Got Mindfulness?

This morning I had an idea about creating some sort of edifice or structure in which human participants could become advocates for other non-human inhabitants of Earth’s biosphere, a kind of United Nations for all living organisms. I did a web search for “council of beings”, and I hit pay-dirt (to use an earthy term)…

Way back in the 80’s Joanna Macy and John Seed created a “re-earthing” ritual called the Council of All Beings, and they subsequently produced the book, THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN - TOWARDS A COUNCIL OF ALL BEINGS based on this ritual.

Here is John Seed’s description of the ritual

And here is Joanna Macy’s take on it.

Here is another write-up I found on this ritual.

Now, back in the 80’s I was extremely active in the experimental theatre community in the USA, but I’d never heard of the Council of All Beings work being done at the time elsewhere. Back then there was no internet. If I’d had this idea back then, I would have “reinvented the wheel” to some extent, not knowing that people elsewhere in the world were doing similar work. Now that’s OK, and I believe in the motto: “Let all flowers bloom”, but I personally would rather synergize and build off of the work of like-minded people where possible.

So… HOORAY for the internet! I think its advent is a major milestone in the development of human civilization.

Actually my idea on a “council of beings” was conceived as an internet/web construct, where participants from any part of the globe could choose to take up the advocacy for any species or natural phenomenon (river, mountain, swamp, etc.) that they wished. That is what I initially meant by “edifice or structure”. However, I think creating a specific mask and invocation or brief for each represented being and posting those artifacts on the web via whatever “edifice” I create for the purpose, is a very viable idea!

i am the plowed furrow
and i am the blight

i am an infant’s birth
and i am the shadow night

i am love itself
and i am spite

i am the glint of spring
and i am winter’s bite

i am all that is wrong
and i am all that is right

i am a tender kiss
and lust without requite

i am the leaping stag
and i am the tiger bright

i am the mirror with no reflection
i am your eyes and you are my sight

i am the darkness
and i am the light

i see inward and outward, too
i am left and i am right

embrace me and embrace yourself
feel beyond golden sorrow and dark delight

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- dennis landi © 2008

Do you have an enemy?

Well, imagine this…

What if you and your enemy were the last two living beings on the planet?

What is your enemy, then?

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- dennis landi © 2008

From the point of view of time, we say “impermanence”, and from the point of view of space we say, “non-self”. Things cannot remain themselves for two consecutive moments, therefore there is nothing that can be called a permanent “self”.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, from The Heart Of Buddha’s Teaching, Chapter: The Three Dharma Seals, page 132.

Neta Crawford of Brown University was interviewed on the radio program “World of Possibilities” regarding the Prospect of American Empire and possible alternative futures where the United States is able to genuinely entertain a dialog with other cultures in the world. This particular program was Being Number One: Costs and Alternatives to Empire (duration: approx. 50 minutes). Crawford is in the fourth interview which starts about 45 minutes into the program. However, when you have the time please do hear the entire program…

Crawford’s operative words are “As if”, meaning that if we conducted ourselves as if the world were a more peaceful place, we would move in the direction of creating such a world.

She advocates Civil Society taking an independent role, where individuals through contact with others develop a greater empathy and respect for others. So, for example, If we act as if it is possible to engage in dialog; and, if we act as if others deserve our respect, we will in fact gain the respect of others, and hopefully they will engage in greater dialog with us.

I’ve excerpted Neta’s ten minute interview, downloadable as an MP3.

To act as if…

To act as if we lived in a world where there are others who are concerned with Global Ecology, perhaps we can invoke the latent cooperation and participation necessary to bring about a new social paradigm in the 21st century.

To act as if we will be lifted up when we stumble by the hands of thousands of like-minded beings who want us to succeed on the path to a peaceful and balanced world society, perhaps we can invoke that cooperation and participation.

To act as if we live in a nondual reality, perhaps we can trigger selfless behavior in those we touch with our hearts and minds.

To act as if…

Food for thought.

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Neta Crawford’s book, Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization, and Humanitarian Intervention takes on Change from another perspective - the power of argument to influence culture. Here is a link to a chapter excerpt of the book: Argument, belief and culture

And finally I also want to point out a remarkable “editorial” that Crawford wrote just days after 9/11 warning of a knee-jerk military retaliation against “the terrorists”. She asks the question “Why doesn’t retaliation work?”. She then offers an answer. Worth a read.

Two gems from NDHighlights

It is not about getting or not getting anything. What is, is undeniable present awareness. Everything appears within that. It is all an expression within that. You are what you are. All ideas about what we are, are only more ideas. To attempt to pin anything down in the mind is futile. Your natural being is not contained or even known by the mind. Seeing this, you stop looking for the answer where it will not be found. You are present and aware. Pause thought and simply be. Notice there is nothing wrong. There are no problems or suffering unless you are thinking about them. So the mind is creating all problems. They are all imaginary.

- John Wheeler

You Were Never Born
Non-Duality Press, p.114

And…

Image of the Buddha

For 300 years after the Buddha’s death there were no Buddha images. The people’s practice was an image of the Budha, there was no need to externalize it. But in time, as the practice was lost, people began to place the Buddha outside of their own minds, back in time and space. As the concept was externalized and images were made, great teachers started to reemphasize the other meaning of Buddha. There is a saying, “If you see the Buddha, kill him.” Very shocking to people who offer incense and worship before an image. If you have a concept in the mind of a Buddha outside of yourself, kill it, let it go. . . . Gotama Buddha repeatedly reminded people that the experience of truth comes from one’s own mind.

–Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight

WHAT’S YOUR CONSUMPTION FACTOR?
By Jared Diamond

Advaita Fellowship

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Wei Wu Wei