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what’s happening at east west. . . .

There’s an East West Special Event this weekend-the 15, 16, 17 June 2007-called Calm Birth: Teacher Certification.

It’s presented by Robert Newman, and it says, “Robert Bruce Newman is the developer of calm birth a new childbirth method based on his more than 20 years of apprenticeship with Tibetan meditation teachers and doctors, western doctors, childbirth educators, midwives, nurses, and doulas.”
www.calmbirth.org

After the births of Sebastian and Sophie I started thinking a lot about the importance of coming into the world in a gentle and loving way. It seems that our western society is now striving to make that happen. It’s taken a long time, maybe our crawl in that direction is picking up some speed. Having a gentle, more loving and caring birth is a great way to enter the world.

Note: What happened? – After years of servicing the Greenwich Village area, and all the recent renovations, East West closed. Happily, right around the corner is Namaste Bookshop at 2 West 14th Street, NYC.

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death

I think death is a part of life. That’s obvious you want to say. But what I want to say is that it’s actually a good part of life. I want to slide into this conversation easily – without raising an eyebrow. Somewhere along the line our ability to sense what it is and what it means got mangled – badly. When we take the time to be alone and think clearly about this, we’re slowly able to put back that lost sense. We’re supposed to die; it’s natural just as eating is natural, Only death has a greater impact on us, or so it seems. To me something that’s natural is nothing to get anxious about. If you’ve had the opportunity to be at someone’s side when they died, perhaps you had a chance to notice how easy and peaceful death can be. Not always, of course, some people struggle with it to the end. But it seems useless to fight something that’s a natural part of us. It’s just like everything else in life, when we take the time to understand exactly what it means, the feelings we have are replaced with an understanding, and eventually a knowing. And when it’s our time for that experience, we accept it, and with acceptance, there’s something else that comes – a trust and a belief in Life. Every day people die with a smile on their lips. How neat is that.

Grieving is hard. It’s natural, too. We lose someone we love and will never see again in that same form. It’s painful. I’ve read often that when we refuse to accept the death of someone we love, it’s possible we’re keeping the one who died in a state of confusion, bound to the earth plane. There’s a need to go on, and we have to let it happen. It’s been said that time is a great healer. And probably we all know this to be true. When we look back at the things we thought we’d never get through and here we are, smiling again. Time is a great healer, and we have to let it work its magic on us so that we can once again see clearly.

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a place

Living in a place that resonates with who you are can change your life dramatically. I’ve read this, and from experience believe it. It makes complete sense. Do you know anyone who has moved to another state, or a different country, and was changed by the new surroundings? It could be a combination of factors. Perhaps some are:

The land
The people
The friendliness
The energy
The layout
The shops
The view
The arts
The surrounding areas
The weather
The beauty
The learning centers
The time the streets fold up
The proximity to an international airport
The song in your heart that says it’s right

A place that does this has the power to grab your attention and make you take notice. It feels right, and it doesn’t take long to know this feeling. If you’re one of these people, take heart, you’re not alone, as you’ll discover when you reach your destination. Ah, yes, there are many, many different, wonderful ways of living in this fascinating world.

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osho

A couple of years ago I was in Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Center and had a book by Osho. A salesperson tried, when seeing the book, to convince me that I didn’t want to read a book by Osho. He was getting all caught up in his words in trying to convince me of this. I left not understanding what he was attempting to say. Obviously he had strong opinions about this.

I didn’t buy the book but, I found it again in a used bookshop and bought it without someone looking over my shoulder. The book is called COURAGE THE JOY OF LIVING DANGERIOUSLY. It’s probably not what you think it is from reading the title. But it’s an interesting title. It’s fun to read and it’s stimulates the mind to see life in a different way. And no matter – if it resonates, if it dances, if it feels right, opinions contrary to yours – get it, do it, enjoy it. www.osho.com

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the little girl

Often in life important decisions have to be made. I knew a little girl who was born with a gift of knowing. She didn’t hesitate when making decisions, and since a confidence and a knowing always preceeded her decision making, she was trusted in those matters because the gift she had was felt and accepted.

Time passed and the little girl became a beautiful woman, and the gift she possessed was forgotten by her as she struggled to make decisions in the world. Perhaps she thought making important decisions as an adult required a different approach. Perhaps she got caught up in believing that certain things like making important decisions actually require struggle. She changed and I watched her worry about what was right and what was wrong, longed for her to rediscover the gift she once had and used so easily. She was a child who so simply tapped into what her heart told her, before she became a learned adult trying to figure out all the thoughts in her head. Those thoughts that never seem to stop. Those thoughts-are they right or are they wrong? Who knows? The heart of a little girl once knew. Surely the gift is still there waiting to to be trusted and used once again.

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the storyteller

Still she thinks of herself as a poor black girl living in the south before blacks and whites mingled. I say this because her past is always with her as those times seem to be more real than present day life. Since I’ve known her it’s been that way. Some things run real deep. She’s a good storyteller, and when I look at her I can vividly imagine that little girl back then in Arkansas. The stories she tells of that time will make you laugh, though some will bring a sense of acute sadness. My childhood was in New England and those stories never reached me.

I like her style of cooking. I think it’s changed just a little from her mother’s way. She makes corn bread every week, eats the greens of the south (gave up frying, but makes every attempt to recapture that taste by vigorous sauteeing). Her mother once took her and three of her siblings on a trip north to visit family, and she talks about seeing, for the first time in her young life, whites and blacks together. You feel in the telling of this that every fiber of her body relives the shock.

She didn’t marry a black man and didn’t stay in the south. She owns a nice three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, has a big loving heart and, has what could be called, a good life. The value of money that was instilled then holds true now. Money or no money, she’s solidly frugal. I feel that keeping those stories alive is important because many people still haven’t grasped the enormity of what happened if you were black and living in the deep south at that time. From listening to her stories, a new understanding was very gently pounded into my head during my stay with her this year. Any new insight has the potential to shed new light on other areas of life. I thank her for that and for the loving person she’s become in spite of it all.

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I read . . .

I watched a little of the Ellen Degeneres show the other day, and was taken aback when a woman wrote to the show explaining and laughing about the gifts her in-laws have given her and her family throughout the years. I didn’t quite understand why she was making that public, her in-laws are alive and kicking and must feel a little odd with the public airing, (unless there was an agreement beforehand to get some laughs on TV), though it didn’t seem that way.

That got me thinking about giving gifts because sometimes it’s tricky. If you don’t show the right reaction immediately upon receiving the gift, it’s all down hill from there. They’ll be lots of questions coming your way. Or if you do show the right reaction, but the thank you is delayed, well, . . . Then there are the givers who want to know exactly how their gift is being used. They just need to know because they usually put much time, effort and thought into buying it. And yes, there’s always the money too.

A while ago I read that once you give a gift, let it go. What happens to the gift after you give it, and this was bluntly said, is none of your business. You did your part. Let it go. As far as the receiver is concerned, the gift should be happily and gratefully accepted, always, no matter what the gift. What you do with the gift after that is your business. To me that makes the most sense.

We can all relax. It’s all so easy.

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a gift

The idea of paying the check of another diner, a stranger in a restaurant, a few weeks before Christmas is a wonderful way of getting into the Christmas Spirit. I can’t recall where, when or how I heard about this idea, but I remember thinking, “Nice. I can do that.” Any kind of place will do: coffee shop, burger joint, informal or formal restaurant. Whatever fits your wallet.

The gift: When you’re ready to pay your bill, request that the server bring to you the check of the diner(s) of the table you’ve chosen. We all have different reasons for our choices; I go with my gut feeling when deciding on a table. After you’ve paid, ask the server to bring a note instead of a check to the diner(s). A napkin will do for a simple: “The meal is on me. Have a happy holiday.” You walk away now as an anonymous giver. You’ve shopped, wrote the card and given your gift. It’s a very nice gift, and it’s possible that the one who got the gift will remember it every Christmas. Imagine that.

“To know how to live is my trade and my art.” -Michel De Montaigne

“Make the decision to serve wherever you go and to whomever you see. As long as you are serving you will be receiving. The more you serve, the more confidence you will gain in the miraculous effects of this principle of life. And as you enjoy the reciprocity, your ability to serve will also increase.” -Greg Anderson

“Give yourself abundant pleasure, so that you may have abundant pleasure to give others.” -Neale Donald Walsch

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ode and vegnews

They say that people are either book, magazine, or newspaper readers. It could be true. Usually I like books with just a quick look at a magazine or newspaper. However, while walking along 23rd Street in Manhattan I saw Universal News located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The shop has a huge selection of magazines and newspapers. Customers were focused on reading. I looked around and saw the magazines Ode www.odemagazine.com with Bono on the cover, and VegNews www.vegnews.com with Woody Harrelson on that cover, and decided to join the readers for awhile. These two magazines were packed with information and interesting articles, so I purchased them.

Vegetarians of the past got a bum rap, and maybe rightfully so. Many vegetarians had a pasty complexion and looked extremely thin. And the food, well, it was plain and unappetizing, nothing that would bring a smile to your face. It’s changed! The whole lifestyle is different and exciting. The article on Woody is inspiring because as he says, “I try to ‘walk the talk.’ He’s dynamic. His life is meaningful; he’s doing his part to change our world. And he’s not boring. Check out his website, www.voiceyourself.com, and his book HOW TO GO FURTHER, and the recipe Chocolate of the Gods Mousse. Additionally, there are many websites with pictures and descriptions of what you’ll find on the sites. Definitely it’s worth a look. When you have the magazine in hand don’t forget to read the article on page 20, Spinning Out of Control. Food for thought! It never hurts to know.

Ode has articles on the environment. The articles are relevant to every family because so many of us have allergies. And after reading Ode you’ll have a clearer idea why that’s so. The articles give the facts about our world and make the reader stop to think about, well, many things, the many important things happening that affect us – either directly or indirectly. It doesn’t hurt to read about these things. It’s not boring, reading it is exciting, interesting, informative and helpful.

It seems that Bono has been thinking deeply about what needs changing. And he’s not afraid to speak his mind and to try to understand how changes can be made. Read the article; I think you’ll like what you read.

“If you don’t like where you are, change what you are.” – Henry Knight Miller

“Our remedies in ourselves do lie which we ascribe to heaven.” -Shakespeare

“I want to be alive to all the life that is in me now, to know each moment to its uttermost.” – kahlil Gibran

“Every tine we choose safety, we reinforce fear . . . our world grows smaller and smaller.” – Cheri Huber

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it’s up to us

I’m sitting in front of a window overlooking the East River. It’s calm and I see the lights to the north and south of Manhattan and the lights of Queens and it’s beautiful. I turned off the TV an hour ago, and as I look at the beauty before me, I’m thinking of what water has done to parts of Louisiana. Again we’re left wondering about many things. We play the TV images over and over in our mind, but nothing is resolved. We cannot make the misery go away. Most of us are not going to Louisiana to physically help. We donate money. We donate clothes. And we pray. We all have different opinions about what’s going on in our world today. We live in interesting times in that information is always at our fingertips. There is something strange about witnessing the suffering of people long distance as they’re going through incredible pain.

I went to the Union Square Greenmarket www.unionsquarejournal.com/greenmarket.htm and as I lifted a handful of okra I said to the woman next to me that it was my first time buying it. She smiled and told me the best way to prepare it. She said she’s from New Orleans and is a caterer, and tonight she was preparing dinner for a group of friends. Everyone was going to pay $50 for the meal. The money would be donated. That was her way of helping people in her hometown. I’m sure a lot of love will go into the meal she prepares tonight.
And I understand that what we do with the information we see on the screen is up to us.