We had such a good time last time we met, going around the circle and sharing how we felt, that we decide to do it again. I think we are all still on a high from having spent 4 days with Shahabuddin. It was a wonderful seminar, we did lots of practices with him, and it was so good to see him again, and feel his presence.
D says that now the election is over, she is finally getting back to seriously looking for work, but she has enjoyed the feeling of being retired for a few months, and wonders if she can cope with working again. She has been talking to her financial advisor, and trying to work out which Medicare Plan to use - she tells us it is incredibly complicated. We all tell her she will be able to advise us soon!
T says her company might be hiring at the beginning of the year. She explains about what her company does, and then it is her turn, but she says she is having "re-entry disease", and I can see it on her face.
UD says she went for a walk on Sunday afternoon, when she got home from the seminar, and she floated rather than walking! Then she started picking up Fall leaves, which were in beautiful shades of red, and that helped to reground her. The harmony and beauty of the colors moved her. She has laid them in a pattern on her dining table, and they really are lovely.
K says he was not aware of how high the seminar made him until after he left and tried to be "normal" again. T said that she thought if you did a lot of seminars regularly, or were like a healer and did "stuff" regularly, then you increased your capacity for absorbing the energy without becoming so dizzy. K says he wants to do the 40 Day Retreat that Shahabuddin told us about - this is a way to do a retreat while in the midst of daily life. When should he start, he asks? We talk about when the new moon will be and how close to which holidays. UD reminds us that the Winter Feast for the Soul starts on Jan 15th 09. Then it is M's turn, and he was glad to be at home the day after Shahabuddin. He has realized that even if he manages to reduce the number of things that he has to do, he will always have 6 things to be doing at once.
F likes to go over the notes she took at the seminar while it is still fresh in her mind. She survived work today, but the seminar is an emotional roller-coaster for her. UD remarks that she was on an even-keel afterwards, and spent an hour fixing a computer problem and stayed calm the whole time!
Someone asks D if she can go over the order that S has said we should do our practices in, and D says she is doing an abbreviated version of the 40 Day Retreat practices daily. Then we have this messy discussion about the order: moving energy to the souls of our feet, invocation, attunement, purification/ablution, prayers, Darood, Wazifa, Darood, where people chip in with suggestions and soon I don't know what the order is.
M says usually his job is very grounding - he works with stone, but he found himself today, walking on a narrow ledge 3 stories up, entirely unconcerned. Maybe he wasn't so grounded at all!
D has a great idea for our next meeting. Rabbi Arthur Waskow's Shalom Center in Philadelphia is promoting events around the country to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King (Jan 16) and the Inauguration (Jan 20); see www.TentofAbraham.org. This time also coincides with the Winter Feast for the Soul (Jan15 to Feb 23), and Murshid's Urs (Feb 5). Rabbi Waskow's group is proposing to focus this period on renewing Dr. King's mature vision, as put forward in his Riverside Church speech of April 4, 1967, one year before his death. Unlike the "I have a dream" speech which is commonly revived at celebrations of his birthday, the "Riverside" speech is harder for people to hear, because it is blunt in connecting the issues of peace and social justice, and about our failings in both arenas. Maybe, D says, we should take the time to listen to it again. We all think this is an excellent suggestion, and M offers to get a recording of it.When will our meeting be? Dec is 9th, and Jan is 13th. T also has some suggestions, about doing daily remembrance or practice during the Winter Feast for the Soul at the Interfaith Church. M will talk to the Pastor. (For details see www.winterfeastforthesoul.com/)
We say the Peace Prayer and hug each other. As we leave I reflect, that yes, our conversation was all over the place tonight - we are still "under the influence", it was like trying to take minutes at a cat conference, if you could ever get cats to have a meeting!
hasEML = false;
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Minutes for Meeting 14 October 2008
As we start to talk, H has a suggestion - that we should go around the circle and see how we are all feeling. She says she needs to learn to listen more and talk less, so we should start with someone other than her!
M is next to her, so he starts. He says he is insanely busy, and is wondering if he can keep coming to our meetings, even though it is just once a month. He loves the calmness he finds here.
J likes the calmness too. She says she has less and less patience with people who just talk talk talk all the time, don't listen, and are freaked out by everything. She likes the quiet grounded atmosphere. She is busy organising Shahabuddin's visit.
K has been having intuitions for many months of a doom coming, in dreams and messages. He has been thinking about Shahabuddin and how Nizam has returned to Florida to be nearer to him.
U has had a diverse month. She went to the Abode for a meeting, and also to Baltimore. Then she went to the weekend with Gayan and that felt wonderful. She has been having a great time and has been ignoring the markets, although reading lots of politics and blogs. She is happy to be involved with the coming election, and is enthusiastic about the number of young voters.
T thought it was strange to watch the debates, she came away feeling that whatever happened we were doomed. She mentions some of the bad things she has heard - such as a story about an army brigade deployed in the US, and wonders what it is meant for? At work she is frustrated by her management who still think that 30 men can do in 1 day what several people could do in a month! She also talks about Anti-Columbus Day, and tells us some of the terrible things that Columbus did. We are dismayed and saddened by these truths which are not known generally.
F has found that she is very angry about the current financial crisis. She talks about the greed and selfishness of the bankers and financiers, how they have paid themselves so they are multimillionaires, and how they have happily allowed less knowledgeable people to make foolish mortgages, and get themselves deep in debt. J talks about how Yom Kippur is about forgiveness, and loving thy neighbor, and wonders if she can forgive Bush, or come to terms with her anger at the Israeli settlers. How can she be a peacemaker if she feels this way? She remembers reading "The Lemon Tree" and how it helped her to understand the whole history of the region. H is reminded of The Bereaved Families Group, and how they pass through the stages of grief, and somehow get to forgiveness, and how survivors can grow above their history. She thinks Judaism has the ability to hold on to the agony and ecstacy of life. Recently, when she was upset at home over some issues, she realized the problem was her own anger, so she spent 4 days doing as much "spiritual stuff" as she could, and happily the anger dissipated.
K talks about a book called "Women Who run with the Wolves", and remembers a section of it that is about forbearing, forgetting, forgiving. Some of his dreams have been about making reparation, and then being able to let go.
H goes back to the understanding that the evening before Yom Kippur, you are absolved from promises that you are unable to keep. If the promise did not take you nearer to God, then it is OK to let it go. Then you can forgive yourself, and you get to start over.
K says, we can allow ourselves to evolve, to forgive, to move on.
J says learn to be objective, not subjective,
K remembers something Shahabuddin said to him once, about not paying attention to the emotion, but to the energy. We start to try to clarify this idea. H talks about rightful emotions, like rightful anger, and clearing a space to feel the energy, not the ego attachment.
T says a very interesting site is Reality Sandwich, a web community, who are promoting a world wide meditation this Friday, to open the world.
I am getting too tired to understand what we are talking about! We say the Peace Prayer, and hug each other good night.
As we start to talk, H has a suggestion - that we should go around the circle and see how we are all feeling. She says she needs to learn to listen more and talk less, so we should start with someone other than her!
M is next to her, so he starts. He says he is insanely busy, and is wondering if he can keep coming to our meetings, even though it is just once a month. He loves the calmness he finds here.
J likes the calmness too. She says she has less and less patience with people who just talk talk talk all the time, don't listen, and are freaked out by everything. She likes the quiet grounded atmosphere. She is busy organising Shahabuddin's visit.
K has been having intuitions for many months of a doom coming, in dreams and messages. He has been thinking about Shahabuddin and how Nizam has returned to Florida to be nearer to him.
U has had a diverse month. She went to the Abode for a meeting, and also to Baltimore. Then she went to the weekend with Gayan and that felt wonderful. She has been having a great time and has been ignoring the markets, although reading lots of politics and blogs. She is happy to be involved with the coming election, and is enthusiastic about the number of young voters.
T thought it was strange to watch the debates, she came away feeling that whatever happened we were doomed. She mentions some of the bad things she has heard - such as a story about an army brigade deployed in the US, and wonders what it is meant for? At work she is frustrated by her management who still think that 30 men can do in 1 day what several people could do in a month! She also talks about Anti-Columbus Day, and tells us some of the terrible things that Columbus did. We are dismayed and saddened by these truths which are not known generally.
F has found that she is very angry about the current financial crisis. She talks about the greed and selfishness of the bankers and financiers, how they have paid themselves so they are multimillionaires, and how they have happily allowed less knowledgeable people to make foolish mortgages, and get themselves deep in debt. J talks about how Yom Kippur is about forgiveness, and loving thy neighbor, and wonders if she can forgive Bush, or come to terms with her anger at the Israeli settlers. How can she be a peacemaker if she feels this way? She remembers reading "The Lemon Tree" and how it helped her to understand the whole history of the region. H is reminded of The Bereaved Families Group, and how they pass through the stages of grief, and somehow get to forgiveness, and how survivors can grow above their history. She thinks Judaism has the ability to hold on to the agony and ecstacy of life. Recently, when she was upset at home over some issues, she realized the problem was her own anger, so she spent 4 days doing as much "spiritual stuff" as she could, and happily the anger dissipated.
K talks about a book called "Women Who run with the Wolves", and remembers a section of it that is about forbearing, forgetting, forgiving. Some of his dreams have been about making reparation, and then being able to let go.
H goes back to the understanding that the evening before Yom Kippur, you are absolved from promises that you are unable to keep. If the promise did not take you nearer to God, then it is OK to let it go. Then you can forgive yourself, and you get to start over.
K says, we can allow ourselves to evolve, to forgive, to move on.
J says learn to be objective, not subjective,
K remembers something Shahabuddin said to him once, about not paying attention to the emotion, but to the energy. We start to try to clarify this idea. H talks about rightful emotions, like rightful anger, and clearing a space to feel the energy, not the ego attachment.
T says a very interesting site is Reality Sandwich, a web community, who are promoting a world wide meditation this Friday, to open the world.
I am getting too tired to understand what we are talking about! We say the Peace Prayer, and hug each other good night.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Minutes for Meeting September 9th 2008
While we eat another absolutely delicious potluck meal, we talk about H's new class called "Unity of Religious Ideals. It sounds really interesting to me -- I wish I could go, but H says no one has signed up yet, and it starts next week. T encourages her to advertise more.
We have a short list of 3 topics tonight!
Firstly, we ask J for news of Iptisam. She is definitely coming to Seattle, but it is still not clear what she will be able or willing to do. T points out that this is the limiting factor, and we need this information before we can really make plans. J hopes to find out this information in November. She would come the last week of April 2009.
Next D updates us on a weekend she attended at the Abode (the Sufi Order International’s "heart center" in upstate New York," to launch Seven Pillars: A Contemporary House of Wisdom, Pir Zia's latest initiative. While Suluk Academy focuses on intensive training in Sufism, Seven Pillars is our outreach of the Message of Unity to the public. The school offers workshops and publications exploring three themes: Revelation, Mysticism, Cosmology and Chivalry. About 200 people attended the inaugural event, including many prominent writers, spiritual leaders and activists representing many perspectives on these themes. The idea is to create a community to help the project evolve. The first graduating class of the Suluk Academy organized the meeting, which assured D that the younger generation is rising to leadership. D says it was just amazing, and very interactive, lots of people got up to speak.
An inspiring note at the meeting was that Pir Zia spoke of his meeting with Brother Wayne Teasdale, which planted the seed of the Seven Pillars idea, and then four months later he passed away, and so Pir Zia felt that the torch had been handed on to the younger leadership. The other main inspiration comes from Lindesfarne Associates, a group of intellectual leaders from many scientific, spiritual and literary perspectives, which has been meeting to synthesize ideas since the 1970s. One of its founders, William Irwin Thompson, was on hand and is a strong supporter of the new venture.
I ask where the "Seven Pillars" name come from - it is from the book of Proverbs, in the Bible: "Wisdom [Sophia]has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. (Proverbs 9:1) ".
T recommends a book called "The Great Turning: from Empire to Earth Community, by David Korten. The essence of it seems to be the idea of a transition from large imperialistic, power driven cultures (currently represented by global corporations) to a more earth and people-centered culture founded in humanistic values. Another recommendation is "Blessed Unrest" by Paul Hawkins, describing the millions of citizens groups around the world organizing to meet needs for food security, housing, health care, peace, environmental protection, etc etc.
Lastly, H talks a little about a seminar at a friend’s house, with visiting teacher Gayan Macher, which is being held to raise money for the Seven Pillars. She needs help with transport.
It seems as though the summer is coming to an end. We are all glad we got to eat outside once more before the weather changes.
We have a short list of 3 topics tonight!
Firstly, we ask J for news of Iptisam. She is definitely coming to Seattle, but it is still not clear what she will be able or willing to do. T points out that this is the limiting factor, and we need this information before we can really make plans. J hopes to find out this information in November. She would come the last week of April 2009.
Next D updates us on a weekend she attended at the Abode (the Sufi Order International’s "heart center" in upstate New York," to launch Seven Pillars: A Contemporary House of Wisdom, Pir Zia's latest initiative. While Suluk Academy focuses on intensive training in Sufism, Seven Pillars is our outreach of the Message of Unity to the public. The school offers workshops and publications exploring three themes: Revelation, Mysticism, Cosmology and Chivalry. About 200 people attended the inaugural event, including many prominent writers, spiritual leaders and activists representing many perspectives on these themes. The idea is to create a community to help the project evolve. The first graduating class of the Suluk Academy organized the meeting, which assured D that the younger generation is rising to leadership. D says it was just amazing, and very interactive, lots of people got up to speak.
An inspiring note at the meeting was that Pir Zia spoke of his meeting with Brother Wayne Teasdale, which planted the seed of the Seven Pillars idea, and then four months later he passed away, and so Pir Zia felt that the torch had been handed on to the younger leadership. The other main inspiration comes from Lindesfarne Associates, a group of intellectual leaders from many scientific, spiritual and literary perspectives, which has been meeting to synthesize ideas since the 1970s. One of its founders, William Irwin Thompson, was on hand and is a strong supporter of the new venture.
I ask where the "Seven Pillars" name come from - it is from the book of Proverbs, in the Bible: "Wisdom [Sophia]has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. (Proverbs 9:1) ".
T recommends a book called "The Great Turning: from Empire to Earth Community, by David Korten. The essence of it seems to be the idea of a transition from large imperialistic, power driven cultures (currently represented by global corporations) to a more earth and people-centered culture founded in humanistic values. Another recommendation is "Blessed Unrest" by Paul Hawkins, describing the millions of citizens groups around the world organizing to meet needs for food security, housing, health care, peace, environmental protection, etc etc.
Lastly, H talks a little about a seminar at a friend’s house, with visiting teacher Gayan Macher, which is being held to raise money for the Seven Pillars. She needs help with transport.
It seems as though the summer is coming to an end. We are all glad we got to eat outside once more before the weather changes.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
August Meeting
Tonight J wants to tell us about Ibtisam coming to San Francisco next April 09, and we discuss how we could get her to visit Seattle and what she might do while she is here.
Ibtisam Mahameed is a founding member of the Abrahamic Reunion. She lives in Faradis (which means Paradise), an Arab village which lies inside Israel. In 1948, Jews took the original village, which was on the beach, and the Palestinians left. Most of Ibtisam's family went to Jordan, but her mother (and others) went inland and stayed there.
Ibtisam is coming to SF because she has won special recognition from a non-profit in SF called Wisdom in Action. This group exists because the Dalai Lama wished to honor people who, through loving kindness and compassionate action, have made their communities and the world a better place. This is the third time since 2000 that these honors have been given. The 50 honorees, who come from all over the globe, receive an all-expenses-paid trip to San Francisco for a weekend. They have a dinner together, during which they get to know each other a little. And there is a lunch the following day, attended by as many as 500 people, during which they receive a special blessing from HH the Dalai Lama.
Ibtisam has created a Women's Leadership Training project in her village. J tells us that in the beginning of the training, the idea of setting a personal goal was outside the range of their thinking and awareness. Now the women all have personal goals, and many of them also have the open support of their husbands and families.
Ibtisam also initiated the Women's Tent Project, with a Jewish woman, Dorit, and they made a play about Jewish and Arab women together, which they toured to many places. One of Ibtisam's goals is to create a trauma healing center for Arab and Jewish women to try to heal their trauma together.
So why do we want her to come to Seattle? By planning some public speaking events (or maybe only one), we could raise money for her, and also encourage people to see that there is great work going on in the Middle East to help resolve the conflict, and that it is not all just hopeless. Who do we want to involve? Jewish community, Muslim community, Interfaith community, all of the above we think.
We come up with three main ideas.
Firstly, a larger public event, where Ibtisam would give a Power Point presentation about her work. We could ask for a donation at that event. We talk about various groups that we could tell about this, such as Brit Tzedek v'Shalom , which is a Jewish group that is interested in the conflict. We need to find a Muslim group to balance this. We wonder about the people from Seeds of Compassion.
Secondly, a small event where we invite all our friends to a meal and maybe we could have some music as well as eating and contributing money.
Thirdly, it would be wonderful to have her talk to some children, Jewish and Muslim, so they can see we are all just ordinary people, and we have stories and photos and we look like the people who live down the block, and we don't look like The Enemy. Will there be a video of the Ceremony in San Francisco?
J will have to talk with Ibtisam to see how she feels about doing this, and what her timetable might be like, because there are others who will want her to visit too. It is good that Ibtisam has been working on her English, she won't need a translator!
We move from the dinner table to the lounge where we say prayers for peace. It is time to leave.
Ibtisam Mahameed is a founding member of the Abrahamic Reunion. She lives in Faradis (which means Paradise), an Arab village which lies inside Israel. In 1948, Jews took the original village, which was on the beach, and the Palestinians left. Most of Ibtisam's family went to Jordan, but her mother (and others) went inland and stayed there.
Ibtisam is coming to SF because she has won special recognition from a non-profit in SF called Wisdom in Action. This group exists because the Dalai Lama wished to honor people who, through loving kindness and compassionate action, have made their communities and the world a better place. This is the third time since 2000 that these honors have been given. The 50 honorees, who come from all over the globe, receive an all-expenses-paid trip to San Francisco for a weekend. They have a dinner together, during which they get to know each other a little. And there is a lunch the following day, attended by as many as 500 people, during which they receive a special blessing from HH the Dalai Lama.
Ibtisam has created a Women's Leadership Training project in her village. J tells us that in the beginning of the training, the idea of setting a personal goal was outside the range of their thinking and awareness. Now the women all have personal goals, and many of them also have the open support of their husbands and families.
Ibtisam also initiated the Women's Tent Project, with a Jewish woman, Dorit, and they made a play about Jewish and Arab women together, which they toured to many places. One of Ibtisam's goals is to create a trauma healing center for Arab and Jewish women to try to heal their trauma together.
So why do we want her to come to Seattle? By planning some public speaking events (or maybe only one), we could raise money for her, and also encourage people to see that there is great work going on in the Middle East to help resolve the conflict, and that it is not all just hopeless. Who do we want to involve? Jewish community, Muslim community, Interfaith community, all of the above we think.
We come up with three main ideas.
Firstly, a larger public event, where Ibtisam would give a Power Point presentation about her work. We could ask for a donation at that event. We talk about various groups that we could tell about this, such as Brit Tzedek v'Shalom , which is a Jewish group that is interested in the conflict. We need to find a Muslim group to balance this. We wonder about the people from Seeds of Compassion.
Secondly, a small event where we invite all our friends to a meal and maybe we could have some music as well as eating and contributing money.
Thirdly, it would be wonderful to have her talk to some children, Jewish and Muslim, so they can see we are all just ordinary people, and we have stories and photos and we look like the people who live down the block, and we don't look like The Enemy. Will there be a video of the Ceremony in San Francisco?
J will have to talk with Ibtisam to see how she feels about doing this, and what her timetable might be like, because there are others who will want her to visit too. It is good that Ibtisam has been working on her English, she won't need a translator!
We move from the dinner table to the lounge where we say prayers for peace. It is time to leave.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Meeting Notes from July 8th
H, J, T, M & D were there. F&K called at the last minute to say they couldn't come, and U was out of town. N had hoped to come, but was unable to. She's moving to the east coast at the end of the month; we'll miss her.
Here's what I remember talking about on Tuesday, as amended by J, M, H & D:
J told us that Ibtisam Mahameed, a religious Muslim woman who is a founding member of the Abrahamic Reunion in Israel/Palestine, is being recognized as an "Unsung Hero" by Wisdom In Action, a non-profit based in San Francisco. Wisdom In Action identifies individuals "who, through their loving kindness and service to others, have made their communities and our world a better place." As part of her selection as an honoree, she will receive a special recognition and blessing from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She will also get to meet the other honorees, a diverse group of men and women, representing different faiths, countries of origin, and ways of working in the world. She also gets an all-expenses paid trip to San Francisco for herself and a companion. This will be in April of 2009.
We talked about whether, since she'll be on the west coast, we could get her up here for some events. H suggested having her meet with Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. We also talked about organizing something with a Jewish group, and/or possibly arranging for her to
speak to kids in school. We had lots of ideas. J said she would email the person at Wisdom in Action in charge of Ibtisam's travel to the US and see whether there was any leeway for Ibtisam to go to other places, as long as she's in this country.
We also talked about Tourism4peace.org and the "Brand Israel" concept: If Israel, is strong in all aspects of its culture (not just its military), it will be strong enough to be less desperate about its survival, thus perhaps have less rigid policies regarding the Palestinians. Various organizations, including the Israeli Foreign Ministry, are seeking to change Israel's image, so that people don't only think of it as the center of a terrible and seemingly irresolvable conflict. However there are grave challenges for people who might think about investing in Israeli
institutions and companies because of the many human rights abuses.
J knows a young Jewish man who lived for three years in Ramallah Palestine to learn Arabic, and who wrote long letters about his amazing experiences. She offered to organize these letters and share them with the group, with the understanding that they remain inside the group and not be passed on to anyone else.
We talked about the cellular levels of fear that are part of Jewish heritage and the idea of Israel as a haven for Jews. How do you reconcile the feeling of rage at the Israeli government and your
identity as a Jew? How does it feel to have a government do crazy things in your name (something we've all experienced) as a citizen of a country, as a Jew, and how does it differ from what's been done in our name as Americans? We wondered how generational shift will impact the remembrance of the Holocaust. The first-hand horror will inevitably get more diffuse, but also perhaps there can be some healing that will give Israel the courage to stop being the abusers (which is a point of view not commonly held). What would a post-racial, post-tribal, post-national identity look like?
J promised to bring her map of the area to help us understand the tangle of ideas around borders and place.
Book list thoughts:
Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson
The Places in Between, Rory Stewart
The Prince of the Marshes and Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq, Rory Stewart
Movie: Up the Yangtze
Here's what I remember talking about on Tuesday, as amended by J, M, H & D:
J told us that Ibtisam Mahameed, a religious Muslim woman who is a founding member of the Abrahamic Reunion in Israel/Palestine, is being recognized as an "Unsung Hero" by Wisdom In Action, a non-profit based in San Francisco. Wisdom In Action identifies individuals "who, through their loving kindness and service to others, have made their communities and our world a better place." As part of her selection as an honoree, she will receive a special recognition and blessing from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She will also get to meet the other honorees, a diverse group of men and women, representing different faiths, countries of origin, and ways of working in the world. She also gets an all-expenses paid trip to San Francisco for herself and a companion. This will be in April of 2009.
We talked about whether, since she'll be on the west coast, we could get her up here for some events. H suggested having her meet with Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. We also talked about organizing something with a Jewish group, and/or possibly arranging for her to
speak to kids in school. We had lots of ideas. J said she would email the person at Wisdom in Action in charge of Ibtisam's travel to the US and see whether there was any leeway for Ibtisam to go to other places, as long as she's in this country.
We also talked about Tourism4peace.org and the "Brand Israel" concept: If Israel, is strong in all aspects of its culture (not just its military), it will be strong enough to be less desperate about its survival, thus perhaps have less rigid policies regarding the Palestinians. Various organizations, including the Israeli Foreign Ministry, are seeking to change Israel's image, so that people don't only think of it as the center of a terrible and seemingly irresolvable conflict. However there are grave challenges for people who might think about investing in Israeli
institutions and companies because of the many human rights abuses.
J knows a young Jewish man who lived for three years in Ramallah Palestine to learn Arabic, and who wrote long letters about his amazing experiences. She offered to organize these letters and share them with the group, with the understanding that they remain inside the group and not be passed on to anyone else.
We talked about the cellular levels of fear that are part of Jewish heritage and the idea of Israel as a haven for Jews. How do you reconcile the feeling of rage at the Israeli government and your
identity as a Jew? How does it feel to have a government do crazy things in your name (something we've all experienced) as a citizen of a country, as a Jew, and how does it differ from what's been done in our name as Americans? We wondered how generational shift will impact the remembrance of the Holocaust. The first-hand horror will inevitably get more diffuse, but also perhaps there can be some healing that will give Israel the courage to stop being the abusers (which is a point of view not commonly held). What would a post-racial, post-tribal, post-national identity look like?
J promised to bring her map of the area to help us understand the tangle of ideas around borders and place.
Book list thoughts:
Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson
The Places in Between, Rory Stewart
The Prince of the Marshes and Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq, Rory Stewart
Movie: Up the Yangtze
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Monthly Meeting Tuesday June 10th
Summer is getting closer, although the weather is still miserable. We start with greetings and getting food on the table, and it is such great food that I just want to tell you about that! Our conversation first centers around movies we have seen this month that are relevant to the our spiritual lives in some way. K asks what we think about him showing his 88 yr old mother who is losing her short term memory the "Tibetan Book of the Dead". Someone says El Cid is the interfaith movie of all time. "Samsara" is another one. I can't get my notes down in time - I have come from the dentist and my mouth is numb and I am trying to get food into it.
H is going to start a class in her community - it will be called "Unity of Religious Ideals". At our last Shahabuddin seminar, he told us we should try to find ways to share the knowledge we have learnt over the years with younger people, and H has summoned up her courage to do this.
T gets us icecream and chocolate sauce. H is reading a book on Dragonology with E who is 8. I am overcome by a wave of love for this new family of mine, at how easily we all talk at the same time, and how glad I am to be with them.
Then T and H have a much more serious conversation, and afterwards I can't remember what it is about, I just remember my worry that maybe I am not the right person for this job, because I don't understand some of the more esoteric discussions!
K and H talk about Murshida Vera and their memories of her.
What can we do on June 21st to be part of the peace effort? H volunteers her home and we start to make plans.
We say prayers together, and make a date for next month
H is going to start a class in her community - it will be called "Unity of Religious Ideals". At our last Shahabuddin seminar, he told us we should try to find ways to share the knowledge we have learnt over the years with younger people, and H has summoned up her courage to do this.
T gets us icecream and chocolate sauce. H is reading a book on Dragonology with E who is 8. I am overcome by a wave of love for this new family of mine, at how easily we all talk at the same time, and how glad I am to be with them.
Then T and H have a much more serious conversation, and afterwards I can't remember what it is about, I just remember my worry that maybe I am not the right person for this job, because I don't understand some of the more esoteric discussions!
K and H talk about Murshida Vera and their memories of her.
What can we do on June 21st to be part of the peace effort? H volunteers her home and we start to make plans.
We say prayers together, and make a date for next month
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Peace Oil
Dear Conspirers (those who breathe together),
A topic for Tuesday conversation?
While helping at Folklife a couple of weeks ago, I encountered Peace Oil. www.peaceoil.biz
Peace Oil is olive oil is Fair Trade and brought to the US by cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis. The mission is to "build economic interdependence between people by creating mutally beneficial bsiness partnerships, providing a practical incentive for peace." We might have to do more research but the owner was interested in hearing more about what we do. He has donated a portion of sales to Middle East peace orgs and activities. He knows about Eliahu et. al. and thought he might be willing to donate on our behalf.
in loving service,
Halima
A topic for Tuesday conversation?
While helping at Folklife a couple of weeks ago, I encountered Peace Oil. www.peaceoil.biz
Peace Oil is olive oil is Fair Trade and brought to the US by cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis. The mission is to "build economic interdependence between people by creating mutally beneficial bsiness partnerships, providing a practical incentive for peace." We might have to do more research but the owner was interested in hearing more about what we do. He has donated a portion of sales to Middle East peace orgs and activities. He knows about Eliahu et. al. and thought he might be willing to donate on our behalf.
in loving service,
Halima
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Inner Peace
Inner Peace
Many people talk about "inner peace" and yet live in a world of riotous inner rage. Our circumstances during these times make it so difficult to achieve and maintain a sense of inner peace. I have been so shocked since moving back to Seattle to hear of murders, kidnappings, disasters of one kind or another every single day. No exaggeration. How does one sustain peace in such an environmnet? We talk about war in the Holy Lands, but what about the war at home? How can we create a space for our own little piece of land, once so beautiful and gracious with offerings of food, shelter, energy, beauty. I don't have the answer for this, but I think it's worth consideration, even if it has been considered before. Perhaps during this time we need not to go to Temple or Mass or other religious services, but we need to create a Peace Service, which comes together regularly, is open to everyone, and concentrates on peace in our own homes, our own hearts. Just a thought from N.
Many people talk about "inner peace" and yet live in a world of riotous inner rage. Our circumstances during these times make it so difficult to achieve and maintain a sense of inner peace. I have been so shocked since moving back to Seattle to hear of murders, kidnappings, disasters of one kind or another every single day. No exaggeration. How does one sustain peace in such an environmnet? We talk about war in the Holy Lands, but what about the war at home? How can we create a space for our own little piece of land, once so beautiful and gracious with offerings of food, shelter, energy, beauty. I don't have the answer for this, but I think it's worth consideration, even if it has been considered before. Perhaps during this time we need not to go to Temple or Mass or other religious services, but we need to create a Peace Service, which comes together regularly, is open to everyone, and concentrates on peace in our own homes, our own hearts. Just a thought from N.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Shalom Salaam Hu Hu
There's a short spoken introduction to this practice on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87tQ6V5hEug at the 4:00 minute mark.
On Getting to Know Each Other as a Spiritual Practice for Peace
When we first started talking about blogging this group, we wondered what to say. After all, are the monthly dinner conversations & spiritual practices of 8 or 9 people so very interesting, and can they be conveyed by the typewritten word? And why is meeting for supper, conversation & prayers a work for peace?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
May 13th Meeting
Our Spiritual Peacemakers group is just 6 of us tonight. We give thanks for our food and then M leaves to pick up his son from class - they will be back soon. K arrives last, he was sorting out a problem with a sick dog. We have all been fooled by the weather - it is supposed to be 80 degrees in 2 days time, but it is cold, rainy, and only 50 degrees. F has brought a cold chicken salad, U has made a dish of beans with avocado, olives and corn chips. There is also quinoa with vegetables, a lamb rice biryani, hot tea, and we follow it all with deliciously sweet strawberries.
We sit around the table talking. M has come back, and he reminds us that when we asked Shahabuddin at our last seminar what we could do to help the AR, he thought for a few moment and then said "blog". J doesn't like the idea too much. T, who is more computer savvy, asks what she is afraid of. J has learnt in her life to keep a low profile, to blend in, because standing out is asking for trouble. Her parents taught her that. T points out that Shahabuddin did not tell us to raise funds or give lectures, in fact his only suggestion was this one. "And what exactly would we write about? Our conversations wander around different topics, and it would be hard to pin them down", J asks. F says that before she came this evening, she was listening by phone to Shahabuddin's evening class in Sarasota. One of the class asks a question about what we can do to help the whole process of peace and saying how helpless she feels, and Shahabauddin says that not getting drawn down into the troubles of the world, but doing practices, offering love and light, will really help the world. "You don't have to listen to endless reports of misery", he says. At the end of his talk he tells about the Sheikh and his wife who are part of the AR in the
So here we are, coming together once a month, sharing food and saying prayers together, getting to know and trust each other a little better with each meeting. We finish by doing practices - Salaam, Shalom, Hu Hu.
We hug each other, put on our coats, T asks shall we get together for Pia Zia's videocast?, and there is a chatter of last minute ideas and reminders. We open the door to the rain. "Next meeting June 10th," calls out J. Until then, know you are held in our hearts, with love and prayers for peace.