3 years ago
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Caucusing for Jack
Today was our Senate District DFL convention and it was, as expected, a longish ordeal, but we did our best to represent Jack to the delegates. I was very tired, and so was the SO as she stayed up even later then I, and we connected with a few people. In the end, Jack got 6 delegates, there were 4 uncommitted and Al got 11. Jack gave a rousing speech that almost moved me to tears, and Al gave his stump speech that was uninspired at best. So the SO is the delegate to the State convention, and nobody voted for me. I'm not that hideous!
Friday, March 28, 2008
micro maple
Yo, I'm tapping a Box Elder tree (Acer negundo, a species of maple) in my front yard. All maples are tappable for sap, it's just the sugar maple that has the most sugar in its sap.
This is a part of my ongoing micro-urban permaculture experiment. It certainly is exciting.
Well, the days are above freezing and the nights are almost freezing, so I figure it is the perfect time to tap. I didn't have the right bit (7/16) but I had a 3/8 bit so I wiggled it around a bit in the hole to get the extra 16th of an inch. I drilled 2" into the tree, and it is about 10" in diameter. Then I squirted the hole out with tap water and bashed the tap in. I fashioned a pail out of an old gallon jug hung it on the tap. The sap was running wildly already, and I got pretty excited about doing this on a larger scale.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Seedling container tags
Here is my idea on cheap and longlasting seedling container tags.
Since I have a hundred plastic containers about I could probably make a trillion of these little signs. Go figure.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Al Franken uses fame to cash in on Senate spot
This just in: Instead of debating Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer in Minnesota, Al Franken flies to New York to go on the Letterman show to get free publicity and a national showing of his ad. How about this Letterman, give Jack a spot on your show to be fair. How about this Al, debate Jack now to be fair, instead of cashing in on your entertainment contacts to gain a lead on a more qualified candidate. This is a sickening turn of events and needs to be discussed and debated.
Friday, March 14, 2008
life
what is life?
life is the evermoving present moment constantly shifting, spreading, rooting, thrusting upward.
toward the light, the explosion, the nuclear reaction-light penetrates atoms
light is not life, life is not death-death is not life, death is not dark
I realized this the other day, thinking about my friends and family who have experienced life and death
these are not issues to put aside, to think about later, because in all honesty, there is no later
life is the movement, death is the stillness,but as a gardener, I know that it is all relative
as a buddhist I know it is all relative to your bardo, where you are in your transition
I can think I am closer to the beginning of my life then the end, but it is not necessarily so
and then the pure sacredness of the present moment becomes clear...no, I don't really want illumination
I want life to continue forever
but what I think I want doesn't matter
I am nothing but life expressing itself
when I die I will not express life, I will express death, and to the living death isn't desirable
and love is what makes the world go round
life is the evermoving present moment constantly shifting, spreading, rooting, thrusting upward.
toward the light, the explosion, the nuclear reaction-light penetrates atoms
light is not life, life is not death-death is not life, death is not dark
I realized this the other day, thinking about my friends and family who have experienced life and death
these are not issues to put aside, to think about later, because in all honesty, there is no later
life is the movement, death is the stillness,but as a gardener, I know that it is all relative
as a buddhist I know it is all relative to your bardo, where you are in your transition
I can think I am closer to the beginning of my life then the end, but it is not necessarily so
and then the pure sacredness of the present moment becomes clear...no, I don't really want illumination
I want life to continue forever
but what I think I want doesn't matter
I am nothing but life expressing itself
when I die I will not express life, I will express death, and to the living death isn't desirable
and love is what makes the world go round
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Jack speaks
GLBT Issues
I support equal rights for GLBT people.
I advocate repeal of sodomy laws and I support efforts to pass federal, state and local legislation to prevent hate crimes and employment discrimination. I will work tirelessly so that GLBT people are not denied custodial, adoptive or foster parenting options, workplace or housing opportunities, domestic partner benefits and equal marriage rights due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
I oppose any efforts to use legal or constitutional means to discriminate against GLBT persons.
As a religious person, I am deeply troubled by the use of religion to justify discrimination, hatred or exclusion of GLBT people, including denial of dignity and civil rights. I have marched proudly with PFLAG families and will use my personal and public voice to encourage a culture of respect and a politics of equality and fairness
I support equal rights for GLBT people.
I advocate repeal of sodomy laws and I support efforts to pass federal, state and local legislation to prevent hate crimes and employment discrimination. I will work tirelessly so that GLBT people are not denied custodial, adoptive or foster parenting options, workplace or housing opportunities, domestic partner benefits and equal marriage rights due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
I oppose any efforts to use legal or constitutional means to discriminate against GLBT persons.
As a religious person, I am deeply troubled by the use of religion to justify discrimination, hatred or exclusion of GLBT people, including denial of dignity and civil rights. I have marched proudly with PFLAG families and will use my personal and public voice to encourage a culture of respect and a politics of equality and fairness
Sunday, March 02, 2008
my forbidden fruits
I don't think that this is right:
My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)
by Jack Hedin
IF you’ve stood in line at a farmers’ market recently, you know that the local food movement is thriving, to the point that small farmers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand.
But consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect.
As a small organic vegetable producer in southern Minnesota, I know this because my efforts to expand production to meet regional demand have been severely hampered by the Agriculture Department’s commodity farm program. As I’ve looked into the politics behind those restrictions, I’ve come to understand that this is precisely the outcome that the program’s backers in California and Florida have in mind: they want to snuff out the local competition before it even gets started.
Last year, knowing that my own 100 acres wouldn’t be enough to meet demand, I rented 25 acres on two nearby corn farms. I plowed under the alfalfa hay that was established there, and planted watermelons, tomatoes and vegetables for natural-food stores and a community-supported agriculture program.
All went well until early July. That’s when the two landowners discovered that there was a problem with the local office of the Farm Service Administration, the Agriculture Department branch that runs the commodity farm program, and it was going to be expensive to fix.
The commodity farm program effectively forbids farmers who usually grow corn or the other four federally subsidized commodity crops (soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton) from trying fruit and vegetables. Because my watermelons and tomatoes had been planted on “corn base” acres, the Farm Service said, my landlords were out of compliance with the commodity program.
I’ve discovered that typically, a farmer who grows the forbidden fruits and vegetables on corn acreage not only has to give up his subsidy for the year on that acreage, he is also penalized the market value of the illicit crop, and runs the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for any subsidies in the future. (The penalties apply only to fruits and vegetables — if the farmer decides to grow another commodity crop, or even nothing at all, there’s no problem.)
In my case, that meant I paid my landlords $8,771 — for one season alone! And this was in a year when the high price of grain meant that only one of the government’s three crop-support programs was in effect; the total bill might be much worse in the future.
In addition, the bureaucratic entanglements that these two farmers faced at the Farm Service office were substantial. The federal farm program is making it next to impossible for farmers to rent land to me to grow fresh organic vegetables.
Why? Because national fruit and vegetable growers based in California, Florida and Texas fear competition from regional producers like myself. Through their control of Congressional delegations from those states, they have been able to virtually monopolize the country’s fresh produce markets.
That’s unfortunate, because small producers will have to expand on a significant scale across the nation if local foods are to continue to enter the mainstream as the public demands. My problems are just the tip of the iceberg.
more here
This is interesting to me because I was just listening to Michael Pollan talking about sustainable ag on MPR the other day and somebody called in with the usual question, namely, where are we going to get all these organic fruits and vegetables? Pollan talked about his hope that more young people would get into farming, and how farming is considered a rather noble profession these days at least for a certain demographic. SO this article is troubling because there are many young farmers out there who may be interested in switching from a commodity crop (perhaps turning their folk's corn and soybean farm into a potato and leek farm) to a more diversified and vegetable oriented rotation on their land. But with legislation like this, what is the incentive for them to do so, at least financially? Basically they would be abandoning the mainstream commodity market which provides them with a certain kind of safety net and incentives, and striking off on their own to try make a go at farming vegetables, a far more complicated process then farming corn.
My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)
by Jack Hedin
IF you’ve stood in line at a farmers’ market recently, you know that the local food movement is thriving, to the point that small farmers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand.
But consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect.
As a small organic vegetable producer in southern Minnesota, I know this because my efforts to expand production to meet regional demand have been severely hampered by the Agriculture Department’s commodity farm program. As I’ve looked into the politics behind those restrictions, I’ve come to understand that this is precisely the outcome that the program’s backers in California and Florida have in mind: they want to snuff out the local competition before it even gets started.
Last year, knowing that my own 100 acres wouldn’t be enough to meet demand, I rented 25 acres on two nearby corn farms. I plowed under the alfalfa hay that was established there, and planted watermelons, tomatoes and vegetables for natural-food stores and a community-supported agriculture program.
All went well until early July. That’s when the two landowners discovered that there was a problem with the local office of the Farm Service Administration, the Agriculture Department branch that runs the commodity farm program, and it was going to be expensive to fix.
The commodity farm program effectively forbids farmers who usually grow corn or the other four federally subsidized commodity crops (soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton) from trying fruit and vegetables. Because my watermelons and tomatoes had been planted on “corn base” acres, the Farm Service said, my landlords were out of compliance with the commodity program.
I’ve discovered that typically, a farmer who grows the forbidden fruits and vegetables on corn acreage not only has to give up his subsidy for the year on that acreage, he is also penalized the market value of the illicit crop, and runs the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for any subsidies in the future. (The penalties apply only to fruits and vegetables — if the farmer decides to grow another commodity crop, or even nothing at all, there’s no problem.)
In my case, that meant I paid my landlords $8,771 — for one season alone! And this was in a year when the high price of grain meant that only one of the government’s three crop-support programs was in effect; the total bill might be much worse in the future.
In addition, the bureaucratic entanglements that these two farmers faced at the Farm Service office were substantial. The federal farm program is making it next to impossible for farmers to rent land to me to grow fresh organic vegetables.
Why? Because national fruit and vegetable growers based in California, Florida and Texas fear competition from regional producers like myself. Through their control of Congressional delegations from those states, they have been able to virtually monopolize the country’s fresh produce markets.
That’s unfortunate, because small producers will have to expand on a significant scale across the nation if local foods are to continue to enter the mainstream as the public demands. My problems are just the tip of the iceberg.
more here
This is interesting to me because I was just listening to Michael Pollan talking about sustainable ag on MPR the other day and somebody called in with the usual question, namely, where are we going to get all these organic fruits and vegetables? Pollan talked about his hope that more young people would get into farming, and how farming is considered a rather noble profession these days at least for a certain demographic. SO this article is troubling because there are many young farmers out there who may be interested in switching from a commodity crop (perhaps turning their folk's corn and soybean farm into a potato and leek farm) to a more diversified and vegetable oriented rotation on their land. But with legislation like this, what is the incentive for them to do so, at least financially? Basically they would be abandoning the mainstream commodity market which provides them with a certain kind of safety net and incentives, and striking off on their own to try make a go at farming vegetables, a far more complicated process then farming corn.
maple trees: the next corn
Yesterday the SO and I drove up to Mora to attend a maple syruping workshop. We were tired from the previous week of activities, and so when we got to Mora our brains stopped working and we got lost. I couldn't seem to remember which school the workshop was at, and no townspeople knew anything about their own town, it seemed. Finally though, we got directions to the middle school and zipped off to try to find it. At this point it was 10:30 and I though the workshop had started out at 10 so I was a bit consternated, because we had driven so far only to miss a fair chunk of the program.
When we got there the parking lot was pretty full and it turned out that a Rural Living Expo thing was going on, and it actually was pretty cool, with workshops on Native Plants and organic gardening and stuff like that. I thought the entry fee was going to be $15 for each of us but it was $8 for our household in total. Plus the maple syruping workshop started at 11 so we were perfectly on time. We perused and gathered various pamphlets and info and then went to the workshop.
The speaker was funny and very into maple trees. He was an older guy and we both really liked his whole presentation. At the end he made some maple candy which was delicious. We're planning on tapping 20 odd trees or so up at the folks land as well as any trees we can find in Minneapolis that are accessible. It doesn't make any sense not to, as it is an easy process that only requires a minimum of effort on our part, and the maple tree pumps out sap for free. We are going to try to make maple and birch beer as well. I might put the order for supplies in today, as the syruping season may start in a couple of weeks.
Then we traveled up to Sandstone and picked up some terrible food at the supermarket and scarfed that down. We went to Geoff's place and talked a bit with him and the kids about the workshop, and then we went over to the sledding hill and enjoyed speeding down the hill and screwing up our backbones.
After that we were lucky enough to enjoy a sauna with the folks at their friends (now our friends as well) Tom & Steph's place. That was very nice and hot. Afterwards they fed us some good food and we hung out in their funky and relaxing home drinking beers. Before we left we purchased some delicious eggs from them.
What a pleasant day, even though I was totally exhausted by the week.
addendum: Okay, maybe I wasn't totally exhausted, but I was tired enough, not only from the week, but from the whole goddamn winter.
When we got there the parking lot was pretty full and it turned out that a Rural Living Expo thing was going on, and it actually was pretty cool, with workshops on Native Plants and organic gardening and stuff like that. I thought the entry fee was going to be $15 for each of us but it was $8 for our household in total. Plus the maple syruping workshop started at 11 so we were perfectly on time. We perused and gathered various pamphlets and info and then went to the workshop.
The speaker was funny and very into maple trees. He was an older guy and we both really liked his whole presentation. At the end he made some maple candy which was delicious. We're planning on tapping 20 odd trees or so up at the folks land as well as any trees we can find in Minneapolis that are accessible. It doesn't make any sense not to, as it is an easy process that only requires a minimum of effort on our part, and the maple tree pumps out sap for free. We are going to try to make maple and birch beer as well. I might put the order for supplies in today, as the syruping season may start in a couple of weeks.
Then we traveled up to Sandstone and picked up some terrible food at the supermarket and scarfed that down. We went to Geoff's place and talked a bit with him and the kids about the workshop, and then we went over to the sledding hill and enjoyed speeding down the hill and screwing up our backbones.
After that we were lucky enough to enjoy a sauna with the folks at their friends (now our friends as well) Tom & Steph's place. That was very nice and hot. Afterwards they fed us some good food and we hung out in their funky and relaxing home drinking beers. Before we left we purchased some delicious eggs from them.
What a pleasant day, even though I was totally exhausted by the week.
addendum: Okay, maybe I wasn't totally exhausted, but I was tired enough, not only from the week, but from the whole goddamn winter.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
native flora and fauna
Last Saturday I went to a conference on native flora and fauna called Through the Eyes of Nature:The Birds' View of Landscaping
It was pretty interesting. I could sum it up in a few sentences. Basically it's all about providing the basics of food and shelter in as many ways as possible to attract the most species of fauna as possible.
1. Native plants don't need as much maintenance as exotics. They are genetically programmed to thrive on tough conditions.
2. Native fauna enjoy living and eating in pockets of native plantings.
3. Birds in particular like a variety of native plants, from the tall oaks, to the medium birch, to the low juneberry, to the small bearberry. Most birds like trees under 15 feet tall or so.
4. You can attract twice as much species of bird if you add a water feature to your landscaping, twice more then that if your water feature flows or drips in some ways.
5. Dead trees and brush (snags) provide sanctuary and food to birds.
A lot of this repeats many of the lessons I've learned form Forest Gardening and Permaculture principles.
Landscape architecture is extremely important for overyielding polycultures. Perennial polyculture patches of native species of various heights and structure fill various niches that are necessary to provide food and shelter for the most amount of fauna species as possible.
It was pretty interesting. I could sum it up in a few sentences. Basically it's all about providing the basics of food and shelter in as many ways as possible to attract the most species of fauna as possible.
1. Native plants don't need as much maintenance as exotics. They are genetically programmed to thrive on tough conditions.
2. Native fauna enjoy living and eating in pockets of native plantings.
3. Birds in particular like a variety of native plants, from the tall oaks, to the medium birch, to the low juneberry, to the small bearberry. Most birds like trees under 15 feet tall or so.
4. You can attract twice as much species of bird if you add a water feature to your landscaping, twice more then that if your water feature flows or drips in some ways.
5. Dead trees and brush (snags) provide sanctuary and food to birds.
A lot of this repeats many of the lessons I've learned form Forest Gardening and Permaculture principles.
Landscape architecture is extremely important for overyielding polycultures. Perennial polyculture patches of native species of various heights and structure fill various niches that are necessary to provide food and shelter for the most amount of fauna species as possible.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
My grandpa
My grandpa died last year. Not exactly unexpectedly, but then again death is never really expected. I didn't know him that well, but out of all the members of my family, I am probably most like him.
I wish I would have gotten to know him better, but just when my own sense of identity began to become clear and I started a long journey to make peace with myself, he began a slow decline into ill health. My grandma began to develop Alzheimer's, and one day she mistook my grandpa for an intruder and brained him with a frying pan. He required hospitalization and many stitches and he couldn't talk for a long while. He looked absolutely terrible with a shaved head and giant stitches, filled with frustration at the inability to talk. I gave him my first and last adult hug at that hospital in St. Cloud. Meanwhile my grandmother didn't even know what was going on. I felt utterly unable to even attempt to establish a connection with her.
He got better and I did see him once more at Christmas, where he seemed to take some joy in interacting with Maya, my sister's young daughter. He talked about his new invention with me and my partner, a vertical windmill. He even sketched out a plan.
But then his health failed and he died.
Here are some of his inventions:
Opposing Piston Engine
Animal Watering Apparatus
A machine for injecting fluid chemicals into the ground attachable to the lift arms of a farm tractor
Rotatable Heat Transfer Fan
An automatic plowing apparatus having a self- propelled vehicle carrying facing plows guided by a cable extended across a field
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
seed time
It is seed time, and all through the house, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.
God, it is so exciting to peruse the seed catalogs in late winter. The brainstem is lit up like a christmas tree.
I have bought and used seed from these quality seed companies:
Seeds of Change
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Seed Savers
High Mowing Seeds
And I have heard good things about these companies:
Fedco Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
So far I wouldn't hesitate to say that Seed Savers seed is reliable, and Johnny's Selected seeds are quality as well, perhaps because they are in more northern clime then Seeds of Change. Just not a lot of luck with High Mowing for some reason.
The other ways we propagate plants is by attending the Friends School Plant Sale which is always fun and a great deal if you get there early, but the plants are sometimes lackluster.
The best plants you can by in Minnesota are here:
Outback Nursery
Glacial Ridge Growers
Landscape Alternatives
The best gardening store in the Twin Cities:
Mother Earth Gardens
I also check out Linders every now and then for the big nursery experience and to buy the odd plant:
Linders
God, it is so exciting to peruse the seed catalogs in late winter. The brainstem is lit up like a christmas tree.
I have bought and used seed from these quality seed companies:
Seeds of Change
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Seed Savers
High Mowing Seeds
And I have heard good things about these companies:
Fedco Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
So far I wouldn't hesitate to say that Seed Savers seed is reliable, and Johnny's Selected seeds are quality as well, perhaps because they are in more northern clime then Seeds of Change. Just not a lot of luck with High Mowing for some reason.
The other ways we propagate plants is by attending the Friends School Plant Sale which is always fun and a great deal if you get there early, but the plants are sometimes lackluster.
The best plants you can by in Minnesota are here:
Outback Nursery
Glacial Ridge Growers
Landscape Alternatives
The best gardening store in the Twin Cities:
Mother Earth Gardens
I also check out Linders every now and then for the big nursery experience and to buy the odd plant:
Linders
Thursday, February 14, 2008
wahoo it's spring (almost)
Woh. All of a sudden spring is leaping up at our toes with the insistence of inevitably. My mind races with ideas and plans. The cold dark death days of winter seem bearable.
Time for poring over seed catalogs. Permaculture designs for home and zones.
Memorizing natives. Latin, Spanish names.
Making a growlight stand. Start seedlings.
Tap trees for maple syrup. Maple syrup party?
MLS listings for land. Financial considerations, budget, loans, taxes...
Still have to plan and cook meals. Sustainable local diet. Food is life, takes up time.
Skiing when snow arrives...just found out skating is fun.
Local Roots fliers, ads, ideas.
Time for poring over seed catalogs. Permaculture designs for home and zones.
Memorizing natives. Latin, Spanish names.
Making a growlight stand. Start seedlings.
Tap trees for maple syrup. Maple syrup party?
MLS listings for land. Financial considerations, budget, loans, taxes...
Still have to plan and cook meals. Sustainable local diet. Food is life, takes up time.
Skiing when snow arrives...just found out skating is fun.
Local Roots fliers, ads, ideas.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
life goes on
The dark winter months are hard. I want to be alone, then with everybody I know. I get way deep down depressed, then lighthearted for no real reason. Everything is bleak and cold, then ever so slightly bearable. I really need to be as busy as possible in this kind of weather.
My health seems okay. I feel like my breathing is easier and my sense of impending doom has lifted slightly. For a moment there I thought I was at the end of my rope. Little pleasures help a lot. Relaxing the body helps, and realizing that I am not my moods is good.
I went to see a chiropractor and she was very helpful. She lifted my spirits and helped soothe my body. I'm going back to the clinic next week to get a physical, just to see if everything is alright in the old body. I haven't really utilized the myriad of health resources out there, and I feel like it's a good time to get into more of a health schedule.
So yeah. I'd like to hang out and connect and talk about stuff and play games if you're up for it.
My health seems okay. I feel like my breathing is easier and my sense of impending doom has lifted slightly. For a moment there I thought I was at the end of my rope. Little pleasures help a lot. Relaxing the body helps, and realizing that I am not my moods is good.
I went to see a chiropractor and she was very helpful. She lifted my spirits and helped soothe my body. I'm going back to the clinic next week to get a physical, just to see if everything is alright in the old body. I haven't really utilized the myriad of health resources out there, and I feel like it's a good time to get into more of a health schedule.
So yeah. I'd like to hang out and connect and talk about stuff and play games if you're up for it.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Just to update
I'm relatively alright. I'll post again when I feel a bit more tip-top.
I went to a clinic on Monday, and I'm going to a chiropractor on Wednesday to try to deal with some of my physical problems.
I went to a clinic on Monday, and I'm going to a chiropractor on Wednesday to try to deal with some of my physical problems.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
yuck
Hey everyone. I'm not feeling so hot today, physically and emotionally. It's hard for me to breathe, and I'm exhausted and nauseated. I'm also really emotionally spent and I've been crying off and on all day.
Please pray or meditate for me just a little. Maybe some good vibes my way.
Please pray or meditate for me just a little. Maybe some good vibes my way.
Friday, January 11, 2008
capturing shakti, part 3
Part 3
When you switch your heart focus away from consumption, it is immediately apparent that the dominant culture is set up and perpetuated to advocate a life that is driven by selfish consumption and as such it is opposed to a life that is motivated by love.
As it says in the Permaculture Designers Manual, meaning in life is derived from taking action toward a common ideal. Loving one another is the essential precept of multitudes of religions and philosophies. Enlightenment, salvation, being born again, reincarnation, living, dying: the path of life is one characterized by constant change. Homeostasis is not infinite, therefore it is a misnomer. If there is one essential life principal that is blatantly evident in the natural world, it is that energy is always changing from one form to another, or that existence is “not always so”, in the words of the late great Shunryu Suzuki.
I think that enlightenment or salvation could be realized by many of us if these simple principles were better understood, mainly that life is; 1. Not always so, and that to create peace; 2. Love is all we need, and to find meaning 3. You must take action toward a common ideal.
But once you start to systemize your code of ethics, or moral opinion, you start to create dogma, and your compassionate intentions toward humanity turn sour and become yet another aspect and tool of the destroyer. In this context, even as I write this I understand that my main intention is to share my experience of life and my thesis of the mass societal repression of Shakti, but some might interpret my intent negatively. To those people I would simply say, if you find my words not to your liking, then you may choose to not read them, and you may choose to debate them, and you may choose to forget them or to try to understand them. Whatever you choose, remember that your mind may have one opinion, and your heart another. Your mind wishes to defend the ego, and your heart wishes to free the spirit. Whatever you choose, remember that your small mind may be fearful of dissolving into big mind, or rigpa, the primordial luminescence of reality. Of course it is afraid, because to change from one form of energy to another is to die in some way, shape, or form. And isn’t death the most scary thing of all?
Maybe not. Maybe it is a real irony that in this Shiva the destroyer-oriented world, death is the most feared and hated change of all. In a Shakti oriented world life itself is sacred, and life itself is most revered. In the abstract, this Shivacentric world proclaims its reverence for life, but in practice, war has been declared on all forms of life, and Shakti in her many guises are under constant attack.
We have created Hell on this planet. If Hell has been experienced by one life, it exists for us all. We can be separated by language and custom, or the boundaries of nations, but at our core we are all simply an expression of life.
Shiva creates hell as Shakti tends her gardens.
At this point you may wonder if I am an extreme feminist, and if I hate men. But my intention is to look at all of the myriad patterns in which energy flows, and it is easier to illustrate energetic patterns utilizing archetypical concepts then it is using pseudoscientific psychological profiles. The patterns that myths have drawn in the sand are as old as humanity, and wisdom grows with time. I believe that it is impossible to circumnavigate time in order to reach Samadhi or enlightenment faster, as much as technology would like us to believe that this is possible.
We are taught that we should act in such-and-such a way when we are born into this world. It seems counterintuitive to question this constant education, because it purports to follow the will of God via the Holy Bible. But my thesis is that this is an arbitrary education in regards to who you are as an individual life. You are a life that can teach and be taught as soon as you exist, and you can think, feel, and understand on your own. Propaganda leads you away from your true self. What is taught as something you should emulate has nothing to do with your life essence. There are a certain number of stereotypes you should fit into, and if you don’t, you’re one of those persons who doesn’t fit in to any one stereotype, the last ditch catchall stereotype. This Shivacentric society does not allow societal behaviors at random, only the stereotypical behaviors are allowed, and encouraged to perpetuate in order to cast those-who-do-not-fit-in out as far as they will go, or as far as they will stay.
Thesis: A human being would not fit into any stereotypes if allowed to freely express themselves at birth and throughout life. Gender would be flexible, love would be expressed in many ways.
We are trapped in this dark box of society designed and manufactured by the destroyers. We are trapped in a dark box of ourselves, immediately put on the production line of stereotypes. We can look in someone else’s eyes and see ourselves, but then we may be called crazy. We can look at the highways choked with cars and exhaust and call it crazy, but then be reassured that it is completely sane by the destroyers.
When you switch your heart focus away from consumption, it is immediately apparent that the dominant culture is set up and perpetuated to advocate a life that is driven by selfish consumption and as such it is opposed to a life that is motivated by love.
As it says in the Permaculture Designers Manual, meaning in life is derived from taking action toward a common ideal. Loving one another is the essential precept of multitudes of religions and philosophies. Enlightenment, salvation, being born again, reincarnation, living, dying: the path of life is one characterized by constant change. Homeostasis is not infinite, therefore it is a misnomer. If there is one essential life principal that is blatantly evident in the natural world, it is that energy is always changing from one form to another, or that existence is “not always so”, in the words of the late great Shunryu Suzuki.
I think that enlightenment or salvation could be realized by many of us if these simple principles were better understood, mainly that life is; 1. Not always so, and that to create peace; 2. Love is all we need, and to find meaning 3. You must take action toward a common ideal.
But once you start to systemize your code of ethics, or moral opinion, you start to create dogma, and your compassionate intentions toward humanity turn sour and become yet another aspect and tool of the destroyer. In this context, even as I write this I understand that my main intention is to share my experience of life and my thesis of the mass societal repression of Shakti, but some might interpret my intent negatively. To those people I would simply say, if you find my words not to your liking, then you may choose to not read them, and you may choose to debate them, and you may choose to forget them or to try to understand them. Whatever you choose, remember that your mind may have one opinion, and your heart another. Your mind wishes to defend the ego, and your heart wishes to free the spirit. Whatever you choose, remember that your small mind may be fearful of dissolving into big mind, or rigpa, the primordial luminescence of reality. Of course it is afraid, because to change from one form of energy to another is to die in some way, shape, or form. And isn’t death the most scary thing of all?
Maybe not. Maybe it is a real irony that in this Shiva the destroyer-oriented world, death is the most feared and hated change of all. In a Shakti oriented world life itself is sacred, and life itself is most revered. In the abstract, this Shivacentric world proclaims its reverence for life, but in practice, war has been declared on all forms of life, and Shakti in her many guises are under constant attack.
We have created Hell on this planet. If Hell has been experienced by one life, it exists for us all. We can be separated by language and custom, or the boundaries of nations, but at our core we are all simply an expression of life.
Shiva creates hell as Shakti tends her gardens.
At this point you may wonder if I am an extreme feminist, and if I hate men. But my intention is to look at all of the myriad patterns in which energy flows, and it is easier to illustrate energetic patterns utilizing archetypical concepts then it is using pseudoscientific psychological profiles. The patterns that myths have drawn in the sand are as old as humanity, and wisdom grows with time. I believe that it is impossible to circumnavigate time in order to reach Samadhi or enlightenment faster, as much as technology would like us to believe that this is possible.
We are taught that we should act in such-and-such a way when we are born into this world. It seems counterintuitive to question this constant education, because it purports to follow the will of God via the Holy Bible. But my thesis is that this is an arbitrary education in regards to who you are as an individual life. You are a life that can teach and be taught as soon as you exist, and you can think, feel, and understand on your own. Propaganda leads you away from your true self. What is taught as something you should emulate has nothing to do with your life essence. There are a certain number of stereotypes you should fit into, and if you don’t, you’re one of those persons who doesn’t fit in to any one stereotype, the last ditch catchall stereotype. This Shivacentric society does not allow societal behaviors at random, only the stereotypical behaviors are allowed, and encouraged to perpetuate in order to cast those-who-do-not-fit-in out as far as they will go, or as far as they will stay.
Thesis: A human being would not fit into any stereotypes if allowed to freely express themselves at birth and throughout life. Gender would be flexible, love would be expressed in many ways.
We are trapped in this dark box of society designed and manufactured by the destroyers. We are trapped in a dark box of ourselves, immediately put on the production line of stereotypes. We can look in someone else’s eyes and see ourselves, but then we may be called crazy. We can look at the highways choked with cars and exhaust and call it crazy, but then be reassured that it is completely sane by the destroyers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Subscribe To My Blog
Posts
All Comments
