Everyman's WEEKLY Journal

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EWJ #48 The Sweetness....

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This is a plug for a street musician from Portland that I thoroughly enjoyed last summer. Hope you check him out and enjoy too... :-)

Everyman's WEEKLY Journal #48

November 3, 2013

The Sweetness...

For a while I'd been having a sense that something was up in my 22 yr. old son's life. Usually I wait for him to call me (or I call his mother to make sure that he's ok etc) but this week one morning I set down my tools and phoned him. Because it was early (for him) that he answered surprised as well as delighted me. We talked a good while, revealing why I'd had an active intuition. He'd been fired from his job as an assistant manager at a popular college restaurant because, well, he'd screwed up (he'd forgotten to leave the safe key where it was supposed to be for the morning shift [bad enough]--- but on top of that he'd let his pay-as-you-go cell phone service expire, so there was no way for anyone to get in touch with him. So the restaurant couldn't open. Big ooooppps…

Ambrose has never been fired before… he's always had really great references--- so this is something to deal with, yes? Yet is this all a mistake? I suspect not from a deeper view…..

Our conversation moved on to other topics… in particular his struggle to create a breakthrough in his personal integrity. He lives in a college town with several longtime friends from his high school days and there are number of habits in his life (and their lives) that he would like to break away from but the social environment is full of the opposite…. ie, nobody else sees the habits as a problem. They keep calling him to come back to 'the party'.

I empathized with his situation, as I had seen it first hand when visiting him last summer. It's like he's caught between two worlds… who he has been as a pretty wild youth… and the growing vision he has of the adult he would like to become. It's sort of like breaking out of a rut, or escaping the gravity pull of orbit… he's been 'intending', and 'building up the strength'. And I as the Dad that listens but doesn't preach at him (and I thank MY Dad for that one…) have held the space of faith in him. Our conversation ended on that note.

Then, a short time later, he called me back. "Dad, I was just talking to Mom and she made a suggestion that at first I didn't think was possible, but then I realized it might be, and it might be a really good thing for me… What do you think of me coming to live with you for a few months ….to get myself together… away for all my friends etc…?" In my heart, it was like God had just made me the King of Christmas. OMG… is there a greater call for a father than to give everything he has to help his son become everything he can be? I doubt it. So of course I said Yes, that that was certainly a possibility (and there are some logistics to work out so it's not to be immediately).

Yet clearly the Landmark teaching that 'what creates your present is the future you are living into' has been very evident in me since that conversation… my heart has leaped up to a new possible reality… one full of the dreams of the adventure of sharing (at least for a while) a new kind of life with my very beloved and very talented son. I'll keep you posted. :-)

____________________________________________________________

I arrived back in Albuquerque last evening after two weeks on the roads of northern and southeastern New Mexico, where I was moving from town to town doing my service work as per my contract in variously located LDS meetinghouses. I'll be based in Albuquerque (with the family of a friend) for about two more weeks finishing the urban part of the contract before returning to the desert and it's treasures.

I love Albuquerque…it has long been one of my favorite US cities… even before the Breaking Bad TV show visuals put it on the map (I've never watched that show…just some clips)…. because I believe it is the most colorful and authentically third world metropolitan area inside the United States. Sure, it has it's track home areas too, but basically the older part of the city is laid out on donkey trails dating from the 1500's, and the since of history is inescapable. Why mention this? Because there is a great gift hidden in plain view visible here… the gift of LIFE being lived close to the earth, as in 'urban indigenous'. The HIspanic culture here (with its acequia's still watering ancient fields amidst the cities streets) is so much more based in the heart and of the land than the mental and money-based English culture that owns most of the rest of this nation. And as the indigenous cultures which predated it here did, it has worked WITH the land rather than exploited and dominated it.

This example is very much worth mentioning, as when examined for models of sustainability there are many to see, and when married to alternative technologies that are also non-exploitive, an inspiring vision a new future emerges for me to see. This is also so very important, for without the inspiration of living into a new vision full of a future of love for each other and the earth, our human mental machinery becomes prey to narcissistic apathies and depressions. This takes courage to face and reverse, yes? I carry in my car a number of small books which often provide me with guidance. Recently I opened my very appreciated copy of Pema Chodran's little book AWAKENING LOVING-KINDNESS. I found myself reading a passage (which I haven't found again) about this theme… that the growth of our courage is an incremental thing. Yet (she writes) even a little effort placed into being willing to be courageous when facing the challenges of our lives bears fruit in time, and the more we face ourselves and our fears, the more fearless we become. Not instantly, but as I have been reviewing my own lifetime and it's multitudes of admitted failures, there is also a growth pattern clearly visible coming directly from those same experiences. For me what I have seen is that the speed of my growing has been directly related to my willingness to be honest within myself. And where does THIS willingness arise from? My experience is that it arises from the quietness of my mind. Therefore I continue to practice and cultivate this quietude, especially the ability to notice that it is always available, even during times of the greatest emotional stresses or storms of the mind. It is like the sea, where even when the surface is in storm, in the depths there is still peace.

In our times we are challenged with many surface storms… insane wars, horrifying ecological disasters, perverse human oppressions, intensely combative politics…. and it is the path of the peacemaker to both work to correct these situations AND at the same time, stay connected to our joy and our peace. To me there is no other way through but via the one Truth… of our Unified Love. The use of any other two-edged sword (the dualities of love/hate, right/wrong etc)… they only perpetuate the suffering by making us into what we resist. Therefore, let us remain in quietude as we act from love and thereby 'pray' a new future for humanity into existence.

Namaste, Sat Nam,

David

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If you get value from reading this Journal, I do appreciate your assistance in expanding it's distribution. Thank you so much.

________________________________________________________

Addition links to other writings etc:

Rev. David Seacord

Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000212043080&ref=tn_tnmn

EWJ #47 As God Wills...

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Everyman's WEEKLY Journal #47

October 27, 2013

As God Wills….

In pre-industrial India the traditional lifestyle of a wandering holy person was to limit the time spent at any one location to a maximum of three days, and then to move on. The understanding that created this ethic was that if one stayed longer than that, the roots of attachment, possessiveness, and desire would arise, and the spiritual vision of the renunciant would be diminished. In my own experience as a modern-day sometime wandering sadhu here in the United States I have found this wisdom is useful, both in regards to places and people, especially when the reason for being somewhere is 'karmically casual', meaning that your/my presence is not a more or less required condition (in the context of your activities).

The reason I am mentioning this principle is that this is the third morning I have awoken in an absent friends apartment in the Chimayo valley of northern New Mexico, and I am in a state of appreciation for the gift of having been able to be here (as I begin preparations to depart to other towns where my contract takes me). My absent friend Don is also a holy man of a Zen sort, and according to a psychic's comment many years ago, we have a long past-lifetimes monastic history together. In this lifetime he lives very simply… just a table with a lamp, a chair, a bed… and a limited collection of wonderful books. Among them are Tolstoy, Blake, Hawkings, Gurdjieff, Dickens, and my favorite-- Daniel Ladinsky's translations of the poems of the great 14th century Sufi master Hafiz. Do you know Hafiz? He is not as well-known as Rumi, but (like Kabir) he is absolutely wonderful and I must introduce you. Here is one poem whose last line instantly became a mantra within me…

FORGIVE THE DREAM

All your images of winter

I see against your sky.

I understand the wounds

That have not healed in you.

They exist

Because God and love

Have yet to become real enough

To allow you to forgive

The dream.

You still listen to an old alley song

That brings your body pain;

Now chain your ears

To His pacing drum and flute.

Fix your eyes upon

The magnificent arch of His brow

That supports

And allows this universe to expand.

Your hands, feet, and heart are wise

And want to know the warmth

Of a Perfect One's circle.

A true saint

Is an earth in eternal spring.

**********

(compliments of Don's bookshelf) :-)

_______________________________________________

In route between two places out in the gorgeous middle of nowhere last week, I pickup up an interesting rider.

Zever Blackbull is Osage (Native American), in his mid-fifties, is college educated and was a history teacher in our public schools, and has been homeless by choice for the last 15 years. He is a happy talented man with no victim story. He works as needed at manual jobs to cover his simple needs. He loves life and 'the Great Mystery' he calls Wakantonka. Because our routes were tangent we camped together on the edge of the Rio Grande Gorge that night and separated the next morning 'as brothers' in Taos. He had by then taught me several new indigenous words of joy and thanksgiving which we began to sing as chants. He invited me to consider coming to some powwows in the future to sing. It was a very good (and obviously non-accidental) meetup, blessing us both.

The next night my camp was at the Las Vegas (NM) Montezuma Hot Springs… a community-cared-for mecca of wonderful healing waters that is among my very favorite to visit. While there soaking I met 24 year old Richard who (as a young hood convicted of a minor felony at 18) was given the choice to do 5 years in prison OR enlist in the military. He chose the military and was shot 15 times in Afghanistan. That he somehow survived is almost beyond belief. Our group conversation with him was a compassionate exploration of his current life circumstances based on the observation that since he was still here, there certainly is a reason… a mission…and it is his to find it. Soaking and contributing wisdom from the other side of the pool to this satsang was Armando, a 'young senior' who has for the most part set down his sculpturing career to become an organic farmer and majordomo of his valleys acequia (irrigation ditch). We connected around our discussions of soil building, seed saving, the need to maintain biodiversity, and how to empower the local small agrarian movement. I am warmly invited to visit his Infinity Farms location in the future. I believe I shall, in God's Timing. The point is that everywhere I am, when I am THERE, God and Love and Wisdom are also present.

Today (it being Sunday and therefore my day off) I am guest at my longtime soul-brother Paul D's off-grid solar-powered home, where I am invited to create in his audio recording studio complete with his digitally retrofitted Chickering acoustic 9 foot grand piano. I am hopeful that whatever we accomplish will someday be sharable, as I do dream of offering you something enjoyable to listen to, meaning 'mistake free'. And on Paul's piano, the beauty of midi technology that he has retrofitted under the keyboard allows for the correction of the occasional error. I thank you God for this dream come true.

Speaking of listening, I have also been grateful this weekend to be listening to a series of highly informative interviews of anti-GMO experts which is streaming online currently as a result of the GMO Mini-Summit being hosted by authors John Robbins and Jeffery Smith. The link is http://gmosummit.org/broadcasts/and the interviews are available for replay for 24 hours for free. Please do use this opportunity to become more expertly informed, as the more knowledgeable we are, the more credible we are.

A concurrent activity going on within me during all this work traveling is that I am also at work continuing my legal preparations for challenging the validity of the Monterey County 'no camping' ordinance for which I was cited last August while visiting the Big Sur coast. This is a process…. of reading, thinking, and also a lot of speaking to other people about the law. I am noticing that the more I am putting together my thinking into sentences, the more practiced at expressing them coherently I am becoming. This is good, as it is confidence building. And as aways, I am getting the sense that it is this process, this 'mining the facts and feelings for the truth' and then bringing them into the realms of language that is God's gift to me, for whatever the legal outcome in court, I am being deepened and increased by being willing to act upon my conviction that the act of sleeping in my car is an act of Right, and that in so doing I am innocent of any offense against anyone. One gift of meeting Zever Blackbull was that I am empowered to continue, as he immediately recognized and confirmed the benefit it would be to all 'people of the earth' if this law is overturned. So… to be continued. :-)

It will require at least three more weeks in New Mexico for me to complete my contract here… I'll spend next week in southeastern New Mexico, visiting Carlsbad and Roswell and several other towns before returning to Albuquerque to finish the final stretch in that city. Following that, I will return to Yuma for a period before journeying to Monterey to appear in court, hopefully doing that while on the way to the Portland birth of my 'godson' in early December. As always, as God wills…

May you each be 'an earth in eternal spring'.

Namaste & Sat Nam,

David

______________________________________________________________

FYI: If you would like to share this Journal as a webpage, at the very top of the email where it says:

"Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser." etc.

…. well, the word 'browser' is a clickable hyperlink that will open this email as a webpage…

which you can then copy and paste anywhere (like to share it on Facebook, or elsewhere).

ALSO: If you would like to share the link to the SUBSCRIBE page, here is the clickable or paste-able code:

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ALSO: fyi, these Journals are being archived at: www.everymansweekly.blogspot.com

If you get value from reading this Journal, I do appreciate your assistance in expanding it's distribution. Thank you so much.

________________________________________________________

Addition links to other writings etc:

Rev. David Seacord

Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000212043080&ref=tn_tnmn

EWJ #46 Kabir....

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Everyman's WEEKLY Journal #46

October 20, 2013

Kabir…

As my 65th birthday was this past Thursday, all week I have been contemplating the significance of the passage. Today I am a guest in the Albuquerque home of the family of a longtime friend and as a gift, he read to me from the works of Kabir, the mystical 15th century Indian saint/poet. Here is one (I especially appreciated) passed on to you:

THE MALADY OF EGO

Only he will cross the ocean, O friend,

Who banishes ego from his mind.

Some say they are learned, O brother,

Some say they have renounced everything,

Some say they have subdued their senses;

But the malady of ego afflicts them all.

Only he will cross the ocean, O friend,

Who banishes ego from his mind.

Some say they are jogis, O brother,

Some say they enjoy inner bliss;

But 'me' and 'mine', 'thou' and 'thine'

They have not expelled from their mind.

What chance have they to survive

when afflicted with saucy a malady?

Only he will cross the ocean, O friend,

Who banishes ego from his mind.

Some say they generously give alms,

Some say they vigorously do penances;

But they do not know the Truth,

They are not aware of Nam--

They will all be consumed by Maya.

Only he will cross the ocean, O friend,

Who banishes ego from his mind.

Some say they are adepts in many methods,

Some say they are living a life of purity.

But they are all ignorant of their soul.

Of their own true self;

All their claims are empty.

Only he will cross the ocean, O friend,

Who banishes ego from his mind.

Some say the have practiced all forms of piety,

Some say they have done all the ritual fasts;

But the knot of their ego is not untied,

They heavenly heaped

More debts on their head.

Only he will cross the ocean, O friend,

Who banishes ego from the mind.

Drive out your pride,

Exterminate your ego,

Be not vain about your efforts.

Says Kabir: He who becomes

A slave to the Lord

Reaches his true home.

________________________________________

At 65 I am in receipt of many gifts and blessings… good health, the love of friends, many well developed skill-sets and talents, and the benefits of sadhana. Although I am aware there is still unlimited room to grow in terms of deeper wisdoms, I am also aware I am now more able than ever to be used by the Godness for the purposes of Wholeness and Unity. It is to me now that if 'life begins at 40', then 'at 65' is when the afterburners of the soul begin to really blaze. This is the best I can language my expanding sense of purpose and surrender-- to becoming 'a slave to the Lord' (aka Love). Freedom is not only 'nothing left to lose', it is also no fear of such nakedness.

_________________________________________

I will be in New Mexico now for about a month, fulfilling my annual ('since 1980') dharma/karma for the LDS churches here, servicing their many pianos statewide. It is wonderful to revisit this amazing and enchanted land that gave me a home for over a quarter century, and to reconnect with many old friends. To answer anyone's unspoken question, other than this contract (which spirit guides me to keep active as a kind of 'social security account') I am functionally retired from that profession and focus the remainder of the year upon my arts and writings.

Also FYI, my mother arrived back in Yuma last Monday and immediately enter assisted living. From all observation, she took to it like a duck to water, and she loves her apartment and the way my sister and I prepared it for her. So all is well on that front.

And all is well in my world, as I am aware of the Presence of Love surrounding both me and You.

May you each shine evermore fearlessly, for whatever the form of your dharma, it is all about Being Love exactly where you are placed right now.

Namaste,

David

______________________________________________________________

FYI: If you would like to share this Journal as a webpage, at the very top of the email where it says:

"Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser." etc.

…. well, the word 'browser' is a clickable hyperlink that will open this email as a webpage…

which you can then copy and paste anywhere (like to share it on Facebook, or elsewhere).

ALSO: If you would like to share the link to the SUBSCRIBE page, here is the clickable or paste-able code:

http://davidseacord.us1.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=306aba00e6959c604de750bcc&id=62a1ee7045

ALSO: fyi, these Journals are being archived at: www.everymansweekly.blogspot.com

If you get value from reading this Journal, I do appreciate your assistance in expanding it's distribution. Thank you so much.

________________________________________________________

Addition links to other writings etc:

Rev. David Seacord

Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag