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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  10/5/23
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nOctober 5\, 2023 \n  \n  \nMy friend\, I am going to tell the story of my life\, as you wish; and if it were only the story of my life I think I would not tell it…. \nIt is the story of all life that is holy and is good to tell\, and of us two-leggeds sharing it with the four-leggeds and the wings of the air and all green things; for these are children of one mother and their father is one Spirit…. \nNow that I can see it all as from a lonely hilltop\, I know it was the story of a mighty vision given to a man too weak to use it; of a holy tree that should have flourished in a people’s heart with flowers and singing birds\, and now it is withered; and of a people’s dream that died in bloody snow. \nBut if the vision was true and mighty\, as I know\, it is true and mighty yet; for such things are of the spirit… \n  \n—Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk\, transcribed and edited by John G. Neihardt\, pp. 1-2 \n* \n  \nBlack Elk (Heháka Sápa) was born on December 1\, 1863 near the Little Powder River in the Montana Territory. He was a holy man of the Oglala Lakota people. He was second cousin of Crazy Horse\, fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn\, participated in the Ghost Dance movement\, survived the Wounded Knee Massacre and toured Europe with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. He is best known for the account of his life he gave to John G. Neihardt\, which was first published in 1932\, and remains in print to this day.  \nAt the age of nine\, Black Elk got a fever\, and remained lying as if dead for twelve days. While absent from this world\, he had a great vision. Here’s a brief excerpt: \n  \nAll the universe was silent\, listening; and then the great black stallion raised his voice and sang. The song he sang was this: \n  \n“My horses\, prancing they are coming. \nMy horses\, neighing they are coming; \nPrancing\, they are coming. \nAll over the universe they come. \nThey will dance; may you behold them. \n                                                             (4 times) \nA horse nation\, may you behold them.  \nMay you behold them.” \n                                                              (4 times) \n  \nHis voice was not loud\, but it went all over the universe and filled it. There was nothing that did not hear\, and it was more beautiful than anything can be. It was so beautiful that nothing anywhere could keep from dancing. The maidens danced\, and all the circled horses. The leaves on the trees\, the grasses on the hills and in the valleys\, the waters in the creeks and in the rivers and the lakes\, the four-legged and the two-legged and the wings of the air—all danced together to the music of the stallion’s song. \nAnd when I looked down upon my people yonder\, the cloud passed over\, blessing them with friendly rain\, and stood in the east with a flaming rainbow over it. \nThen all the horses went singing back to their places beyond the summit of the fourth ascent\, and all things sang along with them as they walked. \nAnd a Voice said: “All over the universe they have finished a day of happiness.” And looking down I saw that the whole wide circle of the day was beautiful and green\, with all fruits growing and all things kind and happy. \nAnd a Voice said: “Behold this day\, for it is yours to make. Now you shall stand upon the center of the earth to see\, for there they are taking you.” \nI was still on my bay horse\, and once more I felt the riders of the west\, the north\, the east\, the south\, behind me in formation\, as before\, and we were going east. I looked ahead and saw the mountains there with rocks and forests on them\, and from the mountains flashed all colors upward to the heavens. Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all\, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world.* And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit\, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle\, wide as daylight and as starlight\, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father.  And I saw that it was holy. \n  \n*Black Elk said the mountain he stood upon in his vision was Harney Peak in the Black Hills.” But anywhere is the center of the world\,” he added. \n  \n—Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk\, transcribed and edited by John G. Neihardt\, pp. 41-43 \n* \n In his vision six grandfathers who were “old like hills\, like stars” blessed him and told him that he must save his people. He said: “I knew that these were not old men\, but the Powers of the World.” \nAs a nine-year-old boy\, he was unable to tell his people about his vision. By the time he was 17\, his tribe re-enacted much of his vision. This was a very important event in Black Elk’s life. As an old man\, he was heart-broken by what he had lived through and what had happened to his people. He was sad that he had been unable to make real the vision of peace and harmony that had been granted to him. At the end of his life he was a practicing Catholic. He also continued to perform the sacred rites of the Lakota people. \nIn 1947\, Joseph Epes Brown met Black Elk. Concerned that his sacred tradition not be lost\, Black Elk gave him an account of the seven sacred rites of the Oglala Sioux. In 1953\,  Brown published The Sacred Pipe. It is a treasure trove for indigenous peoples and for the rest of us\, whose ancestors were surely indigenous at some point. John Trudell used to say: “We all come from tribes.” \nBlack Elk died in 1950. His vision and his wisdom live on. \n* \n  \nKim Stafford was Oregon’s Poet Laureate from 2018-2020. \n  \nAll My Relations \n  \nI want to thank all my relations \nfor this chance to be on Earth \nin her time of flourishing; to thank \nthe First People of this place\, the \nthe Multnomah people\, the Clackamas\, \nMolalla\, Tualatin\, and Chinook\, to honor \ntheir sovereignty in long and continuing \nrelation\, still teaching us how we might \nbe here together; to thank my mother and father\, \nmoon and sun\, for setting me forth before \ntheir own passing on; to thank my grandmother \nwho listened to me so eloquently I learned \nto listen to my own heart and mind\, to find \nstories and songs there; to thank my family \nand friends\, and all citizens and travelers \nwho study and work for deeper kinship \nin this place\, with one another\, and with \nall creatures\, one Earth\, visible\, palpable\, \nfragile\, intricate\, resonant\, in need of our \nbetter stories. I want to thank you \nwho have gathered to receive what I have \ncarried here—in hope that something \nI have may meet something you need\, \nso all our relations may be strengthened \nfor the life we live together. \n  \n—from Singer Come from Afar by Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nJoy Harjo is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022. She said about her work: \n  \n“I feel strongly that I have a responsibility to all the sources that I am: to all past and future ancestors\, to my home country\, to all places that I touch down on and that are myself\, to all voices\, all women\, all of my tribe\, all people\, all earth\, and beyond that to all beginnings and endings.” \n  \nMy House is the Red Earth \n  \nMy house is the red earth; it could be the center of the world. I’ve heard New York\, Paris\, or Tokyo called the center of the world\, but I say it is magnificently humble. You could drive by and miss it. Radio waves can obscure it. Words cannot construct it\, for there are some sounds left to sacred wordless form. For instance\, that fool crow\, picking through trash near the corral\, understands the center of the world as greasy strips of fat. Just ask him. He doesn’t have to say that the earth has turned scarlet through fierce belief\, after centuries of heartbreak and laughter—he perches on the blue bowl of the sky\, and laughs. \n  \n—from Secrets from the Center of the World by Joy Harjo \n* \n  \nJohn Trudell (1946-2015) was a member of the Santee Dakota tribe. \n  \nGrandfathers Whispering \n  \nGrandfathers whispering \nIn the wind \nRejoice at the life \nYou are a part of \nNatural energy \nBound to natural laws \nYou will survive this \nTemporary madness imposed upon you \nNatural life is longer \nThan oppressors illusionary insanity \nSpirits experience human deeds \nBut need not end \nThis is just one place of changes \n  \nSpirit life is forever if you want \nThe universe is your home \nYou can survive here \nDo not let them kill you \nKeep your spirit strong \nFor distant stars and distant drums \nAre the memories of spirit infancy \nChildren of earth let the spirit live \nSo you can grow in your place \n                                    In the universe \n  \n—from Lines from a Mined Mind by John Trudell \n* \n  \nGary Snyder won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975. \n  \nMOTHER EARTH: HER WHALES \n  \nAn owl winks in the shadows \nA lizard lifts on tiptoes\, breathing hard \nYoung male sparrow stretches up his neck \n                     big head\, watching— \n  \nThe grasses are working in the sun. Turn it green. \nTurn it sweet. That we may eat. \nGrow our meat. \n  \nBrazil says “sovereign use of Natural Resources” \nThirty thousand kinds of unknown plants. \nThe living actual people of the jungle \n             sold and tortured— \nAnd a robot in a suit who peddles a delusion called “Brazil” \n             can speak for them? \n  \n             The whales turn and glisten\, plunge \n                     and sound and rise again\, \n             Hanging over subtly darkening deeps \n             Flowing like breathing planets \n                   in the sparkling whorls of \n                           living light— \n  \nAnd Japan quibbles for words on \n             what kind of whales they can kill? \nA once-great Buddhist nation \n             dribbles methyl mercury \n             like gonorrhea \n                            in the sea. \n  \nPère David’s Deer\, the Elaphure\, \nLived in the tule marshes of the Yellow River \nTwo thousand years ago—and lost its home to rice— \nThe forests of Lo-yang were logged and all the silt & \nSand flowed down\, and gone\, by 1200 AD— \n  \nWild Geese hatched out in Siberia \n                    head south over basins of the Yang\, the Huang\, \n                    what we call “China” \nOn flyways they have used a million years. \nAh China\, where are the tigers\, the wild boars\, \n                    the monkeys\, \n                        like the snows of yesteryear \nGone in a mist\, a flash\, and the dry hard ground \nIs parking space for fifty thousand trucks. \nIS man most precious of all things? \n—then let us love him\, and his brothers\, all those \nFading living beings— \n  \nNorth America\, Turtle Island\, taken by invaders \n             who wage war around the world. \nMay ants\, may abalone\, otters\, wolves and elk \nRise! and pull away their giving \n             from the robot nations. \n  \nSolidarity. The People. \nStanding Tree People! \nFlying Bird People! \nSwimming Sea People! \nFour-legged\, two legged\, people! \n  \nHow can the head-heavy power-hungry politic scientist \nGovernment         two-world         Capitalist-Imperialist \nThird-world          Communist        paper-shuffling male \n               non-farmer         jet-set        bureaucrats \nSpeak for the green of the leaf? Speak for the soil? \n  \n(Ah Margaret Mead…do you sometimes dream of Samoa?) \n  \nThe robots argue how to parcel out our Mother Earth \nTo last a little longer \n                      like vultures flapping \nBelching\, gurgling\, \n                       near a dying Doe. \n  \n“In yonder field a slain knight lies— \nWe’ll fly to him and eat his eyes \n                       with a down \n          derry derry derry down down.” \n  \n             An owl winks in the shadow \n             A lizard lifts on tiptoe \n                          breathing hard \n             The whales turn and glisten \n                           plunge and \n             Sound\, and rise again \n             Flowing like breathing planets \n  \n             In the sparkling whorls \n  \n             Of living light. \n                                                  Stockholm\, Summer Solstice 40072 \n  \n——from Turtle Island by Gary Snyder \n* \n  \nIn his old age\, Black Elk saw no contradiction between his traditional beliefs and those of Christianity: \n  \nWe have been told by the white men\, or at least by those who are Christian\, that God sent to men His son\, who would restore order and peace upon the earth; and we have been told that Jesus the Christ was crucified\, but that he shall come again at the Last Judgment\, the end of this world or cycle. This I understand and know that it is true\, but the white men should know that for the red people too\, it was the will of Wakan-Tanka\, the Great Spirit\, that an animal turn itself into a two-legged person in order to bring the most holy pipe to His people; and we too were taught that this White Buffalo Cow Woman who brought our sacred pipe will appear again at the end of this “world\,” a coming which we Indians know is now not very far off. \nMany people call it a “peace pipe\,” yet now there is no peace on earth or even between neighbors\, and I have been told that it has been a long time since there has been peace in the world. There is much talk of peace among the Christians\, yet this is just talk. Perhaps it may be\, and this is my prayer that\, through our sacred pipe\, and through this book in which I shall explain what our pipe really is\, peace may come to those peoples who can understand\, an understanding which must be of the heart and not of the head alone. Then they will realize that we Indians know the One true God\, and that we pray to him continually. \nI have wished to make this book through no other desire than to help my people in understanding the greatness and truth of our own tradition\, and also to help in bringing peace upon the earth\, not only among men\, but within men and between the whole of creation. \nWe should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees\, the grasses\, the rivers\, the mountains\, and all the four-legged animals\, and the winged peoples; and even more important\, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts\, then we will fear\, and love\, and know the Great Spirit\, and then we will be and act and live as He intends. \n  \n—from Black Elk’s Foreword to The Sacred Pipe\, recorded and edited by Joseph Epes Brown
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-10-5-23/
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UID:4194-1697328000-1700006399@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness  10/15/23
DESCRIPTION:  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nOctober 15\, 2023 \n  \n  \nWalk beautifully\, talk beautifully\, live beautifully. \nLet your heart speak to other hearts. \n  \n—wisdom from Yogi Tea bags \n* \n  \nBe joyful\, though you have considered the facts. \n  \n—Wendell Berry \n* \n  \nSome excerpts from a recent letter (8/31/23) from Rocky: \n  \nToday was a good day for me here. Almost everything ran smoothly. My dog Nelly is programming well & so am I. I’m on my way to being one of the primary trainers. That means I will also be training another A.I.C. [Adult In Custody]! Real work! All of this is going well. \n  \nMy mind has been wondering & thinking about what we have been talking about in the whole relationship department. I’m not sure how all of that will happen. “Organically” I hope. But you do not have to worry about me trying to save anyone! I might be the one that needs to be saved. LOL. I’m getting out to a whole new world\, one that I do not know too much about. \n  \nHonestly\, I want someone I can admire and appreciate and muse over. A simple\, kind love that is fun & sweet. That would be really…nice. Hummm…we will see how it goes! It should be hard to find her I think. LOL. I would like to know & love someone completely & be known & loved by them. Kind & gently & with happiness. I don’t feel I am damaged any longer. I can only feel the scars\, which is really good. It took a long time for them to heal. \n  \nWhen I was 22 or 23 years old\, I was working as a “cedar maggot.” We did not cut down living trees\, but cut up and cleaned up what the old time pioneers left on the forest floor. You see\, bugs don’t like cedar wood too much & cedar does not really rot too fast. The old timers would cut only the “clear” wood\, from the stump to where the branches started\, and leave the rest to rot. That’s where we came in. We cut all that left over stuff and we turned it into cedar bolts for shakes & shingles. \n  \nOne morning I climbed up on a tall cedar stump to sharpen my saw. There\, stuck in the stump\, was a rusted old wedge & the head of an axe with a splintered handle! There were also five pieces of yellow glass and an aluminum ring laying in a pile of rust—the remains of an old time lantern! All that stuff had been there for a long time. \n  \nAll of these moments we all have in our lives are what we are made of—strands of our hearts\, links in our minds\, reflections in our souls. I\, in my mind\, have returned to that stump\, the smell of the woods\, many times over the many years I’ve been in prison. My place of peace & solace when the weight of correction becomes much too much. \n  \nThe place in the woods\, the stump\, wedge\, axe & lantern glass are all lost\, as they should be. Magic does not just linger in one place. Maybe I took it in my soul & that is a good thought & it’s true? I go there often & I could have captured it that day so long ago all for myself & that is a good thought. It makes me smile to think it’s all mine\, & now yours too. \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \n#363   Why Wait to be Happy? \n“Many people in our society are not happy\, even though the conditions for their happiness already exist. Their habit energy is always pushing them ahead\, preventing them from being happy in the here and now. But with a little bit of training\, we can all learn to recognize this energy every time it comes up. Why wait to be happy?”  \n—from Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \nWhat makes me happy? What brings me joy? I’ll tell you\, for me\, it’s opening to love. Letting love in. \n  \nI have to admit\, sometimes I have episodes of resentment\, judgment\, selfishness\, defensiveness…more often than not\, though\, these episodes are brief and they just—melt away. The other day we were discussing Thanksgiving. I’d already offered to have Thanksgiving at our house\, for ‘my side’ of the family\, and then in passing\, I offered and invited David’s sister and others on ‘his side.’ When Mary called to confirm\, she breezily\, albeit apologetically\, announced that ‘everyone’ wanted to come\, like fourteen people!  ‘My side’ includes only five people. I had the distinct physical sensation of my heart balling up like a tight fist. ‘Fourteen\,’  I kind of gasped. Did I gasp\, or bellow? I’m not sure. I struggled for a bit with all those big negative feelings: resentment (pretty nervy to descend with fourteen people!)\, selfishness (‘my side’ will be engulfed!)\, judgment (they are not ‘my kind’ of people). But then the miracle happened: just as precipitously as my heart clenched into that hard fist\, it spilled open and…love…poured out. I just relaxed into love and happiness. “Well\, I think that will just be fine\,” I said. And I meant it. To have all those people\, young and old\, want to come up to our home on the mountain all of a sudden was a wonderful thing. I felt such love and happiness and joy at the thought of twenty family—‘my side’ or ‘his side’—spending the day of Thanksgiving together in our warm\, cozy home\, fire in the fireplace\, maybe even with a dazzling mountain view\, or maybe with a few snowflakes drifting down… \n  \nThis happens often; one moment I’m feeling a little ‘grrrr\,’ the next moment I’ve dissolved into love\, and happiness. Don’t ask me the formula\, the key to unlocking—I don’t understand it myself. I sure recognize it every time it comes up\, but don’t understand the radical nature of it. All I know is that I am in wonder of it myself and never fail to feel blessed. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \npast parentage or gender \nbeyond sung vocables \nthe slipped-between \nthe so infinitesimal \nfault line \na limitless \ninteriority \n  \nbeyond the woven \nunicorn   the maiden \n(man-carved   worm-eaten) \nGod at her hip \nincipient \nthe untransfigured \ncottontail \nbluebell and primrose \ngrowing wild   a strawberry \nchagrin   night terrors \npast the earthlit \nunearthly masquerade \n  \n(we shall be changed) \n  \na silence opens \n  \n—excerpt from “Silence” by Amy Clampitt \n  \nMay we be at peace \nMay all be healed \nMay we be a source of healing for all beings. \n  \nlove\,  \n—Katie Radditz \n* \n  \nLast Thursday\, when friends had gathered for coffee and conversation\, Will Hornyak asked: “What do you do to feed your soul in difficult times?” I passed that question along to some friends\, and here is what they sent me: \n  \nThree poems from Kim for Gaza and Israel: \n  \n     War for the Holy Land \n  \nYou could say it’s Biblical\, this fury \nbetween the children of Yahweh and Allah\, \nthis frenzy of rockets and bombs opening \nthe gates of hell for fire to take and take \nwhere hungry Death stalks the streets. \n  \nWeak leaders need war\, or else we would \nrequire them to be wise and kind. Instead\, \nthis fury allows them to say\, “We wage war \nbecause it’s the anniversary of war\,” and \n“We wage war because they wage war\,” \n  \nand everyone else goes along with it\, \nan eye for an eye\, a child for a child. \n  \n  \n     Peacenik\, War-nik \n  \nWhen there are two sides\, \nand one side starts shooting\, \nwhat are the rest of us to do? \nPeace-mongers may run and hide\, \n  \nwhile war gives warriors a certain \nclarity: be the implement between \ncommand and death. Hawks seek \nprey\, while doves sort seed. \n  \nFlower child\, thistle child—when \nwe hear an angry leader speak \nof vengeance\, of human animals\, \nthen it’s up to all of us. \n  \n  \n     Armor \n  \nWhat armor can our hearts put on \nwhen facts and photos find us\, far war \nhunting us from hiding? Now news \nbecomes an implement to pry us open \nso we\, too\, carry children through smoke \nand rubble. We bury victims of atrocity\, \nflee with only what we can carry. We find \nour kinfolk heaped. We are the massacre. \nWe try to keep the beating drum from \ngiving in\, giving up. We guard our capacity \nfor hurt\, each wound proving we feel\, proving \ndivisions are a lie\, proving our complicity. \nOld heart\, let suffering prove we are kin. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nNavigation \n  \nIn early morning dark\, I could meditate. \nI have done. 40 mornings. Sa Ta Na Ma. \nThe fingers of both hands in rhythm. \nAwkward\, fumbly. Good for the brain \n  \nThey say. Integration of the hemispheres. \nInstead\, I feed the cat. Fend off the worst \nof the arthritis with small movements \nuntil I can sit upright at a keyboard. \n  \nNo\, not music. That would be lovely\, \na little Chopin. A laptop. Precious tool\, \ndictation. I close my eyes. And talk. \nIf I look\, I want to edit\, dangerous walk \n  \nThis revision thing. More conversational \nthis way. The petty indignities\, frets from \ndays before\, get out all the surface stuff\, \nthe annoyances\, so the sweet stuff \n  \nHas room to grow into the day. \nAn unexpected bloom of affection \nor engagement with something \nabsurd and wonderful. \n  \nDid you know that if you smell \nThe inside of your elbow \nIt clears the nasal palate for all \nThe aromas the next encounter will bring? \n  \nElizabeth Domike \n* \n  \nIn answer to Will’s question… \n  \nThe times are always difficult. There is still the urgent question: How do you feed your soul? I try to nurture peace\, love\, happiness and understanding within myself. Without them\, I don’t have much to offer my fellow mortals that might be helpful. And I enjoy them for their own sake. I try to live a life that is rich in meaning. Life is short. Each day\, each moment\, is precious. I try to pay attention. And not forget to say thank you thank you thank you. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \nI write. That takes many forms. Novel\, screenplay\, song\, essay\, memoir. Just whatever I’m currently doing\, that has a world I can dive into\, and let everything else fall away. If I’m too brain-tired to do any of that\, I’ll do a crossword puzzle\, and if that’s too much\, I’ll go for Wordle. I lose myself in words\, and if I’m doing a song\, the music is extra bonus points. \n  \n—J Kahn \n* \n  \nHow to cope with a calamity\, of which there seem to be a surfeit? I started to add “right now” but that is not true…there is always a surfeit of despair. One necessary action is to be involved in preventing or ameliorating the disaster. Often you can help others. It sustains all of us to mutually better situations and solve problems.  \n  \nHow else do we come to terms with difficulties? For me both music and poetry are deep sources of consolation. I started to list poems and then realized the list is endless. Follow your own loves and you will find many poems that speak to the heart. A good starting one is Wendell Berry’s: \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  \nAnd\, yes\, being in the wild\, whether a city park or untrammeled mountains\, is a deep source of nurture. Not consolation. Nature can be wild and destructive but not cruel. It is a vital reminder of the nurture and persistence of the world.  \n  \nOliver Sacks said that music is the one art that is both abstract and emotional\, it can elevate and reassure us\, deeply touch the place where we have no words. That is certainly true\, and my music may be very different than yours but both are the endless world of sound and silence that envelop us. \n  \nBut above all: find what you love\, give yourself to it\, work through reward and pain and frustration. Give yourself to it. Your immersion will carry you through so many griefs. Don’t do it all alone. We need one another\, we need community and its irreplaceable links. As the poet June Jordan often reminded us\, we are a community in fact and in aspiration. \n  \n—Deborah Buchanan \n* \n  \nJill sent this poem: \n  \nThe Red Wheelbarrow \n  \nso much depends \nupon \n  \na red wheel \nbarrow \n  \nglazed with rain \nwater \n  \nbeside the white \nchickens \n  \n—William Carlos Williams \n  \n—Jill Littlewood
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-10-15-23/
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CREATED:20231030T172247Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T135604Z
UID:4212-1698624000-1701907199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  11/2/23
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \n  \nNovember 2\, 2023 \n  \nPeople who love are happy. \n  \n—Yogi Tea bag wisdom \n* \n  \nMy friends and I have been talking about the ongoing violence in the Middle East. Kim wrote: \n  \nI lie awake at night thinking about Gaza. I have a friend there. She has fled her home and is camped in a house near Rafah with six families. \nBombing happens there\, too. \nHence\, today’s (10/26) poem… \n  \n      Other Laws of War \n  \nWhere anger flares\, wisdom withers. \nWhere death thrives\, truth dies. \nBoth sides are the bad guys. \nAs with weather\, no one is in charge. \nEven precision kills children. \nWar funds the hate school. \nDead soldier\, mourning mother. \nStrategic advantage limits thought. \nYour vengeance vow is a trap. \nLocal victory\, regional defeat. \nKilling gives killers secret wounds. \nA war wounds a generation. \nEasy to start\, hard to end. \nMunitions makers always win. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nMark Danley reminded me about Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer\,” written in 1905. When asked if he intended to publish it\, Twain said: “No. I have told the whole truth in that\, and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after my death.” Mark Twain died in 1910. “The War Prayer” was first published in 1923. \n  \n  \nThe War Prayer \n  \nIt was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms\, the war was on\, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism. On every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun. Nightly\, the packed mass meetings listened\, panting\, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts\, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause\, the tears running down their cheeks the while. In the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country\, and invoked the God of Battles—beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. \n  \nSunday morning came. Next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there\, their young faces alight with martial dreams—visions of the stern advance\, the gathering momentum\, the rushing charge\, the flashing sabers\, the flight of the foe\, the tumult\, the enveloping smoke\, the fierce pursuit\, the surrender Then home from the war\, bronzed heroes\, welcomed\, adored\, submerged in golden seas of glory! The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said. \n  \nThen came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was\, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers\, and aid\, comfort\, and encourage them in their patriotic work. \n  \nAn aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle\, his eyes fixed upon the minister\, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet\, his head bare\, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders\, his seamy face unnaturally pale\, pale even to ghastliness. He ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there waiting. \n  \nThe stranger touched his arm\, motioned him to step aside—which the startled minister did—and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes\, in which burned an uncanny light. Then in a deep voice he said: \n  \n“I come from the Throne—bearing a message from Almighty God!” \n  \n“God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No\, it is two—one uttered\, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications\, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this—keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself\, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it\, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it. \n  \n“You have heard your servant’s prayer—the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it—that part which the pastor\, and also you in your hearts—fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory\, O Lord our God!’ When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory–must follow it\, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen! \n  \n“O Lord our Father\, our young patriots\, idols of our hearts\, go forth to battle—be Thou near them! With them—in spirit—we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God\, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded\, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst\, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter\, broken in spirit\, worn with travail\, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it. For our sakes who adore Thee\, Lord\, blast their hopes\, blight their lives\, protract their bitter pilgrimage\, make heavy their steps\, water their way with their tears\, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it in the spirit of love\, of Him Who is the Source of Love\, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid\, with humble and contrite hearts. Amen. \n  \n(After a pause.) “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it\, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!” \n  \nIt was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic\, because there was no sense in what he said. \n  \n—Mark Twain \n* \n  \nOn YouTube you can find a film version\, adapted by Marco Sanchez and directed by Michael Goorjian. \n* \n  \nfrom CNN’s website on October 27th: \n  \nSari Beth Rosenberg was teaching a high school history class in New York City recently when a student interrupted her with a question: “Are you Team Israel or Team Palestinian?”…. \n  \nRosenberg\, who is Jewish\, feared that getting into a conversation on the complexities of the conflict could alienate some of her students with ties to the Middle East. So she tried to turn the question into a learning experience. \n  \n“I told them I’m ‘Team Humanity\,’” she says. She told her students that she thought both the deadly Hamas terror attacks in Israel and Israel’s ongoing bombing of Gaza are horrific. \n* \n  \nWhen I was a young man it was against the law to not join the military. I refused to obey that law for the simple reason that I didn’t want to kill anyone. Instead of going to Vietnam\, I went to India and studied with yogis. \n  \nI am against all present and future wars. Our problems can be solved with words\, instead of violence. Wars represent a failure of dialogue\, of intelligence\, of empathy\, of good will\, of love\, of imagination. All children are our children.  \n  \nOn the Fields of Peace website (fieldsofpeace.org) we learn that in World War I\, one civilian was killed for every 9 soldiers. In World War II\, the ratio was one to one. In modern warfare\, one soldier is killed for every 9 (unarmed) civilians—most of whom are children. From the perspective of people my age\, soldiers are children. Here’s my latest version of the Metta Prayer: \n  \nMay all people be happy. \nMay we live in peace & love. \nEven if some people are making other choices. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \nThich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who advocated for peace and refused to take a side in the war. He taught meditation & mindfulness to people throughout the world. He published many books\, including Being Peace\, Creating True Peace and Peace is Every Step. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King. Here is his poem “Please Call Me by My True Names\,” followed by an account of how he came to write it: \n  \nPlease Call Me by My True Names \n  \nDo not say that I’ll depart tomorrow— \neven today I am still arriving. \nLook deeply: every second I am arriving \nto be a bud on a Spring branch\, \nto be a tiny bird\, with still-fragile wings\, \nlearning to sing in my new nest\, \nto be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower\, \nto be a jewel hiding itself in a stone. \nI still arrive\, in order to laugh and to cry\, \nto fear and to hope\, \nthe rhythm of my heart is the birth and death \nof all that are alive. \nI am the mayfly metamorphosing \non the surface of the river\, \nand I am the bird which\, when Spring comes\, \narrives in time to eat the mayfly. \nI am the frog swimming happily \nin the clear water of a pond\, \nand I am the grass-snake \nthat silently feeds itself on the frog. \nI am the child in Uganda\, all skin and bones\, \nmy legs as thin as bamboo sticks. \nAnd I am the arms merchant\, \nselling deadly weapons to Uganda. \nI am the twelve-year-old girl\, \nrefugee on a small boat\, \nwho throws herself into the ocean \nafter being raped by a sea pirate. \nAnd I am the pirate\, \nmy heart not yet capable \nof seeing and loving. \nI am a member of the politburo\, \nwith plenty of power in my hands. \nAnd I am the man who has to pay his \n“debt of blood” to my people \ndying slowly in a forced labor camp. \nMy joy is like Spring\, so warm \nit makes flowers bloom all over the Earth. \nMy pain is like a river of tears\, \nso vast it fills the four oceans. \nPlease call me by my true names\, \nso I can hear all my cries and laughter at once\, \nso I can see that my joy and pain are one. \nPlease call me by my true names\, \nso I can wake up \nand so the door of my heart can be left open\, \nthe door of compassion. \n  \n  \nAfter the Vietnam War\, many people wrote to us in Plum Village. We received hundreds of letters each week from the refugee camps in Singapore\, Malaysia\, Indonesia\, Thailand\, and the Philippines\, hundreds each week. It was very painful to read them\, but we had to be in contact. We tried our best to help\, but the suffering was enormous\, and sometimes we were discouraged. It is said that half the boat people fleeing Vietnam died in the ocean; only half arrived at the shores of Southeast Asia. \n  \nThere are many young girls\, boat people\, who were raped by sea pirates. Even though the United Nations and many countries tried to help the government of Thailand prevent that kind of piracy\, sea pirates continued to inflict much suffering on the refugees. One day\, we received a letter telling us about a young girl on a small boat who was raped by a Thai pirate. She was only twelve\, and she jumped into the ocean and drowned herself. \n  \nWhen you first learn of something like that\, you get angry at the pirate. You naturally take the side of the girl. As you look more deeply you will see it differently. If you take the side of the little girl\, then it is easy. You only have to take a gun and shoot the pirate. But we can’t do that. In my meditation\, I saw that if I had been born in the village of the pirate and raised in the same conditions as he was\, I would now be the pirate. There is a great likelihood that I would become a pirate. I can’t condemn myself so easily. In my meditation\, I saw that many babies are born along the Gulf of Siam\, hundreds every day\, and if we educators\, social workers\, politicians\, and others do not do something about the situation\, in twenty-five years a number of them will become sea pirates. That is certain. If you or I were born today in those fishing villages\, we might become sea pirates in twenty-five years. If you take a gun and shoot the pirate\, you shoot all of us\, because all of us are to some extent responsible for this state of affairs. \n  \nAfter a long meditation\, I wrote this poem. In it\, there are three people: the twelve-year-old girl\, the pirate\, and me. Can we look at each other and recognize ourselves in each other? The title of the poem is “Please Call Me by My True Names\,” because I have so many names. When I hear one of the of these names\, I have to say\, “Yes.” \n  \n—Thich Nhat Hanh
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-11-2-23/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231115
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20231215
DTSTAMP:20260425T172133
CREATED:20231120T190428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231120T190923Z
UID:4224-1700006400-1702598399@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Meditation & Mindfulness  11/15/23
DESCRIPTION:etching by Alan Larkin \n  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue \n  \nNovember 15\, 2023 \n  \nWhere…do universal human rights begin? \nin small places\, \nclose to home— \nso close and so small \nthat they cannot be seen \non any map of the world. \n  \n—Eleanor Roosevelt (shared by Jill Littlewood \n* \n  \nOctober 23\, 2023 \n9:40 a.m. \nDear Johnny \n  \nThe weather is getting ready to change & the leaves are all changing too. Within the frame of my window all of the spiders are spinning their winter webs. I watch them & soon the birds will find them & two feet from my eyes I will see the winter feast of the birds. I find these things in life to be what polishes my mind\, the simple functions of all the life of all things around me. The moss growing on the rocks\, the autumn leaves falling off the tree\, the longing of love reciprocated with every beat of my heart. \n  \nI long to share all of this with the ones I love in life. To see the world in each other’s mind & eyes without the walls between any of us. We will all discover new wonders that will really be old ones\, but new to us. \n  \nDo you remember when your eyes first opened to see a redirection of your life? Was there a scene of contrast in the cloth you thought you were cut from & did you find you were truly made from something altogether different? For me it was a casting away of tools and hooks\, and a soul-cleansing rain that washed away a lifetime of blood\, bruises & filth. Once I simply “let go” my eyes opened\, and something like a waterfall poured into my mind\, flooded me inside. After that\, well…breathing & balance was needed. It’s a strange thing that the only way I can explain my transformation is with elemental references—which is unintentional. \n  \nLove You\, Love Me! \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \nI was on the University of Michigan campus last Thursday (11/9/23). I visited one of Ashley Lucas’s classes there. All the students in the class go into prison every week and teach workshops in theater\, creative writing\, or visual art. They had watched Bushra’s film “A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Prison.” We talked about Love. \n  \nWhen I think of “meditation & mindfulness\,” the first thing that comes to mind is quietly enjoying the the beauty and miraculousness of my human life on Earth. Out the window\, where I’m sitting right now\, in South Bend\, Indiana\, an old maple tree is dropping some of its bright yellow leaves. The Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue tries to be uplifting and is mostly intended to be inspirational\, to nurture peace\, love\, happiness\, beauty and goodness in our minds and hearts. This does not mean we ignore the violence\, the injustice\, and suffering that are always present in the world. When we read or listen to the news\, we are reminded of terrible ongoing tragedies in the Middle East\, in Ukraine\, Sudan\, and many other places. The suffering is real. The beauty is also real. The sorrows of the world do not negate the Love and Joy that are our birthrights. \n  \nAs Ashley and I were crossing the campus\, more than a hundred people lay on the ground. Many of them had small signs with someone’s picture on it. A woman in a hijab read the names of people in Gaza who have been killed. The list of names was very long. \n  \nIt felt to me like a real peace demonstration. No one was shouting. Jewish participants held signs that said: JEWS SAY CEASE FIRE NOW. Another sign said: NOT IN OUR NAME. To see some of the faces of those killed\, and to hear the names read\, was deeply moving to me\, and to Ashley\, and to many others I’m sure. \n  \nMy own position on the violence in the Middle East is simple. I’m against the killing of children. Always. Everywhere. At my age\, soldiers are children too. (The subtitle of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five is: “The Children’s Crusade.” It’s about World War II.) \n  \nRecommended listening: “Road to Peace\,” from Tom Waits’ 2006 “Orphans” album. \n  \nMay all people be happy. \nMay we live in peace & love. \n(Even if some people are making other choices.) \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \n                Big Eddy \n  \nIt’s where we camped as kids— \nthe Clackamas River fresh from \nfast water waves breaking boulders \nin long runs of rapids met a cliff \nthat turned its brawny rush to swirl \nback on itself under a lid of glass \nso you could see green stones deep \ninside their secret room where all \nthat rain slowed in thought to \nreconsider\, before going on. There  \nour river learned to retrace its steps\,  \nto ponder\, to reconcile\, restore itself\,  \nbecome young again. Oh\, my country. \n  \n—Kim Stafford \n* \n  \nOh\, dear ambulance \nhigh above the hospital: \na sheer\, blue-white dust. \n  \n—Alex Tretbar \n* \n  \nStill \n  \nThere are possibilities \nmaybe less of them \nBut still \n  \nAs long as there is water \nsome nourishment \nheat \n  \nA cool breeze \nperhaps \nYou know; the basics \n  \nThere can be a moment \nthat shines \nbright skin on a piece of fruit \n  \nA flash of light \nas a bird wings away above \n  \nThe sound of a song \nsung in unison \nthe hum of it bearing \nthe weight of our well used bones \n  \n—Elizabeth Domike \n* \n  \nAs we approach the holiday season with Thanksgiving almost upon us\, this lovely poem by Gary Snyder is always a touchstone for me. In my hierarchy of values\, Gratitude and Kindness stand out as primary. Certainly aspirational even when I fail to meet the mark. Here is the poem: \n  \nPrayer for the Great Family  \n  \nGratitude to Mother Earth\, sailing through night and day—\nand to her soil: rich\, rare and sweet\nin our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Plants\, the sun-facing\, light-changing leaf\nand fine root-hairs; standing still through wind\nand rain; their dance is in the flowering spiral grain\nin our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Air\, bearing the soaring Swift and silent\nOwl at dawn. Breath of our song\nclear spirit breeze\nin our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Wild Beings\, our brothers\, teaching secrets\,\nfreedoms\, and ways; who share with us their milk;\nself-complete\, brave and aware\nin our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to Water: clouds\, lakes\, rivers\, glaciers;\nholding or releasing; streaming through all\nour bodies salty seas\nin our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to the Sun: blinding pulsing light through\ntrunks of trees\, through mists\, warming caves where\nbears and snakes sleep—he who wakes us—\nin our minds so be it. \n  \nGratitude to the Great Sky\nwho holds billions of stars—and goes yet beyond that—\nbeyond all powers\, and thoughts\nand yet is within us—\nGrandfather Space.\nThe Mind is his Wife.\nso be it. \n  \n—Gary Snyder \n  \n—Jeffrey Sher \n* \n  \nFrom One to the Other \n  \nLips touch first\, \nnot a kiss\, not desire \nor response\, \nbut a gateway\, \nopen breath and movement\, \nenergy  \nfrom being to being\, \nfrom another wanderer \nsharing his deepest home\, \ndust on the pathways\, \ncold nights under stars\, \nyouth that wakes each morning\, \nage’s knowing acceptance\, \nthe ceaseless renewal of \natoms and smaller storms\, \neach one saying: \nThis moment\, \nthis exact place\, \nendlessly. \n  \n—Deborah Buchanan \n* \n  \n#79 Releasing Our Cows \n  \nOne day the Buddha was sitting in the forest with a number of monks when a peasant came by. He had just lost his cows; they had run away. He asked the monks whether they had seen his cows passing by. The Buddha said\, “No\, we haven’t seen your cows passing through here; you may want to look for them in another direction.” \nWhen the farmer had gone\, the Buddha turned to his monks\, smiled\, and said\, “Dear friends\, you should be very happy. You don’t have any cows to lose.” \nOne practice we can do is to take a piece of paper and write down the names of our cows. Then we can look deeply to see whether we’re capable of releasing some of them. We may have thought these things were crucial to our well-being\, but if we look deeply\, we may realize that they are the obstacles to our true joy and happiness. \n—from Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh \n  \nI come from a long line of conservers. We all were reduce\, reuse\, and recyclers long before that catchy phrase appeared on the scene. Duct tape\, needle and thread\, Elmer’s glue\, needle-nose pliers were good friends and always close at hand. \n  \nOne of the best Christmas presents I ever got was one of my dad’s specially tended and cultivated compost piles. He named all three of them that year\, and I received the W A Mozart Compost Pile. Black gold\, they call it in the nurseries\, and that it is. \n  \nI save and reuse aluminum foil\, and plastic produce bags\, and sandwich bags\, and storage bags—for years!  Why not?! They’re all perfectly good when washed and hung to dry. My daughter gave me a wooden mobile with a dozen or so small clothespins attached to strings for hanging washed plastic bags. (The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.) One of her early boyfriends gave me one dozen washed\, dried and smoothed out sheets of aluminum foil he’d saved from deli sandwiches. Now that’s a thoughtful gift! \n  \nI darn and mend socks multiple times. Again—why not?!?! Ninety five percent of the sock is perfectly good. I have a friend who works at REI and she gives me all of her hole-y Smartwool socks. I mend them like new and give them back to her. She is ecstatic.  \n  \nGoodwill is my go-to luxury shopping spot; the Bend Goodwill has any and all of the best sports clothing\, barely worn and just my style. But. I’m really not even a shopper\, so any ‘come hither’ shopping sales are lost on me.  \n  \nSpeaking of camping\, I am never happier than when I am going to sleep in my cozy tent. I’ve turned it into a small home for a few days\, and often I genuinely believe that I could live in nothing bigger than a tent with a campfire and meadow nearby.  \n  \nOne of my husband’s first observations about me was: “You are the lowest maintenance woman I’ve ever known!” I like to believe it was said in admiration\, but I think the tone was more one of exasperation. \n  \nSo it’s not about cows and peasants and monks\, I know that\, but the thought is there: I can be happy with few “cows.” \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nThere’s a lot of suffering in the world\, some feeling it closer to our hearts than usual. There is also the abundance of life changing before our eyes\, as the sky fills with a rush of yellow leaves in the wind. Impermanence\, filled with joy of birch\, and ginkgo\, and fig passing into their next stage. Is a fig tree still a tree without its leaves? \n  \nI’ve been reading The Book of Joy\, a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu\, about lasting happiness in a changing world. They are discussing eight pillars of joy\, beginning with Perspective. Here’s an excerpt: \n  \nIf we are suffering\, the Dalai Lama suggests that we get a wider perspective\, to see the bigger picture. Scientists call this practice “self-distancing\,” and it allows us to think more clearly about our problems\, as well as to reduce our stress response. The ability to go beyond our own self-interest is essential for any good leader\, whether of a nation\, an organization\, or a family. The Dalai Lama suggests that by shifting our perspective to a broader\, more compassionate one\, we can avoid the worry and suffering of further pain.  \n  \n“Then\, another thing\,” the Dalai Lama continued. “There are different aspects to any event. For example\, we lost our own country and became refugees\, but that same experience gave us new opportunities to see more things. For me personally\, I had more opportunities to meet with different people\, different spiritual practitioners\, like you\, and also scientists. This new opportunity arrived because I became a refugee.  If I had remained in the Potala in Lhasa\, I would have stayed in what has often been described as a golden cage.  \n  \nSo personally\, I prefer the last five decades of refugee life. It’s more useful\, more opportunity to learn\, to experience life. Therefore\, if you look from one angle\, you see\, ‘Oh\, how bad\, how sad.’ But if you look from another angle at that same tragedy\, that same event\, you see that it gives me new opportunities. So\, it’s wonderful. That’s the main reason that I’m not sad and morose. There’s a Tibetan saying: ‘Wherever you have friends that’s your country\, and wherever you receive love\, that’s your home.’ “  \n  \nI have found this reading helpful\, along with the colorful leaves and the star-filled night skies of Autumn\, and conversing with my dear friends\, to keep centered and compassionate and joyful.   \n  \nI hope this season finds you well and thankful for life! \n  \n—Katie Radditz
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/meditation-mindfulness-11-15-23/
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