Since 1970, my birth year, April 22 is the annual day designated to honor our relationship to Mother Earth. I love the idea of honoring and recognizing the Earth as an entity versus it being an object that we own or can control. The Earth breathes! I found this on ScienceDaily.com and love this perspective: “The solid Earth breathes as volcanoes ‘exhale’ gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) — which are essential in regulating global climate — while carbon ultimately from CO2 returns into the deep Earth when oceanic tectonic plates are forced to descend into the mantle at subduction zones.” That’s deep, literally. 🙂 And to get some visuals and more on the Earth breathing, head to nbcnews.com
Read from EarthDay.org:
Earth Day: The Official Site | EARTHDAY.ORG
In the decades leading up to the first (Earth Day), Americans were consuming vast amounts of leaded gas through massive and inefficient automobiles. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of the consequences from either the law or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Until this point, mainstream America remained largely oblivious to environmental concerns and how a polluted environment threatens human health.
However, the stage was set for change with the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries as it raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and the inextricable links between pollution and public health.
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Just over 50 years ago, mainstream culture began to wake up to this crucial connection to the planet in our efforts to be a modern world. How ironic that our so called “civilized” worlds that wiped out or enslaved indigenous people are finding threads of truth that lead them back to what was already known and celebrated as a sacred bond to Mother Earth. How telling of our motivation that industries have been more focused on their bottom line than on true sustainability. How tragic that we strip lands of resources and its people – stewards of the land, in the name of progress. How interesting that we have become such a people of consumerism over a people of compassion.
From MotherJones.com:
The Origins of Anti-Litter Campaigns – Mother Jones
After World War II, the story goes, American manufacturers were running at full blast, and needed American consumers to keep buying more and more junk if they wanted to maintain their profit margins. And since there’s an upper limit to how much junk a given family genuinely needs to own, manufacturers had to figure out how to convince consumers to keep throwing their existing stuff out, so that they would buy new stuff.
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Sound a bit too uncomfortably familiar? This has become an ongoing mission of many companies because they saw how well it worked. It created the “American Dream” which is still spreading like an oil spill across other countries. And just like that, we’ve become a disposable culture attached to convenience. While Amazon.com is a perfect example of a business that has mesmerized millions with immediate gratification, it’s certainly not the only one. Where else is this happening in our own lives? Where else are we cultivating cravings for things? How often do we demand things to go a certain way instead of being curious to learn how we can improve our planet and our well-being not by taking, but by sharing our wisdom? Where else are we living with a severe blindspot on our relationships with one another that we create superiority and inferiority without a thought or moment of reflection?
Look at how long it is taken us to make changes historically – Black liberation, equality for women, LGBTQ+ awareness and rights, immigration reform, and human trafficking. And as we know, the struggles continue and in some cases, have become worse. Seat belt laws, non-smoking laws, non-GMO labeling, animal rights activism, climate change, and food is medicine have all taken far too long to become topics that can be openly talked about today when at one point and certainly in some circles still, they would be non-topics.
When we take a moment and realize we’ve been taking so much for granted, we might see why we have the belief system that we do. It was designed for us so that we fall into the hands of those who wish to gain from our ignorance. AND, we live in a world where we do have the opportunity to speak up for one another and demand for change. But first, it requires a brave act of recognition that we have a choice with how we respond and to tap into the inborn desire for true liberation for all people. The challenge is that we can also be misled to satisfy desire and liberation with external components of our material world. Whenever we rely completely on anything on the outside to determine how we feel on the inside, we’ve agreed to life’s most entertaining but endless roller coaster ride. And as I see it, that’s just the way it is for the majority if not all of us, and that fact doesn’t stress me out anymore. I know to live my life as the way that I want to see life, and that creates freedom and inspiration to be of service.
In the final segment of a recent interview on TRT World, Palestine Talks | Norman Finkelstein – YouTube with Norman Finkelstein, he refers to the book, “The Treason of the Intellectuals” by philosopher, Julien Bender. He explains one of the core theses of the book that speaks of the 2 sets of values – 1. Material values: fame and fortune, power and privilege. “It’s what 99% of humanity strives for… what Andy Warhol famously called the ’15-minutes of fame.’” 2. “On the other hand, there’s a tiny fraction of people who strive for spiritual values…It’s called truth and justice.” “Bender says, those two sets of values always come into conflict. There’s a fundamental contradiction between the two.”
My ongoing studies of Yoga and philosophy, by way of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Mahabharata and therefore including the Bhagavad Gita, I am concurrently developing a deep practice of acceptance and surrender to the way this world is, while leaning towards the world I wish to see. And I’m by no means doing it with a goal of perfection, I accept the messiness of it all. But I feel driven by a manageable idealism that is tempered with humility and uncomfortable struggles with my ego. From what I’ve learned of my grandparents on my mom’s side who were communists while working for the US government, from my mom and her activism for women’s rights as a member of NOW, and even my Japanese father’s journey of being an immigrant from Japan who came to America to study and then later in life, to build deeper relations between Japan, America and a general advocacy for the Pan-Asian region, it’s in my blood to seek justice. But as a young, traumatized gay man, it was also in my body to remain silent. Thankfully, life and my upbringing nudged me just enough to be right where I am today.
Mom’s birthday outfit for April 22nd!
April 22nd is my mom’s birthday and I’m happy she’ll be celebrating her day with 9 of her friends at her beautiful senior residence in Cincinnati. These COVID years haven’t been easy for her but mom is emerging from it by finding some joy and connection today. April 22nd is also the first night of Passover this year. And thanks to my mom who sent my brother and me to Yavneh Hebrew Day school which helped us understand our ancestry and religion, I’ve celebrated Passover for years and usually lead a Seder at my home.
The story of Passover has always been such a deeply symbolic story for me, identifying the historical context and placing it into a current one – what and where are we “enslaved” physically, mentally, emotionally and how can we become free? What stories do we need to let go of so we can liberate the mind from limited thinking? Perfect to reflect on this year in particular. I’ve always loved celebrating and often hosting a Passover Seder at my home. My brother and I started leading Passover Seders as 4th and 5th graders for our mom and stepdad and I’ve nearly been offering these ever since. My conservative Jewish upbringing said that our religion is an ever-evolving practice (jewishvirtuallibrary.org) that welcomes debate and deepens with personalization. This year, I knew that the celebration would need to have a different direction and even a different telling. Thanks to Beyt Tikkun,
Passover Seder (6th Night) – Beyt Tikkun
I’ll be attending their public Seder that aligns well with where I’ve unfolded to be over these last 6+ months. I know that they will include olives on the Seder plate to recognize Palestinians and include discussion of the current atrocities versus move along like Seder as usual. I want to acknowledge that with all that we are celebrating, it is also day 199 that Israel has been demolishing the land and lives of people in Palestine as they continue their arrogant behavior as an apartheid state with a mission of genocide. Of course these are controversial terms because they are exactly the way these words and actions operate! No one would openly agree that apartheid and genocide are acceptable and so a convincing story of othering and dehumanizing fellow human beings must be created and seen as the only option. And in the case of Israel who holds the highest card of having survived the holocaust, it’s been a slow, steady version of humiliation, fear and death of Palestinians versus a blatant one which would very likely have created more worldwide attention. Now that we have social media and a stark moment in history to redirect our attention, there’s no hiding.
Some Americans, and even American Jews and nearly all Israeli Jews, have followed a story that favors Jews over Arabs, that gives a wide berth to the Israel/Middle East conflict, and that aren’t aware of the most current Palestinian struggle that spans over a century. This is not anti-semitic but a distinction of Zionist Jews and people versus Anti-Zionists. After research and listening to many longtime researchers, authors, historians, activists, reporters, etc. (See list in my last blog, “Following the Twisted Path”), I’ve become clear and sadly accepting of the appropriate use of these terms. But I have not lost my deep connection and teachings that have come from my Jewish upbringing. In fact, it’s because of my upbringing that I feel compelled to speak out and share.
In a recent share on social media of Gideon Levy, I appreciated hearing his viewpoint (Former Israeli soldier, author, and journalist for Haaretz speaking at the Israel Lobby/National Press Club about history, settlements and Palestine)
I’ll just give the 3 principles which enable us Israelis to live so easily with this brutal reality:
- Most of the Israelis, if not all of them, deeply believe that we are the chosen people. And if we are the chosen people, we have the right to do whatever we want.
- There were more brutal occupations in history. There were even longer occupations in history even though the Israeli occupation gets to quite a nice record. But there was never in history an occupation in which the occupier presented himself as the victim. Not only the victim, the ONLY victim around. This also enables any Israeli to live in peace because we are the victims.
But the 3rd set of values is the most dangerous one…
- And this is the systematic dehumanization of the Palestinians. Which enables us, Israelis, to live in peace with everything. Because if there are not human beings like us, then there’s not really a question of human rights. And if you scratch under the skin of almost every Israeli you will find it there. Almost no one will treat the Palestinians as equal human beings like us.
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This is not a matter of using Hamas as terrorists to justify this brutal catastrophe as they only came to power in the 1980’s. This is based on stories upon stories, documentaries and interviews, books and articles, wars and an ongoing catastrophe (Nakba) that have emboldened Zionist’s efforts to overtake Palestinians, steal and demolish their homes since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. If October 7th wouldn’t have happened, I likely wouldn’t have been as compelled as I’ve been to learn and be humbled by history and by the intentional twisting of facts from history. I would rather not have been spending so much time unlearning something that had rested comfortably in my chosen people narrative. But, it’s clearly what is happening in me and somehow, it feels liberating to speak out versus to hold tightly to a story that was losing traction in my mind and heart.
This historical moment will require us to reevaluate our understanding or as it is, misunderstanding. Certainly, sexual violence and killing of children and babies are usually the first for our nervous systems to react to and hold on to as horrific stories from war or other atrocities of crimes against humanity. As they should be. But to create lies and misdirect our eyes from the truth of that day, which are still horrific enough and most certainly war crimes, it makes this unforgettable event even more painful and becomes a harder mental exercise to take on. And as anticipated by Zionist political marketing, it means most people will choose to accept the first-reported, spoon-fed version. In an interview by Peter Osborne
with Richard Sanders, filmmaker who created the documentary, October 7, pulls back the layers of what happened on this day based on investigation from approximately 7 hours of footage from head cams of Hamas fighters, peoples’ cell phones as well as documentation from first responders and forensics of the deaths. This interview and Sanders’s film, October 7 and his director’s message, helps to identify the lies and helps explain why this would be created, repeated and elevated in order to manipulate the narrative and justify the level of unchecked retaliation. If you still have the wherewithal to understand more than the shock value of October 7th, it’s worth seeing. To a much lesser degree but to prove a point, I suppose it would be like someone only watching the US news on January 6th last year and making their decision on the nature of the American people and politics based on that.
And on that note, April 22nd was the start of the first criminal prosecution of a former President of the United States with 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a hush money scheme. To hear Trump describe this as a witch hunt not only helps to embolden his base by using slogan terms over and over, but it demonstrates how divided any people can become. Here in our own country, we have the very possible outcome of having an unbelievable human being return to preside and represent us as Americans. For those of us who are not in the Trump cult, we have the potential to be silenced and we all will likely see our country split at its seams. And we have to ask, are we surprised? You may see things one way, someone not far away from you sees things another way. Which leaders are actually working to bring us together versus who is working hard to divide for their own “fame and fortune, power and privilege.” Is this at all a shock when in our own personal life, we focus on comfort and maintaining status quo over the discomfort of change? But do I blame any of us who choose comfort because our culture of capitalism, is filled with an over-achieving, over-compensating, over-indulging mindset that’s stressing us out. We need to find comfort for goodness sake, but then we do well to also look for the roots of our actual discontent.
I recognize how this works and tends to always work. What exists is a very strong, celebrated and perpetual mechanism of a materially driven force that is compelled to dominate – people, economy, religion, logic, politics, land, technology, space discovery, etc. It doesn’t mean we aren’t also interested in collaboration, contribution and coexistence. It’s that the power of movement in our patriarchal design is to overpower the weaker one in order to claim a superior and inequitable position.
Over and over, this is the way of our world advancement and it somehow becomes so convincing that anyone will follow its lead. Land becomes synonymous with power and justified as a method to create safety. Power equals fame and narcissism manages to bend the minds of the vulnerable. Vulnerable, marginalized people are often dehumanized and othered to justify harm. Harm justified by dominant story tellers are twisted towards a strategic narrative with lies that shoot first because our mind’s cling to what’s heard first and barely questions anything follows. I know this in my gut because I see how this unrelenting game of superiority and inferiority, of lies first, truth later has played out in my personal life as well as many stories of friends and people around me.
This dividing, separating to find our tribe for safety is in our blood, in our nervous system, in our DNA so I’m not at all surprised that it happens. I’m just sad to know that it often stops there and then has us forget that we are also each other, we can focus on commonalities. We will default to social, racial and economic hierarchies unless more effort is put towards teaching next generations a new story. And that means the elders who have the strength to come forward must be courageous and those who keep telling the old stories, must soften and step back. This means a very slow process, I know and there’s every reason to lose hope and more reasons to become numb or look the other way. Reminder that that is the hope of the oppressive forces. They feed off of this vulnerability and it is ever more important to do what you need to do to resource yourself and not become depleted. I understand more than ever why Swami Satchidananda is quoted as saying, “Do whatever you need to do at all costs to retain your peace.” Not so that you dumb down, but so that you become “easeful, peaceful and useful” beings on this planet who aren’t unintentionally or intentionally adding to the harms of this world.
On our first “Movie Night @mukunda!,” we watched Ava DuVernay’s Origin and an even more clear message was provided on this topic. Watching this film helped me make sense of why trauma has made it possible for Israel to commit crimes against humanity and why apartheid demands a bloody resistance. It helped me look beyond the race issue and see the fuel behind caste not just in India, but across the globe. It helped me gain even more insight into this very slow, but certain to be revealed story of when we eventually accept the inconvenient truths and consider the dignity of all humanity. As with so much of the ills of our own personal life and our world, I’m always in awe how much of our suffering originates in the mind. I accept that things may not shift in my lifetime, but in my lifetime, I will work towards the liberation of all people in my own way and do my best to uplift those further along than me on this climb.
To come back to Earth Day, a student sent a newsletter to me today that honors Earth Day and I appreciated this quote from Rachel Carson before she died of breast cancer in 1964:
“Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself? [We are] challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
I remember learning the Earth has the resilience of 4 billion years of managing itself. We are such a brief part of its life though making a disastrous footprint along our way. Rather than focusing on saving the Earth, we need to focus on saving ourselves. We are the ones who will suffer when we deplete the Earth of its immediate resources. In time, the Earth knows how to recover. She’s done it many, many times and will certainly need to do it again. We need the Earth in order to live – the Earth doesn’t need us.
SF Ballet night with (left to right) Chad, Heather, Marc, Miya, Mike
Last night, I attended the SF Ballet’s encore performance of “Mere Mortals” with good friends Miya and Mike joining with friends Heather and Chad. It was a powerful performance on the topic of destiny of humanity. At times, the core of dancers felt like an unrelenting mass that’s watching and marching to the beat of a dominant hand. Their high shouldered black costumes and stomping dance moves contrasted with the beautiful moments of solo, duet and trio performances that reminded me that live performance is an irreplaceable art for the soul. The use of AI for the imagery was a message of AI finding it’s way into to the creative arts and our lives – it’s own pandora’s box. Has or will the opening of Pandora’s box be the demise of our evolution? Or is this the inevitable nature of our minds and the potential of light and dark that forever exists in all conditions in this world of duality, thereby being up to each of us to ground and support a collective unwinding towards peace? The ending message is that there is hope, or some may call it “deceptive expectation.” Can this be something we sit with and feel into as a learning space versus the typical knee-jerk hideout to our survival and comfort modes? As I was watching at the edge of my seat, I remembered to take a deep breath in a deep breath out…again, again, and again.
Deep breath in….deep breath out.
May we not have to have so many years pass before we understand the harms we are causing to one another. I pray that it won’t need to be 400 years, or 200 years, or even 50 more years until we recognize the genocide in Gaza and the outdated mission of Zionism. We have a way out of repeating this cycle of harm and it truly is in our hands.
May the entire universe be filled with Peace and Joy, Love and Light. And may the Light of Truth overcome all ignorance. The Light in me sees the Light in you.
Let’s stay connected,
Marc
