sweet samhain salutations

celebrated on October 30th
in the northern hemisphere;
for Celts, the start of winter
of facing our selves
darkness
death
transformation…

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
where the veil between here
& other realms was held to be thinnest
where the extra-ordinary became possible
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❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Late Fragment
And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved,
to feel myself beloved on the earth.
(the final poem in Raymond Carver’s last poetry collection,
A New Path to the Waterfall (1989)
published shortly after his death.
The lines are inscribed on his gravestone.)
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

kindness & compassion….
arise in many forms
the wish for the end of suffering for all beings
seeing the Buddha-nature in each person….

imagine being imprisoned by an aggressor
held captive for 20 years,
and to still practise that most radical of acts:
seeing the Buddha-nature in each person

interestingly too,
a most generous act of kindness to self

…such deep sorrow in
this human expression….

recent work from kitchen sink studio⟱

 

⟰ return 2 collage slideshow with soundtrack


…and
sketchbook exploration, some from the ar(t)chive

 

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it is all a teaching…
yes, but are we learning?   
with thanks to Angela D.

cultural picks

videos
Short Moments: Ziji Rinpoche, Avatars Dzogchen teachings  Three Words That Strike The Heart
Youtube Channel Survival of the Fittest teaching shared by Ani Drolma


music

Jesse Welles the inimitable ever-pertinent & perceptive young musician with timeless super-skilful means, gets to the heart of the matter, once again, & so succinctly: Death by Firing Squad

documentary films
* What Happens When Incarcerated and Free Students Learn Together?  (PBS 26mn)

   poignant & pragmatic, from inside and outside prison, with thanks to Angela
* Olafur Arnalds Island Songs (1hr 9mns) music, collaboration, community & love (avail on Amazon Prime)
* How to Live On Earth narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch (unshowily) 1hr 36mns
* Rolling Thunder Review – Dylan’s 1975 tour directed by Scorcese. Cool young Patti Smith! Allen Ginsburg
rapping –
wonderful portrayal of musicians on the road, jamming, travelling, communing…(avail on Netflix)
* The Nuns of Gebchak: Keepers of Tibet’s Secret Yogas 13mns from Slice

a marvellous glimpse into the lives of female spiritual practitioners – yogini-nuns in EasternTibet. This short film ends… “…..so I’ll continue to walk for the sake of all sentient beings. My name is Rigang, the wandering nun.”

P L A Y
…..remember the door bell ringing and a friend standing there asking can you come out to play?

As adults we may have forgotten about the spontaneity and life-enhancing qualities of play:
ie to engage in activity for enjoyment, recreation, or sport…

so much play, in play, in our culture…
playing cards/playwright/play soccer/put on a play/play nicely/get played/play a part/play the piano/play the horses-stockmarket/play with yourself/play it play out/play it by ear/play merry hell/play off/play around/play on/come into play/play on words/play the shot/ play dumb/play about/play a joke/in play/play it safe/play ball/play with fire/play hooky/play out/play your cards right/play the system/play fast & loose/play to your strengths/play up/play by your own rules/play for high stakes/

***********************************************************

un-stuck collage ⟰

playing around with B & W...⟱

never underestimate the seriousness of taking things lightly
***********************************************
refining perception: the awe and wonder of noticing
some of us have been involved in the international
tree experiment:  reconnecting & communing with nature
noticing what messages, guidance, feelings, support arises…
(field notes were contributed & the data is being crunched)
direct transmission for those attuning to nature,
to experiencing the profound connection:
knowing we are made of the same stuff
(27,000 people in 40 countries participated)

***************************************
what did the Buddhist say to the pizza maker?
make me one with everything
************************

continuing the series 3 books by the bed


All shall be well,
and all shall be well,
and all manner of thing shall be well
for there’s a force of love
moving through the universe
that holds us fast
and will never let us go
(the mystical assurance recorded
by the 14th-century English anchoress
& theologian Julian of Norwich)

some scaffolding that makers at kitchen sink studio find life-enhancing
these are a few of our favourite things….

Image & Theatre: Andana: photography & personal development
The Four Mainstays: Short Moments
Tai Chi Movement for Wellbeing
New Bristol Open Meeting
Wander & Wonder with Helen Wells artist
Humanhood – movement
60+ clarity call with Short Moments….normalising old age sickness & death
walking in nature
dancing

…& a little playful pedantry
rogue letters commonly added/removed in saying these words
mispronunciation       mispronounciation
dilate                        dialate
turmeric                    tu meric (pronounced like tumour!)
specific                     pacific
mischievous              mischievious
espresso                   expresso
et cetera                   ex cetera

Xplorations….Xcavations…


noticing / refining perception / paying attention / loving what we see

the wonder of nature through which we may recognise our own true nature

with great gratitude to our
wisdom teacher Ziji Rinpoche

Green Tara

 ❤️ thank you for visiting & we trust
something resonated for you ❤️

 

 

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