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Foot notes in Gaza

A great book. Hope you can get past the graphic style...I would suggest this is a must read and buy. ko shin


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Ko shin's Reading At The Woodland Pattern Poetry Marathon Jan 30, 2010

Many thanks to the people and organization of Woodland Pattern, a place where all our muses love   To come and seem to be awakened….

This piece is my Howl.

My hero Allen Ginsberg Howled decades ago, thanks Allen,  he knew  we all have our Howls.  Often we are afraid to let them out…I hope I have overcome that fear…

 The first few lines are from my older brother, month ago today, he  said good bye to his wife Norma, they had 53 years together and now he has started sending his stories out each day… this one fits in with howling….

While driving in Pennsylvania , a family caught up to an Amish carriage.

   

The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign. "Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in exhaust." 

watch out here comes ko shin's poetry……I always tell my friends to wear boots when I read….

Man, I am really comfortable today

It is quiet here

Can't even hear the heavy doors close people are let out or in

That's right I am really comfortable, here, today

Know where I am dude? Sister?

In a prison, in the place where the Buddha's come and sit Quiet, that's right no bull shit, just Dharma, sister…just the teachings

How can one be comfortable

In a place where you are brought here for unskillful means?

Yea, that's it, its about letting go, sitting quiet, listening with your breath

Are You comfortable where ever you are?   I bet!

Think about a cell, the cell we all live in…

What does it mean to let go and be free not from your cell but in it?

Freedom, yes, oh freedom!

-an assignment to sit or walk, do something and write a poem-

Cold metal on the bottom

That's what it was, no toilet seat, just shinny metal

Cold, and strange

But that's how our inmates sit on the throne

More inmates than any other country in the world

Cold metal on the bottom, that's it

It was a strange experience, not because there was no toilet seat,

My poetry teacher gave us an assignment

Go for a walk, sit somewhere for awhile

Then write some things down

I do that all the time, but not on cold metal on the bottom

I was sitting in meditation with the men, in the chapel, in the prison,

Nature called when you are my age you learn to answer in the moment not sometime soon….get it?

The chaplain gave me some choices, I guess because I'm not an inmate, so he thinks…maybe I am an inmate in my own prison…

So I entered the door with a sign on it, inmates only

There it was a metal throne without a seat, I paused only a second, nature was yelling by now And so I sat on the cold metal with no seat

Teacher, you ask how did I feel?

Hm, relived and free…who needs a seat...

Those dam rivers never stop, do they?

I ask more often than I want to, Why am I here? 

Why are we here?

  

Recently, streams, rivers, have been on my mind, they are always moving even under the ice… up our way even trucks fall through the ice into the flow…

No ice fishing on a fast moving stream, no holding on to a special moment for you or me,

just keep going… I keep wanting to go back, do you too?

Maybe it is growing old, I don't know…… re-capture a special time or moment, impossible, all we have is this moment….

  

Well, welcome, to the strange sense

Of being in another world in the midst of this world…..we are who we are and avatars we choose at the same time,

  

our spiritual consciousness is like the river,

But, have you noticed, someone always wants to build a dam,

Like religious beavers, blocking the flow, the growth, the deepening….with dogma and bull shit, the truth they

say….to

Slow down the flow,

Everybody likes the flow but wants to block it in some way…. Judge it, change the direction…of our path

My daughter sent a message recently on Yahoo, then I saw her avatar, I said that ain't you Honey, she said yes it is….

I forgot the avatar, the other image of her points to her…it is not just a security thing….

We choose an avatar to point to who we are, what or who is our avatar or avatars..…yes I know it’s a movie in wrap around 3D,

do we need to wear glasses to see reality?  To see our avatar's?

I think of the aboriginal sisters and brothers we met in Melbourne, recently,  they talked about their "dream walking"  is not something you forget, but live in each step, your vision, I want to be a dream walking human being, will you join me on this journey?

We need to dream walk, walk about, remember our ancestors, the land, the earth, all beings…

And then it ends, or does it, maybe this is only the beginning, we will see

The earth shakes, in a moment life changes, it is incomprehensible, the tragic events of this universe, the earth quake, the people of Haiti...

I still smell the smells of New Orleans after Katrina…the water marks, the symbols on the side of the houses, how many animals found, how many people died, how many were rescued,

One always hoped for numbers on the live side, they weren't…..

I saw the same symbol being placed on a building in Haiti, the international symbols of life and death…everywhere

No more, please…I can see the death on the shore line of the Tsunami  in South East Asia

The coffee plantations of Sumatra destroyed…

Ha, ha Starbucks, raise your price again, but do not give more to the farmer

I remember the streets of Detroit, eleven tornadoes in a few moments,one evening,

The trees are gone, the rich and poor lost everything, those with could replace, the poor are poorer…

I think of our sisters and brothers in Gaza, Palestine, invited out of their houses by the gunpoint or dragged,  and then a Caterpillar and its blade made in the USA wrecks the home, not a house, a home…in the name of peace,  we stand my, our avatars cry for Haiti, South East Asia, Detroit, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Tamales , Native peoples everywhere….

Yes, we cry for you Haiti, we will never forget the pain, the loss, the fear, the needs…

  

Stand tall, sisters and brothers, be comforted by the loving spirit of this world and all creatures who care for you

  

Your history of oppression and fighting for justice, we will continue to walk with you, Now and always,

What is important in this life? This flowing River….

This event reminds us, human life is, relationships are, serving the neighbor is our task…the whole world, peace…

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-Ground Zero NYC four months after, late evening-

Some say a hole in the ground

Others a burial place

A tragedy yet a wakeup call

For all human kind

Look what hatred and fear do to others,

What will our response be?

Where are the towers?

Anyone see the towers?

A moment of silence for all souls lost this day

In this hole, only the dust of human life

When will we learn? When will we listen?

When will we hope?

NYC Jan 11, 2002, 4 months later

Reading the Obituaries, have you done that lately?

Your name, is it there?

Hope not, mind isn’t either?

Let me know…call my cell,

It will work in the deep, deep, ground…right?

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Death is everybody's business

Right?

Why are we surprised when it visits?

Why We Don't Need Religion to Give Life Mystery | Media and Culture | AlterNet

Why We Don't Need Religion to Give Life Mystery | Media and Culture | AlterNet

Just a word here...atheism and those who claim to be part of this movement has been getting a lot of attention recently and they should. I am not talking about the proving if there is a god or some divine thrower of the dice, but raising the questions about practice that often as Christians and others we do not even think is necessary. I have found http://commonsenseatheism.com/ a helpful resource. This young man gives one many links to a wide group of spiritual issues. I found one with free books from most spiritual traditions to download if you want.

The HH Dahi Lama has been saying lately that we are dealing with two forms of spirituality in humankind, a faith or belief based and a human based spirituality, where there is no need for church, temple, mosque or zendo. I can give you more info on this, leave a comment. I am a bit surprised how Karen Armstrong puts down those who call themselves part of atheism....in her newest book, but Xians have neve been know for being completely open, opps sorry !  Enjoy

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Buddhist Blessings: Haiti: The Spiritual Lessons To Be Learned Today

Haiti: The Spiritual Lessons To Be Learned
Today at 3:49pm
With the news of the Haitian disaster comes a profound sense of vulnerability. When faced with catastrophes of this scale, we are left feeling exposed, without answers, the explicit images shown in the media reminding us how transitory everything is in life, how the material security we strive so hard to achieve can disappear in an instant. These harsh shocks remind us that we cannot control even the most significant things in our lives, even that which appears to be the most secure can be gone in a flash.

When we seek external security, we are seeking stability within that which always changes; this is why we need so many guarantees, but no guarantee is absolute in this world. Life is a succession of moments, during most of which we are absent, and when we reach the end of the road or are reminded in some way of our own mortality, we often have the feeling of dissatisfaction, of not having fully lived… as if time has run like water through our fingers.

Whether the outside is shaken by an earthquake or an economic crisis, through illness or some other stressful situation, we can confront it in one place only: the here and now.
By being present - present with ourselves, present with one-another, present in our feelings - vulnerable, without denying the dimension of the impact, and flowing with life, without negating our emotions: those long ignored feelings, forgotten deep within, avoided and distorted into something corrupt, a suppressed resentment poisoning our relationships, damaging our health.

Our emotions should flow like water, washing the banks of our human experience as they pass, flowing like life through time, dancing through this illusion that is calling to us, inviting us to become more human and more real in each moment.

Security can only be found if I focus inwards, in the eye of the storm, the core of the hurricane that takes me ever deeper within its quiet; if I go outwards into the chaos, I lose myself within it; if I go deep within, I find myself in the void.

We can see this in action through the responses to the crisis. Just when we believe that humanity has no hope, we see countries sending planes and ships, and presidents and representatives from all corners of the earth coming together as they offer their help. So shine the heroes, the silent hearts that give freely, so that the pain and suffering of those affected can be lessened, offering consolation and the tools to readapt and continue forward, thankful for what life has given, and lovingly letting go of that which life has taken away.

We cannot do anything to stop it, nor does it make sense to suffer now for what the future may bring, but we can move into action and give, we can focus on loving more in every moment those who surround us instead of criticizing, giving thanks for what we have received and letting go of that which does not serve us in cultivating our passion for life.

In this moment, find yourself in the center of the cyclone. Welcome in this new way of living, completely connected with your heart: there where the essence of life itself pulsates, there where your true voice speaks and resounds within you and in everything, becoming one in the union of love.

posted by Isha Judd on Care2

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Isha Judd will be touring Europe in April 2010, presenting her latest book and movie, Why Walk When You Can Fly? which explain her system for self-love and the expansion of consciousness. Learn more at www.whywalkwhenyoucanfly.com.