The Readers Blog is a group blog, a collection of provocative, passionate people who represent a broad geographical, professional, personal and vocational range. New bloggers from other places and other points of view will join the conversation from time to time. Here, we invite them all to share their perspectives and opinions on the issues that matter to them most. And we invite you to respond. Let the dialogue begin!
Several years ago, I wrote about my friend Ichinohe, the healer. Since that essay appeared, my beloved friend has gone through many profound changes. One time, when I went for a massage, he said, “I know my body very well. There is something wrong with me. I must go for a check-up.” And sure enough, that investigation revealed a beautiful, perfectly formed spiral pattern of teeny cells spread out across the lining of his intestines. Cancer. When he told me about it, he said, “The doctor was amazed. He had never seen anything like it. And indeed, it was magnificent. It looked like the galaxies. It formed a perfect, balanced arrangement.”
I personally felt that orderliness came from Ichinohe’s years of meditation and deep spiritual attunement. But why cancer? Why something so lethal for someone who had devoted his life to healing others? Read more...
As the title states, we found ourselves yesterday in Ukiah, California, blending old world tradition with street realities by way of two school presentations within one event day.
The night before we’d time-traveled back 3,000 years to sleep in ancient China at the Buddhist Community called 10,000 Buddhas. We were lulled to sleep by the distant calls of peacocks looking for their partner to sleep for the night in the trees above where we parked. It’s the craziest feeling, as we instantly were transported backwards thousands of years when we entered the compound’s massive wooden gates, guarding what felt like an ancient, sacred place. Check out the pictures! Read more...
At least three mornings a week, Samantha (my spouse) and I go to the Colombo Swimming Club, a quiet private place for some exercise and a swim. I enjoy this morning routine and use the back garden to stretch, jog and use the bars. However, over the last two years this routine has been disturbed by a battle that I have with a bunch of crows, which, I presume, are not happy about me entering their space.
It all began when one bird attacked me while I exercised. I then hit back with stones and shooed them away and thought it was sorted. Not so. The next morning was a shocker. As I entered the garden I felt a bad vibe in the air and sure enough there must have been over a hundred crows - they were waiting for me. They got into a noisy formation and dived at me. I have been in some major scrapes in my life with fellow humans, but this scared the hell out of me. The gang leader looked mean, would sharpen its beak on the wire it was on and swoop down on me with others following. I saved myself from a major assault by running for cover under a roof. I reluctantly skipped my exercise routine and jumped in the pool in dismay, but the gang agitated the entire time I was there. It took me a few days to get back to the club again so I thought the dust would have settled, but not at all. This time there were not so many, but they kept diving down at me in intervals, so I had to get aggressive. That morning I got my exercise shouting, running at them and throwing rocks to take control of my space. Read more...
Maeve (rhymes with rave), the magnificent Magdalen, is back! She is ever so welcome.
The third novel of The Maeve Chronicles, Bright Dark Madonna
In the Spring of 2007, I was invited to a local hotel in Iraq where some Iranian musician-friends were relaxing after a big concert they had just given. I was asked to bring my guitar and a nice meet-and-greet erupted into a Western-gospel-folk-meets-Iranian-folk-orchestra explosion in the lobby of the hotel. While belting out Eastern versions of Western standards, I took note of the Iranian tar player's shoes - a white pair of hand-knit works of art that screamed "Persian rock star." The band took me to buy my own pair of these famous shoes the very next day. And thus began my fascination with the klash. Read more...
World peace begins with our children. Emotionally healthy children grow into emotionally healthy adults. Emotionally healthy children learn inner peace. Children that grow up feeling inner peace become peaceful adults. To begin the process, we need to make sure that all children grow up with positive messages streaming through their psyches. This doesn’t mean praising children and giving them affirmations that don’t come across as being authentic. Children can feel whether or not a person is being authentic with them. For this reason, the verbal messages and the non-verbal messages are equally important. We can "tell" our children how wonderful they are, but if we are not in the moment with them, listening to them and really being attentive to their needs, they receive an entirely different message. Read more...
As part of the process of producing the reading of PeaceWomen, we needed a program that had the pictures of the Laureates. We also needed to give credit to the actors who were donating their time to honor World Theatre Day and these women. Because the pictures took up so much space, we had to truncate their bios, so I asked each one to describe their relationship to Tufts, and then to finish this sentence:
To me, peace is . . .
Twelve actors plus one director plus me, the playwright, equaled 14 completely different answers! How could it not? Read more...
It’s Run For One Planet Tour Day #325, and we find ourselves in San Luis Obispo, California.
The road has been long and filled with every imaginable scenario and challenge since we put our first steps forward on May 4th, 2008 back in Vancouver. We knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey. Putting oneself out there beyond the normal zone of comfort always brings about the greatest tests—and the greatest rewards for sticking to it. Read more...
Blessed Ode Family, I received this email from Avaaz today, and signed the petition. Won’t you join me to help free Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from her many years of house arrest?
Burmese pro-democracy leader and Nobel peace prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has spent 13 years detained by the Burmese military junta. She and thousands of fellow monks and students have been imprisoned for bravely challenging their brutal regime with calls for democracy. This week a glimmer of hope has risen for their release, and it's time for us to stand with them.
There are many people I know who just shudder at the thought of being alone. For them, it is akin to being lonely, abandoned, unloved and even rejected by the world at large. Being basically a loner, I am often given funny labels for my intrinsic need to be alone most of the time. Hermit, reclusive, ‘solitary reaper’, self indulgent, weirdo... as you can see, it doesn’t get any better.
Believe me, it is not exactly pretty to explain that ‘alone is not lonely’ but a rather blessed state, and I love my solitude as much as the company of few good people in my life. Some people freak out when I tell them that I frequently go for a movie alone, eat at a restaurant alone and often set out on a vacation alone, without needing or wanting anyone’s company. And I do not consider myself unlovable or rejected by the world when I am enjoying a solitary lunch at my favourite café. Read more...
