Light on the Path
(Remember to begin with the Opening Meditation and the recitation of the Three Jewels as in Mindfulness Trainings One through Five... scroll down in the burninghandblog for this.)
We begin:
"In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..."
Tenth Mindfulness Training:
"Aware that the essence and aim of community and companionship is the practice of understanding and compassion, we are determined not to use this relationship for personal gain or transform our community and work into a private instrument. We are determined to oppose all oppression and injustice."
Reflection:
We stand on the footprints of our elders. Here are some of our ancestors who walked the beauty way before me. They carried the cultural wisdom and made it possible for us to carry on our traditions today. We honor them through this remembrance. -- Walking Thunder: Dine Medicine Woman
Anywhere is the center of the world. -- Black Elk
This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. --Chief Seattle
We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish, and trees. -- Qwatsinas
One does not sell the earth upon which people walk. -- Crazy Horse
Bear Butte (for Bob Snyder)
broken heart silence --
Only One dance
through emptiness and void
sun and rock --
no choice
but to empty the mind
this fragile flower --
marvelous as
the climb, the mountain, the sky
The face being carved into the mountain pictured above is a rendition of Crazy Horse -- as a lasting memorial (Mt. Rushmore is a few miles away) to the Living Spirit that yet inhabits this land, this continent, the "Americas"... A spirit alive in the mountains and rivers without end, a spirit alive in the hearts and feet of a band of "Old Souls" yet wandering this land... who knows where you will find them? I saw one on top of Bear Butte. After a climb in the late afternoon -- with the crackling of thunder and the electric-white stab of lightening steadily approaching from the distance to consume the being and essence of this sacred mountain -- I saw him. He was a stranger dressed in the leather and black of a motorcycle rider familiar with the darker side of life. With no visible hesitation, he held up his arms and hands, a minute facing each of the four directions. His prayers concluded, he looked at me and stated matter of factly, "Holy, ain't it."
I met another one of these Old Souls on the streets of Chinatown in Salinas. He's Lakota, like ol' Crazy Horse. It doesn't take a leap of imagination to picture Bob Snyder astride a pinto on the plains of what is now called South Dakota -- riding after the buffalo -- he's got a family and a tribe that depends upon his strength and courage... so it was... and so it is... Bob doesn't ride a pinto through the Chinatown streets... and as often as not, he'll get lost for awhile with his demons and dark thoughts... but he always shows up in the nick of time to catch the back of one he has adopted into the tribe of his heart. How he figures who's in is a mystery: usually it's the one who is really on the fringe, the edge of just barely hanging on -- ready to let go and drop into the abyss, for no good reason other than it's exhausting being lonely all the time -- I've seen him catch life after life (and yet he likes to play the game of it's all the same to him). Bob Dylan has a song about searching for "Dignity" -- listen to it sometime to get a handle on these stories. Once there was a dealer on the street after someone -- after directing staff to call for the police -- I took off on foot, down Soledad Street and around the corner. I could see the dealer's car racing down the alley ahead trying to cut off the one running away... I figured the runner was dead or worse if he got caught, so I had to try and catch up... finally I could see that the runner had escaped... whew, I didn't really want to have to try dancing with the dealer and the runner both... I took a grateful deep breath and turned around. Bob was standing there. He had my back. But that isn't what makes him an Old Soul... that just means that he and I both share a certain kind of insanity... Bob is an Old Soul because he can see through a couple of veils that most of us miss most of the time. His heart beats in the broken rhythm of One who has been hurt, who has hurt, and who has profoundly experienced the reality of Wakan-Tanka, the Grandfather Spirit, alive in his risk and willingness to Love...
Why these quotations from Native Americans, why these two particular stories, with this Tenth Mindfulness Training? We want to invite you to deeply ponder community -- who is in and who is out of your community? We want to propose that our New Definition of Community include our ancestors -- everyone who has gone before us through this journey of life -- and ALSO, including everyone who will follow after us, many generations into the future. This defintion of community offers us a foothold that will enable us to hoist ourselves a little bit higher on the evolutionary ladder -- isn't that the point of it all? To live and to contribute to the lifting up of every life and the reverence and stewardship of this precious blue Planet?
Here's a "what if" looking ahead to the future: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services..." --Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, 1948. Contrast that very possible "what if" with the political debates raging in this country. Back during the Presidency of Bill Clinton I participated in a world-wide tele-conference on the topic of adding to the UN Charter a specific article declaring access to food a human right. At the conclusion of a long day of discussion, debate, negotiation, etc, etc. the proposal was finally tabled (and not for dinner). It became clear that the official position of the United States was "No". And it was "No", it was argued, because if the proposal passed Americans might interpret it as threatening our "standard of living". God forbid that a self-described "Judeo-Christian" nation should take even a small step towards justice and a national life-style of "abundant simplicity" in response to the call of the Prophets and the wisdom teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth!
So, we think this Tenth Mindfulness Training is especially a call to question our definition, and the reality, of our "communities". Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality are one example of a radical expansion of the definition of community to include persons on the margins of our society. Native American traditions and spirituality includes in its community definition, the earth, the air, and every creature and inanimate thing. Most indigenous, ancient, peoples of the earth have a very expansive definition of community, like Native Americans, rooting community within an awareness of the earth as a living system of inter-related relationships -- what Thich Nhat Hahn proposes as "Interbeing"... We are thinking that a spirituality, a culture, and a politics of "interbeing" is the Way into the future we hope for our children, and for every child everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr, said "The end is the creation of the Beloved Community"...
An Alternate Tenth Mindfulness Training:
Aware that the end is the creation of the Beloved Community, I will practice an every-day spirit of inclusion and consideration: I will include in my community everyone on the margins of our Planetary society and I will consider the well-being of this precious blue Planet and every life that lives upon it -- seven generations forward -- in my every-day life, in how I live, in what I buy and sell, and in how I vote.
In Beauty before me I walk,
In Beauty behind me I walk,
In Beauty below me I walk,
In Beauty above me I walk,
In Beauty all around me I walk,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty. -- Beauty Way Chant, Navaho Benediction
The world will be saved by beauty. -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
Question of the Week:
How am I practicing and building beauty in my home, in my work-place, in my community?
Practice of the Week:
Gather in your community for a "Beauty Day": volunteer in a Soup Kitchen to clean or paint; volunteer in your neighborhood to pick up trash, paint something run-down, or play games with children; contact 350.org and expand your community and commitment to this Planet that is your Home -- for the children seven generations forward.
Recommended Reading:
In The Spirit of Crazy Horse, by Peter Matthiessen
Stolen Harvest, by Vandana Shiva
With Love and Blessings,
Michelle and Robert
"In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..."
We begin:
"In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..."
Tenth Mindfulness Training:
"Aware that the essence and aim of community and companionship is the practice of understanding and compassion, we are determined not to use this relationship for personal gain or transform our community and work into a private instrument. We are determined to oppose all oppression and injustice."
Reflection:
We stand on the footprints of our elders. Here are some of our ancestors who walked the beauty way before me. They carried the cultural wisdom and made it possible for us to carry on our traditions today. We honor them through this remembrance. -- Walking Thunder: Dine Medicine Woman
Anywhere is the center of the world. -- Black Elk
This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. --Chief Seattle
We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish, and trees. -- Qwatsinas
One does not sell the earth upon which people walk. -- Crazy Horse
Bear Butte (for Bob Snyder)
broken heart silence --
Only One dance
through emptiness and void
sun and rock --
no choice
but to empty the mind
this fragile flower --
marvelous as
the climb, the mountain, the sky
The face being carved into the mountain pictured above is a rendition of Crazy Horse -- as a lasting memorial (Mt. Rushmore is a few miles away) to the Living Spirit that yet inhabits this land, this continent, the "Americas"... A spirit alive in the mountains and rivers without end, a spirit alive in the hearts and feet of a band of "Old Souls" yet wandering this land... who knows where you will find them? I saw one on top of Bear Butte. After a climb in the late afternoon -- with the crackling of thunder and the electric-white stab of lightening steadily approaching from the distance to consume the being and essence of this sacred mountain -- I saw him. He was a stranger dressed in the leather and black of a motorcycle rider familiar with the darker side of life. With no visible hesitation, he held up his arms and hands, a minute facing each of the four directions. His prayers concluded, he looked at me and stated matter of factly, "Holy, ain't it."
I met another one of these Old Souls on the streets of Chinatown in Salinas. He's Lakota, like ol' Crazy Horse. It doesn't take a leap of imagination to picture Bob Snyder astride a pinto on the plains of what is now called South Dakota -- riding after the buffalo -- he's got a family and a tribe that depends upon his strength and courage... so it was... and so it is... Bob doesn't ride a pinto through the Chinatown streets... and as often as not, he'll get lost for awhile with his demons and dark thoughts... but he always shows up in the nick of time to catch the back of one he has adopted into the tribe of his heart. How he figures who's in is a mystery: usually it's the one who is really on the fringe, the edge of just barely hanging on -- ready to let go and drop into the abyss, for no good reason other than it's exhausting being lonely all the time -- I've seen him catch life after life (and yet he likes to play the game of it's all the same to him). Bob Dylan has a song about searching for "Dignity" -- listen to it sometime to get a handle on these stories. Once there was a dealer on the street after someone -- after directing staff to call for the police -- I took off on foot, down Soledad Street and around the corner. I could see the dealer's car racing down the alley ahead trying to cut off the one running away... I figured the runner was dead or worse if he got caught, so I had to try and catch up... finally I could see that the runner had escaped... whew, I didn't really want to have to try dancing with the dealer and the runner both... I took a grateful deep breath and turned around. Bob was standing there. He had my back. But that isn't what makes him an Old Soul... that just means that he and I both share a certain kind of insanity... Bob is an Old Soul because he can see through a couple of veils that most of us miss most of the time. His heart beats in the broken rhythm of One who has been hurt, who has hurt, and who has profoundly experienced the reality of Wakan-Tanka, the Grandfather Spirit, alive in his risk and willingness to Love...
Why these quotations from Native Americans, why these two particular stories, with this Tenth Mindfulness Training? We want to invite you to deeply ponder community -- who is in and who is out of your community? We want to propose that our New Definition of Community include our ancestors -- everyone who has gone before us through this journey of life -- and ALSO, including everyone who will follow after us, many generations into the future. This defintion of community offers us a foothold that will enable us to hoist ourselves a little bit higher on the evolutionary ladder -- isn't that the point of it all? To live and to contribute to the lifting up of every life and the reverence and stewardship of this precious blue Planet?
Here's a "what if" looking ahead to the future: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services..." --Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, 1948. Contrast that very possible "what if" with the political debates raging in this country. Back during the Presidency of Bill Clinton I participated in a world-wide tele-conference on the topic of adding to the UN Charter a specific article declaring access to food a human right. At the conclusion of a long day of discussion, debate, negotiation, etc, etc. the proposal was finally tabled (and not for dinner). It became clear that the official position of the United States was "No". And it was "No", it was argued, because if the proposal passed Americans might interpret it as threatening our "standard of living". God forbid that a self-described "Judeo-Christian" nation should take even a small step towards justice and a national life-style of "abundant simplicity" in response to the call of the Prophets and the wisdom teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth!
So, we think this Tenth Mindfulness Training is especially a call to question our definition, and the reality, of our "communities". Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality are one example of a radical expansion of the definition of community to include persons on the margins of our society. Native American traditions and spirituality includes in its community definition, the earth, the air, and every creature and inanimate thing. Most indigenous, ancient, peoples of the earth have a very expansive definition of community, like Native Americans, rooting community within an awareness of the earth as a living system of inter-related relationships -- what Thich Nhat Hahn proposes as "Interbeing"... We are thinking that a spirituality, a culture, and a politics of "interbeing" is the Way into the future we hope for our children, and for every child everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr, said "The end is the creation of the Beloved Community"...
An Alternate Tenth Mindfulness Training:
Aware that the end is the creation of the Beloved Community, I will practice an every-day spirit of inclusion and consideration: I will include in my community everyone on the margins of our Planetary society and I will consider the well-being of this precious blue Planet and every life that lives upon it -- seven generations forward -- in my every-day life, in how I live, in what I buy and sell, and in how I vote.
In Beauty before me I walk,
In Beauty behind me I walk,
In Beauty below me I walk,
In Beauty above me I walk,
In Beauty all around me I walk,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty. -- Beauty Way Chant, Navaho Benediction
The world will be saved by beauty. -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
Question of the Week:
How am I practicing and building beauty in my home, in my work-place, in my community?
Practice of the Week:
Gather in your community for a "Beauty Day": volunteer in a Soup Kitchen to clean or paint; volunteer in your neighborhood to pick up trash, paint something run-down, or play games with children; contact 350.org and expand your community and commitment to this Planet that is your Home -- for the children seven generations forward.
Recommended Reading:
In The Spirit of Crazy Horse, by Peter Matthiessen
Stolen Harvest, by Vandana Shiva
With Love and Blessings,
Michelle and Robert
"In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..."
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