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SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  2/15/22
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nDear Beloved Community\, \nWith a deep mindful breath\, we announce the passing of our beloved teacher\, Thay Nhat Hanh\, on January 22 (January 21 in USA)\, 2022 at  \nTừ Hiếu Temple in Huế\, Vietnam\, at the age of 95. \n \n  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nFebruary 15\, 2022 \n  \nThay has been the most extraordinary teacher\, whose peace\, tender compassion\, and bright wisdom has touched the lives of millions. Whether we have encountered him on retreats\, at public talks\, or through his books and online teachings–or simply through the story of his incredible life–we can see that Thay has been a true bodhisattva\, an immense force for peace and healing in the world.  Never diluting and always digging deep into the roots of Buddhist teaching\, he brings out its authentic radiance. \n  \nNow is a moment to come back to our mindful breathing and walking\, to generate the energy of peace\, compassion\, and gratitude to offer our beloved Teacher. It is a moment to take refuge in our spiritual friends\, our local  community\, and each other.  \n  \n—From the Monks and Nuns of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing \n  \n  \n“At the moment my front yard is flush with brilliant winter sunshine slanting to earth beneath the clouds and at the same time it is raining gently. This paradox makes me feel that Thay is right here with me\, showing how I can feel grateful for his life as well as deep grief for his passing. We will dearly miss his personal presence\, but we have gained so much from his writings\, stories\, teachings and inclusiveness that we now carry with us. Thay calls his birth and his death day his continuation days.   \n  \nAt a Teacher’s passing in the Buddhist tradition it is honorable to address your teacher by calling his/her name\, and saying a short phrase of appreciation and best wishes.  Please write to us all or say silently to Thay what is on your heart.   \n  \nLet us each resolve to do our best over the coming days to generate the energy of mindfulness\, peace\, and compassion\, to send to our beloved Teacher. \n  \nDear Thay: I am so grateful for the way you and Sister Chan Khong have shared the Buddha’s teachings and how they have touched my life as well as the life of those around me with kindness and clarity. A lotus to you.” \n  \n—Katie Radditz  \n  \n  \n“I think of Thich Nhat Hanh as my friend. He said things that have been very helpful to me in my life. I love his sweetness\, his gentleness\, his friendliness. I know of no one more compassionate\, more peaceful\, more happy\, more free. I love his idea of “interbeing.” I love him. He left an extraordinary legacy of books and YouTube videos that we can revisit again and again\, and share with each other. Thank you thank you thank you.” \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n  \n  \nValentine’s Day wishes to you and all your loved ones. \n  \nMake a True Home of your Love   –   (this is a Valentine from Thay) \n  \nEvery one of us is trying to find our true home. We know that our true home is inside\, and with the energy of mindfulness\, we can go back to our true home in the here and the now. Sangha is our true home. \n  \nIn Vietnamese\, the husband calls the wife “my home.” And the wife calls the husband her home. Nha toi means my house\, my home. When a gentleman is asked “Where is your wife?” he will say\, “My home is now at the post office.” (with a sweet chuckle)  And if a guest said to the wife\, “Your home is beautiful; who decorated it?” she would answer\, “It’s my home who decorated it\,” meaning\, “my husband.” When the husband calls his wife\, he says\, “Nha oi\,” my home. And she says\, “Here I am.” Nha oi. Nha toi. \n  \nWhen you are in such a relationship\, the other person is your true home. And you should be a true home for him or for her. First you need to be your own true home so that you can be the home of your beloved. We should practice so we can be a true home for ourselves and for the one that we love. How? We need the practice of mindfulness. \n  \nIn Plum Village\, every time you hear the bell\, you stop thinking\, you stop talking\, you stop doing things. You pay attention to your in-breath as you breathe in and you say\, “I listen\, I listen. This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.” My true home is inside. My true home is in the here and the now. So practicing going home is what we do all day long\, because we are only comfortable in our true home. Our true home is available\, and we can go home every moment. Our home should be safe\, intimate\, and cozy\, and it is we who make it that way. \n  \n—Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \n  \nRich Land Between \n                   —for Perrin \n  \nIn a forest wilderness many years ago \nyou appeared to me\, and I appeared to you — \ntwo birds in separate trees singing to the sky. \n  \nWe looked down to find the ground between us  \nilluminated by a story we wanted to live. I could \nsee it with your eyes\, and you with mine. \n  \nSince then\, we have explored the land between — \nevery crumb of earth\, every stem golden by day\, \nwithering by season\, sprouting again and again \n  \nuntil it’s hard to tell where your song ends \nand mine begins. The land between\, crisscrossed \nby our devotions\, has revealed how in our life \n  \nthe gifts are many\, and the price is everything. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n  \n  \n#206 An Act of Love   –  A work of ART can help people understand the nature of their suffering\, and have insight into how to transform . . . . Writing\, making a film\, (performing a play)\, creating a work of art can be an act of love. . . . that nourishes you and nourishes others.   Michel sends a deep reflection on the effects of music – years of playing the piano- and a painting that he loved\, gifted to him by a friend who loved to paint.  “There was a time when one of the Group Dialogue member’s father came to play a cello for us. And the Oregon Poet Laureate\, Kim Stafford\, came to share his art. Each time the artist loved his art form. I believe also that each shared love with the audience for that brief session.  Even our Theatre Troupe and directors (all of them) share not only love for this art form but are sharing love through it as well – both for us in prison and for our audience.   . . . . What might our world look and feel like if we were more aware (open to) as both givers and receivers of art forms – of this opportunity to love one another deliberately?   \n  \n#212 The Heart of life – Through accepting – even embracing impermanence I find hope. Hope helps endurance through the distresses of life. So I wish everyone a dose of hope to help bolster you through distress on your journey to luminescence. May you shine brightly as the stars revealing a way for others to find their hope too.   \n  \n#217 Beyond Labels  –  As we move into 2022 I hope for everyone I know\, past and present\, that each learns to accept and release the hold of memories of past events as well as letting go of judgements of “now” going by moment by moment. May we each find love and freedom in our own right. And\, may we share that love through understanding and compassion for our fellow travelers along the way as we learn to see the “other” as part of our own self\, interconnected with the life we live now.   \n  \nWith love\, to all \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n  \n  \n#281 Loving Words — “Every time the other person does something well\, we should congratulate him or her to show our approval. This is especially true with children….” \n  \nFor seven or eight years in the mid-nineties I was a mentor in an at-risk youth program in Portland\, OR. Our kids were each 14 yrs. old\, ready to enter high school\, and in danger of dropping out —doing drugs\, skipping school\, acting out\, being promiscuous\, failing at most everything. We had to work with parents (all of whom were behaving in pretty much the same way as their kids\, except they had dropped out of school long before) as well as our youth. \n  \nMy girl\, let’s call her Amy\, lived with her father. She was very bright; at 14 she did all the accounting for her dad’s used car sales business out on 82nd Av. (I’m sure he handled the side business of drug dealing accounts). She was affectionate and attentive with me. She had all the potential to be a strong and capable young woman. \n  \nHer dad\, let’s call him Gerald\, however\, saw a different picture. When we met\, with Amy sitting there\, Gerald told me ‘the problem.’ \n  \n“She’s a whore\, just like her mother! She’ll never amount to anything\, I guarantee you. She lies and can’t be trusted about anything. She sneaks out at night to be with men—all the time. She’s screwing off in school\, when she goes\, that is. Just like her mom\, she’s dumb and she’ll drop out of school\, I know it. Maybe be able to get a bartender job like her mom\, if she’s lucky\, but…” \n  \nI was so shocked to be hearing this\, needless to say. I told him this was a different Amy than the one I knew. The girl I knew was extremely smart – didn’t she do the accounting for his business???- and she was caring and dependable\, and a lovely girl. He couldn’t even hear me. He’d constantly go back to his well-practiced rant while Amy sat there stoney-faced and silent. \n  \nThis went on for a couple months\, with me politely (and carefully\, given Gerald’s demonstrable anger and burly presence) defending Amy\, until one evening when I stopped to pick up Amy for a meeting. \n  \nShe was in tears\, crying so hard I could hardly understand her. The gist was\, Dad must be right\, and you and I are wrong. I’m just going to give up; he’s so sure he knows me\, so I must be that bad… or words to that effect. \n  \nI was speechless and stunned—but not for long. Gerald had gone out to his favorite biker bar. I knew where it was. Beyond furious\, I sped out and spun my Honda into the lineup of a dozen Harleys with the ape-hanger bars. You know there’s that adrenalin thing where you can pick up a car by its bumper to save a child trapped under the wheel? Lifting a hundred times your weight as if it were a paper placemat? That’s the way I was: I barreled into the bar\, spotted Gerald and charged over to him and his buddies. He looked up and started\, “Hey\, hey\, what are you..?” But I grabbed him by the collar and jerked him backwards and bellowed\, “Gerald\, you are going to get out of here\, and go home\, and talk to your daughter! You are going to tell her that she’s a fine young woman\, and she’s smart and talented and you are proud of her!!! I will be right there listening so you’d better say it really good\, so that she believes you! GOT it?” \n  \nHe started whining a little\, but one of the guys mumbled\, “Hey Jer\, maybe you better go on home like the nice lady says…” I yanked his shirt again and barked\, “Hear that??? Now move!” \n  \nI gave him a shove and out we went. And he went home and I listened to him tell his daughter that she was smart and helpful to his business. I glared at him\, and he added\, “And you’re a fine young woman …and I’m proud of you.” \n  \nAmy should’ve said\, “That’s bull—-\, Daddy and you know it.” But she didn’t; she threw her arms around him and told him she loved him. \n  \nThat’s how easy it is with a child. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n  \n  \n \n  \nVoices in the Forest \n  \nWind sighing in the trees\, boughs rocking and  \nwhispering a story\, the world telling us who we are.  \nThe world a song\, and we sing with the wind  \nand trees\, our voices trembling in the dark.  \nThe sun lies down behind the trees in twilight \n blue\, stars shining\, moonlight rippling rivers.  \nBirds call\, squirrels and rabbits rustle  \ntheir way to bed. We sing to our babies—  \nYou too\, you too\, time to sleep\, the stars will watch\,  \nclose your eyes\, the wind breathes our song—sleep\, baby\, sleep.  \nOwls awaken\, wings whoosh overhead\, feathers  \na blanket\, the sky a bed\, we lie down with the wind \n  \n—Deborah Buchanan\n\n \n  \nCan the New Year really be a New Year?   \n  \nThe beginning of February is a New Year celebration – in Vietnam ( called Tet) as well as China and other east Asian countries.   It is a celebration of the Lunar New Year. \n  \nOften we feel that a “new year” can provide us with a chance to begin anew with ourselves – to put into action our deepest aspirations\, and to better care for ourselves and the world. However\, many of us have also experienced that a new year does not automatically bring us closer to our aspirations. \n  \nThich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to truly begin anew with ourselves. Below is a written excerpt from his talk\, with guiding questions for your reflection: \n  \n  \nDear beloved community\, \n  \n“To begin this year anew\, we should reflect on these simple questions:\n· What have I done during the year?\n· Have I been able to produce feelings of joy and happiness during my days?\n· Have I been able to take care of the painful feelings during the year?\n· Have I been able to handle them\, to calm them down\, so that I will not be a source of suffering for myself and for other people? \nWith mindfulness\, we can produce a feeling of joy whenever we want\, because we are a practitioner. We can produce these feelings for ourselves\, and everyone we love. Have we done that this year? \nWe can learn how to calm down painful feelings\, and even transform them into something better\, like compassion\, friendship and forgiveness. Pain and pleasure are all organic\, like love and hate. If we do not know how to handle love\, it can turn into hate or anger. If we know how to handle hate and anger\, we can turn it back into understanding and love. If we do not know how to handle painful emotions\, we are going to repeat that in the new year\, and the new year will not be very new. \nThe value of the year depends on the value of acting\, of our way of life. With mindfulness\, we can improve the quality of our life\, of our days\, our months\, our years.” \n  \n—Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \n  \nWinter Poem \n  \nonce a snowflake fell \non my brow and I loved \nit so much and I kissed \nit and it was happy and called its cousins \nand brothers and a web \nof snow engulfed me then \nI reached to love them all \nand I squeezed them and they became \na spring rain and I stood perfectly \nstill and was a flower \n  \n—Nikki Giovanni \n  \n  \nOne of Thay’s favorite Meditations  – \n  \nBreathing in\, I see myself as a flower \nBreathing out\, I feel fresh. \nBreathing in\, I see myself as a Mountain \nBreathing out\, I feel solid. \nBreathing in\, I see myself as a Mountain Lake \nBreathing out\, I am calm and reflective. \nBreathing in\, I see myself as the Sky or Space \nBreathing out\, I feel free.  \n  \n  \n  \n Three poems by Heather Cahoon \n  \n1. \nCounter balance \nTo his curiosity \nThe magpie’s tail \n  \n2. \nThe shallow v-shape \nOf conviction opens \nWhere wing becomes body \n  \n3.  \nGetting firewood: \nBlaring chainsaws \nGive way \nTo thurderous crashing \nFrom the fallen trees \nBlack ants pour out \nLike blood \n  \n—From Alex Tretbar \n  \n  \nNo day is ever the same\, and no day stands still; each one moves through a different territory\, awakening new beginnings. A day moves forward in moments\, and once a moment has flickered into life\, it vanishes and is replaced by the next. It is fascinating that this is where we live\, within an emerging lacework that continuously unravels. Often a fleeting moment can hold a whole sequence of the future in distilled form: that unprepared second when you looked in a parent’s eye and saw death already beginning to loom. Or the second you noticed a softening in someone’s voice and you knew that a friendship was beginning. Or catching your partner’s gaze upon you and knowing the love that surrounded you. Each day is seeded with recognitions. \n  \n–John O’Donohue\, from “To Bless the Space Between Us” \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-2-15-22/
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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  2/24/22
DESCRIPTION:Photo #12  Bee in lilac blossoms\,  May 17\, 2020 (photos by Abe Green)  \n  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nFebruary 24\, 2022 \n  \n  \nWhere the bee sucks\, there suck I:  \nIn a cowslip’s bell I lie;  \nThere I couch when owls do cry.  \nOn the bat’s back I do fly  \nAfter summer merrily.    \nMerrily\, merrily shall I live now  \nUnder the blossom that hangs on the bough. \n  \n—from The Tempest by William Shakespeare \n  \n  \nAs promised\, here are more pictures and texts from Abe Green: \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #13  Mouse friend\,  May 7\, 2019 \nThe wheel turns ceaselessly—birth and death. \n  \n  \n“Birth is not the beginning\, \nDeath is not the end.” \n  \n—Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) (370 BC – 287 BC) \n  \nWalt Whitman says: \n  \nThe smallest sprout shows there is really no death\, \nAnd if ever there was it led forward life\, and does not wait at the end to arrest it\, \nAnd ceased the moment life appeared. \n  \nAll goes onward and outward\, nothing collapses\, \nAnd to die is different from what any one supposed\, and luckier. \n  \nHas anyone supposed it lucky to be born? \nI hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die\, and I know it. \n  \n–from “Song of Myself” \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #14  Robin eggs\,  May 19\, 2020 \n  \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #15  Campfire at Fresno Lake\, (North Central MT.)\,  July 24\, 2020 \n  \nI once wrote a lengthy story about campfires. This is the last paragraph: \nSo here I sit by my campfire\, don’t want to “do” anything with it; it doesn’t have to be huge or roaring\, just be itself—warm and friendly. \nI want to hear its special language of hisses\, snaps\, pops\, and crackles—it’s a language made for my spirit. \nI want to smell its earthy\, woodpitch scent. \nAnd I want to stare into its inferno-like heart\, knowing what I see is a glimpse of the blazing glory of my own human heart. \nThe same bursting energy that fires the universe. \n  \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #16  Showdown Ski Area\, (Central MT.)\, October 27\, 2020 \n  \nI just love this photograph\, (though I did not take it). The juxtaposition of the dog and an awaiting ski area clothed in deep new snow—two very experiential loves! \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #17  Eye painted on stone\, December 28\, 2021 \n  \nI found the rock\, an artist friend painted the eye at my request. Live\, the piece is dynamic. I call it: “The observer being observed”! It reminds to not only witness what surrounds me\, but to also authentically witness my “self.” \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #18  Fall colors on Aspen trees\, September 26\, 2021 \n  \n“It’s the job of wise people to encourage us to perform thought experiments to challenge us about things we take for granted\, to imagine in new ways.” \n  \n—J. Stallings quoted by A. Green \n  \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #19  Grizzly Bear release\, (photo: MT. Fish & Game)\, October 17\, 2021 \n  \nI included this picture of a grizzly relocation release as an opportunity to speak of the plight of so many of Earth’s habitants. When I see a bear or bird or beetle I see no less than the same spark of life that resides within my breast. How can I wish to experience life while denying it to other life expressions? For that’s what is really going on here\, we are all—every plant\, every animal\, and every mother’s son and daughter—expressing the “gift” in our own way. \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #20  Bent tree regrowth\, October 24\, 2021 \n  \n  \nLessons from a Tree \n  \nSeed split. Root sprout. Leaf bud. \nDelve deep. Hold fast. Reach far \nSway. Lean. Bow. Loom. \n  \nClimb high. Stand tall. Last long. \nGrow. Thicken. Billow. Shade. Sow seed. \n  \nRise by pluck\, child of luck\, \nlightning-struck survivor. \n  \nBurn. Bleed. Heal. Remember. Testify. \nNest. Host. Guard. Honor. \n  \nFall. Settle. Slump. \nSurrender. Offer. Enrich. \n  \nBe duff. Enough. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n  \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #21  Sleeping Giant Skyline\, Beartooth Mtns.\, (Southcentral MT.)\, November 4\, 2021 \n  \n  \nThe Peace of Wild Things \n  \nWhen despair for the world grows in me \nand I wake in the night at the least sound \nin fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be\, \nI go and lie down where the wood drake \nrests in his beauty on the water\, and the great heron feeds. \nI come into the peace of wild things \nwho do not tax their lives with forethought \nof grief. I come into the presence of still water. \nAnd I feel above me the day-blind stars \nwaiting with their light. For a time \nI rest in the grace of the world\, and am free. \n  \n–Wendell Berry \n  \n  \n  \n \nPhoto #22  Broken Objects\, December 16\, 2021 \n  \n  \nThough sometimes unseen\, there are extraordinary possibilities in everyone. If today\, I’m a good enough example\, if I shine my light bright enough\, just maybe…I can change the world! But the world is so big. Better to focus on those I encounter in my little corner of life. \n  \n–Abe Green \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-2-24-22/
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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  3/10/22
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \n  \nMarch 10\, 2022 \n  \nY’know how when you read a really good book\, you want all your friends to read it? That’s the idea here. \n  \nI asked some friends (at the last minute) to write about some of their favorite books—books they read recently\, or a long time ago\, books that changed the way they see or experience or understand the world\, books that they’ve read many times: their favorite books! \n  \nThis can be a conversation between people outside and inside prison walls. Our next issue (March 24th) will feature some of the favorite books of friends who are “on the inside.” If you are an Insider\, please write to me about some of your favorite books. And if you would like to read any of the books that are talked about here\, let me know which books you’d like to read\, and we should be able to send them to you. \n  \nKim was the first to reply to my email. He wrote: \n  \nWhen I was seven years old\, on a second-grade field trip to a local church\, I stole a hand-sized New Testament someone had left on the pew where I sat in the back. The cover was black\, pretend leather. I liked the feel of it in my fingers. The owner’s name was written on pale blue paper on the inside cover. I tore off the blue paper bit by bit until the book was mine. My own book. It fit in my pocket. I couldn’t read it yet\, but I knew it was important. I knew my grandmother would love it. Her minister husband had died\, but she still prayed sometimes. What I didn’t know was how to share it with anyone\, show it to anyone. It had to be my secret until I was old enough to know what was inside. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nHey Johnny; \n  \nFun! \nHere is my top 10. What’s yours? \n  \n10) Between the World and Me by Ta-nehisi Coates  \n9) Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol  \n8) The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion \n7) Spring by Ali Smith \n6) The Lonely City by Olivia Laing \n5) No one belongs here more than you by Miranda July \n4) Townie by Andre Dubus III \n3) Zone One by Colson Whitehead  \n2) The Powerbroker by Robert Caro  \n1) Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishigurio \n  \n—Pat (The Dad) Walsh \n* \n  \nA wonderful\, thrillingly great book that is relatively under-read is INDEPENDENT PEOPLE by Haldor Laxness of Iceland. It weaves the development of Icelandic society into a story of hate and love between a daughter and a father. It is an intimate epic\, good enough to hurt your heart\, and then to heal it\, but not without leaving a scar. \n  \n—Ken Margolis \n* \n  \nOh\, so many books. How can I even choose? But of course I will\, and then regret what has been left out. But such is life. \n  \nCurrent faves: \n  \n1. Circe by Madeline Miller \nI just finished Circe\, a retelling of the Greek goddess\, mostly known as someone who captured and loved Ulysses on his way home. This new story of her life is monumental\, mythic and utterly real. Years and aeons merge into one another\, the stories are told from the women’s point of view\, sidelined characters are given full lives and we find ourselves alive in a world of magic and beauty. I can’t even begin to say how much I loved it. When I finished Circe it wasn’t even possible to start a new book…how could I step out of this world of enchantment? Buy it\, borrow it\, read it–you too can participate in this meditation on the meaning of mortality and divinity. \n  \n 2. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr  \nAll the Light We Cannot See creates a world deeply immersed in the one we live in and yet somehow it expands and deepens our knowledge of another world. It is the story of two children\, one from Paris and one from Germany\, during WWII. The quiet details in their interwoven stories lead into a world where people are haunted\, as are we\, by both love and violence. Long after finishing the book these characters will live with you\, tell you stories\, unveil secrets. \n  \n 3. An American Sunrise; Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings–both by Joy Harjo \nHarjo is the current Poet Laureate of the United States\, the first Native American woman to hold that position. Her wild\, direct\, illusive poems speak from another world to us\, and they continue to stand firmly on the ground of the country’s original inhabitants. And yet she is utterly modern and relevant\, creating poems you only wish you could write.  \n  \n4. New and Collected Poems by Czeslaw Milosz \nMilosz won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his enormous and profound body of work. From a childhood in rural Lithuania through Nazi occupation\, World War II\, Soviet rule\, and eventual exile and career as a professor in California\, Milosz saw himself as a conduit for all the silenced voices he knew\, and he recreated world upon world\, all the time pondering the reasons behind what he experienced. Monumental and touching\, this is a book you can never finish. \n  \n—xxoxo Deb Buchanan \n* \n  \nPretty short notice! So if I don’t have synopses and astute commentary on any or all of them\, it’s because of…pretty short notice! \n  \nThe numbering is not in any particular order of best to last. \n  \n1. Go\, Went\, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck.  The novel tells the tale of Richard\, a retired classics professor who lives in Berlin. His wife has died\, and he lives a routine existence until one day he spies some African refugees staging a hunger strike in Alexanderplatz. Curiosity turns into compassion and an inner transformation\, as he visits their shelter\, interviews them\, and becomes embroiled in their harrowing fates. Go\, Went\, Gone is a scathing indictment of Western policy toward the European refugee crisis\, but also a touching portrait of a man who finds he has more in common with the Africans than he realizes. \n  \n2. Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous is a nonfiction\, ongoing story of a person who has had relative success in a career but has a difficult family past\, including a mentally ill older brother and a father who cannot disavow his son\, no matter how he hurts other members of the family. The protagonist also experiences a wrenching divorce with child issues\, which lead her/him to seek out community on Twitter. Let’s call her ‘she\,’ although that is never clarified. She finds that her difficult personal life translates unwittingly into a compassionate Twitter figure\, and she develops a following who look to her for solace and advice. Her gentleness\, wit\, and compassion for others draws people from all over\, including Lyle Lovett. This is all true!  MUST READ!!! \n  \n3.  The True American by Anand Giridharadas  (nonfiction).  Days after 9/11\, an avowed “American terrorist” named Mark Stroman\, seeking revenge\, walks into a Dallas mini-mart and shoots Raisuddin Bhuiyan\, a Bangladeshi immigrant\, maiming and nearly killing him. Ten years after the shooting\, Bhuiyan wages a campaign against the State of Texas to have his attacker spared from the death penalty. The True American is a rich\, colorful\, profoundly moving exploration of the American dream in its many dimensions.  \n  \n4.  Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy novel    A Russian nobleman takes advantage of a young woman\, gets her pregnant and then deserts her. He forgets about her until years later when he discovers that she is in court for stealing\, and she has become a vagrant and wastrel of a figure. He has a change of heart\, mind and soul\, and determines to save her by devoting his life to that purpose. His persistence and her resistance take them into uncharted waters.  \n  \n5.  Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle.  An upper middle class Southern California couple encounters a Mexican undocumented man living in the arroyos near their gated house. The story deals with the husband’s run ins with the Mexican while on his (the husband’s) ‘nature walks.’  At first aghast and  uncomfortable\, then curious\, then understanding\, and finally compassionate and a life saver\, the husband finds his world changed. \n  \n6.  A Gentleman in Moscow  by Amor Towles  (fiction) \n  \n7.  Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown  (nonfiction) \n  \n8.  The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan  (nonfiction) \n  \n9.  Nicholas and Alexandra\, Peter the Great\, Catherine the Great all by Robert Massie.  The most readable and fascinating history writing\, from one who has always had difficulty reading history. \n    \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nHere are five books that had high impact on me\, \n  \nThe Sacred Pipe\, Black Elk—One of the first books that showed me how some people live a totally spiritual life without a distinct religion. \n  \nThe Naked Ape by Desmond Morris—This was the first book that helped me understand our animal origins. \n  \nLao Tzu—Still a faithful companion\, one that doesn’t waste words but covers Life pretty completely. \n  \nOn The Road\, by Jack Kerouac—This put into words what a lot of us were starting to sense about life in modern America. \n  \nIshmael\, by Daniel Quinn—A broad perspective on how our human history has developed over the last few millennia\, forging delusions of separateness and mastery and privilege in us.            \n  \nThis brief list perforce needs to omit Mad magazine\, the great Russian novelists\, and many other wonderful writers like Shakespeare and Tolkien who have influenced or entertained me over the years\, but these five are books I find myself still thinking about years after reading them. \n  \nlove and peace\,      \n  \n—Bill Faricy \n* \n  \nGreat question on books.  I decided to list those that\, after several book purges\, are still on my shelves and ones that I come back to over and over:   \n  \nTrickster Makes This World   Lewis Hyde \nMemories\, Dreams\, Reflections   Carl Jung \nThe Water of Life   Michael Meade \nIrish Fairy Tales  James Stephens \nCoyote Was Going There   Jarold Ramsey \nThe Red Haired Girl from the Bog   Patricia Monaghan \nGood Poems    Edited by Garrison Keillor \nThe Woman Warrior  Maxine Hong Kingston \nGo Down Moses      William Faulkner \nIrish Folk Tales   Edited by Henry Glassie \nReturning to Earth    Jim Harrison \nThe Nutmeg’s Curse  Amitav Ghosh (I just read but it\,  but it will be on my shelves a long time.) \n  \nThanks for doing this\, Johnny.   \n  \n—Will Hornyak \n* \n  \nThe two books that I have read/listened to on Audible are both by Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns\, which travels with the Great Migration from the South and highlights/follows the lives of three people who made the migration. While I intellectually had an understanding of Jim Crow\, Wilkerson provided an emotional understanding in a very moving way. I also valued her later book Caste\, which looks at how caste systems provide a powerful framework for understanding race and other social issues. This work is less personal than the earlier book but the tandem is quite compelling. \n  \nCheers\, \n  \n—Jeffrey Sher \n* \n  \nI’ve recommended Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Somé to lots of my friends. When we think about different cultures\, we have the idea that they do things a little differently than we do\, they speak different languages\, and they have different beliefs. But Malidoma’s Somé’s book gave me the feeling that he lives in an entirely different world than I do. He has seen things that I’ve never seen\, and never will see. Even if I went to his village\, I couldn’t see them. Each one of us lives in our own world—the world as we imagine it\, as we describe it and explain it to ourselves. His book\, more than any other book I know\, shows me that there is not just one “reality”—there are as many realities as there are human beings. (And that doesn’t take into account the realities of moles\, goldfinches\, dogs\, lizards\, elephants\, gnats\, whales\, et cetera.) A different culture is a different way of being in the world. \n  \nWalt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is a poem\, not a book. Although it’s long for a poem (56 pages in my Signet edition of Leaves of Grass)\, I’ve memorized most of it. It changed my life\, changed the way I see the world\, changed the way I imagine who I am. It is\, I think\, the strongest expression in the world’s literature of the mystic’s feeling of being one with everything. Because it’s a poem\, and not a lecture or an essay\, it has the power to alter our sensibilities. It has made me a more joyful person\, made me more free\, given me the feeling of limitless love for everyone and every thing. The poem is a corrective to the ascetic and life-denying aspects of much religious literature. What saint or yogi would say?: \n  \n“I believe in the flesh and the appetites\, \nSeeing\, hearing\, feeling\, are miracles\, and each part and tag of me is a miracle.” \n  \nBut he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say: \n  \n“Divine am I inside and out\, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touch’d from\, \nThe scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer\, \nThis head more than churches\, bibles\, and all the creeds.” \n  \nWalt abolishes dualities\, like body and soul\, that are characteristic not just of most spirituality\, but of thought and language. It is a giant YES! to Life. And to Death. And everything in between. \n  \nMy two favorite short stories are Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Tenth of December by George Saunders. I read the first one a long time ago\, and realized that the narrator had the same ridiculous dream that I have—the dream that we could all love each other. I’ve performed a version of this story from time to time. Jason Beito recommended the George Saunders story to me. Thank you\, Jason! \n  \nI’m always reading more than one book at a time. At the beginning of each day\, I usually read from certain inspirational texts. These are books that I read again and again. When I get to the end\, I start at the beginning. My current repertoire includes Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics by R. H. Blyth\, A Year With Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky\, The Poetical Works and Centuries of Meditations by Thomas Traherne. Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh and The Only Revolution by J. Krishnamurti. Alan Watts is another stalwart early morning companion. I’m currently reading Eastern Wisdom\, Modern Life: Collected Talks 1960-1969. \n  \nI love to re-read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass from time to time. And Huckleberry Finn. \n  \nI learned a lot from Woman and Nature by Susan Griffin\, and For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Childrearing and the Roots of Violence by Alice Miller\, and Magical Child and Evolution’s End by Joseph Chilton Pearce\, and from many books by Ken Wilber. Joseph Campbell is a personal favorite. I like his lectures best\, especially as audio books. \n  \nWilliam Shakespeare is my favorite writer. He’s the greatest poet in the English language\, and the greatest playwright in any language. Endless delight! My favorite companion volume to the works of Shakespeare is Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being by Ted Hughes. \n  \nThree of my favorite novels: The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa\, The Zoo Where You’re Fed to God by Michael Ventura\, and Borgel by Daniel Pinkwater. \n  \nAlthough Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Blake are wondering why I left them out\, that’s enough for now! \n  \n—Johnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-3-10-22/
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UID:2613-1647183600-1647190800@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!  3/13/22
DESCRIPTION:  \nBeloved Bibliophiles! It’s Women’s History Month! This week\, Sunday\, March 13th\, at 3 pm (Pacific Daylight Time)\, our theme is “Women Authors and Women Fictional Characters.” Here’s the link for the Zoom gathering: \n  \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/87614013058 \n  \n  \n  \nI hope to see you there! \n  \npeace\, love & happiness \n  \nJohnny \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-3-13-22/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220315
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DTSTAMP:20260427T030818
CREATED:20220315T153234Z
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UID:2617-1647302400-1649980799@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  3/15/22
DESCRIPTION:“There is One Holy Book\, the sacred manuscript of nature\,\nthe only scripture which can enlighten the reader.” ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan \n  \n  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \n March 15\, 2022 \n  \n(These are some excerpts from Michel’s meditation journal. The numbers refer to sections from Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh.) (JS) \n  \nFebruary 15\, 2022  #239  Peace Permeates \n  \nIt’s true! Whatever we cultivate in mindfulness will permeate the life and body. It is also true that physical states (feelings) can affect the mindfulness. This is why I believe there is value in any type of mindfulness practice. Currently I strive to practice during moments on the exercise bike\, and do nothing else while I sit there. Maybe formal sitting isn’t for everyone—(it is the easiest and quickest path I’ve learned)—but learning to find some idle time to focus on the breath\, while not attending to every thought whim arising each moment\, can be helpful. Lately\, I’ve referenced recollections of childhood: those times on sunny summer days\, laying on a lawn beach\, etc.\, watching clouds pass by. Thoughts can become the clouds. Let them go on. \n  \nFebruary 16\, 2022  #240  Rest Naturally \n  \nI would take Thây’s allusion one step further. I would imagine myself as that pebble sitting down to rest in sleep. These images sound like a very restful contemplation for meditation practice\, or sleep—which can be a form of meditation\, I’ve heard. \n  \nThe beauty of this image\, to me\, is the pebble does nothing. It is acted upon\, and eventually comes to a state of rest\, all without any self effort. Once at rest\, more nothing; it still doesn’t do. It just is.  I like allowing thoughts to be like water\, flowing by with no affect or input. I think emulating the small stone is valuable. \n  \nI wonder: how far this allusion-metaphor-image can be interpreted and applied before the analogy breaks down? Still\, I like this idea of imagining myself (my mind?) as the small stone resting as clouds\, air\, rain\, water\, a river\, living beings (various forms of thought?) simply pass by\, while I continue to rest unaffected by all the passersby\, or the melee of thoughts passes on without my interaction or attachment. \n  \nFebruary 23\, 2022  #245  The Sangha Body of Peace \n  \nIt has been over two years since we last gathered\, here at TRCI\, for our weekly dialogues and since we’ve been able to function for each other as a sangha. We’ve been doing so remotely. In this two years\, several have moved on to their next phase\, whatever and wherever that may be. All of us\, I’m guessing\, look forward to meeting with those of us remaining\, and for our dialogues to resume. I wonder what this may be likened to and how we\, the remnant or those departed\, may feel about being where we are when that happens. Will everyone experience unity of sangha\, or some\, maybe? I don’t know; it’s a personal experience. \n  \nI trust if we remember Thây’s teaching on mindfulness—“I am here for you”—and apply it to be mindfully present wherever we are at the reunification of our weekly “love feat\,” then those present (and hopefully those afar\, lending their light) will give/receive the most from that meeting of our sangha again. I look forward to that day myself. \n  \nWith love\, be well! \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \nin my old age \ni have become a connoisseur \nof perfect moments \n  \nSome people say\, “No one’s perfect\,” or “Nothing is perfect\,” but\, if you look at it a certain way\, everyone is perfect and every thing is perfect. We’ve all drunk a lot of water in our life\, but sometimes we stop and notice that the glass of water in our hand is the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. We are amazed by water. It’s impossible. It’s wet. We are made of water. Without air\, without water\, without the sun\, there could be no life on this planet. Without our body\, without our eyes and brain and skin and nervous system we couldn’t see or touch or taste water. We couldn’t know or imagine. When I was young\, I knew everything. The older I get\, the more bewildered I’ve become. I’m dumbfounded by the beauty and unlikelihood of absolutely everything. \n  \n(After writing the above\, I asked Mr. Google: “What percentage of the human body is water?” Here is the reply:) \n  \n60% \n  \nUp to 60% of the human adult body is water. According to H.H. Mitchell\, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158\, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water\, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water\, muscles and kidneys are 79%\, and even the bones are watery: 31%. \n  \n(From the U.S. Geological Survey website article: “The Water in You: Water and the Human Body.” The article is highly entertaining. Here’s the link:) \n  \nhttps://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \n#302  No Ideas \n  \n“When we look deeply\, we see that all our ideas about our body and about our mind are inaccurate. We have to practice no ideas…” \n“When we can stop every idea in our mind…” \n“When we can see the emptiness of each thing…” \n  \nBut aren’t ‘looking deeply’ and ‘when we can see’ just other ways of saying ‘thinking\,’ and having ideas about? Isn’t the very practice of “practicing no ideas” an idea? An act of thinking? A conscious process of the mind? Do you acknowledge that it’s an idea to “practice no idea\,” and that it is a necessary step to get beyond to get to emptiness?  \n  \nWe might use a mantra in order to go beyond no idea? But the derivation of mantra goes back to Sanskrit – sacred counsel\, formula; and back to Latin – mens: mind. From manyate: he thinks. Hmmm\, that sure sounds like mind>thinking>idea to me… \n  \nAm I overthinking this no idea/emptiness…idea? Sheesh. I have no idea….Hey! I think I’m getting somewhere with this.  \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nIn life I have done things that were detestable. And in life we have all at times been faced with choosing the path. But which path do we take—not knowing where any of them lead? I had been lost for so long\, and lost so much\, and so many of those things can never be replaced. But some of them will never fail\, and that is the love I have for them—lost and found and kept. Unconditional love is there for those that need it. People are the real treasure in love\, and those relationships are what is most important. Love is free and we should always freely give love unconditionally. It is a simple seed and if it is allowed to grow unchecked it is gladly evasive. \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \nOld Spruce Sets the Clock \n  \nI’ve been running daylight saving time \nsince I was a sprig\, a sprout\, a sapling \nhoarding every filament of illumination \nthat made it through these shadows \nto find my reaching hands open wide. \nDon’t ask me about frenzy–I’ve been \nslow-timing for a hundred years\, and \nlook where that has got me\, rooted \ndeeper\, yearning higher\, greener\, \nolder\, thick and sturdy\, easy with \nroot and bud\, snow and starlight.  \nIn this war\, one could do worse. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nMy meditation lately consists of viewing what I look like by someone else’s eyes and mind. How do I act\, talk\, walk\, sit\, eat? How do I treat others? This gives me self awareness. It is sometimes uncomfortable to view myself outside of myself\, but it does bring me perspective. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and writings. \n  \n—Brandon Gillespie \n* \n  \nFor a joyous and heart opening experience\, spend a few breaths looking closely at these spirals (on page 1) of nature’s energy unfolding.  \n  \nMarch has many celebrations—International Women’s Day\, Spring Equinox\, Earth Day\, Candlemas and Nancy Scharbach’s Birthday! \n  \nAs Spring approaches I am delighted by the polka dots of nature—soft rain drops on the pavement\, along with pink petals from the cherry trees. Pussy willows in bud\, raindrops clinging to the leafless twigs after a rain. But there is also the spiral when I look closely at the ferns sending out their new shoots. \n  \nIt is also the time of Fasting after a last winter Feast. “Carnival” means going without meat\, or food in general\, until the gardens are producing once again. Through eons and within all cultures and religions\, the need for Lent (or sacrifice\, and changing one’s habits to survive) has been a Spring ritual. Blessing the Earth for sustenance. \n  \nIn Buddhist practice\, rather than a forty day fast\, the Five Precepts are recited once a week\, to help change unkind and unhealthy elements of our “habit energy\,” as Thay calls it\, with the intent to live a happier and ethical life. \n  \nRather than making these sound like commandments\, Thich Nhat Hanh over the years has rewritten the precepts so they help us focus on practicing awareness and kindness\, for ourselves\, for others\, and for the planet. \n  \nHere are Thay’s latest rendition with his commentary. You may want to take one to heart for a week or two\, then reflect on your own habit energy\, and what changes you might see from paying attention. Maybe there is something you want to give up and you would like your community to support. \n  \nIn peace and love\,  \n  \n—Katie Radditz \n  \nThe Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete ways to practice mindfulness. They are nonsectarian\, and their nature is universal. They are true practices of compassion and understanding. All spiritual traditions have their equivalent to the Five Mindfulness Trainings. \n  \nThe first training is to protect life\, to decrease violence in oneself\, in the family and in society. The second training is to practice social justice\, generosity\, not stealing and not exploiting other living beings. The third is the practice of responsible sexual behavior in order to protect individuals\, couples\, families and children. The fourth is the practice of deep listening and loving speech to restore communication and reconcile. The fifth is about mindful consumption\, to help us not bring toxins and poisons into our body or mind. \n  \nThe Five Mindfulness Trainings are based on the precepts developed during the time of the Buddha to be the foundation of practice for the entire lay practice community.  \n  \nI have translated these precepts for modern times\, because mindfulness is at the foundation of each one of them. With mindfulness\, we  are modern times\, because mindfulness is at the foundation of each one of them. With mindfulness\, we are aware of what is going on in our bodies\, our feelings\, our minds and the world\, and we avoid doing harm to ourselves and others. Mindfulness protects us\, our families and our society. When we are mindful\, we can see that by refraining from doing one thing\, we can prevent another thing from happening. We arrive at our own unique insight. It is not something imposed on us by an outside authority. Practicing the mindfulness trainings\, therefore\, helps us be more calm and concentrated\, and brings more insight and enlightenment. \n  \nThe Five Mindfulness Trainings \n  \nThe Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path\, the path of right understanding and true love\, leading to healing\, transformation\, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing\, or Right View\, which can remove all discrimination\, intolerance\, anger\, fear\, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings\, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path\, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future. \n  \nReverence For Life \n  \nAware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life\, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people\, animals\, plants\, and minerals. I am determined not to kill\, not to let others kill\, and not to support any act of killing in the world\, in my thinking\, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger\, fear\, greed\, and intolerance\, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking\, I will cultivate openness\, non-discrimination\, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence\, fanaticism\, and dogmatism in myself and in the world. \n  \nTrue Happiness\n \n  \nAware of the suffering caused by exploitation\, social injustice\, stealing\, and oppression\, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking\, speaking\, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time\, energy\, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth\, fame\, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions\, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and stop contributing to climate change. \n  \nTrue Love\n \n  \nAware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct\, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals\, couples\, families\, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love\, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others\, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep\, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one\, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness\, compassion\, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love\, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future. \n  \nLoving Speech and Deep Listening\n \n  \nAware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others\, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people\, ethnic and religious groups\, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering\, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence\, joy\, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me\, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding\, love\, joy\, and inclusiveness\, and gradually transform anger\, violence\, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness. \n  \nNourishment and Healing\n \n  \nAware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption\, I am committed to cultivating good health\, both physical and mental\, for myself\, my family\, and my society by practicing mindful eating\, drinking\, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments\, namely edible foods\, sense impressions\, volition\, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble\, or to use alcohol\, drugs\, or any other products which contain toxins\, such as certain websites\, electronic games\, TV programs\, films\, magazines\, books\, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing\, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me\, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties\, fear\, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness\, anxiety\, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace\, joy\, and well-being in my body and consciousness\, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family\, my society and the Earth. \n  \n—from Happiness: Essential Mindfulness Practices by Thich Nhat Hanh (pp. 35-38) \n* \n  \nSome quotes on Jeff K’s mind lately: \n  \n’’Be patient\, your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and loves you no matter what you are” \n  \n—Ted Chiang Stories of Your Life and Others\, p. 278 \n  \n”Found a dollar and had a slice of pizza… One day closer to death’’  \n& \n”We come into this world alone… Then we die alone… But\, in the meantime… Snacks.’’ \n  \n—Adult Swim \n  \nOur universe might have slid into equilibrium emitting nothing more than a quiet hiss. The fact that it spawned such plenitude is a miracle\, one that is matched only by your universe giving rise to you. Though I am long dead as you read this\, explorer\, I offer to you a valediction. Contemplate the marvel that is existence\, and rejoice that you are able to do so. I feel I have the right to tell you this because\, as I am inscribing these words\, I am doing the same.  \n  \n—Ted Chiang\,  Exhalation\, p. 57 \n  \n”Artists are magical helpers. Evoking symbols and motifs that connect us to our deeper selves\, they can help us along the heroic journey of our own lives.”  \n  \n—Joseph Campbell \n  \n—Jeff Kuehner
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-3-15-22/
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CREATED:20220324T201557Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T130754Z
UID:2660-1648080000-1649289599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  3/24/22
DESCRIPTION:photo by Kim Stafford \n  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \n  \nWAR & PEACE & SPRING! \n  \n  \nArt Degraded\, Imagination Denied\, War Governed the Nations. \n—William Blake \n  \nMarch 24\, 2022 \n  \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding is two years old!  \n  \nHURRAH!!! \n  \nOur first issue celebrated Spring Equinox. Last year at this time we again enjoyed a bunch of Spring poems. \n  \n(https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-3-18-21/).  \n  \nSo\, we want to celebrate Spring…and there are other things on our minds as well. In our last issue people wrote about some of their favorite books. In it\, we invited friends inside prison to write about some of their favorite books. Meanwhile\, we are also thinking about war and peace and refugees. \n  \nIt’s Spring!!! \n  \nAnd every day the front page reminds us that bombs are falling on people in Ukraine. \n  \nKim had this to say: \n  \nThese days I seem to be obsessed with news from the war…and with the little plum tree outside the door of my writing shed. It was only a matter of time before the two started talking to each other in a poem. \n  \nPlum Trees in War \n  \nHow do they do it?—no resistance\, \nno complicity\, simply opening \na new species of light bud by bud \nin spite of all that is burned and broken. \n  \nSplayed against a shattered wall\, \nfrom a stump amid the rubble\, \nor even from a sheared branch \ndusted with ash\, petals unfurl. \n  \nAs enemies prepare to advance \nacross hills and fields\, spring \ngot there first\, took possession \nand raised its million flags of green. \n  \nFrom the sky\, breath by breath\, \nthe command comes down\, so every \nsoldier says\, “I can’t kill today— \nI am busy blossoming.” \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nThomas Bray wrote to us about his favorite books: \n  \nI thoroughly enjoyed your latest newsletter with all the book recommendations in it. I read it with great interest. My two favorite books are: \n  \nMan’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. This is about a Jewish psychiatrist imprisoned in Auschwitz and how he manages to find meaning in the most dire of situations. I read it at least once a year. I always think the same thing when I read it: that if he can survive that\, then surely I can survive this. \n  \nShantaram by Gregory David Roberts. This is another true story of an Australian prisoner who escapes\, and flees to India. He lives amongst the “untouchables” for years. It’s a truly riveting tale of survival. \n  \nRegards\, \nThomas Bray \n* \n  \nEach spring I read this favorite gem of a poem by Roethke. The last line captures my feeling about the return of spring perfectly. As the blossoms of my daphne waft the delicious fragrance in my backyard portending the return to life of all of the brown stalks and underground plants waiting to burst forth with fullness\, I am always filled with a sense of wonder and excitement. Here is the poem that I always read: \n  \nVernal Sentiment \n  \nThough the crocuses poke up their heads in the usual places\, \nThe frog scum appear on the pond with the same froth of green\, \nAnd boys moon at girls with last year’s fatuous faces\, \nI never am bored\, however familiar the scene. \n  \nWhen from under the barn the cat brings a similar litter\,— \nTwo yellow and black\, and one that looks in between\,— \nThough it all happened before\, I cannot grow bitter: \nI rejoice in the spring\, as though no spring ever had been. \n  \n—Theodore Roethke \n  \n—Jeffrey Sher \n* \n  \nKatie talks about some of her favorite books\, and then\, on the subject of War & Peace & Spring\, she includes a poem by Czeslaw Milosz: \n  \nthat was impossible!  and my favorite author lately is Olga Tokarchuk.    \n  \n“My first thought about art\, as a child\, was that the artist brings something into the world that didn’t exist before\, and that he does it without destroying something else. A kind of refutation of the conservation of matter. That still seems to me its central magic\, its core of joy.” \n  \n—John Updike \n  \nFavorite books is a BiG topic for a houseful of too many loved books.  I do have a shelf  of some of my favorite books that I like to have more than one copy so that I can give one away to whoever is here at the time that fits.  \n  \nOn that shelf are these magical books–  \nThe Lives of Rocks short stories by Rick Bass\, living out in the Montana wilds. \nLove Invents Us by Amy Bloom \nThe Green Child by Herbert Read \nThe Great Fire by  Shirley Hazzard   WW II time: is the great fire war or love? \nWalden by Henry David Thoreau \nSwann’s Way by Marcel Proust    \nThe Plague by Albert Camus\, the book I have reread the most often. I highly recommend it in the Covid era. \n  \nOn the shelf too is Bill’s favorite book. For years he has given most\, a book called History: A Novel by Elsa Morante. \n  \nMaking this list I am aware of how I like to read what is most foreign to me. \n  \nLately I’m wild about the stories and writing of Roy Jacobsen\, his trilogy about a family who are the only ones living on their island off the coast of Norway.  The Unseen is the first in the series. \n  \nI read the heartbreaking Arizona/Mexico Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses\, The Crossing\, Cities of the Plain. “The man smiled at him a sly smile. As if they knew a secret between them\, these two. Something of age and youth and their claims and the justice of those claims. And of their claims upon them. The world past\, the world to come. Their common transciencies.”  (Then\, this line I have posted on my writing desk): “Above all a knowing deep in the bone that beauty and loss are one.”  From Cities of the Plain. \n  \nPenelope Fitzgerald   –   I first read The Bookshop\, very English\, but then read all her books and liked most The Gate of Angels\, about the chaos theory.   \n  \nWhen I love a book then I want to read everything else the author has written. \n  \nWhen I first read a book by a black American author I was also in a foreign land and wanted to read all Black Women Writers in America \n  \nI first read Sula\, by Toni Morrison\, then read her others\, through Beloved. This led me to Gloria Naylor\, Alice Walker\, then Zora Neal Hurston\, then plays of August Wilson and Lynn Nottage. \n  \nIn poetry too\, I love the foreign but also the most current in America. The poems of T’ao Ch’ien\, written in the 4th century China\, witten in a natural\, personal voice of his immediate experience and feelings makes it seem so contemporary. This led me somehow to Buddhist teachings and practice. And the first thing I read by Thich Nhat Hanh\, The Sun My Heart\, which led me the next week to my first Mindfulness retreat. \n  \nNow I’m reading the Polish poets Szymborska and Milosz to stay open hearted and in solidarity with those suffering in the war zone and on the move as refugees and those opening their homes in a safe place. Here is a War and Peace and Springtime poem from the 70’s by Milosz to ease the sorrow as we continue to pay attention and practice peace.  \n  \nOn Pilgrimage \n  \nMay the smell of thyme and lavender accompany us on our journey\nTo a province that does not know how lucky it is\nFor it was\, among all the hidden corners of the earth\,\nThe only one chosen and visited. \n  \nWe tended toward the Place but no signs led there.\nTill it revealed itself in a pastoral valley\nBetween mountains that look older than memory\,\nBy a narrow river humming at the grotto. \n  \nMay the taste of wine and roast meat stay with us\nAs it did when we used to feast in the clearings\,\nSearching\, not finding\, gathering rumors\,\nAlways comforted by the brightness of the day. \n  \nMay the gentle mountains and the bells of the flocks\nRemind us of everything we have lost\,\nFor we have seen on our way and fallen in love\nWith the world that will pass in a twinkling. \n  \n—Czeslaw Milosz \nEnglish version by Czeslaw Milosz and Robert Hass\nOriginal Language Polish \n  \n—Katie Radditz \n* \n  \nMilosz’s poem reminded me of this poem by William Stafford: \n  \nAt the Un-National Monument along the Canadian Border \n  \nThis is the field where the battle did not happen\, \nwhere the unknown soldier did not die. \nThis is the field where grass joined hands\,  \nwhere no monument stands\, \nand the only heroic thing is the sky. \n  \nBirds fly here without any sound\, \nunfolding their wings across the open. \nNo people killed—or were killed—on this ground \nhallowed by neglect and an air so tame \nthat people celebrate it by forgetting its name. \n  \n—William Stafford \n* \n  \nThe Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz \n  \n—Michael Deforge \n* \n  \nMy favorite series of books are the Harry Potter novels. They are so rich and full of flavor\, each one has its own beginning and end\, and kept me enchanted the entire read. A true masterpiece they are. \n  \nSpring happens to be my favorite season. It is to me and many the beginning of something. It has the feel of new endeavors and adventures to take on. A new start\, rather. So\, in a negative sense\, the beginning of war—since that is the topic. We humans always find a way to not get along. One day I believe we will have to\, or it will be the end of us. \n  \n—Brandon Gillespie \n* \nHere’s are a couple of my recent contributions to the Poetry of Peace: \n  \nlet’s pretend \n  \ninstead of pretending that we are afraid \nthat we must improve \nthat we have enemies \nthat the future will arrive someday \n  \nlet’s pretend everything is sacred \npretend this is Paradise \npretend every moment is precious \npretend we love everyone \n  \npretend our joy knows no bounds \npretend we are the whole wide world \n  \n  \nMy Foolproof Plan for World Peace \n  \nI hereby declare today to be International Love Day. \nAnd a General Armistice. \nAll hostilities must cease on International Love Day. \nHenceforward\, every day is International Love Day. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \nPerrin Kerns sent me a Zoom link to a daily meditation\, at 8 a.m. (PDT)\, with people in Ukraine. In addition to sitting together\, there is an opportunity to hear from people in Ukraine and give them love and support. Here’s the link: \n  \nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/83817903514 \n  \n  \nToday’s Yogi Tea bag message: \n  \nLive righteously and love everyone\, you will build up around you an aura of light and love. \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-3-24-22/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220327T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220327T170000
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CREATED:20220323T213254Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220323T220311Z
UID:2644-1648393200-1648400400@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!  3/27/22
DESCRIPTION:photo by Kim Stafford\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis Sunday\, March 27th\, at 3 p.m. (PDT) the theme for our Bibliophiles Unanimous! Zoom gathering is: War & Peace & Spring!  Here’s the link:\n \n\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/87614013058 \n\n\n\n\nMay all people be happy.\nMay we live in peace & love\n \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-3-27-22/
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