…Caught in duality\, how can you know oneness?” \n  \nYou know\, I puzzled over this for a long time\, and then\, when reading the next line\, found a wonderful answer staring up at me from the page….Unity and understanding. Two beautiful words. Unity is balance and understanding is realizing there can be no balance when striving towards any one thing alone. \n  \nI don’t think the texts are about condemning duality or escaping it\, I believe they speak of duality being the weight and counterweight\, the true keys to achieving balance\, “oneness\,” in order to escape the samsara. We are caught in duality and must make it work. Duality is in man’s nature for a reason\, and like the wise words on page three say: “…following our nature\, we are in harmony with the way\, wandering freely\, without a care…” \n  \nAnd here is where I’ll make my last stand with a final quote: “…to accept everything is to be enlightened…” \n  \nPeace & love \n  \n—Joshua Barnes \n* \n  \nToday\, December 13\, is Bodhi Day\, the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that the historical Buddha\, Siddhartha Gautama\, experienced enlightenment. In Thailand\, where my youngest son has lived for the past eight years\, there are numerous temples that display the key moments in the Buddha’s life in a frieze that goes around the inner walls. So that we might step into the scene along with his disciples and remember the teachings.  \n  \nI thought it would be a good time to tell the story of the Buddha’s awakening and the happiness derived from following his teachings. It may be familiar to most of you but worth hearing over and over. I have studied with Thich Nhat Hanh for many years and taught classes with Rev. Bob Schaibly. These teachings are for all; there is no reason to be a Buddhist or practice Buddhism as a religion. But it is good to know the essence of what we are talking about and to honor the original source.   \n  \nBodhi Day is observed in the Buddhist traditions in Asia from India and Japan to Thailand and Vietnam. Bodhi Day serves as a reminder of the wisdom that is naturally available to us all\, the wisdom that comes from looking deeply in the present moment\, of cultivating our minds\, and recognizing that everything is interconnected.   \n  \nSiddhartha\, was born around 530 BC. He grew up in India\, as a Prince born and raised into a wealthy family\, who lived surrounded by beautiful gardens in a spacious palace.  When he was born his parents were told that their son’s destiny was to be a great warrior or he would become a great spiritual teacher. His parents wanted him to carry on with their established life\, they wanted a warrior. Like all parents they also wanted their son to be safe and grow up satisfied. So they tried to isolate and protect him from the world and meet his every need and desire. But as he grew into his teenage years and adulthood he felt like he was imprisoned. Sound familiar!? \n  \nOne night Siddhartha and a servant went out of the palace gates into the surrounding villages.  \n  \nThey first came upon an old man who was stooped over\, using a walking stick\,  and balding.  \n  \nSiddhartha asked\, what does this mean?  His servant explained that this is Old Age.   \n  \nThey went on and came upon an ill person with sores who was in terrible discomfort.  The servant explained to Siddhartha again\, this is Illness.   \n  \nThey then came to a corpse in the road.  And Siddhartha was shocked and asked again.  \n  \nAnd his servant said\, All living things pay a price for life and this is Death.  Siddhartha was frightened by all this suffering. \n  \nThen they came upon a simple ascetic carrying a begging bowl\, who did not want anything to do with commerce and the travails of the modern world.   We too recognize this.  \n  \nSiddhartha soon decided to leave the palace and follow the path of the ascetic to see if he can find release from his fears and this suffering.   He went out into the world dressed in his servant’s clothes\, an 18 year old young man. He went in search of knowledge with this group of poor and dedicated ascetics.   He fasts to the point of exhaustion and realizes ultimately that this will not work for him.    \n  \nThe life of hedonism in a palace as a prince and a life of starvation are not giving him any more understanding about the world.  So he adopts what is called The Middle Way.    \n  \nHe sits\, determined to pay attention to what is happening.   He sits under the Bodhi tree\, meditating until he comes to some wisdom.   He overcomes all temptations after a period like 40 days and 40 nights.   He realizes enlightenment and in the moment of touching the earth he takes it as his witness.   He finds that concentrating on our breath we can be happy in the present moment.  One of his most important teachings is about calming the mind so that we are not overwhelmed by our emotions of fear and anger.  From that day on he started teaching the eight-fold path to inner peace.  \n  \nCompassion and understanding are what comes from mindfulness and meditation  and the practice of looking deeply at our and others’ suffering.  Compassion then can come about and one can move from being to acting without being overcome.  Without compassion fatigue.  This story is related to the western story of the Good Samaritan who helped another without worrying about the consequences from the rules of his religion or culture.   \n  \nThe Buddha in his enlightenment came up with an eight-fold path to follow for living with awareness and happiness for ourselves and others. The essence of the teachings are based on the  five remembrances of the human condition that is a reality for each of us:  \n\nI am of the nature to grow old.\n\nOh how we try in vain to keep our youthful looks.  We even find it hard to believe we are not still our younger selves when we look in the mirror.  Even in our seventies we can feel close to those young adult years.   \n\nI am of the nature to become ill.  \n\nIf we live a healthy life we often feel it is not fair if we get sick\, as though it was a justice issue. We all will become ill as life goes on. \n\nI am of the nature to die.     \n\nThis is something live most of our lives in denial about.  In our culture especially we keep death hidden away.  \n\nEverything that I care about will pass away.\nThis is the teaching of impermanence. Everything changes. We will lose those we love\, and our possessions\, and even our ideas and ideals.\nOnly my deeds will survive me.   \n\nMay I act well to make a world that is lovely and loving. What we do\, and how we do thing things makes a difference.  This is the secret of  peace and happiness and freedom.   \n  \nRemember to pass it on\, pay it forward\, even with a smile\, but especially with our stories. \n  \nI’m so glad you all are enjoying our monthly sharing of Mindfulness and Meditation!  \n  \nPeace and love\, I miss everyone in person. Be well.     \n  \n—Katie Radditz
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-12-15-20/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210107
DTSTAMP:20260503T094819
CREATED:20201224T181622Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T122403Z
UID:1620-1608768000-1609977599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  12/24/20
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nDecember 24\, 2020 \n  \nI believe the soggy clods shall become lovers and lamps… \n  \n—Walt Whitman\, from Song of Myself \n* \n  \nSince water still flows\, though we cut it with swords\, \nAnd sorrow returns\, though we drown it with wine\, \nSince the world can in no way satisfy our cravings\, \nLet us loosen our hair tomorrow and go fishing. \n  \n—Li Po  (701-762 A.D.) \n* \n  \nFound Kin \n  \nArdent champions of comradery\, \nour found kin hold a cherished place \ninside the chest cavity. \nStumble into our lives when we \nneed you most. \nBattle back the self-doubt with \nDeeds\, Words\, Actions\, Presence. \nBlood being equally without consequence \nor measured sacred. \nEmbrace me found kin with gentle \nacts of friendship. \nKeep the wolves at bay\, my hearth fire \nheart stoked. \nAgainst the oppressing laden storm of \nBreathing upon this mortal stage \nFound kin\, I love you. \n  \n—Jeff Kuehner \n* \n  \nElemental Thoughts \n  \nStorm grey clouds frequent windy days\, \nShedding their sadness on the land \nBefore moving on. \nI watch them through my window pane\, \nWishing they would stay awhile \nor maybe take me with them; \nFor a storm grey cloud at heart I’ve become\, \nIn need of a good wind to push me— \nUntil I too shed my sadness. \n  \n—Joshua Barnes \n* \n  \nTHE MEANING OF THIS \n  \nWe are a feather \nmade of wings made of birds \n  \nNo boos \ncheers or other \ninterruptions \n  \nOn our way up \n  \nYes our body has fallen \napart \n  \nBut finally we are floating \n  \nLike this & this \nis what we wished for \nrelishing in our not \nexpecting it \n  \nHere is the inverted valley \n& every blade \nof grass on the godhead asking \n  \nWhat are you \n& who is your name \n  \n—Alex Tretbar \n* \n  \nI do hope you enjoyed my depressing poem. Here is another attached to this letter. It’s a piece I’m working on\, but it has been hiding from my attempts at trying to bring it to paper. Where do all these words hide\, anyway? Maybe it really is in between the blank spaces of every page and sentence. I wish I knew! \n  \nHindsight (2020) \n  \nHold your breath a little while \nThe reaper’s hounds are on the loose\, \nTrailing along their invisible chains \nExtinguishing life like a hangman’s noose. \n  \nHindsight: Speaking of history\, history’s made \nThough the irony remains in man’s surprise; \nFor we’ve opened the door to find again \nA trojan horse in a man disguise. \n  \nThe questions now—Will we learn? \nWill these lessons keep and pass? \nOr will the hounds come again \nWhen comfort blinds us of our past? \n  \nBut worry not\, just hold your breaths\, \nFor now just try to dodge the noose; \nAnd watch the hounds’ chains grow taut \nWhen pharma bears its golden goose. \n  \n—Joshua Barnes \n* \n  \nThink Twice \n  \nIf you think once\, that’s good— \nyou’re ahead of the game. But do \nyourself a favor\, and think again. \n  \nThink for yourself\, for number 1. \nThen think for others\, and see \nhow you are woven into we. \n  \nThink for today\, necessity. \nThen think for what comes soon\, \nand after\, all that rich unfolding. \n  \nThink for your allies\, then for “enemies.” \nThink for the human\, then for Earth. \nThink for comfort\, then for deepening spirit. \n  \nWhen anyone demands an answer\, say\, \n“I am of two minds. Give me a moment.” \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n  \nYour Sovereignty \n  \nBy law\, your house is your castle—unless they have \na warrant to enter\, sift through your stuff\, is your \nfortress\, unless the bank holds the deed\, or you rent \nat a landlord’s whim\, unless it’s a tent by the river \nwaiting for the sweep\, a doorway with a blanket\, \na place to stand by the road with your sign\, a park \nbench bed claimed at dusk\, unless you are an inmate \nin solitary concrete cell with stories behind closed eyes \nyour treasure\, unless you flee\, a refugee running by night \nwith only your coat and muttered clutch of words for \nwater\, please\, bread\, prayer\, brother\, sister\, home\, \nunless you are a tribe\, your usual and accustomed places \ntorn away by someone’s treaty\, one who never saw \ndawn come over a prairie\, forest\, camas meadow\, \nunless you are a wren\, your home thickets \nskinned\, plowed\, paved\, and you are made \nto move\, adapt\, or die\, so just before you fly\, \non a wire you sing a last ravishing run\, \nthe song your shred of sovereignty. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nWinter Feet \n  \nEarly morning walk \nDown Broadway \nInner city sidewalk \nStill dark \nStill cold \n  \nEzra\, a man I’ve come to know\, \nSleeps in a doorway \nHis blue tennis shoes neatly placed \nNext to his head \n  \nHis bare feet \nExtend out from the heavy blanket \n  \nI walk on \nThen turn around \nGently pull the blanket over his feet \n  \nEzra whispers a sleepy thank you \nI start to leave \nHe kicks the blanket off \n  \nFeet once again bare \nTo the bitter cold \nLife as he lives it \nExposed \n  \n—Esther Elizabeth \n  \nDaily Bread \n  \nAnother Vet with little means \nhas found ways to appreciate slices of life \nHe goes by many names \nI call him Joseph \nHe waits outside the café in his \nelectric wheel chair \nwith his dog Buffy snuggling on his lap\, \nfour stuffed animals in the basket behind him— \ntwo dogs\, one monkey\, one cat \nOn each side two \ndecorative colorful wind whirls \n  \nI leave the café with leftovers \nWhat do you have for me today \nHash browns\, chicken sausage\, \nwhole wheat toast \n  \nThis is better than last week’s donut\, \nlaughs Joseph \nThis is a real feast\, thank you \nNow let me offer you a blessing \nbefore you walk on \n  \nI weep now remembering his words\, the \nsincerity with which they were spoken \n  \nDear God as I know you \nBless this servant— \nAs she offers me this day my daily bread \nI ask you to offer her whatever she needs\, \nfor we are all in these troubling times together \nserving one another in love \nAmen \n  \nAmen Joseph \nAmen indeed \n  \n—Esther Elizabeth\, two poems from Encounter: Poems of Engagement \n  \nEsther asked me to include her email address. Here it is: \n  \nestherwelizabeth@gmail.com \n* \n  \nWhat Issa Heard \n  \nTwo hundred years ago Issa heard the morning birds \nsinging sutras to this suffering world. \n  \nI heard them too\, this morning\, which must mean\, \n  \nsince we will always have a suffering world\, \nwe must also always have song. \n  \n—David Budbill \n* \n  \nI hope these poems keep you warm. \n  \nMay all people be happy. \nMay we live in peace & love. \n  \nJohnny \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-12-24-20/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210103
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210117
DTSTAMP:20260503T094819
CREATED:20201229T185731Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210107T180118Z
UID:1641-1609632000-1610841599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!: Favorite Women Poets with Deborah & Katie
DESCRIPTION:  \nDear Bibliophiles \nOn Sunday\, January 3rd\, Deborah Buchanan and Katie Radditz hosted a conversation about Favorite Women Poets on Zoom. We had a good turnout. It’s a big subject! They began talking about Japanese women poets: \n  \nTankas from 4th – 19th century Japan \nOno no Komachi \n     While\, waiting for you\,\n     My heart is filled with longing\,\n     The autumn wind blows— \n     As if it were you— \n     Swaying the bamboo blinds of my door. \n  \nTanka stresses the beauty of life and nature\, but there is a strong feeling of yearning in many tanka. The shortness of life\, the transient nature of seasons and love. \nFirst known poetry perhaps is the tanka written as letters between women in Japan who were basically imprisoned at home.   They started writing letters to one another in simple haiku with hidden messages\,  the recipient would write back in two lines. Forming a tanka from the Haiku.  \nIzumi Shikibu. author of The Diary of Izumi Shikibu and was considered to be the finest poet of the time. She also wrote The Tale of Genji  considered the first novel. It is full of hundreds of Tankas.   \n  \n“To the lonely nights \n when a robe comes between us\,  \nwould you then\, you say\, \n have me add more layers yet  \nto keep us further apart?” \n  \n“Without showing a change in colour  \nThe thing that fades  \nIn this world  \nIs the flower  \nCalled the human heart.” \n  \n“The colour of the cherry blossom  \nHas faded vainly  \nIn the long rain  \nWhile in idle thoughts  \nI have spent my life.” \n  \n“Without a thought  \nFor my black hair’s disarray  \nI throw myself down\,  \nAlready longing for the one  \nWho ran his fingers through it.“ \n  \n“On the bamboo leaves  \nA fine ice fall  \nPatters and patters.  \nHow bitter  \nTo try to sleep alone!” \n  \nThen\, Deborah and Katie talked about Emily Dickinson. They read this poem: \n  \nTell all the Truth but tell it slant –\nSuccess in Circuit lies\nToo bright for our infirm Delight\nThe Truth’s superb surprise \nAs Lightning to the Children eased\nWith explanation kind\nThe Truth must dazzle gradually\nOr every man be blind – \n  \nJohnny recited one of his favorite Emily Dickinson poems: \n  \nThe Infinite a sudden Guest \nHas been assumed to be — \nBut how can that stupendous come \nWhich never went away? \n  \nDeborah talked about Diane Di Prima and read this poem by her: \n  \nPoem in Praise of My Husband\n  \nI suppose it hasn’t been easy living with me \neither\, \nwith my piques\, and ups and downs\, my need for \nprivacy \nleo pride and weeping in bed when you’re \ntrying to sleep \nand you\, interrupting me in the middle of a \nthousand poems \nin the middle of our drive over the nebraska \nhills and \ninto colorado\, odetta singing\, the whole world \nsinging in me \nthe triumph of our revolution in the air \nme about to get that down\, and you \nyou saying something about the carburetor \nso that it all went away \nbut we cling to each other \nas if each thought the other was the raft \nand he adrift alone\, as in this mud house \nnot big enough\, the walls dusting down around us\, a fine dust rain \ncounteracting the good\, high air\, and stuffing \nour nostrils \nwe hang our pictures of the separate worlds: \nnew york college and san francisco posters \nset out our japanese dishes\, chinese knives \nhammer small indian marriage cloths into \nthe adobe \nwe stumble thru silence into each other’s gut \nblundering thru from one wrong place to the \nnext \nlike kids who snuck out to play on a boat \nat night \nand the boat slipped from its moorings\, and \nthey look at the stars \nabout which they know nothing\, to find out \nwhere they are going. \n  \nDeborah and Katie shared this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye:  \n  \nShoulders\nA man crosses the street in rain\,\nstepping gently\, looking two times north and south\,\nbecause his son is asleep on his shoulder. \nNo car must splash him.\nNo car drive too near to his shadow. \nThis man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo\nbut he’s not marked.\nNowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE\,\nHANDLE WITH CARE. \nHis ear fills up with breathing.\nHe hears the hum of a boy’s dream\ndeep inside him. \nWe’re not going to be able\nto live in this world\nif we’re not willing to do what he’s doing\nwith one another. \nThe road will only be wide.\nThe rain will never stop falling. \n  \n Nancy Yeilding read this poem by Barbara Crooker: \n  \nIt’s Monday Morning \n  \nmid-November\, the world turned golden\, \npreserved in amber. I should be doing more \nto save the planet—plant a tree\, raise \na turbine\, put solar panels on the roof \nto grab the sun and bring it inside. Instead\, \nI’m sitting here scribbling\, sitting on a wrought \niron chair\, the air cold from last night’s frost\, \nthe thin sunlight sinking into the ruined \nAppalachians of my spine. I know it’s all \nabout to fall apart; the signs are everywhere. \nBut on this blue morning\, the air bristling \nwith crickets and birdsong\, I do the only thing \nI can: put one word in front of the other\, \nand see what happens when they rub up against \neach other. It might become something \nthat will burst into flame.  \n  \nDave Duncan read the first two stanzas of “The Cry of the Children” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: \n  \n\n\n\nDo ye hear the children weeping\, O my brothers\, \n\n\n\n\n\n\nEre the sorrow comes with years ? \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThey are leaning their young heads against their mothers\, — \nAnd that cannot stop their tears. \nThe young lambs are bleating in the meadows ; \nThe young birds are chirping in the nest ; \nThe young fawns are playing with the shadows ; \nThe young flowers are blowing toward the west— \nBut the young\, young children\, O my brothers\, \nThey are weeping bitterly ! \nThey are weeping in the playtime of the others\, \nIn the country of the free. \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDo you question the young children in the sorrow\, \nWhy their tears are falling so ? \nThe old man may weep for his to-morrow \nWhich is lost in Long Ago — \nThe old tree is leafless in the forest — \nThe old year is ending in the frost — \nThe old wound\, if stricken\, is the sorest — \nThe old hope is hardest to be lost : \nBut the young\, young children\, O my brothers\, \nDo you ask them why they stand \nWeeping sore before the bosoms of their mothers\, \nIn our happy Fatherland ? \n\n\n\n  \nHere’s a poem from Wisława Szymborska that Katie and Deborah chose: \n  \nPossibilities\n I prefer movies.\nI prefer cats.\nI prefer the oaks along the Warta.\nI prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.\nI prefer myself liking people\nto myself loving mankind.\nI prefer keeping a needle and thread on hand\, just in case.\nI prefer the color green.\nI prefer not to maintain\nthat reason is to blame for everything.\nI prefer exceptions.\nI prefer to leave early.\nI prefer talking to doctors about something else.\nI prefer the old fine-lined illustrations.\nI prefer the absurdity of writing poems\nto the absurdity of not writing poems.\nI prefer\, where love’s concerned\, nonspecific anniversaries\nthat can be celebrated every day.\nI prefer moralists\nwho promise me nothing.\nI prefer cunning kindness to the over-trustful kind.\nI prefer the earth in civvies.\nI prefer conquered to conquering countries.\nI prefer having some reservations.\nI prefer the hell of chaos to the hell of order.\nI prefer Grimms’ fairy tales to the newspapers’ front pages.\nI prefer leaves without flowers to flowers without leaves.\nI prefer dogs with uncropped tails.\nI prefer light eyes\, since mine are dark.\nI prefer desk drawers.\nI prefer many things that I haven’t mentioned here\nto many things I’ve also left unsaid.\nI prefer zeroes on the loose\nto those lined up behind a cipher.\nI prefer the time of insects to the time of stars.\nI prefer to knock on wood.\nI prefer not to ask how much longer and when.\nI prefer keeping in mind even the possibility\nthat existence has its own reason for being. \n  \nAnd here’s a poem by Wisława Szymborska that Jude Russell read: \n  \nThe Three Oddest Words \n  \n\n\n\nWhen I pronounce the word Future\,\nthe first syllable already belongs to the past. \nWhen I pronounce the word Silence\,\nI destroy it. \nWhen I pronounce the word Nothing\,\nI make something no non-being can hold. \n\n\n\n  \nJeffrey Sher read a poem by Mary Oliver: \n  \nWild Geese\n  \nYou do not have to be good. \nYou do not have to walk on your knees \nfor a hundred miles through the desert repenting. \nYou only have to let the soft animal of your body \nlove what it loves. \nTell me about despair\, yours\, and I will tell you mine. \nMeanwhile the world goes on. \nMeanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain \nare moving across the landscapes\, \nover the prairies and the deep trees\, \nthe mountains and the rivers. \nMeanwhile the wild geese\, high in the clean blue air\, \nare heading home again. \nWhoever you are\, no matter how lonely\, \nthe world offers itself to your imagination\, \ncalls to you like the wild geese\, harsh and exciting — \nover and over announcing your place \nin the family of things. \n  \nHere a poem by Ada Limon: \n  \nThe Raincoat \n  \nWhen the doctor suggested surgery\nand a brace for all my youngest years\,\nmy parents scrambled to take me\nto massage therapy\, deep tissue work\,\nosteopathy\, and soon my crooked spine\nunspooled a bit\, I could breathe again\,\nand move more in a body unclouded\nby pain. My mom would tell me to sing\nsongs to her the whole forty-five minute\ndrive to Middle Two Rock Road and forty-\nfive minutes back from physical therapy.\nShe’d say\, even my voice sounded unfettered\nby my spine afterward. So I sang and sang\,\nbecause I thought she liked it. I never\nasked her what she gave up to drive me\,\nor how her day was before this chore. Today\,\nat her age\, I was driving myself home from yet\nanother spine appointment\, singing along\nto some maudlin but solid song on the radio\,\nand I saw a mom take her raincoat off\nand give it to her young daughter when\na storm took over the afternoon. My god\,\nI thought\, my whole life I’ve been under her\nraincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel\nthat I never got wet. \n  \nNancy Yeilding didn’t know if she could get through this poem by Denise Levertov without crying. She was encouraged to give it a try: \n  \nThe Fountain \n\nDon’t say\, don’t say there is no water\nto solace the dryness at our hearts.\nI have seen\n \nthe fountain springing out of the rock wall\nand you drinking there. And I too\nbefore your eyes \nfound footholds and climbed\nto drink the cool water.\n \nThe woman of that place\, shading her eyes\,\nfrowned as she watched-but not because\nshe grudged the water\, \nonly because she was waiting\nto see we drank our fill and were\nrefreshed. \n Don’t say\, don’t say there is no water.\nThat fountain is there among its scalloped\ngreen and gray stones\, \n it is still there and always there\nwith its quiet song and strange power\nto spring in us\, \n up and out through the rock. \n  \nHere’s a poem by Gabriela Mistral\, the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature: \n  \nRiches \n\nI have a faithful fortune\nand a fortune lost.\nOne’s like a rose\,\nthe other a thorn.\nWhat was taken from me\nI still possess:\nthe faithful fortune\nand the fortune lost\,\nand I’m rich in purple\nand unhappiness.\nOh how I love the rose\nand how the thorn loves me!\nLike round twin apples\nafter the frost:\nthe faithful fortune\,\nthe fortune lost. \n  \n(tr. Ursula K. Le Guin) \n  \nHere’s a poem by our current national Poet Laureate\, Joy Harjo: \n  \nPerhaps the world ends Here \n  \nThe world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what\, we must eat to live. \n  \nThe gifts of earth are brought and prepared\, set on the table. So it has been since creation\, and it will go on. \n  \nWe chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.  \n  \nIt is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it\, we make women. \n  \nAt this table we gossip\, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers. \n  \nOur dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table. \n  \nThis table has been a house in the rain\, an umbrella in the sun. \n  \nWars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory. \n  \nWe have given birth on this table\, and have prepared our parents for burial here. \n  \nAt this table we sing with joy\, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks. \n  \nPerhaps the world will end at the kitchen table\, while we are laughing and crying\, eating of the last sweet bite. \n* \n  \nNancy Yeilding also recommends: \n  \n“Late August” by Mary Chivers \n“For a Friend Lying in Intensive Care Waiting for Her White Blood Cells to Rejuvenate After a Bone Marrow Transplant”  by Barbara Crooker \n“A Gift” and “Witness” by Denise Levertov \n  \nDeborah and Katie also recommend: \n  \n“A New National Anthem” by Ada Limon \n“Sweetness\,”  “Give Me Your Hand” and “Song of Death” by Gabriela Mistral \n“Some People” by Wisława Szymborska \n“The Burying Beetle” by Ada Limon \n  \nDeborah asked me to add this: \n  \n\nAlso please add that we only skimmed the wealth of African American poets:\nGwendolyn Books (first black woman to win the Pulitzer)\, Lucille Clifton\, June Jordan and now a whole bevy of current ones: Tracy K. Smith\, Nikki Finney\, Claudine Rankin\, Natasha Tretheway. \n\n\n\nAnd for American Indian women poets\, there are\, in addition to the stellar Joy Harjo: \nNatalie Diaz (her breakout book\, When My Brother Was an Aztec)\, and Oregon’s own Elizabeth Woody. \n\n  \nThere were lots more poems! You shoulda been there! Maybe you were. \n  \nDeborah recently published three books of poetry: The World A Well\, Layers of Sediment and Moment Before. You can order them from her at: dlbadger@gmail.com.  \n  \nWe ended our Zoom gathering with Deborah reading one of her unpublished poems: \n  \nUnannounced \n  \nThe grass moved \ninhalation exhalation \nas the animal slept \nstill but for breath \ncovered by the sky’s night \nwind in the orchard \ndeeper shadows under dark firs \n  \nWe find the grass bowl \nin early morning\, still warm \nstalks flattened not by wind \nbut impress of being \na nest one might say \nyet in soil not air \na vibrant emptiness \n  \nWhile we slept unaware \nanother life another world \npassed by \ninextricably connected \nyet unknown \nhow many each moment \nthese transparent threads \n  \nBreathing the same air \nwalking so closely \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-favorite-women-poets-with-deborah-katie/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://openroadpdx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/deb_bucanan.600x400.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210121
DTSTAMP:20260503T094819
CREATED:20210107T174225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T122545Z
UID:1692-1609977600-1611187199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  1/7/21
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nJanuary 7\, 2021 \n  \nI sent some of Thomas Traherne’s poems to Alex Tretbar\, who was inspired by the poem “Wonder” to write “DUST.” First Traherne\, then Tretbar: \n  \nWonder \n  \n    How like an Angel came I down! \n         How bright are all things here! \nWhen first among His works I did appear \n    O how their Glory me did crown! \nThe world resembled His Eternity\, \n         In which my soul did walk; \n    And every thing that I did see \n         Did with me talk. \n  \n    The skies in their magnificence\, \n         The lively\, lovely air; \nOh how divine\, how soft\, how sweet\, how fair! \n    The stars did entertain my sense\, \nAnd all the works of God\, so bright and pure\, \n         So rich and great did seem\, \n    As if they ever must endure \n         In my esteem. \n  \n    A native health and innocence \n         Within my bones did grow\, \nAnd while my God did all his Glories show\, \n    I felt a vigour in my sense \nThat was all Spirit. I within did flow \n         With seas of life\, like wine; \n    I nothing in the world did know \n         But ’twas divine. \n  \n    Harsh ragged objects were concealed\, \n         Oppressions\, tears and cries\, \nSins\, griefs\, complaints\, dissensions\, weeping eyes \n    Were hid\, and only things revealed \nWhich heavenly Spirits\, and the Angels prize. \n         The state of Innocence \n    And bliss\, not trades and poverties\, \n         Did fill my sense. \n  \n    The streets were paved with golden stones\, \n         The boys and girls were mine\, \nOh how did all their lovely faces shine! \n    The sons of men were holy ones\, \nIn joy and beauty they appeared to me\, \n         And every thing which here I found\, \n    While like an angel I did see\, \n         Adorned the ground. \n  \n    Rich diamond and pearl and gold \n         In every place was seen; \nRare splendours\, yellow\, blue\, red\, white and green\, \n    Mine eyes did everywhere behold. \nGreat wonders clothed with glory did appear\, \n         Amazement was my bliss\, \n    That and my wealth was everywhere: \n         No joy to this! \n  \n    Cursed and devised proprieties\, \n         With envy\, avarice \nAnd fraud\, those fiends that spoil even Paradise\, \n    Flew from the splendour of mine eyes\, \nAnd so did hedges\, ditches\, limits\, bounds\, \n         I dreamed not aught of those\, \n    But wandered over all men’s grounds\, \n         And found repose. \n  \n    Proprieties themselves were mine\, \n         And hedges ornaments; \nWalls\, boxes\, coffers\, and their rich contents \n    Did not divide my joys\, but all combine. \nClothes\, ribbons\, jewels\, laces\, I esteemed \n         My joys by others worn: \n    For me they all to wear them seemed \n         When I was born. \n  \n—Thomas Traherne  (1636-1674) \n* \n  \nDUST \n  \nI came down like an angel \nfrom a gestative mountain \n  \nI have no memory \nof \n  \nSince then loved \nones have told me \n  \nAbout the two \na.m. arrival \n  \nThe usual bawling \n& slap-shock of the other \n  \nSide of eternity \nsince then there have been \n  \nSo many thens that now \nseem second-hand \n  \nLike universal lullabies \nwhispered into the unconscious \n  \nEars of babies my life \nis just a transparent bead \n  \nOn an endless \nabacus \n  \nBut you are there too \n& you & you & you \n  \nAnd it seems fitting to me now \nthat abacus comes from the Hebrew word \n  \nFor dust \n  \n—Alex Tretbar \n* \n  \nPoetry Lovers: On Sunday\, January 3rd\, Katie Radditz and Deborah Buchanan hosted a Zoom gathering on the theme of “Favorite Women Poets.” Here’s a link to the web page on the Open Road website\, where you will find poems to inspire you and whet your appetite for more: \n  \nhttps://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-favorite-women-poets-with-deborah-katie/ \n  \nIn the last Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, Joshua Barnes wrote about duality and oneness. He got me thinking about different things\, including Plato’s Allegory of the Cave\, from Book VII of The Republic. Socrates is doing most of the talking. The other speaker is Glaucon. You may be familiar with it\, but it’s one of those things that is worth revisiting and pondering from time to time. So\, here it is (in the Benjamin Jowett translation): \n  \nBOOK VII. \n  \nAnd now\, I said\, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:—Behold! human beings living in an underground den\, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood\, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move\, and can only see before them\, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance\, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see\, if you look\, a low wall built along the way\, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them\, over which they show the puppets. \nI see. \nAnd do you see\, I said\, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels\, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials\, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking\, others silent. \nYou have shown me a strange image\, and they are strange prisoners. \nLike ourselves\, I replied; and they see only their own shadows\, or the shadows of one another\, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave? \nTrue\, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads? \nAnd of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows? \nYes\, he said. \nAnd if they were able to converse with one another\, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them? \nVery true. \nAnd suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side\, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow? \nNo question\, he replied. \nTo them\, I said\, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images. \nThat is certain. \nAnd now look again\, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first\, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light\, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him\, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him\, that what he saw before was an illusion\, but that now\, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence\, he has a clearer vision\,—what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them\,—will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him? \nFar truer. \nAnd if he is compelled to look straight at the light\, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision which he can see\, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him? \nTrue\, he said. \nAnd suppose once more\, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent\, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself\, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled\, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities. \nNot all in a moment\, he said. \nHe will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best\, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water\, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day? \nCertainly. \nLast of all he will be able to see the sun\, and not mere reflections of him in the water\, but he will see him in his own proper place\, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is. \nCertainly. \nHe will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years\, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world\, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold? \nClearly\, he said\, he would first see the sun and then reason about him. \nAnd when he remembered his old habitation\, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners\, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change\, and pity them? \nCertainly\, he would. \nAnd if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before\, and which followed after\, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future\, do you think that he would care for such honours and glories\, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer\, \n‘Better to be the poor servant of a poor master\,’ \nand to endure anything\, rather than think as they do and live after their manner? \nYes\, he said\, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner. \nImagine once more\, I said\, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness? \nTo be sure\, he said. \nAnd if there were a contest\, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den\, while his sight was still weak\, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable)\, would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light\, let them only catch the offender\, and they would put him to death. \nNo question\, he said. \nThis entire allegory\, I said\, you may now append\, dear Glaucon\, to the previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight\, the light of the fire is the sun\, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief\, which\, at your desire\, I have expressed—whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But\, whether true or false\, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all\, and is seen only with an effort; and\, when seen\, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right\, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world\, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally either in public or private life must have his eye fixed.
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-1-7-21/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210115
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210215
DTSTAMP:20260503T094819
CREATED:20210115T175427Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210321T232230Z
UID:1702-1610668800-1613347199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue 1/15/21
DESCRIPTION:Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nJanuary 15\, 2020 \n  \nWelcome to our fifth meditation and mindfulness dialogue! The numbers below refer to passages from the book Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. (JS) \n* \n  \nWITHOUT \n  \nPicture nothing. \n  \nNothing is pictured. \n  \nAnd then everything food sex stoplight \nyoga mat grocery bag little gnat— \n  \nas through a valve \nin the middle of that pictured \nnothing: \n  \nit all comes rushing \nlike sparks \njetting in the void. \n  \nThe ocean goes back in the bottle \nonly when you ignore it. \n  \nI flit from station to station\, \nknowing nothing of meditation. \n  \nAnd I seek out mute buttons \nas if there are more than one\, \nas if it is something that exists \n  \nwithout. \n  \n—Alex Tretbar \n* \n  \nMr. Barnes\, in the December issue you said you wrote the paper (letter) six times over\, but know\, more times than not\, the first writing is always the best\, since when re-written over and over you can lose the essence of your writing. Don’t overthink it. The first edition was your rawest\, which tends to be most true and to the heart. I find that in journaling\, when I go back to read previous entries\, I think I should have said it this way or that\, but in reality it is its most true and rawest\, honest to who you are. \n  \nI also would give you this thought in regards to what you wrote about how we all were born upon a set of scales that started to tip in one direction or the other since our birth. I understand your concept of the scale relating to one side being good\, while the other is bad. But… Have you considered that there is no scale? In reading #312 None Other Than Enlightenment in Your True Home it seemed to me that the basic premise is that through enlightenment there is no scale. You can see the truth in all things\, that truth being the good and bad in all things. Good and bad are one thing: the flower in the garbage and the garbage in the flower. \n  \nMr. Gilbert\, so many things this year have showed us that society is in dire need of a change\, and that we all need a little more enlightenment. There is a lot of me me me\, hate\, blame for this or that\, or: since you don’t believe what I believe I hate you. I briefly touched on this in November’s issue of M & M\, but I will write a little more. On 11/2/20 I read #346 What Separates Us in our book Your True Home. In the message\, it talks about labels. Putting labels on people is hurtful and destructive. Labels are what’s currently wrong in society. It’s us vs. them. Labels are something that hurts every one of us. Society uses labels  to dehumanize\, to separate us into groups\, and if we can eliminate labels there can be peace in the world. We are all people on this planet\, one society\, one human race\, and until we get that our society will not be able to heal. Be the one! On society\, one human race\, one world together. \n  \nWhat I want to write about for myself is about something that really affected me to the point of tears forming when I started journaling. I debated even writing this in the newsletter because of how it affected me and how personal it is to me\, but after writing to my friend Jacob Green about what happened\, I started to feel empowered to include what happened for everyone in the newsletter. On 12/2/20 I read #316 The Smile of Nonfear in Your True Home. This passage for some reason stirred something inside me. It’s the word “afflictions” that woke this thought\, but really the whole bottom half spoke to me. Afflictions have been something I have been struggling with for a large part of my prison sentence. I’ve seen that what I had done to land me in prison these 18 years was an affliction. I concentrated on that “perceived” affliction for those first years\, trying to correct where I went wrong. It took many many years to find my path to better and correct who I am\, and to this point I\, in some ways\, didn’t know how I got there\, or where I am today. But now\, in reading #316\, I may have a little more of an idea. I recognized early on that a big part of what I did was founded on a deluded mind and thought pattern that needed correcting if I was to live a life outside these fences. If I couldn’t succeed in correcting my deluded mind\, thought pattern and affliction\, I didn’t deserve a life outside the fence\, or maybe even a life at all. What I saw in myself was only a deluded mind and thoughts\, and in doing so I could only see the afflictions within myself.  \n  \nSomehow\, over the years\, a slow chip away happened. I found my true mind\, and in doing so I no longer only saw my afflictions\, but saw much more. Call it enlightenment. I no longer concentrated on my deluded mind or thoughts\, which in turn\, I suppose\, allowed me to truly heal my affliction that got me here to prison. I am still not perfect by far\, none of us are\, but I truly believe I have healed enough now to start my next chapter in life. A life outside these fences. A life as me and who I am. A life that will allow me to continue to heal and better who I am\, the person I know I am and want to be. \n  \nAbove is what I wrote in my journal. I know that many guys in prison struggle with their afflictions that caused and/or contributed to their incarceration. Some feel they don’t deserve forgiveness\, and forgiveness from those you hurt may never come\, but forgiveness of yourself is possible. It happens with internal healing and the enlightenment that you don’t need to run away from your afflictions\, because with a true mind the afflictions are no longer there. And without afflictions there is only enlightenment; through enlightenment you will see much more within yourself. \n  \nThanks for listening. May peace\, love\, harmony and mindfulness be with you all. \n  \n—Joshua Underhill \n* \n  \nA meditative mind is silent. It is not the silence which thought can conceive of; it is not the silence of a still evening; it is the silence when thought—with all its images\, its words and perceptions—has entirely ceased. This meditative mind is the religious mind—the religion that is not touched by the church\, the temple or by chants. \n  \nThe religious mind is the explosion of love. It is this love that knows no separation. To it\, far is near. It is not the one or the many\, but rather the state of love in which all division ceases. Like beauty\, it is not of the measure of words. From this silence alone the meditative mind acts. \n  \nfrom Meditations by J. Krishnamurti \n* \n  \n(Here are a few of Michel Deforge’s many meditations from December:) \n  \nDecember 2  #47  The Mind of Enlightenment \n  \nIt is amazing what a few days of not mindfully breathing\, or purpose (practicing) can do to my mental state—more mercurial and more affected by influences. (grrr) It’s my own doing. I can’t blame anyone. Maybe…I can just relax\, breathe; and let it be what it is…? (Breathing…) How funny. Today is about bodhichitta and a “goal” of practice—to\, ultimately\, be able to aid/relieve the suffering of others. Wow! It’s funny because I see myself\, right now\, being very deep in my own mud/suffering. Getting better\, or anything positive\, is so far from my experience of now. And\, forget about being of help or benefit …Yet\, even now\, I may learn\, and from my learning\, another may derive a benefit. If I waste my “now” on later—how/if I’ll be anything—then I’ll miss my lesson on how perfect today’s “mud”-bath really is. (I don’t know why I’m “in” mud today. It’s a metaphor for suffering\, being human—made of the same mud as all other humans.) Even when I don’t “like” my now\, it really is perfect. Now\, where’s my snorkel? I think I lost a shoe! Oh well. It’s perfectly placed for now. (Better?) (Yes!) \n  \nDecember 3  #48  Enjoy a Moment of Nothing \n  \n(Taking a moment…) This is the essence of Buddhism\, for me. To sit and enjoy doing “nothing.” But\, it’s not nothing—(I’m channeling my inner Pooh Bear)—it’s a very wonderful something. It’s sitting. It’s being. It’s breathing. It’s often mind wandering and coming back; then wandering off again. It’s learning to enjoy me\, now\, in this moment. Breathing and existing (being) in a mindful moment/experience of each now\, as the moments pass. Enjoying nothing can allow all the moments of something a little more presence and mindful enjoyability\, if I want. \n  \nDecember 7  #49  What is a Leaf? \n  \nThây points out how everything\, including me and you\, is made from other things. A leaf is composed of so many things\, and so many things were critical to the growth of a particular leaf. Life is interdependent. When some say\, “We’re all in this together\,” I believe this is a deeper meaning behind a rallying cry for some cause. We do all exist in the same world. We share the same air\, the same soil\, the same clouds\, rain\, etc. We’re all made of the same elements—reduced to base elements\, carbon\, nitrogen\, oxygen\, etc. With so much sameness\, how can I accept you as different from me? I do… \n  \nThis is where I see the ego come in. Something tells me that I am special\, unique\, and unlike everyone and everything else; that there’s no connection whatsoever to anything or anyone else. Yet\, if I take away all the parts of me (good or bad) that come from someone else or something else\, “I” cease to exist entirely. Without you\, there is no me: both in the realm of duality and\, also\, in the realm of inter-dependence. “I” also can’t continue to exist (survive) without “you.” Too often I attempt to behave as if I am all that is. I think that it is only when I embrace otherness (or others) that I truly begin to live. This is not easy. It requires compassion for weaknesses\, mine too. It requires seeing “other” as same—not different or separate from. \n  \nHere on paper it is so easy to lay out\, contemplate and visualize. In the realm of action/reaction (reality?)—ego\, fear\, duality\, separateness—disconnect happens. I become guarded from you\, forgetting how much I need each and every other “you” out there\, so “I” can survive too. That’s my journey: finding my way to compassion\, vulnerability and interdependence (not co-dependence…). \n  \nDecember 10  #51  Subtle Gestures \n  \nI find myself slowing down while reading and snacking—mindlessly. Yet\, as I read\, and felt my breath I un-deliberately (un-intentionally) slowed down and savored my moments… The sensations aren’t profound\, but noticing them seems slightly so. That’s kinda neat; catching all the subtleties\, flavor\, muscles working\, crunching\, tasting\, breathing\, hearing…and then…like that *! (snap) It’s all over. I often find that life’s “best” moments come from those subtle gestures\, and they’re often done without guile or deliberateness—they have intent of kindness\, but it is a life state not as much as an effort to set out to do a kind act. Words fail to describe ideas fully\, the thought carries on all the same. \n  \nDecember 16  #54  Rites of Life \n  \n….I have experienced a few of those key moments—ones where flow happened\, or where I was perfectly attuned (although I do not recall them\, due to lacking focused awareness.) I imagine that by having awareness I could experience the moments completely as they exist in time—maybe learn a lesson of life from the moment\, create a deep etched memory\, or simply exist in the perfection of that moment\, watching as it passes to the next perfect moment—maybe even departing from “time.” \n  \nIs life a string of moments haphazardly strung together with no rhyme or reasoning? Can there be more than that\, accessed by simply being mindful and aware? I don’t think it needs to be a BIG production\, or some fantastic event(s). I like the idea of simple awareness\, exercised through each moment—not just on the cushion…. \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \n#314  Melt the Ice of Knowledge \n  \nOften in my experience of living in prison there have been “rules” or “discriminating views” on this or that person. There is an atmospheric influence that enforces racial segregation and fuels hate amongst others. It’s follow the rules\, or the road. (As of late\, the Road is wide open and lovely. Join me?) Harboring one train of thought as truth\, and not having an open heart and open mind\, blurs the hidden beauty of truth in others—obstructed by societal upbringings\, social media\, and other major influences. Abandonment of views\, or opinions\, is an ice pick of relief\, chipping away the cold ice of hate\, oppression\, single-mindedness\, and when you can finally free yourself from the icy blur of lies and deceit\, you will find that what you thought was truth was an obstacle holding you from seeing the beauty in the soul of everyone/everything. Having an open heart\, open mind\, and leaving the views you’ve been taught\, you will learn so much\, and be able to see life\, and live life\, with deeper meaning\, and understanding. \n  \nI send all the Open Road/M & M family and the world Peace Love Happiness and Good Vibes. You all are beautiful and deserve the most! \n  \nTill next time \n  \nJake Green \n* \n  \nPhone Call to Ancient Times  \n  \nOut on the lawn\, under the aspen tree \nwhere I can get good cell reception\,  \nI took a call from Johnny\, who began  \ntelling about a friend in prison\, in \nthe hole again for some infraction\, \nand I stood so still\, listening\, from \nthe blackberry thicket a rabbit \ncrept under the fence to nibble grass \nat my feet\, a lolloping fist of fur  \nwith whiskers and little ears\, with  \nan inquisitive tremble\, amiable ghost  \nfrom the lost world we shared  \nwhen there was enough for all. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nI have some thoughts about the “perfect moments” Michel wrote about in his meditations on December 14th and 16th. He mentioned slowing down. I have found that when I’m preparing a meal\, if\, instead of doing it fast\, I slow down\, I get great pleasure from cutting the vegetables. This is true for eating the meal\, doing the dishes—for any activity\, even walking across the room. \n  \nJoseph Campbell and many others say that eternity is not a long time\, it’s timelessness. We have all experienced countless perfect moments. We don’t remember most of them because they leave no trace. It’s not a problem. We don’t need to remember them. The next one is coming soon. Maybe this is it. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \n#361: Offering Flowers to the Buddha \n  \nThis is about impermanence and how we should and should not view it. Impermanence is constant. Often viewed as negative\, as decay and death\, as loss\, and T N Hanh tells us we should enjoy things in their present moment instead of bemoaning their impermanence. \n  \nAgreed. But I take it a step further. Impermanence is death in one sense\, but also seeds of life in another. Let’s look at nature\, my favorite example for everything. \n  \nMost people see spring as birth\, rebirth\, life\, growth; summer as lushness\, abundance\, profusion\, light\, sun…life.  \n  \nThey tend to view fall as one of dying\, decay\, shutting down\, going dark. And winter? Ah\, the ultimate death: dark\, cold\, still…hibernation (from hibernus\, Latin for wintry. And  ‘hiver\,’ French for winter\, etc.) \n  \nBut when fall comes\, I feel most alive\, alert\, sharp\, eager\, ready to get-to-work. Nature agrees: bushy\, brilliant trees shed their leaves exposing lean\, bare\, shining\, black limbs\, looking like they’ve pushed up their sleeves to get ready to work. Their lean or muscular trunks stand sturdily in agreement. And now\, without all that busy foliage\, we have views beyond\, to the hills\, the sky. Views ahead. And what lies ahead? More life! Bare limbs\, branches\, and twigs house and host hundred of birds\, perching\, hopping about\, twittering\, swooping down to fetch seeds\, insects\, worms… Worms! What’s going on in all those fallen leaves\, anyway? Life\, in the form of worms! Millions of dark red\, wriggling creatures burrowing\, chomping\, aerating their way into and through piles of leaves. Creating mulch! And mulch = life! My garden loves that decayed\, death-like stuff. It eats it up! It brings me the biggest\, leafiest\, fattest\, brightest vegetables you can imagine.  \n  \nWhat else is happening when all the extravagance of spring and summer is gone? I’ll tell you what: Fungi\, that’s what!  \n  \nWhoa\, that creepy\, sneaky dark stuff that smells funky and looks weird? You bet!  \n  \nMushrooms\, lichens\, molds\, all sorts of fungi = Life! Look at bread\, wine\, beer\, cheese. All created with the indispensable help of fungi. (And what’s pizza without mushrooms\, anyway?) And look at penicillin and other antibiotics; ergot\, or LSD; fungi chemicals that produce statins! Life savers!  \n  \nFinally\, is winter really death-like? Is it the end of life? Well\, are we dead when we sleep each night? Of course not. A good night’s sleep is purely restorative\, and a good winter is nothing less. Can you imagine never sleeping but just going full-bore 24/7? Day in/day out\, year in/year out? You wouldn’t make it past day two or three. Seasons are nature’s parallel; fall and winter are rest and sleep\, but always with restoration and life at the core. \n  \nAnd then we die. Is that the end of it all? Not on your life! I will be cremated and my daughter knows just which mountain wildflower  meadow to scatter me in. I will be bone meal for the Avalanche lilies\, the valerian\, the paintbrush\, and they will love me for the strength and life I’ve brought to them. \n  \nSo (really) finally\, all these things produced by the ostensible death of stuff are nothing less that LIFE for the world.  \n  \n—Jude Russell (alive and well) \n* \n  \nThe Hsin Hsin Ming reminds me of the Dhammapada\, a collection of poetry that summarizes early Buddhist teachings. I find the Dhammapada to be very inspirational. \n  \nTaking ownership for my biases\, I do not understand the representation of Zen Buddhism as it appears in American culture. The Buddha gifted us with clear and concise instructions for training the mind\, often referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path. Meditation\, lifestyle changes\, and challenging our beliefs about “how the world works.” If you read the Buddha’s sermons in a “thematically progressive” order\, a very clear instruction manual emerges. Personally\, I need that. I’ve never really had a mind for philosophy or theology. But American Zen really advocates this message of “do nothing.” Don’t meditate. Don’t make lifestyle changes. Don’t challenge your beliefs\, because all beliefs are false. It is as though the Eightfold Path was completely cancelled out by Zen masters several hundreds of years ago. But I have a friend who ordained and studied at Venerable Thay’s Plum Village\, that is a very rigorous study and meditation practice. And people who went to study Chan in China also report: “study and meditation.” I visited a traditional Japanese Zen monastery in Washington\, and the monastics there lived and practiced in a very similar manner to the Ajahn Chah monasteries I am familiar with. So\, my bias\, my prejudice\, is I don’t understand American Zen. Traditional Zen uses the same meditation “manual” as my Vipassana meditation practice\, the Satipatthana Sutta\, “The Four Bases of Mindfulness.” Venerable  Thay [Thich Nhat Hanh] is an expert scholar of the Satipatthana Sutta in all of the ancient languages in which it was preserved\, and I have a lot of respect for his teaching. End of the day\, “their” practices are more similar than dissimilar to what I’m familiar with. \n  \n—Shad Alexander \n* \n  \nThank you Thich Nhat Hanh\, Johnny Stallings \nand your wonderful friends!  \n  \nI am here \nI see (or hear or touch) some thing \nI know it  \nYes (tiny smile) I am meditating \nMy knowing it \nMy seeing \nand my being here \nare somehow  \nrelated Yes (chuckle to myself) I am ok \nsomehow divisions \nare eased \ncan I “feel” \nhow you also \nare breathing \ncan I deeply  \nunderstand \nthat the  \nwater from a \ncloud \nis my relation? \nthe light and gray \ncolors from \nthat cloud \ncome all the \nway here \nluminous here \ncan these hard \nlines \nthese \nseeming forever \nwalls \nbe continually \n“eased” “understood” \n“held” like a child \nI am dissatisfied \ncrying inside like \na wailing child \nor a crazy politician \ncan I remember \nwhat I said \nabove \nI am here \nmy fear my dissatisfaction \nis here also \nbut I am holding (embracing) it \nlike my own mother \nlike my own niece \nlike my own beloved lover \nI am not \nkilling my fear my dissatisfaction \nmy crying child \nI am embracing them \nbreathing a long side \nbelly and fear \nare not unrelated \nare they? \nForever \nsmile \nlaugh (to yourself – don’t let them \nknow you are crazy) \nI can even \nstart to \nthink of your \nbreathing your \nthinking \nyour pain \nas my relation \nalthough these sentences are calming \ncan you \nsit here \nfor a few seconds \nor a short time \nwithout reading \nthese sentences \njust sit here \nwith the satisfaction \nbreathing \nthen with the dissatisfaction \nbreathing \nthe pain of the \nworld is also \nyours \nsmile you are Good \ncontinue forever \nmake up your \nown writing your own \nsong of the open \nlet it in form us and \nyou \nhow to dance our \nloving meditating  \n  \n—Alan Benditt  \n(roughly November 14\, 2020) 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-1-15-21/
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LAST-MODIFIED:20210117T011058Z
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SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous! A PLAY READING with Howard\, Alan & Andy 1/17/21
DESCRIPTION:  \nOn Sunday\, January 17\, 2021\, at 3 p.m.\, Bibliophiles Unanimous! will feature a SPECIAL EVENT: A PLAY READING with Howard Thoresen\, Alan Benditt and Andy Larkin! I can’t say too much about it\, but it’s going to be FUN! Here’s the Zoom link: \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81054571039 \n  \nDON’T MISS THIS!!! \n  \npeace\, love & happiness \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-a-play-reading-with-howard-alan-andy-1-17-21/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210118
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210204
DTSTAMP:20260503T094819
CREATED:20210118T191251Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T122654Z
UID:1706-1610928000-1612396799@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  1/21/21
DESCRIPTION:THE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nJanuary 21\, 2021 \n  \nMartin Luther King was born on January 15\, 1929. This year\, Martin Luther King Day is celebrated on January 18th. He believed in the power of Love to change our world. Here is one of his sermons: \n  \nLoving Your Enemies \nSo I want to turn your attention to this subject: “Loving Your Enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation: the whole idea of love\, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew\, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: “Ye have heard that it has been said\, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor\, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you\, Love your enemies\, bless them that curse you\, do good to them that hate you\, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” \nCertainly these are great words\, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries\, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist\, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer\, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes\, it is love that will save our world and our civilization\, love even for enemies. \nNow let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you\, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard\, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole\, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words\, and to discover how we can live out this command\, and why we should live by this command. \nNow first let us deal with this question\, which is the practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies\, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems strange to you\, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.  \nNow\, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you\, not because of something you have done to them\, but they just won’t like you. I’m quite aware of that. Some people aren’t going to like the way you walk; some people aren’t going to like the way you talk. Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your job better than they can do theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because other people like you\, and because you’re popular\, and because you’re well-liked\, they aren’t going to like you. Some people aren’t going to like you because your hair is a little shorter than theirs or your hair is a little longer than theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little brighter than theirs; and others aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like you. They’re going to dislike you\, not because of something that you’ve done to them\, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so prevalent in human nature. \nBut after looking at these things and admitting these things\, we must face the fact that an individual might dislike us because of something that we’ve done deep down in the past\, some personality attribute that we possess\, something that we’ve done deep down in the past and we’ve forgotten about it; but it was that something that aroused the hate response within the individual. That is why I say\, begin with yourself. There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual. \nThis is true in our international struggle. We look at the struggle\, the ideological struggle between communism on the one hand and democracy on the other\, and we see the struggle between America and Russia. Now certainly\, we can never give our allegiance to the Russian way of life\, to the communistic way of life\, because communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept. When we look at the methods of communism\, a philosophy where somehow the end justifies the means\, we cannot accept that because we believe as Christians that the end is pre-existent in the means. But in spite of all of the weaknesses and evils inherent in communism\, we must at the same time see the weaknesses and evils within democracy. \nDemocracy is the greatest form of government to my mind that man has ever conceived\, but the weakness is that we have never touched it. Isn’t it true that we have often taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes? Isn’t it true that we have often in our democracy trampled over individuals and races with the iron feet of oppression? Isn’t it true that through our Western powers we have perpetuated colonialism and imperialism? And all of these things must be taken under consideration as we look at Russia. We must face the fact that the rhythmic beat of the deep rumblings of discontent from Asia and Africa is at bottom a revolt against the imperialism and colonialism perpetuated by Western civilization all these many years. The success of communism in the world today is due to the failure of democracy to live up to the noble ideals and principles inherent in its system. \nAnd this is what Jesus means when he said: “How is it that you can see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the beam in your own eye?” Or to put it in Moffatt’s translation: “How is it that you see the splinter in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?”3 And this is one of the tragedies of human nature. So we begin to love our enemies and love those persons that hate us whether in collective life or individual life by looking at ourselves. \nA second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy\, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person\, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.  \nI’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid\, the Latin poet\, “I see and approve the better things of life\, but the evil things I do.” There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses\, each wanting to go in different directions. There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe\, “There is enough stuff in me to make both a gentleman and a rogue.” There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul: “I see and approve the better things of life\, but the evil things I do.” \nSo somehow the “isness” of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: That within the best of us\, there is some evil\, and within the worst of us\, there is some good. When we come to see this\, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls “the image of God\,” you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does\, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never slough off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him\, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude. \nAnother way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy\, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time\, in many instances\, when the person who hates you most\, the person who has misused you most\, the person who has gossiped about you most\, the person who has spread false rumors about you most\, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis\, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative\, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love\, of its great beauty and power\, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system\, you love\, but you seek to defeat the system. \nThe Greek language\, as I’ve said so often before\, is very powerful at this point. It comes to our aid beautifully in giving us the real meaning and depth of the whole philosophy of love. And I think it is quite apropos at this point\, for you see the Greek language has three words for love\, interestingly enough. It talks about love as eros. That’s one word for love. Eros is a sort of\, aesthetic love. Plato talks about it a great deal in his Dialogues\, a sort of yearning of the soul for the realm of the gods. And it’s come to us to be a sort of romantic love\, though it’s a beautiful love. Everybody has experienced eros in all of its beauty when you find some individual that is attractive to you and that you pour out all of your like and your love on that individual. That is eros\, you see\, and it’s a powerful\, beautiful love that is given to us through all of the beauty of literature; we read about it. \nThen the Greek language talks about philia\, and that’s another type of love that’s also beautiful. It is a sort of intimate affection between personal friends. And this is the type of love that you have for those persons that you’re friendly with\, your intimate friends\, or people that you call on the telephone and you go by to have dinner with\, and your roommate in college and that type of thing. It’s a sort of reciprocal love. On this level\, you like a person because that person likes you. You love on this level\, because you are loved. You love on this level\, because there’s something about the person you love that is likeable to you. This too is a beautiful love. You can communicate with a person; you have certain things in common; you like to do things together. This is philia. \nThe Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the word agape\, and agape is more than eros. Agape is more than philia. Agape is something of the understanding\, creative\, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level\, you begin to love men\, not because they are likeable\, but because God loves them. You look at every man\, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person you’ve ever seen. \nAnd this is what Jesus means\, I think\, in this very passage when he says\, “Love your enemy.” And it’s significant that he does not say\, “Like your enemy.” Like is a sentimental something\, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding\, redemptive goodwill for all men\, so that you love everybody\, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual\, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed\, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says\, “Love your enemy.” This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy\, you must not do it. \nNow for the few moments left\, let us move from the practical how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies\, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies\, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking\, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on\, you see\, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense\, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate\, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate\, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love. \nI think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga\, Tennessee\, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly\, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: “I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights\, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power.” And I looked at him right quick and said: “Oh no\, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway\, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway.” \nSomebody must have sense enough to dim the lights\, and that is the trouble\, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history\, so many civilizations\, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights\, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up\, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction. It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights.8 And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world\, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force\, hate begets hate\, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral\, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love. \nThere’s another reason why you should love your enemies\, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic\, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody\, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates\, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful\, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates\, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates\, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates\, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. And this is why Jesus says hate [does damage to the self]… [Recording interrupted.] \n…The way to be integrated with yourself\, and the way to be integrated with yourself is be sure that you meet every situation of life with an abounding love. Never hate\, because it ends up in tragic\, neurotic responses. 9Psychologists and psychiatrists are telling us today that the more we hate\, the more we develop guilt feelings and we begin to subconsciously repress or consciously suppress certain emotions\, and they all stack up in our subconscious selves and make for tragic\, neurotic responses. And may this not be the neuroses of many individuals as they confront life that that is an element of hate there. And modern psychology is calling on us now to love. But long before modern psychology came into being\, the world’s greatest psychologist who walked around the hills of Galilee told us to love. He looked at men and said: “Love your enemies; don’t hate anybody.” It’s not enough for us to hate your friends because—to to love your friends—because when you start hating anybody\, it destroys the very center of your creative response to life and the universe; so love everybody. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life. So Jesus says love\, because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated. \nNow there is a final reason I think that Jesus says\, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says\, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate your enemies\, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies\, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them\, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor\, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them\, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh\, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings\, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period\, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love\, you see. It is redemptive\, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So\, love your enemies. \nI think of one of the best examples of this. We all remember the great president of this United States\, Abraham Lincoln—these United States rather. You remember when Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States\, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln\, a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks\, saying\, “You don’t want a tall\, lanky\, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States.” He went on and on and on and went around with that type of attitude and wrote about it. Finally\, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. And if you read the great biography of Lincoln\, if you read the great works about him\, you will discover that as every president comes to the point\, he came to the point of having to choose a Cabinet.10 And then came the time for him to choose a Secretary of War. He looked across the nation\, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact\, they said to him: “Mr. Lincoln\, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. [Edwin M.] Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he has done\, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that\, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?” Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors around him and said: “Oh yes\, I know about it. I read about it. I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country\, I find that he is the best man for the job.” \nMr. Stanton did become Secretary of War\, and…later\, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington\, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made by\, about Abraham Lincoln was made about this man Stanton. And as Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life\, Stanton stood up and said: “Now he belongs to the ages.” And he made a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of this man. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton\, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said\, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln\, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton. \nThat’s it. There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago\, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says\, “This isn’t the way.” \nAnd oh this morning\, as I think of the fact that our world is in transition now. Our whole world is facing a revolution. Our nation is facing a revolution\, our nation. One of the things that concerns me most is that in the midst of the revolution of the world and the midst of the revolution of this nation\, that we will discover the meaning of Jesus’ words.  \nHistory unfortunately leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors. And there are three ways that individuals who are oppressed can deal with their oppression. One of them is to rise up against their oppressors with physical violence and corroding hatred. But oh this isn’t the way. For the danger and the weakness of this method is its futility. Violence creates many more social problems than it solves. And I’ve said\, in so many instances\, that as the Negro\, in particular\, and colored peoples all over the world struggle for freedom\, if they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle\, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness\, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Violence isn’t the way. \nAnother way is to acquiesce and to give in\, to resign yourself to the oppression. Some people do that. They discover the difficulties of the wilderness moving into the promised land\, and they would rather go back to the despots of Egypt because it’s difficult to get in the promised land. And so they resign themselves to the fate of oppression; they somehow acquiesce to this thing. But that too isn’t the way because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. \nBut there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations\, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love\, the power\, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way. Jesus discovered that. \nNot only did Jesus discover it\, even great military leaders discover that. One day as Napoleon came toward the end of his career and looked back across the years\, the great Napoleon that at a very early age had all but conquered the world. He was not stopped until he became\, till he moved out to the battle of Leipzig and then to Waterloo. But that same Napoleon one day stood back and looked across the years\, and said: “Alexander\, Caesar\, Charlemagne\, and I have built great empires. But upon what did they depend? They depended upon force. But long ago Jesus started an empire that depended on love\, and even to this day millions will die for him.” \nYes\, I can see Jesus walking around the hills and the valleys of Palestine. And I can see him looking out at the Roman Empire with all of her fascinating and intricate military machinery. But in the midst of that\, I can hear him saying: “I will not use this method. Neither will I hate the Roman Empire.” [Recording interrupted.] \nAnd I’m proud to stand here in Dexter this morning and say that that army is still marching. It grew up from a group of eleven or twelve men to more than seven hundred million today. Because of the power and influence of the personality of this Christ\, he was able to split history into A.D. and B.C. Because of his power\, he was able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. And all around the world this morning\, we can hear the glad echo of heaven ring:  \n  \nJesus shall reign wherever sun  \nDoes his successive journeys run;  \nHis kingdom spreads from shore to shore\,  \nTill moon shall wane and wax no more. \n  \nWe can hear another chorus singing: “All hail the power of Jesus name!” \nWe can hear another chorus singing: “Hallelujah\, hallelujah! He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah\, hallelujah!” \n  \nWe can hear another choir singing:  \nIn Christ there is no East or West.  \nIn Him no North or South\,  \nBut one great Fellowship of Love  \nThroughout the whole wide world.  \n  \nThis is the only way. \nAnd our civilization must discover that. Individuals must discover that as they deal with other individuals. There is a little tree planted on a little hill and on that tree hangs the most influential character that ever came in this world. But never feel that that tree is a meaningless drama that took place on the stages of history. Oh no\, it is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity\, and see the love of God breaking forth into time. It is an eternal reminder to a power-drunk generation that love is the only way. It is an eternal reminder to a generation depending on nuclear and atomic energy\, a generation depending on physical violence\, that love is the only creative\, redemptive\, transforming power in the universe. \nSo this morning\, as I look into your eyes\, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world\, I say to you\, “I love you. I would rather die than hate you.” And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere\, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies\, to bless those persons that cursed us\, to even decide to be good to those persons who hated us\, and we even prayed for those persons who despitefully used us. \nOh God\, help us in our lives and in all of our attitudes\, to work out this controlling force of love\, this controlling power that can solve every problem that we confront in all areas. Oh\, we talk about politics; we talk about the problems facing our atomic civilization. Grant that all men will come together and discover that as we solve the crisis and solve these problems—the international problems\, the problems of atomic energy\, the problems of nuclear energy\, and yes\, even the race problem—let us join together in a great fellowship of love and bow down at the feet of Jesus. Give us this strong determination. In the name and spirit of this Christ\, we pray. Amen. \n  \nSermon Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church\, Montgomery\, Alabama\, November 17\, 1957 \n* \n  \nBy some miracle\, someone recorded this thrilling moment at the birth of the modern Civil Rights Movement\, four days after the arrest of Rosa Parks. Here’s a link to an audio recording (with text) of King’s “Address to the First Montgomery Improvement Association Mass Meeting” at the Holt Street Baptist Church\, on December 5\, 1955: \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGtp7kCi_LA&t=53s \n  \nAnd here’s a link to a video of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech\, given in Washington D.C. on August 28\, 1963: \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs \n  \npeace\, love & justice \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-1-21-21/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210131T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210131T170000
DTSTAMP:20260503T094819
CREATED:20210118T205626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210130T172304Z
UID:1715-1612105200-1612112400@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!: Identity & Mythos--The Stories We Tell Ourselves
DESCRIPTION:Don Quixote by Gustave Doré \n  \nOn Sunday\, January 31\, at 3 pm (PST)\, the theme for our Bibliophiles Unanimous! Zoom gathering will be Identity & Mythos: The Stories We Tell Ourselves. Here’s the link: \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81054571039 \n  \nI’m using the word “identity” to refer to the stories we tell ourselves about who we are\, and “mythos” to refer to the stories we tell ourselves about the world in which we live. \nWhere do our stories come from? How are we\, individually and collectively\, shaped by our stories? Can stories hurt us? Help us? \nLots to talk about!  \nI hope you’ll join the conversation! \npeace & love \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-identity-mythos-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves/
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