Monday, November 11, 2002

Oh, God!

On my last trip to Ireland, I stopped in a little jewelry store on Main street in Dingle. The owner and artist was a savvy young women, and I noticed this delightful conversation written out and discreetly posted, out of sight. It was too risque for Ireland I presume, and I have copied it here for you.

"A ring! Oh, God. Its beautiful." She stared at it.

"Oh, God, " she repeated.

"Its a funny thing," he said dryly." "But only sex and jewelry get you to mention the Lord's name."

3:39:44 PM    

Walking in the Dark

This is such a strange time we live in. It is like the Chinese Blessing/Curse, May you live in interesting times. It appears that vast tectonic plates of political forces are at work, shifting and grinding below the surface, all over the world. It is so easy to get spun around in the innumerable dramas occuring almost daily. Some times I just have to call a halt to the inflow of information. There is nothing I can do about it all anyway. If the Chinese also say that In crisis there is opportunity, than what saddens me the most about the approach taken by the current crop of political leaders in many countries is the squandering of the opportunities for constructive change. According to Tibetan mythology, we are deeply within a vast cycle of darkness called the Kali Yuga, extending for thousands of years. It certainly feels like that.

Turning on, tuning in, and dropping out is not really much of an option anymore. So I'll sit in the gathering light of an overcast Colorado afternoon, and try to open my heart once again. I will take time to establish contact with the forces of Grace, of Light, of reassurance. I give up my confusion, and just attend to what is in front of me, moment by moment. St. John of the Cross said "If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark." If you can see a little clearer, let me know.

3:08:35 PM    

	Friday, November 8, 2002

Rumi says

Several years ago I visited Rumi's tomb in Turkey, a kind of pilgrimage.

Today, like every other day,
we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and
kiss the ground.

-Rumi

8:14:34 PM    

	Wednesday, November 6, 2002

Photos

Coney Island Boardwalk, late 60's

Mexico

Magic Water

4:06:45 PM    

Photographic Journey

For the last few weeks I have been exploring a new, and yet familiar direction. Perhaps I have had 'writers block, but really I just think that my energy has been flowing along different lines. I have noticed this before, when my creative energy has been pent-up for a long time, it often emerges in unforseen ways with a powerful and undeniable force.

One of my first spiritual/creative awakenings occurred when I was in high school. Somehow I had gotten started in photography as a hobby, using an Olympus Pen S, a small half-frame camera with a sharp lens. I had a little darkroom in my basement where I developed and printed my black and white film. That was interesting for a while, until I dropped my camera one day on the stone stairway of my high school. The shutter jammed, and I took it to the professional camera repair store in Manhattan where all the pros took their big rigs to be fixed. Of course it would have cost more to repair than to replace, and I wound up upgrading to a single lens reflex - a Miranda Sensorex. And my world just opened up.

Something had clicked, as being able to look through the lens enabled me to see for the first time. Everything became a potential picture, - the shadows of fire escapes in alleys, the reflections of store windows along Fifth Ave. My artists eye had been awakened, and I remember sun-drenched afternoons walking down Manhattan, swept along on a river of color and light, an infinite world waiting to be discovered by a gawky, skinny kid with his new camera. Angles, lines, images, faces, sun reflecting off the water in star points, night shadows, - for the first time the world began to speak to me in a comprehensible fashion. I have a few images from those days, I will scan some in and post them today and tomorrow.

I followed this muse all the way through college, to the extent of occasionaly locking myself in the school darkroom at night, printing solarizations and other images. When I entered a yoga Ashram after graduation, everything fell by the wayside, as intense physical working and meditating consumed my life.

It wasnt until many years later, while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that the urge to photograph came up again. Perhaps it was the famous New Mexico light. I bought a larger camera, a Pentax 6x7, and once again created some worthy images, this time in color. But instead of bringing me closer to the world, I had felt that it inserted a veil between me and my experience. My level of interior integration was not complete enough. I wasnt able to simultaneously experience the world directly, and be looking for pictures. So I sold off my equipment and gave it up again.

And now it has returned, however this time I perceive that rather than the art of photography being a filter between the larger world and I, it will act as a portal. Having spent so much time in my inner worlds, I am emerging a little wiser, a lot humbler, and looking forward to creating some meaningful images again.

Side note: What really is making this possible is the ongoing evolution of digital photography, as now it is at a point where it is roughly equivalent to film photography, meaning a darkroom is no longer needed. And you can see the images instantly on the LCD screen. The digital revolution is underway.

2:44:12 PM    

	Wednesday, October 23, 2002

How Did the Rose?

How

did the rose

ever open its heart

and give to the world all of its beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light against its being,

otherwise we all remain too

frightened.

-St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God

10:40:45 PM    

	Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Infrared Plaza

I love infrared photography. It turns the world into a dream. With some of the new digital cameras it is easier to access this magical domain of unseen light. Here is a very nice shot by Felipe Rodriguez. Click on the image for a larger version, and more by him.

7:45:36 PM    

	Monday, October 21, 2002

Pain

One of my favorite blogs, field notes has a current post about pain.
When I was 21 or so I met my first teacher, Rudi. One of his sayings, that I hated then, and I hate even now over 30 years later, was "Pain is a sign of God's Love." He meant it from a very deep place. I think he meant that it breaks open the heart, crushes the ego, and makes us malleable. It still sucks, though.

10:10:04 PM    

A Better World

Here is another story from Elie Weisel.

There is a marvelous anecdote in Hasidic literature that recounts how a young student came to Rebbe Mendel of Kotzk and said, "Master, I am terribly disappointed in God." "Why?" "I'll tell you why," said this student. "It took him 6 days to create the world, and look at it. It's terrible." So the master said, "Tell me, could you do better?" And the student, not knowing why, said, "Yes." And the master said, "In that case, then, what are you waiting for? Start doing it."

-Elie Wiesel, Conversations with Elie Weisel

9:56:56 PM    

	Thursday, October 17, 2002

The Irish Affair

We don't get much media coverage about Europe, here in the States. Did you know there is a very Major vote taking place this weekend, one that will affect the future of the European Union? And that it takes place, in a tiny island off of the mainland, called Ireland? Read about it here.

9:20:03 PM    

Tending to Wakefulness

Counseling, Coaching, and Tending to Wakefulness. That is what I enjoy doing. Dostoevski said "If one has only one good memory left in one's heart, that may be the means of saving us." It is a fascinating field, and for me a good way to be of service. In the past , cultures may of had shamans, or wise men or women, village elders, or priests/rabbis to carry the role of mentoring. Now, often it is the therapists and coaches that fulfill this role. I love the gaelic word 'Anam Cara'. It translates to 'Soul Friend'. It carrys the energy for the type of relationship I offer to my clients. Perhaps one day we can learn to be soul Friends to each other....

"As a Psychotherapist (one language) I was helping people to get back to their Source (another language), and because of this I began to use a variety of energy-based techniques (again another language). I was seeking in this way to integrate within myself and within my work, the psychological language of Freud, Jung, and Fritz Perls with the esoteric language of the gnostics, alchemists, and the mystics and the 'energy language' of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen. This fusion meant an enormous increase in the breadth and depth of each one of the separate 'languages' but I too experienced the tremendous difficulties of creating a synthesis, and the inner stresses that accompany such a task often left me wondering where I belonged, and if the task was one that could be accomplished in practical terms....What is healing really about, how is it caused - if indeed it is possible to use the word caused in respect to healing - and by what means is it served?

...In reality little or nothing is accomplished by the rituals, the sessions, the working on complex mother and father images or dreams. These are the forms we need to believe we can change, that by manipulating them we can let the Light into our existence. In reality the Light is there, it simply requires recognition. As we realize this we begin to abandon the 'importance' of the technique, we let go of the apparatus to participate in the Unity. As a personality I heal nobody, healing does not take place from me to the client in the consulting room. It happens when I let the Spirit move me, in this manner I need less and less external apparatus and ritual because I become more and more of an instrument through my service to others".
- Hans Korteweg, Foreword to Chakras-Rays and Radionics by David Tansley

There is haven here, there is Sanctuary.

In here, we are out of the wind.

In here, we will rest our backs against the sun-warmed stone.
In here, we will close our eyes, just for a moment.

Let us take a breath, once, together.

If you need it, there is a shoulder to
lean on, a finger to hold.

This is a special time - it is for you.

Use it. Take it. Eat it.

In the Dark Mirror, we will watch for
the glinting reflections of your Essential Self.

In silence and dialogue, we will listen for
the deepest sounds of your Soul's Voice.

We may hold your sorrows in the light
so that healing my begin,
We may hold your joys in the air
so that they may expand, and be known.

Come, I lend you my dexterity,
so that slowly, and with great care,
the knots of the heart may be untied.

Come, sit down for awhile, and
tell me about your Journey:
for it is worthy.

6:20:36 PM