from mother earth to lover earth

When humanity moves from childhood into adulthood, we move from a receiving relationship with "mother earth" into a co-creative relationship with "lover earth." The beautiful Charles Eisenstein speaks of this new, emerging story so well. I'm a big fan. Enjoy!

If you watch this for ten or twenty minutes, and then the Ken Wilber pointing out instructions to the right, oh boy... ascension and communion all over the place. try it!

Sai Baba, Post-bin Laden America, sufferings, miracle mushrooms, The Miserere

Centered

This has been a week, lmty. Sai Baba ("Love all, serve all.") died last Sunday on Easter, and although he was a controversial world saint, surrounded by magic, manipulation, scandal, and abuse, he was still a devoted guru to millions (6 million reported in 1999) all around the world, and it is sad, so sad, that someone so loved is now gone. He died on Easter, which is strange, considering he is believed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ’s consciousness.

Nevertheless, Sai Baba established free schools and colleges, free hospitals, and other charitable institutions in India and abroad, endeavors all worthy of sainthood.

Osama bin Laden died last night (or was it in 2001?), and with him the American public's dignity, once again. Our reactions are so predictable, so childish. (We are a young country, after all), the ancient ritual of singing and celebrating and thanking god when the archenemy finally dies. “We win.” For some, all they win is a good night’s sleep, finally after ten long years...

But the news media says this will not necessarily harm the money flow going into the al-Qaeda franchise. This may even spawn more support, who knows. revenge can be extremely exciting, as the US so shamelessly shows.

The tornado storms in the South are heartbreaking...listening to all those beautiful southern drawls crying over the radio, destroyed. “I’ve never seen anything more devastating in my life” says Obama. Over 300 dead. And the horrible flooding in southern Missouri destroyed a friend’s house; so much muddy water, so many storms.

Japan is still recovering. Everything is getting better, and worse, and is staying the same, all at once. My good childhood friend is getting married in a month (!) and suffered a seizure the other day connected to a previous domestic abuse-related head injury. We are all so worried.

And my niece and nephew, twin stars, turned two this weekend! The party was amazing, I loved watching my parents, now grandparents, and the gendering, the sainthood, the apotheosis....Everyone played.

Afterward I attended a morel eating party! Yeah! Another childhood friend who is getting married (so much "more perfect union" going on!), his uncle is a mushroom nut and hunter, specifically compelled by the illusory and highly valuable morel aka “miracle” mushrooms, who migrate all around the country and are extremely difficult to catch. The other day, down by the river, to his heavenly delight he found “the mother load.” Despite their monetary value he threw a party, free of cost, and we all ate morels the size of bananas in soup, grilled, stuffed, on pizzas...omg so delicious, and meaty...surrounded by beautiful people.

I left the party and quickly returned to KU to help set up for the big open house we had on Sunday. In my studio I put out wasabi peas and peanut m&ms and played the Miserere, all a hit...I served green tea to anyone wanting it. Three Tibetan monks came, an honor, my god, and my parents came and made me so happy. Love. The show ended at four, but to my heavenly delight one of the most brilliant and celebrated professors here (and extraordinarily psychic shaman, in my book) stayed until 6:30 with her partner, talking to me about art-making and traveling. The two are very similar, no? I watched Jackass 3-D and some NFC downstairs with the beautiful “trolls of witch mountain”, found out about bin Laden, then listened to hearts of space on the floor futon cuddling with my friends...what a week.

This morning between 6:30 and 6:33 I dreamt I was in exploring a maze whose walls were made of gorgeous ceramic fire, “great wall sculptures” I thought. reds, oranges, yellows, “raku?”, and I found within the artful maze a bathhouse. I got naked and bathed with my beautiful friend (one sleeping next to me), only to find out that we were in the middle of a great futuristic campground, with hipsters filling crystalline tents and exclusive clubs. We put on our clothes and explored, finding many adventures.

Relationship Week

I added a "man" on top of the mountain.
I hid more beings and softened the moss
and I painted this new frog portrait. Kyle.

Man, so much happened last week. I saw the great Dan Savage (who identifies as Catholic) speak about gayness, bullying, and his It Gets Better Project, which he started in order to help reduce child suicide. Did you know President Obama contributed a video!? Amazing. I also went to a polyamory panel discussion hosted by the KU ECM (Ecumenical Christian Ministries). Polyamory, or “Polyintimacy,” as the leader of the discussion pointed out, is natural and, in the context of Christianity, is exactly what Jesus wanted us all to accomplish. The panel was made up of professors and students who all had experience with polyamory. Monogamy may not be the best for everyone, all the time, it seems. Most interesting was the discussion about jealousy in light of Dr. Denis Dailey’s notion that jealousy isn’t an emotion but a marker of possessiveness, dependency, and low self-esteem.

The topic of the conversation turned to “shame” and when it was time for questions and comments from the audience, I contributed Ram Dass’s idea that polyamory happens as a natural result of our spiritual practice. As the veil of our minds get thinner, and our separateness becomes more and more illusory, we fall in love more often. Feeling shame for falling in love all the time when you already "have one in the nest” is natural, too, but what we all may need to do is give up what Ram Dass calls our “deprivation model” of loving relationships...

I found out that I didn't get the summer research fellowship I applied for, but I will visit Japan with Leigh and her brother Andy this summer anyway.

I also M.C.ed the talent show with Leigh and Cat at our house “Witch Mountain.” I played the Japanese flute as my talent, as well as the drums for a stick juggler and sang the bass harmony for 6 verses of home on the range with Leigh and Cat.

I had my First Year Review, where a panel of 6 professors examined all of my work, critiqued it, and then decided if the body of work passes me into the next phase of my master’s degree. It did. I passed. Yippee!

At the talent show the Tibetans examined my painting Peekabddha and decided it was depicting Dewachen and asked “how did David know to paint this?" That made me happy. They also all sang “the song of compassion” for us as their talent, and then after the show taught us all traditional tibetan dance.

Nick Ray read to us an excerpts about nipple yoga from David Deida’s book “Instant Enlightenment," convincing me to order it off Amazon. I love David Deida. Nick Ray, as a spiritual teacher and yoga instructor here in Lawrence, joyously transmits pure awareness all the time, but saturday night's was particularly poignant.

Jacob and I went down to Raytown to pick up his stolen truck. The thief put in a new clutch and filled the truck with car supplies and tools, including two very nice pool cues! Jacob was very happy, and told me how fun it was to have, for once, a positive conversation with a cop.

The week ended with the greatest Hearts Of Space I have heard, including a piece by Eric Whitacre (TED) and all of us cuddling on the floor.

new paintings

Adoration of the mystic lamb

And here is a new tree painting for Leigh and her mother. I hid over a dozen fairies in there.
Here is a close-up.

San Francisco with Takashi

Muir Woods. It was A LOT like Mt. Koya, only no thousand-year-old stone path, graveyard, and the forest floor wasn't covered in shines, temples, totems, and buddhas. But besides that "lack", the park was wonderful, and Alicia came with us! The five of us picnicked and then hiked the "Lost Trail," found the river, stacked some stones and drank some wine.

Takashi and I went went to SFMOMA and saw great, great art.
Here we are in the Brancusi.
Thoth and Tribal Baroque. We experienced them, alongside Song Preservation Society and some other amazing groups and solo artists at the Starry Plow open mic night.


Jazz show at Cafe International in the city.
Takashi sleeping on the couch next to a painting I made with Gabriele, one of our hosts.
Here is the amazing house we stayed at in North Berkeley. Raphaele and his two roommates were great hosts. I miss them already.

Toilet

The Tibetans came over for meditation and potluck last week, and right when they were arriving my phone somehow fell out of my pocket and into the toilet. So strange.

So I have been phone-free for the last few days (Thank GOD my calender was synced with my computer!)

The Tibetans!

KU is hosting five beautiful Tibetans this semester (three monks, one tantric master, and one layman). This is an exciting time! It took them three years to get their visas from China, and now that they are here, they have to be very careful not to mention the Dalai Lama or speak in their native language around any Chinese--I guess there are Chinese students here at KU who will tell on them and get them into serious trouble when they return.

Thanks to Leigh, who is taking Tibetan, we got to hang out with them all day Sunday! They came over to our house and had tea and muffins. We laughed and sang and chanted. They are so funny, and playful, just like children. Then we walked around downtown and took them to the park where they excitedly ran over to the swings. It was their first time swinging! They didn't know how, so we pushed them. After that we visited their dorms and then all ate dinner together at the cafeteria.

Since Buddhism is non-theistic, the "God" Buddhists "worship" is a compassionate mind. And they actually have practices to generate more of this mind inside themselves. They do mantras and practice love all day, and no doubt this is why we all fell madly in love with them: we could pick up on their profound mental state.

But they were also just regular guys, so human, so humble. "People are just people."

My 28th birthday party

I danced around all night I was so happy.
Robin read.

my mom gave me this blazing new gray sweater. cool, huh? I love it.
Here is our mantle. I love the symmetry between the Kansas Flag and the Blooming Universe tanka. (Bodhidharma is the red guy in-between).

Great conversations were had.
Beautiful friends popped in.
Leigh made a vegan coconut birthday cupcake tower. omg they were good.
Glorious Cat made my favorite snacks: Charlie Meers's raison bread/smoked tofu/spinach/tofuri cream-cheese sandwiches, and Emily Kat's avocado/balsalmic/salt and pepper love snack. Best best best.
Ishita and Leigh lighting up the world.
Thanks to all I felt celebrated and celebrated. The potluck let us feast on fresh foods and Ishita's Indian curry! My favorite. God I'm grateful to be alive today!