Wise Words I: Gary Snyder

So let's start with Gary Snyder. From The Practice of the Wild: 

"Thoreau says “give me a wildness no civilization can endure.” That’s clearly not difficult to find. It is harder to imagine a civilization that wildness can endure, yet this is just what we must try to do. Wildness is not just the “preservation of the world,” it is the world. Civilizations east and west have long been on a collision course with wild nature, and now the developed nations in particular have the witless power to destroy not only individual creatures but whole species, whole processes, of the earth. We need a civilization that can live fully and creatively together with wildness. We must start growing it right here, in the New World."  

"The lessons we learn from the wild become the etiquette of freedom. We can enjoy our humanity with its flashy brains and sexual buzz, its social cravings and stubborn tantrums, and take ourselves as no more and no less than another being in the Big Watershed. We can accept each other all as barefoot equals sleeping on the same ground. We can give up hoping to be eternal and quit fighting dirt. We can chase off mosquitoes and fence out varmints without hating them. No expectations, alert and sufficient, grateful and careful, generous and direct. A calm and clarity attend us in the moment we are wiping the grease off our hands between tasks and glancing up at the passing clouds. Another joy is finally sitting down to have coffee with a friend. The wild requires that we learn the terrain, nod to all the plants and animals and birds, ford the streams and cross the ridges, and tell a good story when we get back home."  

Yeah, probably my favorite book in the whole world. [NOTE: Image shows my dog-eared copy of The Practice of the Wild. Has accompanied me to Hawaii, Myanmar, and Laos].

Our Current Situation As A Species

The four books listed in the right sidebar under "Amazon Associate" are insightful analyses of our current situation as a species. I am a huge fan of all four of these books, and view them as foundational in my own process of trying to figure out how best to respond to what comes next. I have previously posted on each of the authors (see Gary Snyder at 83, Earth Consciousness, Zen and the Art of Planetary Crisis, The Dream of the Earth, Distant Neighbors, and Happy Birthday, Wendell Berry), and what I would like to do now is to offer a brief selection from each book, each day, for the next four days. Like food for thought. Or tapas. And, of course, if you would actually like to purchase any of these seminal works, the links in the right sidebar work really well for this (thx).  

[NOTE: True-color image shown above from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is a combination of data from two satellites. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument abourd NASA's Terra satellite collected the land-surface data over 16 days, while NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) produced a snapshot of the Earth's clouds. Just so you know.].

Wooden Things

Made a quick trip to Philadelphia last Saturday and stopped by the Center for Art in Wood in the Old City to look for replacements for some lovely wooden earrings that Elysa bought the last time we were here (see The Center for Art in Wood). What a great place for wood fanatics, like me. Image above shows wooden chopsticks, and spoons, and bowls in the gift shop. [NOTE: Elysa found some great earrings].

The Dream of the Earth

It's Friday, and it seems like an appropriate time to share (finally) some Thomas Berry. Berry (1914-2009), who was a Catholic priest, cultural historian, ecotheologian, cosmologist, geologian, and deep ecology advocate, is the author of the seminal work, The Dream of the Earth. This amazing treatise, first published by the Sierra Club in 1988, provides an intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity. 

Such a fantastic universe, with its great spiraling galaxies, its supernovas, our solar system, and this priviledged planet Earth. All this is held together in the vast curvature of space, poised so precisely in holding all things together in the one embrace and yet so lightly that the creative expansion of the universe might continue into the future. We ourselves, with our distinctive capacities for reflexive thinking, are the most recent wonder of the universe, a special mode of reflecting this larger curvature of the universe itself. If in recent centuries we have sought to collapse this larger creative curve within the horizons of our own limited being, we must now understand that our own well-being can be achieved only through the well-being of the entire natural world about us. The greater curvature of the universe and of the planet Earth must govern the curvature of our own being. In the coincidence of these three curves lies the way into a creative future.

- From the Introduction, The Dream of the Earth

This book is a foundational volume of the ecological canon. Timely words for troubled times. Highly, highly recommended. [NOTE: Just so you know, today is my birthday].

Edible Plants in Orchard

List of the 43 edible plant species planted in one of the demonstration orchards at the Kandawgyi Botanical Garden in Pyin Oo Lwin (see Kandawgyi). With Burmese name, common name, botanical name, and plant family. And, of course, we went through and tried to find each one. [NOTE: Full disclosure, we had trouble locating all 10 of the Citrus species].

Everest: A Tribute to the Fallen

"Imagine a 1500 ft tidal wave of snow, rock and debris headed straight towards you. This was our reality on April 25th, 2015 at Mt. Everest basecamp when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake triggered a massive avalanche at Mt. Everest Basecamp that claimed 16 lives and critically injured 50+ men and women". A short documentary by award-winning filmaker, Elia Saikalay.  

Schoolkids at MOMA

Was back at the MOMA yesterday with my friend Silvia Purata (see Reading the Bands). Fantastic art, as usual, but this visit I was struck by the people as much as the art. Tuesday is apparently a big day for school groups. Something about the little girl with her audio tour headphones, orange school pass lanyard, blond ponytail, and peach sweatshirt standing in front of The Kitchen by Picasso gave me a real "Art is for Everyone" moment. Thank you MOMA. 

Bodhisattva's Embrace

Hozan Alan Senauke has been in residence at the Empty Hand Zen Center for the past few weeks (deep bow of gratitude, Alan). I have been reading through his book The Bodhisattva's Embrace: Dispatches from Engaged Buddhism's Front Lines as part of his class on Dogen's essay Bodaisatta Shishobo (Four Embracing Dharmas) from Shobogenzo.

As Vice-Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, leader of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, founder of the Clear View Project, and advisior to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Alan has a unique and global perspective on socially-engaged Buddhism as a force for positive change. And the clarity of this view comes through in his writings. This is a wonderful book. [NOTE: Click here to download a translation of Bodaisatta Shishobo. Read slowly. Repeat. Conscientiously apply in your life and become a Bodhisattva]. 

The Alchemist's Letter

Something for your Friday. Beautiful animated video by Carlos Andre Stevens. Lot of careful details and incredible illustrations here; the rendering of fire and water, in particular. Best at full screen. 

More Case Art

This time a praying mantis. He writes, "First time drawing a bug. Very different. Much heavier reliance on blending stroke to create sheen". Interesting. [NOTE: Case's entire portfolio (almost) is now online here. Lot of patience, skill, and creativity to make these images].