3 posts tagged “monastery”
Dulzura was largely destroyed during the Harris Fire that took out hundreds of thousands of acres in Southern California this past fall. Firestorms like that are rarely so intense and the areas destroyed in California are larger than many cities; hundreds are still without homes.
Over the last four years I've made at least 6 trips up the mountain to spend time with the monks at Madre Grande Monastery. After visiting a dozen major spiritual communities across America I found one that felt most like home, a Theosophical space for esoterics who enjoy the arcane mysteries and wisdom traditions from around the world. Madre reaches out to their community, assisting other fire victims while they rebuild their lives.
Their
In December we took two trips to Dulzura to assist with fire cleanup efforts. The monks were overwhelmed with the amount of work to do after the fires and were very appreciative of community support, from frequent visitors as well as from those who may have never been there before. For the month prior to our arrival the monks had to shower in a nearby town, 30 minutes away by car, and had no running water or phone on site.
We took a small team from Amoration with Burners without Borders to take on basic plumbing, electrical and welding needs for the community. The Amoration team took on a few basics: electrical boxes, plumbing in the remaining bathroom on site, welding the gate to keep the land safe. Madre Grande is in a remote but somewhat precarious location, just a few miles from the border with Mexico there are often border patrol and other people driving the road through the property. In the months after the fires there were also issues with locals and lots of utility trucks around, along with the county support staff that hauled out 40 containers and truckloads of burnt ruins away from Dulzura.
The future is uncertain for Madre Grande; they have a long road ahead and many decisions to make for their best possible future. Moving and rebuilding would be a great challenge but they may no longer be able to fulfill their mission in their current state on this property. As they assess the cost of maintaining a spiritual retreat and monastery we look to what we can do as individuals to support these spaces with our time, talent and care. AMO friends have donated awesome gifts such as new hoses and faucets, showerheads and sprayers.
Words do not do this place justice.
What you see here now is gone.
Art, like the spirit, is a temporary collection of idea and expression in some public display of opportunity.
This place has given me so many opportunities, such a rich landscape to consider over the years. Many of my toughest struggles and greatest joys have been known in these fields, from my marriage to the handsomest husband to tears flowing in a hot sweat lodge as asthma and I work to have a parting of the ways. I am not yet detangled from this mess.
We feel so lucky to still have my home, my handsome husband, my friends Marta and Rob who joined us for the first journey and who took these amazing photos of Madre Grande to share with you.
These places sometimes enter our hearts and do not let go.
I sometimes want to remember Madre and her fire the way it can be....sweet, fun and full of laughter, my wedding night, almond champagne by the case, hundreds of friends in full formalwear as our fire performer friends hit the stage. Madre Grande once hosted a regional Burning Man event known as Xara....please enjoy this video from our 2006 wedding to see the life that this place has known...and will hopefully know again soon.
As with anything in this world, take the time to explore for yourself.
All I can say is oops....I did it again. I'll continue to do it, and love it. This community, the greater community that Madre represents, means more to me than just about anything on this particular planet. The sickness I felt at its loss has been healed by helping clean and cook up a better future.
There is a place where we all come together, where nothing separates us. We are water, metal and earth, ashes and spirit, love and energy. Everything we breathe and share together creates us and the world where we collide.
We also create the boundaries, the limitations, the weakness of will that tells us that we cannot succeed at ____________. Think about the one thing you feel you are failing at now, and think again….is there anything insurmountable that’s keeping you from meeting your goals? Is your failure a true inability or a lack of intention?
In the sweat lodge with Daniel Hawk this week I struggled deeply, fumbling to breathe in the burning hot darkness of the Lakota womb. As my brothers and sisters sang I kept a wet towel close to my face, breathing deep and reminding myself of the very basics. Self love. My handsome partner. The beautiful tribe we share, our family and friends. The land we envision sharing with our global community, the unifying forces that bring us together in that space.
Then the fear hit…hard. I clenched, struggling to breathe. An asthma attack set in that kept me tight all night, reliving the last year and my incomplete failures, the measure of my love and how it spills out. I WANT it to spill out more freely to find new ways to be a loving being in this world.
The book the abbot gave me was “The Miracle of Metaphysical Healing” by Evelyn Monahan. My meditation practice now has a new challenge….is my will strong enough to heal my body? Can the fear and its symptoms find rest?
Evelyn Monahan challenges her readers to find their 3 WISHES, 3 WANTS and 3 NEEDS. I like this exercise as we begin 2008.
3 WISHES:
* An end to tyrannical regimes, imperialist wars and shameful propaganda
* That every one of us find the strength to face our fears openly, with love
* A healthy revolution across the world that protects our freedom to stay close to nature
3 WANTS:
* To identify where we will locate the AMO land
* Flying lessons, working toward the pilot license
* Solid partnerships and opportunities to produce groundbreaking media that educates and inspires
3 NEEDS:
* 365 blog, vlog, archive and tweet the signal and beat of our people
* Integrating the real and virtual with participatory arts culture, opening new doors through immersion
* Peace in my home and in my heart
Lying in bed with my handsome last night we talked about the heartbeat, how it channels the flow for the body and sets the rhythm for all movement. If action that inspires is the goal, the heartbeat must be the drumroll that makes our actions most authentic and true. The heart unifies my global wishes, my focused wants and my essential core needs as a creative human being.
Post your 3 wishes, wants and needs here or in your own blog, and tell us why you do what you do. As you think through how you will achieve your desires, consider your will and the strength within the cells and consciousness that swarm to become YOU. Who are you and who will you be? The photo above is from Mia Farrow’s blog, 3 Needs from Darfur from Sand and Sorrow, a documentary by Paul Freedman featuring Darfur advocates from around the world. I can’t wait to see your 3/3/3 in blog, vlog or tweet.
We've come a long way in a few months! The next major AMO event is happening this Sunday December 16th from 11-2PM at AMO Island in Second Life, a dance party to benefit Great Strides with DJ Nexeus Fatale. Bring out your horses and help us raise money for equine therapy. Every boogie counts.
GIVING CIRCLE
The ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD GIVE XO CHALLENGE ends soon. Do you have someone with small hands who would love the XO laptop's ease and portability? Give one get one, a great opportunity to share goodwill.
At AMO we've seen the potential for empowering young talent to do more with their digital skills. In the last two years our interns have gone on to great work with professional companies and nonprofit organizations...all for scripting or designing items in Second Life! Those who still wonder about the power of the virtual world for education should visit Holy Meatballs, New Media Consortium and the SLEDucators who are teaching and taking on exciting new research endeavors in the wild petri dish of the metaverse.
LAND TO LEASE/OWN!
We have mainland for sale along with office/research area plots both land and sky on AMO. Talk to me directly if you are looking for space in the coming weeks. Short term and long term opportunities available.
AMO is all about experimentation. This month we collaborated with the Car Lovers to host The Ridebuilders Challenge on KULA last Friday. I get the privilege of announcing the winners for the sweetest rides in Second Life! We awarded over L$50,000 to the following artists for their extraordinary work
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RamessesIII Pharoah F1 Color Changing Sculpted |
Ahkenatan Grommet 1938 X-07 |
Natascha Rives NATAMO |
Abacus Mimistrobell AMPro GT 500 |
Ray Monnett 427 Stingray |
Audience Award Winners (L$1000 bonus award)
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Darren Oyen, dtht8er Aaybe Scion XB, Green |
Natascha Rives NATAMO |
Special thanks to the Car Lovers community for making this challenge possible and to Creative Commons for the use of the KULA Amphitheatre for this contest. Congratulations to all of our participants for great design work!
To make a gift for AMO visit our giving circle page at Amoration/International Humanities Center. Your donations support our virtual internship programs along with providing the AMO Island space for groups to develop new works in the metaverse. Thank you for supporting new media bridgebuilding experiments!
Bridgebuilding and Rebuilding
For the last few weeks we have been coordinating with friends at Madre Grande, a monastery and retreat farm near San Diego and the Mexican border town of Tecate. During the Harris fire around Halloween they lost most of their residences, archives and gathering spaces; seven monks are now living in one building together as they work out a long term rebuilding plan in the midst of codes, permits and inspections, cleanup and fire debris removal. One of the monks was an interactive designer for the Cartoon Network, another a financial officer in London; this bright young ecumenical group of leaders has appreciated the support of the AMO community along with your gifts dedicated to this rebuilding effort. We were glad to go to Madre Grande with Burners without Borders last week and we will blog in more detail with photos soon. Thanks to Marta Collier, Brent Heyning and Rob Darman for their wizardry with pipes and electrical tech!
The leaders in AMO never cease to amaze me. Thank you all for getting out there and doing what you love to do most. Come visit us soon in meatspace, metaspace or any space!
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