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SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  7/15/21
DESCRIPTION:  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \n July 15\, 2021 \n  \nRhyming With Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \n1 \nOnce upon a cloudy day \na wandering poet lost his way \na busy yard-sale he passed by \ndrew him back\, he wondered why \nBrowsing through a battered trunk \nhe found a book by a Buddhist monk \nThich Nhat Hanh was the writer’s name \ninterconnection\, his basic game \nthe young man skimmed in search of clues \na garden of thoughts\, so many to choose \nthe path being offered was simple but steep \nand spelling that name\, a Grand Canyon leap \nmost daunting of all was rhyming that name \nfor a poet\, perhaps\, the ultimate shame \nsuddenly hungry and ready to roam \nhe put down the book and started for home \nWhen he got to the sidewalk the poet could tell \nhis sense of direction was not doing well \nthe sun was now setting\, the clouds darker gray \nit was not a good time to be losing his way \na man from the yard sale saw his distress \nand showed him a bus that would pass his address \nslumped in a seat as the bus took him home \nhe feared he might never again write a poem \nthen he thought of the book that he found in the trunk \nand wished he had spent more time with the monk \nThat night the poet fell into a dream \nthe moon deep blue\, the sky rich cream \na brindle cat\, in a bare black oak \nwas playing a fiddle with a lively stroke \nin a dark red vest and odd shaped hat \nhe swayed as he fiddled on the limb where he sat \nabove the tree\, in the cream colored sky \napproaching the moon\, was a cow who could fly \nA gasp escaped from the poet’s throat \nthe music stopped on a jagged note \nthe soaring bovine paused mid-air \nthe fiddling cat conjured a glare \n  \n2 \nWhat is your problem\, poetry man? \nDid something happen that’s not in your plan’? \nAs the poet described his rhyming confusion \nThe cat cut in with a crisp conclusion \nYou can’t find a rhyme for Thich Nhat Hanh? \nPoetry man\, you’re putting me on \nBy now the cow had cleared the moon \nand sang a sympathetic tune \nEasy\, cat\, he’s flesh and bone \nhe thinks\, in life\, he’s all alone \nwith broken compass and hobbled rhyme \nhis sails are empty on the sea of time \nThe cat tipped back his pork pie hat \nwith stingy brim and crown so flat \nOf course you’re right\, dear nimble cow \nhe’s everywhere but here and now \nrhyme adds power to a tale \nlike the gust of wind that fills a sail \nand rhymes add balance but aren’t essential \nto celebrate this world’s potential \nThich Nhat Hanh has an open vision \nhe honors the world’s unseen precision \nfor example\, in a sheet of paper \nhe sees a cloud of water vapor \nwithout rain there’d be no trees \nno trees\, no paper\, if you please \nAs the cow was gliding back to earth \nthe poet admired her supple girth \nshe wasn’t slender\, nor even trim \nbut she moved with ease and bovine vim \nher coat light brown\, with islands white \nthe streak on her forehead\, a comet in flight \ntouching down near the big black oak \nshe flicked her tail and again she spoke \nThat sheet of paper is a fine example \nof endless connections we might sample \nlook more closely and straightaway \nyou’ll see the sunshine of the day \n  \n3 \nwith no sunshine\, we all know\, \nthere’s no way a tree can grow \nso in this simple paper sheet \nrain and sun and tree all meet \nThe cat chimed in so calm and cool \nlike he was sunning by a pool \nAs we savor these connections \nwe open out in all directions \nand though the parts may seem diverse: \nthe earth\, the stars\, the universe \neverything that we perceive \nis in the universal weave \nLike a water lily in the sun \nglowing\, growing\, we are one \nThe poet smiled\, for he could see \nthat lily floating full and free \nhe took a breath\, he heard a cough \nhis darned alarm was going off \nHe hit the snooze and tried to think \nhis brain a frozen skating rink \ngone the guiding conversation \noozing back\, the deep frustration \nno words of cat or even cow \nto keep him in the here and now \nand still no rhyme for Thich Nhat Hanh \nhow could a poet carry on? \nBut . . . something has been gently changed \nhis rhyming pathway rearranged \nthe porkpie cat and comet cow  \nhave clarified his course somehow \nand though they live inside a dream \nthe gifts they offer flow downstream \nwith new connections comes a dawn \nrevealing rhymes with Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \n—Nick Eldredge\, 2020 \nnickeld109@gmail.com \n* \n  \nHere are some excerpts from Michel’s meditation journal. The numbers refer to meditations in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book\, Your True Home: \n  \nJune 14\, 2021  #143  Everyone Smiles \n  \nIt’s a lovely sentiment\, one I hope can be true. It’s a Butterfly Effect moment: “Smile and the whole world smiles with you.” Or\, so it’s been said. There are times when smiling is just damn hard to do. Or\, I just don’t wanna do it! But\, a truth is that if I smile—shake myself up a little and struggle through my pain\, to smile from my toes—others will smile back \, genuinely happy to be see and be seen. We can alter our minds’ courses\, as well as our emotional states. Smiling is one of the positive ways. So\, if you see someone smiling\, look at him or her—(wonder to yourself: what’s going on?)—and\, while making eye contact\, share in their smile. And\, when you find one who has no smile of his or her own\, again\, looking deeply at them\, smile your warmest\, most compassionate\, well-wishing smile. (It’s instinctive to smile back to a genuine smile.) It’s hard not to chortle and smile as I write these thoughts of smiling\, sharing smiles\, and just being happy. It’s a choice each of us is allowed to make. Doing so makes the world better\, even for a brief painful moment\, just for the price of one simple\, genuine\, loving\, compassionate smile shared\, intentionally or not\, with the world around. (It makes everyone look better!) \n* \n  \nJune 20\, 2021  #149  When Strong Emotions Arise  —  Happy Father’s Day! \n  \nI can really use this one; last night I was racked with deep grief as I have never felt grief or sadness before. I still haven’t a clue as to why. It just came over me as I began my evening prayer service\, and caused deep overwhelming sadness. It lasted for minutes. An eternity that might not end\, I thought. I knew I didn’t want to stop it\, but breathe through the experience. At the same time I found judgement about self-indulgence—how protracted grief can be self-indulgent. I don’t know\, but there it was—a self-induced indictment for “being” (acting) self-indulgent with an experience (and display?) of deep grief of unknown/undefined origin. \n  \nEventually\, a focus on the breath did calm the overwhelm. Even now I can sense this same sadness just below the surface of attention\, as if it rests just below my skin. I can’t bring it to surface just now\, yet I am aware of its presence as part of my being. I accept it as part of me and for reasons (deep past pain\, maybe?) unknown just now\, I don’t know its origin or cause. Maybe I’ll experience it again\, or not. When I do “feel” it again I can rest with it\, breathe and release a need to define or judge it. \n  \nIf I attempt to resist\, restrain\, or even fight back the tears\, I’ll only end up suffering a worse mess than if I allow the sensations to run their course through this body. I hope to have enough presence of mind to relax and observe what is coming up\, as I also focus on breathing. I can allow curiosity\, yet I’ll not want to push too hard or the critical self will arise and condemn\, adding to the grief and suffering\, instead of allowing it to be what it is\, and (eventually) to reveal its source and originating cause—it could be related to childhood traumas\, grief for lost innocence\, or time lost from not bonding with my father (who may not live to see my scheduled release date: he’s 85 now.) \n  \nWhat will matter is how I do/don’t allow myself and the body to experience these feelings\, sensations\, emotions when they arise again. If I fight\, it will only be more powerful the next time\, with the added sensations of the self-battle for restraint and any new emotions about that strong feeling arising. By fighting it\, instead of letting it be\, I see that I create a past-future tether which pulls at me to not be in the now. It prevents the strength and healing needed to allow this to arise again and for me to just be with myself as it happens\, allowing the senses to be part of my now—breathing “quietly\,” “calmly”—looking with compassionate curiosity at what came up\, not needing to define or judge\, but just to be. \n* \n  \nJune 21\, 2021  #148  Fearless Bodhisattvas \n  \nIt would be nice to be “fearless.” I guess once I transcend attachment and aversion I can be a help to others on their journey out of suffering. It’s next-level stuff\, as some may say. To me it seems important to keep this suffering of others in mind\, not to take it on\, but\, maybe\, to join them under their burden and in doing so lighten their suffering\, even for a moment\, so they can get a glimpse of Reality as it is. Maybe not. It could mean something totally different. \n* \n  \nJune 22\, 2021  #150  The Arhat \n  \nFinally! Recognition for doing “nothing.” I find it very easy\, even in here\, to get caught up with being busy\, doing stuff—it’s important\, mind you\, just ask and when I have the time I’ll let you know how busy I am with all of my importance. I find it sad that\, as a culture\, we value packing and cramming each and every moment of a day with stuff. Sure it’s important\, and we want to make the most of the few moments we have left. But\, wouldn’t it be nice to breathe\, relax and just enjoy each moment as it passes before us—instead of working and struggling to “do”—and make the most of a moment we can’t get back. And then\, suffering for not enjoying the moment more fully. I find it scary how familiar this sounds to me. \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \n                       Song Sparrow \n                    Melospiza melodia \n  \nThicket hidden\, choir of one\, message invisible  \nsent to pierce my invisible spirit\, how do you  \nknow me so well to tune your secrets to my own? \n  \nDenizen of thorn and shadow\, you yet sing  \nsilver clear\, flit\, flurry\, and disappear\, \nleaving your psalms in me. \n  \nThis ministry\, gospel of the good by hint  \nand revelation\, begins in your breath to fill  \nthe sky\, unruly syllables of song salvation. \n  \nSparrow\, let our bargain be: You remind me  \nof the covenant between wild and human life\, \nand your thicket I will defend. \n* \n  \n    Midrash on a Sacred Encounter \n  \nWhen the little ones gathered at my feet \nthey couldn’t stop laughing every time \nI spoke a poem\, as if they were wild birds \nand I scattered seed for their singing and singing\, \nsinging back to my songs and stories\, and they  \nfed me questions as old as psalms: How long  \ndoes it take to write a poem… what’s the longest  \npoem… who taught you poems… what’s  \nthe oldest poem… what’s oldest  \ninside a poem…what is a poem  \nand what is not? \n  \nThen they laughed and clapped \nand I bowed and felt blessed \nand we went out into sunlight \nand all went forth to heal the world. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nTo love is the greatest thing in life; it is very important to talk about love\, to feel it\, to nourish it\, to treasure it\, otherwise it will be dissipated\, for the world is very brutal. If while you are young you don’t feel love\, if you don’t look with love at people\, at animals\, at flowers\, when you grow up you find that your life is empty; you will be very lonely\, and the dark shadows of fear will follow you always. But the moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth\, the delight\, the ecstasy of it\, you will discover that for you the world is transformed. \n  \nKatie Radditz sent this quote from J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) \n* \n  \nThe state of wordlessness can be elusive. When we talk about it\, we use words. Try this baby meditation and see what happens. Imagine that you are a baby\, newly arrived on Planet Earth. You look around. You have no words for anything. Nothing you see has a name. You don’t know words like “meditation\,” “mindfulness\,” “breath\,” “thought\,” “present\,” or “moment.” You don’t know who you are. You have no name. You don’t have any regrets. You don’t have any plans for the future. You don’t have any problems. You don’t know what’s going on—but it’s extremely interesting! \n  \n(Typing this dialogue up at a coffee shop\, just now my the nonstop love-in baseball cap elicited this question from a guy: “Where is it?” To which I replied: “It’s here. It’s now. It’s everywhere and always.”) \n  \nIf you are a reader of the Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, please consider submitting something in time for the August issue\, which comes out on August 15th. August 17th is my 70th birthday. You could do it as  your birthday present to me. It would make me happy. \n  \n  \nMay all people be happy. \nMay we live in peace and love. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-7-15-21/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210722
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210805
DTSTAMP:20260427T144159
CREATED:20210722T194118Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T124120Z
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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  7/22/21
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \n  \nTHE ART OF HAPPINESS \n  \nJuly 22\, 2021 \n  \nThis is a TEDx talk by Slava Polunin:  \n  \nI was asked one day\, “Are you happy?” I needed to think\, to sit and reflect\, and I figured\, actually\, I’ve been happy for all my life\, without breaks\, just happiness from morning till night\, all day long\, without days off or holidays. Nothing but happiness. Why? How is that possible? How could that happen? I did not do anything for it\, I did not want anything for it. Just felt happy\, and that was it. So I started analyzing. For so many centuries\, mankind\, smart people with briefcases and ties\, have been thinking\, reckoning\, telling everybody to go here\, go there\, this way to happiness\, that way to happiness\, but they don’t succeed.  \n  \nSo I figured\, the smart have failed. And I thought\, we need to establish an alternative\, an International Fools Academy. I founded that Academy and appointed myself its irreplaceable president. So\, for some 20-30 years I’ve been the President of the World Fools Academy. Our members are the biggest fools\, idiots who are somehow always happy. There is just no way to change it; whatever you do\, they just remain happy\, there’s no way of beating that happiness out of them. Do not think that they are dimwits with no family\, no kids\, no problems\, no tragedies—they have everything like everyone else. But such a person enters a room and everything is lit up with sunlight\, they kind of radiate it\, making everybody drop whatever they’re doing and rush after happiness\, towards happiness. And it’s with those people I now create all kinds of organizations.  \n  \nI figured there is only one way: you have to create small\, tiny oases. I realized that I won’t change the world anyway\, so take just a tiny space\, three meters\, and in those three meters make sure that everything exists in harmony\, in happiness\, in joy—that was my dream. So I created first one theater\, then a second theater\, then a third one. Later some other organizations\, all different and very cute. And everywhere I strove to create just one thing—a harmony in a tiny space\, and then try to expand that harmony with all my might\, to push its walls as far as possible. Sometimes I succeed quite okay\, sometimes not so much\, but this formula—create harmony around you and then try to expand it as far as you can—it works perfectly. And so\, as I am always in the middle\, I’m always happy\, I’m in harmony\, always among my friends\, and always full of joy. \n  \nSo\, what are the signs of happiness? I’ll try to sound like a scientist now. (Laughter) We sat and thought for a long time: what are the signs of happiness? How do you recognize it? It turned out to be simple—whistling. As soon as you start whistling\, no doubt you’re happy. So\, the first sign of happiness is whistling\, the second is singing\, the third one is bouncing. So\, you walk…(Bounces across the stage) (Laughter) (Applause) Those are indisputable signs proven by centuries\, decades\, by thousands of people and by myself.  \n  \nNow\, how do you reach that happiness? There are probably as many different kinds of happiness as there are people. There are so many possibilities of happiness\, so many varieties. And it is hard to tell them apart: one is vibrant energy\, that’s happiness; another just sat down—and he’s zen\, happy already. Not everybody needs it all. Some people need some things\, so they have different ways to get there. My scheme is very simple: while you create\, you are happy. What does “create” mean? It means you’re getting closer to yourself. The act of creating is an ideal ignition key. Just switch on creativity\, and you’re already happy. My creativity scheme is simple: if people around me feel joy\, if they feel happy\, that’s when my happiness begins. So\, you start that engine\, they get in\, you join them\, and everything is fine. So\, only do the stuff you’re getting a kick out of. (Applause) It cannot be simpler: if you’re always doing what you get a kick out of\, it works like a charm; follow that rule\, and everything will be all right. Do it only together with those you want to hug. (Applause) Because everything lights up around them and near them. I collect those\, I have this collection of happy joyful people\, in one group\, in another group\, in the third one. I have no other. Don’t let cynics or whiners in. Period. A separate section for cynics\, another one for whiners\, and a separate one for the happy ones. (Laughter) I will tell you\, they will envy you and run over to your side. No need to teach anyone\, they will want it themselves.  \n  \nAlong the same lines\, at “Melnitsa” we have a week long immersion in happiness where the first thing is to transform yourself\, your hair\, which I don’t have\, of course\, but those who do\, transform it\, and I can transform my beard like that\, or put curls in it. Transform yourself\, change your clothes\, if you wore grey\, try on green\, and the other way around\, it’s a kick toward you expanding your world\, you start crawling out of your own self. First into your hair\, then into your suit\, then into the room\, into your friends\, then out into your village\, and into your city. It’s important\, once you understood what you are all about\, it’s important to fill as much space as possible with this. Kind of reveal yourself\, fulfill yourself.  \n  \nSo\, what is that creativity that makes everyone happy for some reason? For me\, there are about three or four main things. It’s a game: try and do everything you usually did seriously\, try to play at it. In fact\, it is quite an amazing thing! When I was signing a contract on Broadway for nine months\, (Laughter) it came to the point where I started freaking out\, taking medicine\, a doctor checked me up\, because I was panicking\, afraid that my favorite baby will get turned into some Broadway piece of crap. And then we realized: one more step and I’ll go nuts\, because everything I do I try to make it really perfect. That’s when I felt I couldn’t stand it any longer. So we realized it was time to play: one day we came in as punks\, next day we came in as those in ties\, the day after as somebody else\, and we negotiated while acting that way. And everything changed\, because it’s not me\, it’s him showing off. Everything became easy. If you apply this method of playful attitude toward life\, you distance yourself\, and life is there while you’re in a free fly and laughing at what happens\, and so on. Game is a great key for this story. \n  \nFantasy—they say\, “What a daydreamer!\,” so I thought\, where does creativity begin at all\, where do happiness and joy begin? All begins with fantasy\, not by thinking\, “Here’s life and here’s something weird\, some accompanying dreams\, fantasies\, and imagination\, hopes and so on\, all on the periphery\, while real life is here.” But in fact\, this is life\, and all that is something on its side\, it can never reach such a perfection. And your mission is to try to make this out of that. To try and make life as perfect as your fantasy. When you thought about something\, and it suddenly comes to life\, that miracle of such a joy and happiness cannot even be experienced any other way.  \n  \nWhen I was only trying to understand why I needed to perform\, why I’m out there\, what I’m doing there\, I realized that there is an expression “anima allegra\,” joyful soul. It might have come from the Greeks\, I think\, from somewhere there. Joyful soul. What is a joyful soul? That’s where we should remember about love. It is probably born out of falling in love with this world. That is\, if you’re in love with this world then the joy emerges\, because there’s a harmony: great person here and great person there\, and together you are a wonderful creature. Because things are tough when you’re not in love with the world. There might be some back doors\, but the straightest way is just to love the world.  \n  \nBut how can you love this world\, how can you get to love it at all? Only if you’re a child. Someone out there already said it\, looked like me with a different beard. But in order to love this world you need to remain a child. This is the best rule there is. What does it mean\, to be a child? What is it\, to be a child? (Looking at his note cards) Well\, it’s not written here. (Laughter) So\, what is it\, to be a child? Perhaps\, it is something like\, “Wow!” Yes\, definitely\, to be a child means to say every day: “Wow! Wow!” Because this is the definition\, this awe before this world through…(Child’s voice from the audience: “I’m a child!”)…Yay! (Slava laughs) (Applause) To be a child is to get surprised\, every day get surprised by everything. “What is this? Why is that? How is it here? I want it\, too!” And so\, in everything: to touch\, “Ah\, why\, what are you doing?” To get yourself into everything\, participate in everything\, in spite of everything\, because this is what it is\, the state of “Wow!” I don’t know\, I love it when all that stops and this boost of life starts\, when you’re no longer reacting\, no longer controlling\, cannot comprehend anything\, just doing something not knowing why\, or what for\, and so on. Usually\, joy has no reason. The real joy has no reason\, it just occurs because life is good. That’s why it is here\, the main joy occurs in this place. All other joys help a little\, but the main joy occurs in here. \n  \nMarcel Marceau told me once—I learned from many: sometimes I went to Raikin\, sometimes to Marcel Marceau\, I used to attach myself to someone and hang there\, carrying bags—(Laughter) and he said\, “You need to learn only from the great.” I was like\, “Oh\, that’s very important\, what an important thought\, I need to act upon it\, whom else should I follow?” Now I understand that there’s no need to follow anyone. It turned out that our greatest teachers are our children. So\, I follow my granddaughters nonstop now. (Applause) How on earth do they manage to be happy and joyful all the time? A little bit (Makes frustration noises) and life’s awesome again. (Laughter) Really\, I’m studying\, trying to see how. Still remains a mystery to me. I’m following and recording them\, their actions\, trying to repeat everything but nothing works that way they can make it work. \n  \nThen\, the fools in our Academy have a lot of rules which we follow and which work very well. Do not write down a list of problems. What do you need them for? Why do you need such a list? Why do you need the news? Why do you need the TV? All of it is really unnecessary\, why on earth get interested in it? (Applause) Write down every tiny achievement\, the tiniest success\, write it all down\, underline\, make a total of everyday results. Accumulate the joyful and the beautiful. That’s why in our theater everything is very simple: a show ends\, I go backstage and everybody is like\, “Well?\,” because they all know that they won’t hear a single negative word from me. Try all you want\, I will go on\, “Again wonderful! I can’t believe you always manage to perform that well!” (Laughter) (Applause)  \n  \nTurn the mundane into festive and fantastic. Run—there is a word for it—away from a dull life into the middle of something… Never mind. In short\, don’t “dull-shit” your life. (Laughter) (Applause) Why is everybody in grey\, anyway? Put on some colors! And so turn every minute of your life into something colorful\, joyous\, awesome and amazing. I have it all separated in my library: here is all the comical stuff\, there is all the absurd\, fantastic. For me\, those always go together\, because the fantastic and the absurd both lead to the other side of the planet\, to the other side of life really—might not even be on Earth\, but somewhere in the universe. These two things give us some kind of a fantastic balance\, when clashing the joyous and the fantastic create such a vision of the world that makes you shiver\, gives you goosebumps. (Looks at his arm) “Again\, goosebumps!”  \n  \nSo\, fantastic\, festive\, and mundane—blah\, blah\, blah—Got it! There is this man in the history of theater\, Meyerhold\, who said\, “If you want to be there\, stretch the leg out there\, because in order to get there you need to have balance.” It is hard to find a more thorough person on earth. And it’s me. It is even harder to find a more careless person. And it’s also me. So\, I’m starting s huge project\, and in the middle of it\, “Ah!” (starts to walk offstage) because I already imagined how it’s going to end. And then there is thoroughness: until each little hair is not bent to one side\, until my show doesn’t smell with exactly the right color\, until all of it comes to a place\, I cannot fully enjoy the whole thing. So\, everything is produced out of these opposite things. You need to be a completely reckless and headless doofus\, and at the same time you need to methodically and thoroughly go through every millimeter of what you’re doing. Then forget about that altogether\, and it’ll flow out in an unexpected way. And if you don’t preserve that balance\, your whole beautiful thing will fall. Or that other very costly thing—it will also fall. That is\, those things can only work when you keep both sides at the same time in harmony. Once you shift a little\, “Let’s increase the ticket price\,”—ah\, (starts to fall sideways) or you shift like\, “Let’s don’t give a damn about that and just fly free.” (gestures falling from the sky) So\, a shift to either side….only balance on the edge\, on the edge. (walks a tightrope)  \n  \nI always said\, “Only do the impossible. Because all the rest will be done by others.” (Applause) It’s true. When you put a star at the very horizon\, and then crawl to it\, swim in mud\, and all the time you feel that beauty that shines upon you. So\, when you aspire to the impossible and it comes true in the end\, you understand\, that’s what you were doing all that for. Then there is no longer mud\, nor a deep river\, or whatever.  \n  \nAnd here goes the opposite: “But always value what you have.” So\, if you don’t plan to land in a mental institution\, or even worse than that\, there is only one way—balance again. Always aspire to the infinite\, and always love every moment of what you have. If you find yourself in a small room\, not even yours\, rented\, temporary\, it’s good that you have that place\, quiet\, warm\, where no one bothers you. It gets expanded—you get a garage—okay\, I’ll make a theater in a garage\, it has a cold draft\, no problem. It means you keep those two things balanced every time anyway\, and if you stop keeping that balance between the ideal and what you’ve got\, which is good fortune\, luck\, indeed\, what have you done to deserve it all? Just like that\, doofus\, you’ve got things people only dream about all their lives.  \n  \nFeet in the water: this is yet another great rule. Feet in the water. What does it mean? Every 12 years I need to change my occupation. It means that every 12 years I stop the train and say\, “Thanks. Bye!” And I see where I want to go next. For that you need to get your feet in the water\, sit for a month\, and figure out: what is it you seek most\, why do you want to do it\, what do you need it for\, whether you need it in the first place. Don’t you ever keep living on auto-pilot\, never. Fear the most automatic repetition of what you already saw\, know\, and have no interest in. Break free—but you can crash big time\, this is the biggest problem. Not everyone has the courage. Do you know where courage comes from? If you tried something a hundred times\, then you know how tough your courage is. So\, you need to try more\, the more you try\, the more you know\, whether it’s worth getting out of or better to endure. \n  \nHooooh!: the last one! (cue card) Create your life the way you create a piece of art. This is the only way to love it. Create your life the way you create a piece of art. Embrace this attitude toward your every step\, your every encounter\, toward every day of your life. \n  \nThank you. \n  \n(Translated from the Russian by Yulia Kallistratova) \n  \nHere’s a link to this talk: \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LxwbPFLUHY \n  \nMay all beings be happy!
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-7-22-21/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210805
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210819
DTSTAMP:20260427T144159
CREATED:20210806T205130Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T124300Z
UID:2300-1628121600-1629331199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  8/5/21
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nAugust 5\, 2021 \n  \nTHE THREE QUESTIONS \n  \nIt once occurred to a certain king that if he always knew the right time to begin everything; if he knew who were the right people to listen to\, and whom to avoid; and\, above all\, if he always knew what was the most important thing to do\, he would never fail in anything he might undertake. \n  \nAnd this thought having occurred to him\, he had it proclaimed throughout his kingdom that he would give a great reward to anyone who would teach him what was the right time for every action\, and who were the most necessary people\, and how he might know what was the most important thing to do. \n  \nAnd learned men came to the king\, but they all answered his questions differently. \n  \nIn reply to the first question\, some said that to know the right time for every action\, one must draw up in advance a table of days\, months\, and years\, and must live strictly according to it. Only thus\, said they\, could everything be done at its proper time. Others declared that it was impossible to decide beforehand the right time for every action\, but that\, not letting oneself be absorbed in idle pastimes\, one should always attend to all that was going on\, and then do what was most needful. Others\, again\, said that however attentive the king might be to what was going on\, it was impossible for one man to decide correctly the right time for every action\, but that he should have a council of wise men who would help him to fix the proper time for everything. \n  \nBut then again others said there were some things which could not wait to be laid before a council\, but about which one had at once to decide whether to undertake them or not. But in order to decide that\, one must know beforehand what was going to happen. It is only magicians who know that; and\, therefore\, in order to know the right time for every action\, one must consult magicians. \n  \nEqually various were the answers to the second question. Some said the people the king most needed were his councilors; others\, the priests; others\, the doctors; while some said the warriors were the most necessary. \n  \nTo the third question\, as to what was the most important occupation\, some replied that the most important thing in the world was science. Others said it was skill in warfare; and others\, again\, that it was religious worship. \n  \nAll the answers being different\, the king agreed with none of them\, and gave the reward to none. But still wishing to find the right answers to his questions\, he decided to consult a hermit\, widely renowned for his wisdom. \n  \nThe hermit lived in a wood which he never quitted\, and he received none but common folk. So the king put on simple clothes and\, before reaching the hermit’s cell\, dismounted from his horse. Leaving his bodyguard behind\, he went on alone. \n  \nWhen the king approached\, the hermit was digging the ground in front of his hut. Seeing the king\, he greeted him and went on digging. The hermit was frail and weak\, and each time he stuck his spade into the ground and turned a little earth\, he breathed heavily. \n  \nThe king went up to him and said: “I have come to you\, wise hermit\, to ask you to answer three questions: How can I learn to do the right thing at the right time? Who are the people I most need\, and to whom should I\, therefore\, pay more attention than to the rest? And\, what affairs are the most important and need my first attention?” \n  \nThe hermit listened to the king\, but answered nothing. He just spat on his hand and recommenced digging. \n  \n“You are tired\,” said the king\, “let me take the spade and work awhile for you.” \n  \n“Thanks!” said the hermit\, and\, giving the spade to the king\, he sat down on the ground. \n  \nWhen he had dug two beds\, the king stopped and repeated his questions. The hermit again gave no answer\, but rose\, stretched out his hand for the spade\, and said: \n  \n“Now rest awhile – and let me work a bit.” \n  \nBut the king did not give him the spade\, and continued to dig. One hour passed\, and another. The sun began to sink behind the trees\, and the king at last stuck the spade into the ground\, and said: \n  \n“I came to you\, wise man\, for an answer to my questions. If you can give me none\, tell me so\, and I will return home.” \n  \n“Here comes someone running\,” said the hermit. “Let us see who it is.” \n  \nThe king turned round and saw a bearded man come running out of the wood. The man held his hands pressed against his stomach\, and blood was flowing from under them. When he reached the king\, he fell fainting on the ground\, moaning feebly. The king and the hermit unfastened the man’s clothing. There was a large wound in his stomach. The king washed it as best he could\, and bandaged it with his handkerchief and with a towel the hermit had. But the blood would not stop flowing\, and the king again and again removed the bandage soaked with warm blood\, and washed and re-bandaged the wound. When at last the blood ceased flowing\, the man revived and asked for something to drink. The king brought fresh water and gave it to him. Meanwhile the sun had set\, and it had become cool. So the king\, with the hermit’s help\, carried the wounded man into the hut and laid him on the bed. Lying on the bed\, the man closed his eyes and was quiet; but the king was so tired from his walk and from the work he had done that he crouched down on the threshold\, and also fell asleep – so soundly that he slept all through the short summer night. \n  \nWhen he awoke in the morning\, it was long before he could remember where he was\, or who was the strange bearded man lying on the bed and gazing intently at him with shining eyes. \n  \n“Forgive me!” said the bearded man in a weak voice\, when he saw that the king was awake and was looking at him. \n  \n“I do not know you\, and have nothing to forgive you for\,” said the king. \n  \n“You do not know me\, but I know you. I am that enemy of yours who swore to revenge himself on you\, because you executed his brother and seized his property. I knew you had gone alone to see the hermit\, and I resolved to kill you on your way back. But the day passed and you did not return. So I came out from my ambush to find you\, and came upon your bodyguard\, and they recognized me\, and wounded me. I escaped from them\, but should have bled to death had you not dressed my wound. I wished to kill you\, and you have saved my life. Now\, if I live\, and if you wish it\, I will serve you as your most faithful slave\, and will bid my sons do the same. Forgive me!” \n  \nThe king was very glad to have made peace with his enemy so easily\, and to have gained him for a friend\, and he not only forgave him\, but said he would send his servants and his own physician to attend him\, and promised to restore his property. \n  \nHaving taken leave of the wounded man\, the king went out into the porch and looked around for the hermit. Before going away he wished once more to beg an answer to the questions he had put. The hermit was outside\, on his knees\, sowing seeds in the beds that had been dug the day before. \n  \nThe king approached him and said\, “For the last time\, I pray you to answer my questions\, wise man.” \n  \n“You have already been answered!” said the hermit\, still crouching on his thin legs\, and looking up at the king\, who stood before him. \n  \n“How answered? What do you mean?” asked the king. \n  \n“Do you not see?” replied the hermit. “If you had not pitied my weakness yesterday\, and had not dug these beds for me\, but had gone your way\, that man would have attacked you\, and you would have repented of not having stayed with me. So the most important time was when you were digging the beds; and I was the most important man; and to do me good was your most important business. Afterwards\, when that man ran to us\, the most important time was when you were attending to him\, for if you had not bound up his wounds he would have died without having made peace with you. So he was the most important man\, and what you did for him was your most important business. Remember then: there is only one time that is important – now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power. The most necessary person is the one with whom you are\, for no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with anyone else: and the most important affair is to do that person good\, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life.” \n  \n—Leo Tolstoy (translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude)
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-8-5-21/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210808T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210808T170000
DTSTAMP:20260427T144159
CREATED:20210807T215000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210807T215139Z
UID:2307-1628434800-1628442000@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!: Poetry Corner  8/8/21
DESCRIPTION:  \nBeloved Bibliophiles!  \n  \nPOETRY CORNER is our theme for our Zoom gathering on Sunday\, August 8\, at 3 pm (PDT). Here’s the link:  \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83135193074 \n  \nBring some of your favorite poems and read them to us!  \n  \npeace\, love & happiness   \nJohnny \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-poetry-corner-8-8-21/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210915
DTSTAMP:20260427T144159
CREATED:20210819T144318Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211130T003118Z
UID:2319-1628985600-1631663999@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  8/15/21
DESCRIPTION:photo by Abe Green \n  \n  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \n August 15\, 2021 \n  \nThe purpose of life is to know yourself\, love yourself\, trust yourself\, and be yourself. \n—tag on a Yogi Tea bag \n* \n  \n7/15/21 \n#222 A Very Naive Idea \n  \n“Many people aspire to go to a place where pain and suffering do not exist\, a place where there is only happiness. This is a rather dangerous idea\, for compassion is not possible without pain and suffering.” (from Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh) \n  \nWe don’t want to invite suffering\, but ideally we learn to welcome suffering when it enters our lives. If we live our lives fearfully avoiding suffering and pain\, we live a very limited existence. Living too carefully\, never risking pain\, failure\, unhappiness or loss cannot result in a full and fulfilling life. It results in a careful life; that is not enough for me. \n  \nSuffering bonds you to others in a deep\, rich\, long-lasting way. My first marriage of thirteen years was frightening\, abusive and dehumanizing\, and that is how I emerged. I still have scars\, but resilience and determination (and the specter of poverty) were more powerful motivators than continuing in a fearful\, cautious life. \n  \nThe gift of suffering was that I deeply\, instinctively care for others\, all others who suffer\, in any way\, not just in situations similar to mine. I have the three gifts that come from suffering: compassion\, understanding\, and love. That is the richness that comes from suffering. My heart is full. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \n(Ronni Lacroute sent this poem by Mary Oliver:) \n  \nMindful \n  \nEvery day \nI see or hear \nsomething \nthat more or less \n  \nkills me \nwith delight\, \nthat leaves me \nlike a needle \n  \nin the haystack \nof light. \nIt was what I was born for— \nto look\, to listen\, \n  \nto lose myself \ninside this soft world— \nto instruct myself \nover and over \n  \nin joy\, \nand acclamation. \nNor am I talking  \nabout the exceptional\, \n  \nthe fearful\, the dreadful\, \nthe very extravagant— \nbut of the ordinary\, \nthe common\, the very drab\, \n  \nthe daily presentations. \nOh\, good scholar\, \nI say to myself\, \nhow can you help \n  \nbut grow wise \nwith such teachings \nas these— \nthe untrimmable light \n  \nof the world\, \nthe ocean’s shine\, \nthe prayers that are made \nout of grass? \n  \n—Mary Oliver \n* \n  \n(These are some excerpts from Michel’s meditation journal. The numbers refer to Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Your True Home.) \n  \nJuly 4\, 2021  Independence Day \n  \n….Today is a day to celebrate freedom. Yet\, how many of us are truly FREE? I really wonder: Must one be trapped in a concrete cage\, behind locked doors\, shut away from the rest of the world and forgotten to become un-free? No. Freedom can be lost\, taken away\, and given away from and by anyone outside of prison or within the box. In fact\, I’m not thinking of a prison for the body\, but one created within a mind\, and a tyranny not from others\, or perpetuated by “others\,” but of one from a tyrant within… \n  \nMany are prisoners of the mind. Some are as of yet unaware of the plight they face. Some have lost their focus—mistaking a tyranny from within for an external enmity. Each of us has a mind. Do we feed it? Exercise it wisely? Take it out to play? to learn? to exercise\, face challenges as it grows?…. \n  \nJuly 8\, 2021   #159 A Healing Mantra \n  \nIf we share compassion through a positive gesture/action\, to express being fully present (mindful) we can uplift another from his or her pit of despair to find a stable footing from which to move forward. We may also need to say such things to our own self. When I’m down or struggling\, there isn’t always a bodhisattva nearby to offer compassionate words. I can be that supporter of myself simply through positive self-talk…. \n  \nJuly 15\, 2021  #166 A Real Friendship \n  \nMay I offer that in learning to love self and/or other\, the key is to see the line of separation vanish. I’ve heard\, “Love your neighbor as yourself\,” and struggled due to lack (I thought) of ability to love myself. Lately a thought is percolating that if I stop seeing you as separate and apart from me\, but begin to see our inter-connectedness\, or our inter-dependency\, then I can learn to demonstrate love to both (in different ways). \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \nHappy early 70th birthday! As my present to you\, I’ve written a poem in your honor: \n  \nAFTER \n  \nAnd you may find that you have nothing \nto say\, and that’s okay. The bird \n  \nyou pictured now because that’s the way \nthe brain works \n  \nand the concentric circles of its song— \nthey are always there. Jung defined \n  \nthe unconscious as everything \nyou have forgotten\, everything \n  \nyou’re not currently thinking about\, \nand everything you do not know. \n  \nThat narrows it down. \nSo the conscious mind is really \n  \nonly very little of what goes on— \nlike a lightbulb compared to the dawn. \n  \n—Alex Tretbar \n* \n  \nAugust 11\, 2021 \n  \nI’m turning 70 next Tuesday\, August 17th. It doesn’t seem possible! How did I get so old? It seems like just last week I was 19. What happened? \n  \nMaybe the reason getting older is bewildering is that our body ages\, but something inside us doesn’t. Whoever it is\, or whatever it is that looks out through my eyes—and even observes my thoughts!—hasn’t aged a bit! \n  \nI’m enjoying my human life on Earth! I didn’t make a plan. I’ve been meandering along like the half-wit third son in the fairy tales who somehow ends up with the princess\, thanks to help he got from a magic toad. (My dad once said to me: “John\, if anyone says you’re a wit\, they’d be half right.”) \n  \nI’ve been (and still am) very fortunate. (On another occasion\, my dad said: “John\, if you fell into a ditch\, you’d come up with the deed to the town.”) I suppose the greatest good fortune was that I got hefty amounts of love and encouragement when I was a little boy.  \n  \nWhen I got a little older\, instead of going to Vietnam to kill people\, I went to India to study meditation and mindfulness from wise yogis. That was lucky. \n  \nIt was my good fortune to come of age in the Hippie Era. Had I been born ten years earlier\, I might have become a beatnik! Hippies were into Peace & Love. That sounded good to me. Still does. Flower power! \n  \nFinding Nancy Scharbach was unexpected. More Good Fortune!  \n  \nAbout the same time we got together\, I wandered into a prison. I met a lot of lovely people there. We had long talks. We put on plays. We had great times together! I still have lots of friends in prison. We write to each other. I have friends who have graduated from prison\, who I can see on the outside. \n  \nI have lots of friends! If you’re reading this\, you are probably one of them. \n  \nI have much much more to be grateful for. Too much to try to describe here. And fresh blessings arrive every day\, without fail. I’m grateful that I feel grateful. I’m happy that I’m happy. I love loving and being loved. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \n                          Your Walden \n  \nFor some\, only sleep is the hut by moonlight\,  \nsleep the pond pure and still\, sleep the essential  \nrefuge for solitary rumination\, the secret escape \nfrom quiet desperations that each day crowd your breath\,  \ndim your vision\, narrow your hope. Others find a porch \nand sit\, composed\, or a tree to muse in shade\, or a hilltop\,  \nhigher than wires and roads\, to look far\, kindling the power  \nto simplify\, to transcend\, if only for a moment. \n  \nYou learned the hard way your soul is green and withers\,  \nstarving without some touch to wood\, earth\, and silence. You \ntook the crash course in complexity for years and years. So now \nyou find a place separate from screen and machine\, a place  \nbeyond getting and spending\, a space to let the buried eden  \nof the wild self bud and blossom. You take your Walden—call it  \nringer-off\, screen asleep\, brass keys all banished to the drawer— \nso at last you may dawn into yourself\, deliberate\, and awake. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nI love where I now live (North Central Montana)\, it’s where I grew up. I understand it in ways that elude those not from here\, and though the land and its people can be difficult\, it is also magnificently beautiful and allows me access to a natural world I’ve not found elsewhere. \n  \nWhat is often missing here though is my ability to engage in the kind of conversations that challenge me\, expand me\, and support me as I journey away from a spiritually vacuous “self” toward enlightenment. \n  \nThat’s why “The Open Road” is such a precious gift—I feel I belong to this wonderful community of thinkers and explorers. I continue to have struggles and setbacks\, but with each letter I breathe in a freshness that renews my desire to be a better human\, to care and to really see myself in others and they in me. \n  \nAnd it is getting easier! \n  \nI savor all the writings\, but especially by those I personally know. An excellent example is String Clements “Learning to Smile.” I shared the incentive yard at TRCI with String and many a day we practiced mindfulness as we walked the track. (Remember General Sherman\, Tim?) \n  \nThese days I practice my mindfulness most often out in nature where I’ve come to realize all things carry the same spark I carry in my own heart and each thing I observe becomes “the best part.” There are no saints…or sinners\, no self-righteous…no condemned\, everything is on equal terms. I’ve concluded not only do I belong to the human tribe\, I also belong to the life tribe\, and strive to conduct myself accordingly. I’d like to add that mindfulness can be practiced anywhere (as Mr. Clements and I proved at TRCI). Most difficult for me is just getting my mind to “shut up” and listen. \n  \nHere are a few thoughts: \n  \n* Life will always challenge you. The trick is to polish all  the moments to make them shine. That’s both sides of the coin\, not just the pretty or easy ones. Each moment\, each day is precious and should never be wasted or cast aside. \n—Anne Burke quote from Salt of the Earth by Ethan Hubbard \n  \n* Walk in good direction\, come to good place. \n  \n*Only for a time have we borrowed our life from the sum of things. \n  \n* Let go of expectations and accept whatever shows up for you. \n—Katie Radditz \n  \nI thank all who have touched my life in such a positive\, kind\, and loving way—you now live in me! \n  \nAnd I will not forget you. \n  \nPeace and love \n  \nAbe Green  2021 \n  \n(Abe added this:) \n  \nPaul Enso Hillman spoke these words: \n  \nI say “Namaste” because I like what it means\, not because I’m a Hindu. \n  \nA lot of people think I’m a Christian because they think I talk about Christian values\, but the truth is I’m really talking about Human values. \n  \nI’ve been asked if I’m a Buddhist just because I’ve discovered inner Peace. \n  \nA lot of my friends are Pagans and they think I’m one also because I say that being in nature is my idea of going to church. \n  \nDo you want to know what I really am? \n  \nIt’s very simple\, I don’t need a label to define me. \n  \nI am a piece of the universe\, sentient and manifested and… \n  \nI am awake! \n  \n—Abe Green \n* \n  \nAugust 15\, 2021 \nMeditation and Mindfulness \nHAPPY BIRTHDAY\, JOHNNY!!! \n  \nLast month I sent in a topic on Suffering\, but I forgot to include the attachment in the email to Johnny. He said\, “No worries\, I’ll just put it in the August edition.” But then I thought\, how lame to offer a writing on Suffering for Johnny’s very special birthday edition. It really should be something more in keeping with Johnny’s true raison d’être: LOVE! \n  \nSo # 326 – Equanimity  – fills the bill to perfection. \n  \n“True love does not choose one person. When true love is there\, you shine like a lamp. You don’t just shine on one person in the room. That light you emit is for everyone in the room. If you really have love in you\, everyone around you will benefit—not only humans\, but animals\, plants\, and minerals. Love\, true love\, is that.True love is equanimity.” \n  \nThis is Johnny. This is what Johnny emits. His love just spreads out\, sometimes to the bewilderment (how can he be so patient with that guy???)\, the embarrassment (uh oh\, here come the tears again!)\, the frustration (can’t he see that that guy really doesn’t deserve love?) of others. That is Johnny: He just loves with equanimity and abandon. \n  \nJude Russell \n* \n  \nEvery moment offers a myriad of wonders\, opportunities and insights – it is just a matter of how and what we focus our attention on\, and how we perceive it.  – John Kabat Zinn  \n  \nMy friend Sarah has been feeling disheartened lately – about the state of our Earth’s health\, the continuing pandemic\, and her small role in life. She is a generous and engaged person. Her daughter has moved nearby and Sarah loves being with her new grandchild. Her wishes have been fulfilled. But after such high expectations\, the question of what is her purpose in life set in. She remembers what her mother once told her\, “Remember it’s not the big things that count\, it’s the small things.” There will always be the big issues looming. It is a challenge to be engaged in helping to change the world for the better. Meditation can help by training us to focus on our personal small moments of happiness\, compassion\, and healing.   \n  \nIf we choose to rush or force meditation\, we might not experience much or have many great moments.  \n  \nBut by allowing ourselves to be curious\, inquisitive\, attentive and have an open mind\, we can make those small moments wonderful.  \n  \nI have been reading a classic Sufi book called The Conference of the Birds. It is full of parables about taking a spiritual journey. My friend was listening to a CD of chanting and birds flew to his deck to listen. As soon as the music ended the birds flew off. Another friend had two birds come sit on her balcony when she moved into a new apartment. It helped to ease her loneliness and to help her make a transition. These moments that are particular to us can help move us in a direction of paying attention\, of being engaged inwardly as well as outwardly\, and of loving the beauty of the world. It can make us grateful for being alive.    \n  \nI have been enjoying reading and studying The Conference of the Birds along with my friends who had the birds magically visit them. I have also been paying attention to the gifts of feathers that my neighbors—blue jays\, wild turkeys\, crows\, wrens\, even the chickens—have left in my yard and along the paths that I walk. I find one almost every day and have a collection now in my garden flower bed. These are small moments and small tokens that make me joyous to feel the “interbeing” that Thay instructs us to realize. It makes me happy to be alive here and now\, and to share this with whoever comes my way. Gratitude is a strong mindfulness practice for beginning and ending the day.   \n  \nThis morning Sarah sent me a text saying she is paying attention to the birds too! She wrote\, “I’m enjoying migrations!”  \n  \nWhat can be a small moment for some\, can be the single most important moment in another person’s life.  \n  \nHow about you? Do you sometimes see big things in small moments?  \n  \nMay you be aware and happy in some small moments today.  Thank you for being a part of  our mindfulness group and sharing your own experiences here. Below is a poem by Kim’s dad\, William Stafford.   \n  \nBe well and know peace\,  Katie  \n  \nThings I Learned Last Week \n  \nAnts\, when they meet each other\, \nusually pass on the right. \n  \nSometimes you can open a sticky \ndoor with your elbow. \n  \nA man in Boston has dedicated himself \nto telling about injustice. \nFor three thousand dollars he will \ncome to your town and tell you about it. \n  \nSchopenhauer was a pessimist but \nhe played the flute. \n  \nYeats\, Pound\, and Eliot saw art as \ngrowing from other art. They studied that. \n  \nIf I ever die\, I’d like it to be \nin the evening. That way\, I’ll have \nall the dark to go with me\, and no one \nwill see how I begin to hobble along. \n  \nIn the Pentagon one person’s job is to \ntake pins out of towns\, hills\, and fields\, \nand then save the pins for later. \n  \n—William Stafford \n* \n  \n8-10-21 \n  \nGot your letter today: “The Golden World!” I needed to hear that more than you know\, Johnny. I need to come home and it’s nice to know & remember that I can come home & how good home is. I was so focused on what was lost that I lost track of what I have & what I have is pretty damn good. In fact\, what I lost I loved very much\, but what I have now is very much here & not lost & that right now is life & life must be lived\, now\, loved and grown. Sometimes I wish that you would have been my father\, Johnny\, & in many ways you have been. \n  \nThe Golden World is real. I forgot about it. It should be shared with the world. It will make all the world a better place. I’m done being in misery….I’m on my way home. \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-8-15-21/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://openroadpdx.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/0-30.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210819
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210903
DTSTAMP:20260427T144159
CREATED:20210821T175015Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T124417Z
UID:2323-1629331200-1630627199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  8/19/21
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \n  \nAugust 19\, 2021 \n  \nThou shalt not kill. \n  \n—God \n* \n  \nIn this world \nHate never yet dispelled hate. \nOnly love dispels hate. \nThis is the law\, \nAncient and inexhaustible. \n  \n—Buddha \n* \n  \nWhy\, of course\, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally\, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America\, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But\, after all\, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along\, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship….All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. \n  \n—Hermann Göring \n* \n  \nWar: What is it good for? \nAbsolutely nothin’!…. \nPeace\, love and understanding\, tell me \nIs there no place for them today? \nThey say we must fight to keep our freedom \nBut lord knows there’s got to be a better way. \n  \n—from the song “War\,” written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong \n* \n  \nEvery month\, Michel Deforge sends me between 8 and 16 pages from his meditation journal\, from which I select some excerpts for the monthly Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue. For this issue of peace\, love\, happiness & understanding\, I want to reply to his entry for July 6th. In it\, he responds to Kim Stafford’s poem “Old Glory’s New Red\, Black\, and Blue\,” from his book Singer Come from Afar and refers to Charles Busch’s “A Promise to Our Children.” Here’s what Michel wrote: \n  \nJuly 6\, 2021   OLD GLORY’S NEW RED\, BLACK\, AND BLUE—KIM STAFFORD \n  \nYesterday I struggled with lethargy and lost. During a few spare lucid moments\, I pondered my July 4 thoughts\, Kim’s poem\, and the poem Johnny shared in the June edition of THE OPEN ROAD—A PROMISE TO OUR CHILDREN. I’ll pause while you review the poems (or Johnny may re-share). \n  \n[I’ll include Kim’s poem later. For “A Promise to Our Children\,” see the June 24th issue of peace\, love\, happiness & understanding. Kim introduced me to Charles Busch\, from Fields of Peace. In his letter\, he gives the names and ages of 69 Palestinian and Israeli children who had been recently killed. He suggests that people make this promise: \n  \nI will not be a part of the killing \nof any child\, \nno matter how lofty the reason. \nNot my neighbor’s child. \nNot my child. \nNot the enemy’s child. \nNot by bomb. Not by bullet. \nNot by looking the other way. \nI will be the power that is peace. \n  \nAnd now\, back to Michel’s journal…] \n  \nI am definitely not for changing the flag; yet\, there is something there we could get a spinnin’ round about over as we explore the idea. Does the Red\, White and Blue still mean what it did 245 (!!) years ago? Does it still need to\, or can we find new meanings\, new depth\, or do we even care to look? \n  \nI don’t know that my thoughts solidified toward any one direction\, other than to want to get something down before I forget and move on to bigger prizes\, if any exist. I definitely do not want to be party to killing any child\, “no matter how lofty the reason.” At the same time I see myself as impotent to act\, powerless to affect change (even the faintest glimpse of a beginning). That letter [“To the Mothers and Fathers of Palestine and Israel”] said more\, in a more eloquent manner\, than I could hope to muster. All I could do was cry for the loss of all those precious children. And what about the ones who think they’re “all grown up” just because they’ve passed through a myriad of solar-year cycles? (Johnny still sees the child in each of us! How could we imagine these little boys and girls going to play at war being any different? They’re still mommy’s and daddy’s little bundle of joy; they’re still mourned when shot or killed or bombed or stabbed.) \n  \nAnd then my mind drifts to all the little boys and little girls playing at being grown-ups. Having babies of their own as babies themselves. Or\, heaven forbid\, falling victim to the drug dealing predators—(who\, by the way\, are still somebody’s little boys or girls)—or the lure of sex and/or alcohol. Each one a precious being. Sometimes killed by bullets of war and hate\, sometimes for other “lofty reasons.” Sometimes by their simple naïveté. \n  \nWhat can any of us do more than we do already? More laws won’t help. Look at the “War on Drugs\,” or “against gang violence”? No victories there. \n  \nI saw an advert for a show coming up where the brewery hired Bloods and Crips to work at the same factory and participate in the same “program”. I think it was a success\, for some; thus\, the show. Is it a cause for hope? Do we (I) have grounds to look for hope in prison\, as well as for life post-prison? May it be so\, a thousandfold! \n  \nAnd so I part\, once again\, with more pain reviewed and few answers to eschew\, having just re-read Kim’s OLD GLORY’S NEW RED\, BLACK\, AND BLUE. (It leads to rhyming.) As I go\, I still can’t help but wonder: What can I do\, where do I fit in? Am I fodder for the cannons of the nightly news\, or some other “frontline” war on humanity’s failings and weaknesses? I don’t rightly know. \n  \nWhat about you? Where do you fit in? To my world or my life—better yet\, to our world and our lives—each one of them does MATTER! It’s not something to frame a political slogan or program around. How do we pursue an end of killing children for any reason—lofty or not? \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \nI’d like to say a few words to Michel\, and to whoever else is reading this\, about pacifism. I became a pacifist while I was in high school. It was simple: I didn’t want to kill anyone. (And I didn’t want to hire other people to kill for me\, or on my behalf.) It seemed wrong to me that I was required by law to join an organization whose purpose was to kill people.  \n  \nI think most people are already “almost pacifists.” They know that in war lots of people are killed and that is somehow “bad.” But\, many people would add\, “Sometimes it’s necessary.” In order to avoid some arguments\, I say that I am not for or against any past wars. They are over. It’s absurd to protest against something that has already happened. I am against all present and future wars. Anyone got a problem with that? \n  \n(Here is an interesting statistic from the Fields of Peace website\, fieldsofpeace.org: During World War I\, the ratio of soldier to civilian deaths was 9 to 1. In World War II\, it was 1 to 1. In today’s wars\, for every soldier killed\, nine civilians are killed. Most of them are children. Watch the two-minute video on the Home Page.)   \n  \n(Strictly speaking\, a pacifist is not necessarily opposed to all acts of violence\, just organized\, large-scale killing: war.) \n  \nMichel\, I think that if you weren’t already a pacifist\, you became one in the act of pondering and writing your journal entry. You say: \n  \nI definitely do not want to be party to killing any child\, “no matter how lofty the reason.” \n  \nThat’s all it takes. You’re in the club. Welcome. \n  \nIt’s a fun club to be in. Kim and I are in it. Kim’s dad William is in it. Their friend and neighbor Hideo Hashimoto is in it. The Dalai Lama is in it. So is Jesus. And Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King and Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy and Helen Keller and Dorothy Day and Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell and Sigmund Freud and Helen Caldicott and Alice Walker and Howard Thoresen and Alan Benditt and Thich Nhat Hanh… It’s quite a long list. Made up mostly of people whose names we don’t know. \n  \nIn his poem\, Kim refers to the problem of war and violence\, but the primary focus is on questions raised by the Black Lives Matter movement of injustice and systemic racism. His poem is both playful and serious. It is the job of wise people to encourage us to perform thought experiments\, to challenge things we take for granted\, to imagine in new ways. Here’s the poem: \n  \nOld Glory’s New Red\, Black\, and Blue \n  \nCue the anthem\, slide down the flag \nthat flew through World Wars I and II\, \nthen assailed Korea\, Vietnam\, Afghanistan\, Iraq\, \nand now a hundred nameless places where drones \nlook down on weddings to seek out villains known \nor guessed—old wars and new\, the flag flown high \nto woo our crew to action for our banner blue\, our \ndevotion true—until money tattered it as inequality \ngrew\, and drew us\, first a few\, then more\, to view \nin new light the plain hue of white one clue \na change was due—so beat the drum’s \ntattoo and raise anew our flag \nof red\, black\, and blue. \n  \nSunset red\, shadows blue and black\, indigo \nand scarlet deja vu when dew falls heavy \nin the grass to strew starlight in diamonds \nthrough the dusk. No stew of sorrow at our \nrendezvous. No one to misconstrue this change \nas anything but patriotic on the avenue of many colors \nhitherto passed over when some hullabaloo\, some retinue \nof old privilege and this fresh generation’s overview \nbegan to see a world askew and must eschew \nold privations and renew our love of freedom \nto pursue our happiness and make taboo how \ncertain citizens because of color were subdued\, \nso bring forth now the red\, black\, and blue. \n  \nBrew a bold libation\, fire up the barbecue\, \nand offer feasting cordon bleu to celebrate \nwhat no judicial revue\, no internal revenue\, no \nvoodoo Waterloo from here to Timbuktu can make \nuntrue\, what no zoo of caged freedoms can deny \nsome citizens have been held second class in lieu \nof rights by law but yet false in fact. We say \nadieu to that. We’re all in one canoe\, our ship \nof state that flies the banner red\, black\, and blue. \n  \nNow we must interview each other\, give our leaders \none stern talking-to\, root out each residue of prejudice\, \noutdo old talk with questions and with follow-through\, \nhew the righteous line and find in black all colors joined\, \nall ethnicities of shade and blend and flavor\, so may good \naccrue. For we were gathered from one Genesis when God \nthrew galaxies together spinning with diversity beaucoup. \nIn keeping with that old creation\, we must now imbue \nour politics (that have been one big bugaboo) with kindness \nto us all at last\, undo each miscue that slew our honor \nso may ensue a tart fondue of plenty. We stir \nthe roux of flavors in our bold debut: Old Glory \ndressed up now in red\, black\, and blue. \n  \nBlue and black—this the color of a bruise: no news \nto those who made the Blues\, and something no-one could \nconfuse with anything but hurt. So set the Statue of Liberty \nat Standing Rock to face down opposition to democracy\, \nwealth flowing corrosive through pipes of steel to spew \ninto the river collateral trouble for the Water Keepers \nwho knew Pilgrims were first refugees\, seeking freedom \nfor faith first welcome to these shores. Does our dream \narc toward justice still? Can we call that effort true\, \nsupreme\, or is our legacy sunk to pay-per-view? \nWe must fly the red\, the black\, and blue. \n  \nThis mighty woman\, mother of exiles with a torch \nwho lifts her lamp beside the golden door shall dress \nher copper in these colors now to call this century’s \nhuddled masses in. Her beacon-hand reveals that \nat our best we are the watershed where myriad \nstreams are harvested\, rivulets gathered into one: \nAsian\, Eurasian\, African\, Bedouin\, Islander\, Blue- \nBlood Black\, and every lovely shade of brown\, \nfrom dark dusk to sand\, and every hue of Wanderer \nor Fugitive from darkness seeking light\, every Indian \nto this ground restored by right\, for this we fight\, \nfor this democracy our aspiration’s light\, for this \nto be true\, we will pledge allegiance now \nto the red\, the black\, the blue. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nHere’s a link to Edwin Starr’s 1969 version of “War”: \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-2pNCZiNk \n  \nAnd in 1985\, The Boss: \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn91L9goKfQ \n  \n  \nPeace\, love and understanding \n  \n—Johnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-8-19-21/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210822T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210822T170000
DTSTAMP:20260427T144159
CREATED:20210821T230513Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210821T230708Z
UID:2333-1629644400-1629651600@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!  8/22/21
DESCRIPTION:  \nBeloved Bibliophiles!  \n  \nOn Sunday\, August 22\, at 3 pm (PDT) the theme for our Zoom gathering is:  \nWhat Do You Read? How Do You Read? & Why Do You Read?  \n  \nHere’s the link:   \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83135193074 \n  \nShould be fun!  \nI hope to see you there.  \n  \npeace & love   \nJohnny \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-8-22-21/
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