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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  6/1/23
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nJune 1\, 2023 \n  \nArt Degraded\, Imagination Denied\, War Governed the Nations. \n—William Blake \n  \nPEACE \n  \nEarly Morning Hours \n  \nFrom the house silence flows \nto the ebony lawn \nglittering like a river. \nA small candle flickers\, \nmirroring the moon \nsliding down night’s curve. \nFir branches stand against the sky\, \nthe hours’ tall sentinels\, \nand the hum inside silence \nfills each shadowed crevice\, \nthe world inundated. \n  \n  \nThe Only Now \n  \nThe stripped body lies burrowed \nin a flower well\, utterly still\, \nand one wonders \nif it has died into the nectar. \nSheltered by night\, \nin the morning the bee resumes \nsipping\, covered in pollen \nbumbling from flower to flower\, \nhis home where he stops\, \nsatiated with sugared gold\, \nhis life and eating and bliss\, \nsleep and journey all one. \n  \n  \nUnexpected \n  \nRampant weeds crowd bee balm and hyssop\, \ndirt clings to roots\, leaves bend \nand in the midst of this fecundity\, \nI am digging\, pulling\, only \nthe sun’s heat on my back. \nMoving through the afternoon quiet \na feathered sound of wings \nis near\, slower and closer\, \nand a light weight comes to rest on my head. \nCould it be? I reach a hand up\, \nthe wings lift\, rise\, and are gone. \n  \n  \nThe Tree in the Universe \n  \nLight glints off cherries in the branches \nswaying slightly in summer breezes. \n  \nI too am swinging\, shimmering\, high \nin the tree\, resting in a dark trunk \n  \nadrift and asleep\, the sky \ndappling the light in the tree\, \n  \nabove the ground air my companion\, birds \nmy companions\, jumping and wondering\, \n  \nall of us in the branches\, in the light\, \ntime a mystery that moves in the tree\, \n  \noff the ground\, as my vision\, \nmy mind unrolls in front of me \n  \ncarrying my heart forward and backward\, \ninward\, time and space a single pulse \n  \nand the cherries shine\, the tree grows \nquietly upward and outward\, carrying me\, \n  \nthe birds\, and all around\, all around\, \nright here in the branches\, in time and in sight\, \n  \nI see that\, yes\, yes\, each particle\, \neach moment turning in the sky\, \n  \nin the tree\, flowing between us\, \nin us\, what I imagined\, what I dreamed \n  \nand dreaded and is now here—all of it divine. \n  \n—Deborah Buchanan \n* \n  \nA couple months ago my friend Ken Margolis was listening to the news. He heard a report on the war in Ukraine. Both sides were said to be running low on ammunition\, because they were both using 1\,ooo artillery shells per day. Two thousand artillery shells per day! More than one per minute. It was insane. He told his friends\, including me. He wondered: Is there is anything we can do to bring this war to an end? That question prompted me to choose the theme “Peace” for this month’s peace\, love\, happiness & understanding. The word “peace” has two main connotations: the absence of war\, and a calm\, quiet state of mind. When I invited people to contribute to this issue\, I said the topic is “peace\,” but didn’t specify which kind of peace. \n  \nFor me\, the “two kinds of peace” are not unrelated. In the early Eighties I wrote a fairly long essay called “The Ecology of Violence\, the Ecology of Peace: A Lived Revolution—Personally\, Locally\, Globally.” In it\, I explored topics like Authority\, Poverty\, Education\, Cruelty\, the Media\, Meditation\, Economics\, Ideology\, Ecology\, Family\, Culture\, Community\, and many more. One of the primary insights of Ecology is that everything is  inter-related to everything else. The Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh spoke of “interbeing.” It seems to me that our “job” is to help to co-create a culture that nurtures all people\, and to learn or re-learn how humans can live on this planet without destroying it—like all the other animals do. \n  \nMy outlook on life has been shaped by the fact that instead of going to Vietnam to kill people\, I went to India and studied with wise yogis. When I think of war\, instead of thinking about brave soldiers fighting to make the world a better place\, I think of that photograph of Vietnamese children who have been bombed with jellied gasoline. Every day the war goes on in Ukraine\, more children die. More mothers and fathers\, sisters and brothers die. It’s insane. \n  \nHere’s a poem I wrote: \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  \nAlex sent this poem by Tom Clark: \n  \nBolinas \n  \nMy wife’s recipe for a fairy: \nPut buttercup pollen \nAnd a canary feather \nIn a thimble. At midnight\, \nImmersed in my life’s current \nHowever it may flow \nIn the giant life around it \nThat whispers like a tree \nRocked by evening light\, \nA tide of beams \nBears my dreambound boat. \nThe boughs drop peace\, \nA star wanders toward dawn \nOver the dim wet leaves. \n  \n—Tom Clark \n  \n—Alex Tretbar \n* \n  \nTo me lately\, peacefulness is just being a happy person and trying to make others understand happiness in just a few seconds of every moment. If one can achieve this their life will be happy. I found this secret on my journey to the golden path. A friend told me about the golden path years ago. I live there now and the town I live in on the golden path is called simple bliss. \n  \nI also find peace in the sweat of my brow from a job well done. I can’t wait to work hard for the ones I love. Peace is free and it lives inside of us and if you have it in you\, my friends\, give it to those that don’t. \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \nSiddhartha’s prayer     \n  \nWhen they asked why he left \nhis people and his palace\,  \nthe response rose like fragrance from summer’s garden. \nThere is peace in every breath\, he said\, \nand every heartbeat \nand every footstep \nthat will no longer be forgotten \nor forsaken. \nI wish every thought to be a prayer \nevery word to be a poem \nevery touch an act of love\, \nand all to be  \nas it already is. \n               – amen \n  \n—Bill Faricy \n* \n  \nSurrounded \nMemorial Day 2023 \n  \nPerhaps there is the sound of water\, \nthe feel of a light breeze\, comfortable \nwarmth\, rustling leaves. \n  \nMaybe the colors make harmonies\, \nsmell of sandalwood\, taste \nof cardamom on the tongue. \n  \nThe temptation of a ladder rung \nto a nest above ruins sharp \nedged with smoke\, mist. \n  \nMissed. We’re here. This list \nof all that’s lost\, endless. Still \nfingers uncurl from a fist. \n  \nIn the end everyone was right. \nAll we wanted was a sense of \nbelonging\, a path\, not a fight. \n  \nInstead\, a respite\, for now. \nForever? The crowd surrounds us\, \nwhether we are aware\, or not. \n  \n—Elizabeth Domike \n* \n                          Peace Tree \n  \nMy calling is to rise. My purpose is to reach. \nWhere buildings fall\, I stand silent in the shouting. \nEven in billowing dust\, I begin the next peace. If  \nyou splinter me\, I will heal. After the battle\, I will  \nsilhouette dawn. I have seen seasons pass\, the rising  \nof anger\, fury of the storm\, return of calm. I’m still \nyearning for the sun\, still delving into dark. Rooted \npatriot of Earth\, I drink the sky to give you breath. \nNeutral in war\, I shade both sides. Send my seeds  \nacross the border\, I will be your diplomat of green. \nIf you plant me beside the graves of soldiers\, I will \nsay to their mothers with my leaves what they  \nmight have said in the wind that stirs. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nPeace Within\, Peace Without \n  \nWho doesn’t want to have peace within him or herself? Who doesn’t want to have world peace? I would say there are very few people in either category—a few\, maybe\, but not many. \n  \nHere is an inside aside: \nCan you have peace without love? \nCan you have peace without joy\, either within yourself or in the ‘world?’ \nIs peace synonymous with love? Is love synonymous with joy? \nAre there other words that define or are requirements for peace? Compassion? Connection? \n  \nWell\, I’m just throwing these out there\, as you can see\, but let’s go back to peace within/peace without. \n  \nHow can you be at peace within yourself and not be concerned about the world? It is overwhelming to think about trying to ‘fix’ the world\, for sure. We all know how that feels. Might as well give up on that and just work on being at peace within yourself\, right? Well\, that is impossible\, my friends. A spirit at peace is one who gnaws away\, tackles\, wrestles with—inch by inch\, foot by foot—-some part of the exterior world that is hurting\, be it other humans\, other creatures\, the world of nature. We do the work often never knowing whether or not we are achieving change\, lessening hurt\, creating love\, creating bond and connection and unity. This is not why we do it; we do the work because the work itself is what grows peace within us. And—-we have to do it.  \n  \nHa ha—but don’t get the idea that it is easy. It can be frightening\, hurtful\, frustrating\, and really hard; but something in us is propelled to keep on. And whatever that ‘something’ is\, brings (paradoxically) an inner peace. \n  \nSo we have to be in the world\, doing our bit\, small as it is; but always\, all of it\, from all of us is growing peace in the world. And just think if each and every one were to do this! World Peace!!! \n  \nWorking on the peace without is essential for the peace within…and vice versa. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nThe trouble with peace seems to be that it isn’t enough for us. Of course\, war is the ultimate step in a power struggle to determine who gets the gold and the throne. So\, in that sense\, battle skills are the most useful of all skills. \n  \nBut there is something more. At the same time we fear war\, we lust after it. We sing of arms and the man. War becomes the context for heroism\, nobility\, and deep companionship. It also destroys the beautiful\, kills the innocent\, and generates hatred in future generations. \n  \nIn spite of Elon Musk and other technological self-deceivers\, most people feel intuitively that life and death form some sort of continuum. To manifest its cycle of renewal\, life needs death. Does peace need war in some mysterious way? \n  \nWhen we think of Heaven\, we think No More War\, green meadows and grandchildren on our knee\, not the whole thing blown to bits by an incoming drone. War has its lobby\, its advocates and advertisers\, its prophets and profiteers. It’s only fair that a few of us take the other\, apparently less popular side\, and advocate for peace. \n  \n—Ken Margolis \n* \n  \n“Peace has been a theme in some of our earlier issues. Take a look at the peace\,love\, happiness & understanding Archive on the Open Road website. Here’s from June 24\, 2021: \n  \nhttps://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-6-24-21/ \n  \nFor July\, send me something about your own vision of Utopia or Paradise. \n  \npeace\,   \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-6-1-23/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230615
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230715
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LAST-MODIFIED:20250717T162413Z
UID:4009-1686787200-1689379199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  6/15/23
DESCRIPTION:  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nJune 15\, 2023 \n  \nWe were talking about the love we all could share \nWhen we find it\, to try our best to hold it there with our love \nWith our love\, we could save the world…. \n  \nAnd the time will come when you see we’re all one \nAnd life flows on within you and without you \n  \n—George Harrison \n* \n  \nIn Fyodor Dostoevsky’s great novel The Brothers Karamazov there is a monk named Father Zossima. When I first read the novel\, almost fifty years ago\, I was impressed with the Father Zossima’s (Fyodor Dostoevsky’s) words. I still am: \n  \nBrothers\, do not be afraid of men’s sin\, love man also in his sin\, for this likeness of God’s love is the height of love on earth. Love all of God’s creation\, both the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf\, every ray of God’s light. Love animals\, love plants\, love each thing. If you love each thing\, you will perceive the mystery of God in things. Once you have perceived it\, you will begin tirelessly to perceive more and more of it every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an entire\, universal love…. \n  \nMy friends\, ask joy from God. Be joyful as children\, as birds in the air…. \n  \nWhen you are alone\, pray. Love to throw yourself down on the earth and kiss it. Kiss the earth and love it\, tirelessly\, insatiably\, love all men\, love all things\, seek this rapture and ecstasy. Water the earth with the tears of your joy\, and love those tears. Do not be ashamed of this ecstasy\, treasure it\, for it is a gift from God\, a great gift\, and it is not given to many\, but to those who are chosen. \n  \n—Fyodor Dostoevsky\, The Brothers Karamazov\, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky\, pp. 338-341) \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \nOn June 12\, I sat down to write a note on mindfulness; my computer said it was National Loving Day\, which celebrates the right to marry or not marry the person we love. It led me to be most mindful today and this week about the person I have been married to for almost 50 years. To begin anew\, with fresh eyes for the things about him I most cherish. Not just as a father of my children.  \n  \nUnaware It was a week early\, we celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday with our children and grandchildren by going to a baseball game. My husband\, Bill\, was happy all day\, enjoying a day off from work and gardening\, being in an element of his youth that he could share with the younger generation. It was so good to see him totally engaged.   \n  \nBill is an introvert\, 98% according to the test\, and so he can be easily satisfied living in a solitary way with little social involvement\, enjoying his tea and crossword and books and garden and a movie online. But getting out of that can also easily give him a burst of energy.  \n  \nMindful of my extroverted side that includes many friends and adventures\, I am accompanying him this week on his trip to the post office\, or to the deli\, or to the hardware/feed store. Then taking a few minutes aside for a picnic or a walk before sunset\, or even to sit together in the garden and watch the teenage chicks practice flying. I’m aware of how grateful I am to have the freedom to have a loving relationship\, and that we can share such simple joys. It’s so easy to take this for granted. Being mindful adds an extra spot of honey to our tea. And it makes others glad to be around us. As Thich Nhat Hanh liked to say\, “Happiness is not an individual matter!” \n  \nBelow is a link to the life-changing story of the Loving’s decision to marry: \n  \nhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/12/loving-day-supreme-court-interracial-marriage-loving-virginia/70313073007/ \n  \n—Katie Radditz \n* \n  \n#333 Recognizing Negative Energy  \nfrom Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \n“Negative habit energy always tries to emerge\, but if you’re mindful\, you recognize it. Mindfulness helps us to recognize the habits transmitted by our ancestors and parents\, or learned during our childhood. Often\, just recognizing these habits will make them lose their hold on you.” \n  \nLast year I found a great children’s book called Fortunately\, Unfortunately. It was a story about a little boy on his way to a birthday party. UNFORTUNATELY\, a bear started chasing him and he dropped his present. FORTUNATELY\, an eagle-eyed eagle swooped down and hooked the present’s bow in his beak and dropped it at the feet of the little boy. Gratefully\, the boy scooped it up and continued on his way. UNFORTUNATELY\, a gang of rascals…etc. etc. Finally\, of course\, FORTUNATELY\, he ends up at the party and gives his present to the little girl. \n  \nSo I read this story to my grandkids in Bozeman\, and they loved it. Then I said\, “Let’s make up our own story and draw a book and send it to your cousins in Arizona.” Which we did\, and spent 3-4 hours writing\, making art\, and thinking up funny stuff.  \n  \nSo I thought\, This is how I think\, automatically! If something is wrong\, or sad\, or difficult\, I say\, “Yes\, but just think of what ____ is going through everyday.” Or: “Yeah\, it really is pouring rain today\, but doesn’t everything smell so sweet now?” I have always done this; I’d never really thought about it until I read this story.  \n  \nAnd then I thought—What a great topic for prison group dialogue! So I asked: “How do you react or respond in these cases?” Discussion discussion!!  \n  \nAnd then the really fun part: We went around the circle and traded Fortunately/Unfortunately sentences\, the crazier the better. There were giraffes involved\, and badgers\, and 100 foot deep wells\, and 10\,000 foot high mountains\, and blonde wigs\, and zits\, and… Well\, it was crazy and hilarious and so much fun\, and it all told us a lot about all of us\, almost all positive. \n  \nSo that’s my take on recognizing negative energy. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nFeeling Old \n  \nLeaves begin to curl. Limbs begin \nto sag. The tree begins to lean. Know \nthe feeling? My buds—not so plump. \nMy heartwood—dry. My bark begins \nto wither\, my roots to lose their grip. \n  \nBut hey—the sun shines bright as ever. \nAll that fell to earth has turned to treasure\, \nthe sky’s still calling me to rise in praise\, \nand rain bestows that flavor fine as my \nfirst sip when a sapling with no name. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nThis amazing planet we live on is already Paradise. We can eat the grasses and the grains. Fruit fills the trees. There are fellow creatures to love and laugh with. This beautiful world is a gift.   \n  \nWe still live in the Garden of Eden. We just don’t take very good care of it.   \n  \nAll water is holy water. And every day is a holy day. \n  \n—Bill Faricy \n* \n  \nMichel finished reading The Compassion Book by Pema Chödrön in early May\, and for the rest of the month used Be Free Where You Are as the basis for the meditations in his journal. Be Free Where You Are is the record of a talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh at the Maryland Correctional Institute\, which was published in May of 2002. \n  \nMay 15\, 2023  You are a Miracle (part 2) \n“Dear Friends\, you are nothing less than a miracle. There may be times when you feel that you are worthless. But you are nothing less than a miracle. The fact that you are here—alive and capable of breathing in and out—is simple proof that you are a miracle. One string bean contains the whole cosmos in it: sunshine\, rain\, the whole earth\, time\, space and consciousness. You also contain the whole cosmos.” \n  \nDo you “feel” like a miracle? Seriously! Do you feel the wonder and amazement of “be”ing alive\, being able to breathe\, move\, exist? Each of us is valuable\, even when we believe the lies that we are not. I know it is hard to drown out the noise of self-doubt and hate\, wherever it arises from and for whatever cause; whatever the noise\, it’s a LIE! You\, me\, all of us—we are a miraculous creation\, here on Earth for some purpose. Fundamentally: to “be”—nothing more. Though many struggle to achieve even merely “be”ing\, it’s what we are: “be”ings. We can add to that by breathing\, walking eating…all our “do”ings too. Then\, there’s passing on genes\, knowledge\, wisdom to the next generation. Yet\, somehow\, with all the noise of “do”ing\, we forget “be”ing and how miraculous “be”ing is. I also believe we have one other purpose as we toddle along to our mouldering\, and that is LOVE. Love as appreciation of the miracle that is life\, appreciation for other “be”ings participating in the wonderful\, miraculous\, cacophony that is our life. (Certainly we’re averse to certain experiences\, thus memories linger and trepidation arises about past and future. None of that is real any longer\, nor will be.) Breathe\, smile\, “be” aware; there’s a special miracle in this world and it’s you. I know\, sounds trite and contrived. And it is…if you and I refuse to see the miracle of the cosmos that each of us is; breathe (deliberately)\, smile (knowing this cosmological secret)\, and be aware (of what it takes for you or I to continue to exist…) “You are a miracle!” Me too! \n  \n—Michel Deforge
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-6-15-23/
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UID:4054-1689379200-1692057599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue  7/15/23
DESCRIPTION:  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n\n\n  \nJuly 15\, 2023 \n\n\n  \nJohnny is traveling and sends his joy and news below.  \n\n\nAnd so dear friends\, thank you for carrying on with your reflections and poems and stories for this edition of the Meditation and Mindfulness newsletter.   \n\n\nThanks to Andy for his gorgeous contribution from his newly finished collected visions of the Hundred Verses of Self Instruction. Here is his commentary on the cover image:   \n  \n\n\nVerse 9  \n\n\n  \n\n\nGrowing on both sides\, in a blossoming state\, \n\n\nis the one vine which has come\, spread out and risen to the top of a tree; \n\n\nremember that hell does not come  \n\n\nto the man dwelling in contemplation beneath it. \n\n\n\n\n  \n\n–from Atmopadesha Śatakam (One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction) of Narayana Guru \n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\nThe image of a contemplative seated beneath a flowering tree is practically universal in world religious art. Narayana Guru’s use of the image contains several details that tie it to the Indian tradition of Advaita Vedanta\, and that would have been familiar to his original Indian audience. The tree is covered by a creeper that is two-sided\, with roots that are concealed from view. The invisible origin of the creeper\, with its attractive flowers hiding the supporting tree\, is actually a metaphor for the structure of human consciousness\, as outlined in greater detail in Vedantic writings such as the Mandukya Upanishad. There\, wakeful experience is explained as a complex interaction of perceived form and conceptual name\, with both name and form springing from a common hidden source of seeded memory. This structural picture is a fundamental understanding that underlies much of the Atmopadesha Śatakam.  \n\n\nNarayana Guru was not interested in philosophy for its own sake; he was instead concerned with helping his fellow beings find their own way to lasting happiness. His use of the ideogram of the tree and the meditating being provides profound clues about how the moment-to-moment flow of our experience assembles itself\, how we can be caught by that flow\, and about how a dimension of our innermost Being remains free from bondage. \n\n\nWe seldom question the validity of the ongoing flow of our experiences\, with their sensory richness\, or their linear organization in time. The birth of a child\, or the death of a loved one can suddenly expose the unconscious nature of our routine forms of understanding. Our experiences can be afflicted in countless ways\, through the thwarting of our exaggerated sense of personal control\, through our habits of desire or aversion or the rigidities of habitual thinking. In the terms of the verse\, the experiential world of names and forms\, and the afflicted states that accompany them\, are nurtured from sources that are invisible to us. Name\, form and memory function collectively to conceal a deeper reality. \n\n\nThe emphasis of this verse is on noticing. The man dwelling in contemplation beneath the tree has discovered something priceless. He has learned that his own pure awareness permeates the entire field of the germination\, growth and dissolution of phenomenal experience\, and yet stands apart from it. \n\n\n  \n–Andy Larkin \n\n\n* \n\n\n  \n\n\nAh\, Summer . . . . . The soft polka dot flowers of Spring have passed. Summer blossoms are exploding. Red dahlias with fiery petals\, huge blue hydrangeas that droop with such languor. They make me as sleepy as Dorothy in the field of poppies. I pick them\, arrange them in bouquets\, give them as gifts. I like to drive with jars of flowers in the coffee cup holders. Their fading nature reminds me that beauty is constantly changing and re-emerging in new forms. Life is short. “But here we are again\,” say these same but different flowers that come in summertime. \n\n\nIn the summer\, I like to get out the book The Immense Journey (from 1957!)\, by Loren Eiseley\, and re-read his essay\, “How Flowers Changed the World.” Eiseley describes what he calls “a soundless\, violent explosion” of seed-born plant life millions of years ago\, just as the dinosaurs started to pass out and mammals arrived. At the heart of the explosion was a new kind of flora with magic seeds. \n\n\n“Flowers changed the face of the planet. Without them\, the world we know would never have existed. Today we know that the appearance of the flowers contained also the equally mystifying emergence of human life. Borne on the wind or attached to animal hides\, the new plant life spread all over the world. \n\n\nThe fantastic seeds skipping and hopping and flying about the woods and valleys brought with them an amazing adaptability. . . . If our whole lives had not been spent in the midst of it\, it would astound us. The old\, stiff\, sky-reaching wooden world changed into something that glowed here and there with strange colors\, put out queer\, unheard of fruits and little intricately carved seed cases\, and\, most important of all\, produced concentrated foods in a way that the land had never seen before. \n\n\nIf it wasn’t for the high energy content of seeds produced by flowers humanity wouldn’t have flourished.” \n\n\n  \n\n\n“If it should turn out that we have mishandled our own lives as several civilizations before us have done\, it seems a pity that we should involve the violet and the tree frog in our departure.” \n\n\n  \n— from Loren Eiseley\, The Immense Journey \n\n\n  \n—Katie Radditz \n* \n  \n\n\nGreetings from Lebanon! \n\n\nI’m on the Open Road–visiting with my good friend Zeina Daccache in Lebanon. Some of you will remember when she came to see our production of “Twelve Angry Men” at Two Rivers prison in 2012. She had directed a production of the play at Roumieh prison in Lebanon and made a wonderful documentary about it: “Twelve Angry Lebanese.” We will be showing Bushra Azzouz’s film “A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Prison” here on Saturday\, July 15. \n\n\nI’ve been reading John Moriarty’s amazing book Dreamtime and studying clown philosophy from Slava Polunin. Here’s an excerpt from his book Alchemy of Snowness: \n  \nThe Sixth Door \n\n\nFeelings and Emotions \n\n\n  \n\n\nThere is one door that ought to be kept shut. Or so we’re told. Even Pushkin taught us\, “You shall be lord and master of your heart.” Behind this door live our FEELINGS and EMOTIONS\, which must never be given free reign\, if we are to believe the poet. There is a life of suppressed emotions\, a rational\, regular life\, led by persons of good breeding\, one that offers the most direct path to one’s goals. But it turns out that what we give up on this path is our own vitality: we become mere cogs in some sort of a giant mechanism. Only emotions can give us life in all its fullness. Just as in a child’s mind\, any little thing can assume tremendous importance and take you on a wild ride at the slightest pretext. Passion\, emotion\, excitement\, obsession with the least trifle—these are the things that make for a full life\, because they demand utmost commitment and openness to the whole world around you. Such emotional perception of reality is fundamental to a human being\, and theatre has the ability to inspire it. \n\n\nTo be honest\, though\, not every kind of emotion appeals to me in equal measure. I suspect this is true of most people. \n\n\nI happen to like positive emotions. The more positive\, the better. \n\n\n  \n\n\nBecause a positive attitude actually makes the world a better place. \n\n\n  \n\n\n  \n\n\nThere is nothing mystical about this. Simply put\, kindness and joy radiate a kind of energy that goes out into the world and has the ability to change it. \n\n\n  \n\n\n—from Alchemy of Snownessby Slava Polunin\, pp. 76-77 \n\n\n  \n\n\n–Johnny Stallings \n* \n\n\n  \n\n\nThe Garden \n\n\n  \nAll this time I have been standing here   \n\n\nI’ve never seen these trees before.   \n\n\n  \nAll this time I have been living here   \n\n\nI’ve always thought to go out.  \n\n\n  \nOut to find love\, beauty\, out to find   \n\n\npassion\, the wisdom of the ages.   \n\n\n  \nOut to feel\, out to see\, the wide sweep\,   \n\n\nthe hand of God.   \n\n\n  \nOut to the woods\, to the city\,   \n\n\nmessy\, vibrant\, all the hues\, full of life.   \n\n\n  \nNow I find standing here   \n\n\nlooking at this garden\,   \n\n\nit has everything.   \n\n\n  \nEverything I have been longing for\,   \n\n\nunfinished\,   \n\n\nperfect.   \n\n\n  \n\n\n-Elizabeth Domike \n* \n\n\n  \n\n\nThe Hammock  \n\n\n  \n\n\nWhen I lay my head in my mother’s lap   \n\n\nI think how day hides the stars\,   \n\n\nthe way I lay hidden once\, waiting   \n\n\ninside my mother’s singing to herself. And I remember   \n\n\nhow she carried me on her back   \n\n\nbetween home and the kindergarten\,   \n\n\nonce each morning and once each afternoon.   \n\n\n  \nI don’t know what my mother’s thinking.   \n\n\n  \nWhen my son lays his head in my lap\, I wonder:   \n\n\nDo his father’s kisses keep his father’s worries   \n\n\nfrom becoming his? I think\, Dear God\, and remember \n\n\nthere are stars we haven’t heard from yet:   \n\n\nThey have so far to arrive. Amen\, \n\n\nI think\, and I feel almost comforted.   \n\n\n  \nI’ve no idea what my child is thinking.   \n\n\nBetween two unknowns\, I live my life.   \n\n\nBetween my mother’s hopes\, older than I am   \n\n\nby coming before me\, and my child’s wishes\, older than I am   \n\n\nby outliving me. And what’s it like?   \n\n\nIs it a door\, and good-bye on either side?   \n\n\nA window\, and eternity on either side?   \n\n\nYes\, and a little singing between two great rests.   \n\n\n  \n–Li-Young Lee\, from Book of My Nights \n* \n\n\nReverence the highest\, have patience with the lowest. Let this day’s performance of the meanest [most menial] duty be thy religion. Are the stars too distant? Pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet\, and from it learn the all. \n\n\n  \n\n\n— Margaret Fuller \n* \n\n\n  \n\n\nFollowing Navajo Songs \n\n\n  \nBeauty all around me   \n\n\nBeauty in front   \n\n\nBeauty behind   \n\n\nBeauty above\, wind rustling the leaves   \n\n\nBeauty below\, hard ground   \n\n\nBeauty in the air\, soft\, soft   \n\n\nBeauty in my eyes\, tears   \n\n\nBeauty in my hands   \n\n\nfingers trailing pollen   \n\n\nBeauty in my footsteps   \n\n\nblossoms spring from the earth   \n\n\nBeauty in my heart   \n\n\ndark as thunder   \n\n\nBeauty in my heart   \n\n\nquiet as the last birds   \n\n\nin evening trees\,   \n\n\nBeauty   \n\n\nBeauty   \n\n\nBeauty   \n\n\n  \n–Deborah Buchanan \n* \n\n\n  \n\n\nYogi tea tag says today: “Uncage your heart\, free your heart\, let it be wild.” \n\n\n  \n\n\nEast Side Footsteps (Sierra Nevada) \n\n\n  \nOn those wild wide sandbars at Walker River\,   \n\n\nwe put toes into warm sand so fine   \n\n\nour feet sank to ankles   \n\n\nat each step. Summer’s end\, September\,   \n\n\ncelebrating birthdays\,   \n\n\nconvening halfway between   \n\n\nmy life in the Bay Area \n\n\nand yours in Lone Pine.   \n\n\nYour great curly dog loped ahead.   \n\n\nOur toes caught split straws of earlier grasses   \n\n\nuntil they rounded over river rocks   \n\n\nso hot under foot\,   \n\n\nwe scurried and stumbled across them   \n\n\nto keep our feet from burning.   \n\n\nThen reached the cool mud at water’s edge\,   \n\n\nwhere tiny frogs leapt from sedges\,   \n\n\nalarmed by our thudding presence.   \n\n\nRocks in that river were slippery with algae.  \n\n\nIt took determination to find a level spot\,   \n\n\nan eddy\, where stones could not lurch us   \n\n\nto our knees\, nor current upend us.   \n\n\nThe air wafted sagebrush and river. Untamed.   \n\n\nInvigorating and peaceful\, all at once.   \n\n\nTwo friends’ brief pause   \n\n\nbefore ascending Sonora Pass.   \n\n\n  \n–Gail Lester\, (after William Stafford’s poem “Tamarisk”) \n* \n\n\n\n\n\n  \nDesert Poem \n\n\n  \n\n\nDesert paintbrush shows no mercy \n\n\nravishing\, red smoldering your eyes.  \n\n\nCome to your knees to receive it. See \n\n\nhow stems peg color to earth\, where \n\n\nprairie flowers wild in their differences \n\n\nare loyal in their fit: lupine crazy blue\,  \n\n\nyarrow dusky\, shy pink on scattered  \n\n\nfarewell-to-spring. Each flower whispers  \n\n\nfragrance to court small wings\, tiny tongues.  \n\n\nFrom every twig\, leaves offer gestures  \n\n\nof forgiveness to this wounded world.  \n\n\nPlants gather strands for our basket\,  \n\n\nand prairie hills weave them all together.  \n\n\nIn this place\, each pilgrim’s goal  \n\n\nis to be lost in wonder\, and  \n\n\nwith all flowers softly howl. \n\n\n  \n— Kim Stafford \n* \n\n\n  \n“Mind Consciousness gives rise to actions that lead to ripening.  The mind consciousness plays the role of  gardener\, the one who sows\, waters\, and takes care of the earth.  The store consciousness is often described as the earth—the garden where the seeds that give rise to flowers and fruits are sown. Because mind consciousness can initiate an action that leads to the ripening of seeds in our store consciousness\, it is important that we learn about\, train\, and transform our mind consciousness. We act and speak on the basis of our thinking\, our cognition. Any action of body\, speech\, and mind that we take based on mind consciousness\, waters either positive or negative seeds within us. If we water negative seeds\, the result will be suffering. If we know how to water positive seeds\, there will be more understanding\, love\, and happiness. If mind consciousness learns to see in terms of impermanence\, nonself\, and interbeing\, it will help the seed of enlightenment to grow and bloom like a flower.” \n\n\n\n  \nfrom Thich Nhat Hanh’s Understanding Our Mind \n\n\n\n* \n\n\n  \n\n\n“Be there truly. Be there with 100% of yourself. In every moment of your daily life. That is the essence of true Buddhist meditation. Each of us knows that we can do that\, so let us train to live each moment of our daily life deeply. That is why I like to define mindfulness as the energy that helps us to be there 100 percent. It is the energy of your true presence.” \n–from Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh \n\n\n  \nWell. “…live each moment of our daily life deeply.” “…the energy of our true presence.”   \n\n\nIt is about that time of year again. Every year\, right around the middle of July\, my senses are heightened to an acute level of awareness. Everything tingles. The morning sunlight is slightly different\, its angle more oblique\, its color more amber-toned. The word “mellow” comes to mind. The early mornings cooler and darker. The evening stars winking around 9:07 pm\, then 9:04 pm…then 8:56 pm. Right around Bastille Day\, July 14th\, I send a text to sisters\, daughter and close friends who understand what’s coming\, every year… “Hey! Have you noticed how the sun is slanting differently? The mornings are a little cooler\, and darker? Do you think it feels a little…like…Fall???” Oh\, the roar of negation that follows: “Nooooo!!! No way! Stop it! Be quiet!!!” \n\n\nI love Fall. I adore Fall. I am thinking and feeling and savoring Fall right now —on July 14th. I am in the moment but not in the moment.   \n\n\nDeep in the moment anticipation\, deep in the moment change. In the mountains\, August brings on the Fireweed and Gentians\, saying goodbye to Lupine and Avalanche lilies. Huckleberry leaves stain the slopes burgundy red. I tingle and savor with love the utter feel of change in all the senses—smell\, sight\, feel/touch\, hearing…taste? Sure! Who hasn’t bit into a warm peach\, apple\, or pear from an orchard and felt Fall in their bones?!   \n\n\nSo right now I’m in the future\, but more deeply in the present than at any other time of the year. Does that count as mindfulness? I hope you’ll say yes! \n\n\n  \n\n\n–Jude Russell
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-dialogue-7-15-23-2/
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UID:4030-1690588800-1690761599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Hamlet at Canterbury Renaissance Faire  7/29 & 7/30
DESCRIPTION:  \nPuck’s Rude Mechanicals present Hamlet by William Shakespeare at the Canterbury Renaissance Faire on Saturday & Sunday\, July 29 & 30.  \nPerformances are at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. both days.  \nThe Canterbury Renaissance Faire is at 6569 Valley View Rd. NE\, Silverton\, OR 97381. For more info\, and to buy tickets\, go to the Canterbury Faire website at: \n  \ncanterburyfaire.com \n  \nRobin Goodfellow (a.k.a. Allen Mills) directs this Rotten In Denmark Production. The stellar cast includes Jeff Kuehner and Josh Underhill. \n  \nDon’t miss this!!! \n  \npeace\, love & happiness \n  \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/hamlet-at-canterbury-renaissance-faire-7-29-7-30/
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UID:4038-1690729200-1690736400@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Bibliophiles Unanimous!   7/30/23
DESCRIPTION:  \nBeloved Bibliophiles! \n  \nOur theme for Bibliophiles Unanimous! on Sunday\, July 30th is: What’s Going On? What are some books that have given you insight into what’s happening culturally\, politically\, ecologically\, historically\, sociologically\, spiritually\, psychologically? \nThe Zoom gathering commences at 3 pm (PDT). Here’s the link: \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/87614013058 \n  \n  \nI hope to see you there! \n  \npeace\, love & happiness \nJohnny \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-7-30-23/
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