FOR THE SEVENTH GENERATION
Community service as a way of life
"All life is YOGA" -Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo was an intellectual man from India who got schooled in
Europe and was kinda "frat buddies" with Gandhi. They both believed that
a radical spirituality was a great political weapon for change. Sri Aurobindo
went on to co-found, with Mira (The Mother) "Auroville" in Madras. They
believed in INTEGRAL yoga (as summed up by the quote above), living la
vida buena as The Way. So do I.
Community/planetary service is a 24-7 thing to me.
It is: when I breathe, and between breaths. It is everything. Even ( and,
perhaps, especially) when I'm in service (seemingly) to myself, I am of
service to the planet too.
Snugglin flowers, Buyin organic tobacco and laughing with the clerk, Playin
in the tidepools, soakin up joy and vitamins A&D, all parts of serving
the community!?!
Why? Well, a simple and general answer would be "If I am nourished,
well rested, happy- I am a better person, which then betters the world".
A few expandatures on that hereby follow:
Eating, being well nourished (well is a keyword here), is important
in that, should you eat at all, at least you're staying alive, and therefore
you have a body in which to do service with. When you eat healthy foods
that do not cause headaches, tiredness, or any kinda general malaise- you
can REALLY cook with spreading the light around. When you eat only organically
grown foods, you take a bite out of pesticide use on this planet. It may
seem like a really small bite, but a lot of small bites can polish off
a sandwich (obscure cliché alert). When you buy from local farmers,
you support small families that often are practicing sustainable agriculture,
and actually improving the land by planting a bio-diverse buncha crops,
instead of top-soil eroding deep plow and monoculture. The fuel that's
used to ship non-locally grown food to us, and perhaps even to grow and
process it (in farm machinery and factories, energy gets sucked, OH yes!)
is thereby reduced. Often food itself becomes a prime focus of planetary
service to many, from boycotts of food linked to Labor/Human rights /enviornmental
abuses, to choosing Vegetarianism as a lifestyle, to composting leftover
food rather than throwing it away. How does any of this effect seven generations
from now? I ask, how does it not?
All right, you may say, "how does something obviously
self-indulgent, like, for instance, having some really good sex, help the
planet and/or the seventh generation"- and I'm not talking the obvious
answer that there would be no seventh generation if no one had any........
Well, the research scientific is overwhelming in many diverse regions that
we NEED TO BE TOUCHED OR WE WILL DIE. This was dramatically shown, in particular,
when Hitler tried to create a master race of Aryan hybrids. After his carefully
coupled creations had grown inside well fed drug and alcohol free kept
warm and clean Mothers, they were, at birth, immediately taken to state
of the art nurseries, where they were given top of the line care, in an
amazingly germ free environment.... in fact, all the nurses wore gloves
when handling them, which they did only when absolutely necessary. All
the babies died. Every single one. A student at USC Boulder heard this
in a sociology class, and ended up doing a research project that showed
that animals (such as monkeys) will, when being starved of both food and
touch for a long period of time, then given a choice to run to a cage with
food or with another animal to cuddle, will choose the cuddling (even if
it's just a piece of fur). WE NEED TO BE TOUCHED AND WHEN WE AREN'T SUFFICIENTLY
AND/OR OFTEN, WE DIE TO ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER, AND WE AIN'T MUCH HELP TO
THIS PLANET IF WE'RE DEPRESSED ZOMBIES WITHOUT SOULS, HUH? And as far as
sex goes, there's tension release as well. People who are less tense create
less anger/violence, etc.
Bad sex? Rape? How does that help the fucking planet?
Creates empathy. Humanness. Depth. Violence and victemness and all that
nasty shit has its place too. To separate any experience from service and
the carving of our characters is superficially sighted. A life without
suffering would be great, but while the world is still like this, some
personal suffering and trauma is helpful in creating nonjudgmental, more
humble and compassionate human beings.
Writing
about your difficult and painful experiences and then getting them published
and/or reading them in public helps people realize they're not alone in
their pains and sufferings. Done with a sense of humor, as in this MCC
Literary Journal reading, it can also share with folks how possible it
is to laugh yourself to the other side of many a difficult thing.
Teach Your Children Well: parenting as community
service.
HELLO! This may be a brainless one, but raising up smart aware loving
human beings is one of the best services we can give!
Snuggling is already
proved essential.
Gymnastics and other sports build strength, flexibility, and self-esteem.
Self esteem is furthered by watching them practice/perform, both privately
and spontaneously, such as at the park during a picnic together, and publicly,
like at their group place. When the other kids see they have a parent that
loves and cares for them they're more likely to reach out/be friendly as
well, so the circle of loving friends increases.`
Going to school to eat breakfast with your keikis often has unexpected
benefits, such as being able to see their artwork that had been hung in
the cafeteria, and being able to praise them for it :) You can also hang
out with their class, sometimes even helping the teacher. Gettin to know
your kid's friends is way cool, and enlightening as well :)
Outings are fun and educational. The Lion Dance at Chinese New Year
causes laughter, and cultural diversity awareness and appreciation.
When you are not ruled by fear and not over careful with your children,
they learn to relax into life, trust nature, be close to the earth. (Michaela
and tree love.)
Stopping when "your" kids have a creative idea ("Momma, can I take
a photograph of you holding this photo near all the inside car stuff and
dashboard and all?" "Yep, sweetie pie, let me pull over, okay, here's the
camera, you know how to use it.... that's it, love!" Pulling the car over,
putting the newspaper down, turning off the TV, little things that show
them HOW BIG your Good Lovin Attention is towards them. When they see that
they are a priority, they can give the same to others throughout their
lives. "People are more important than TV" heard it ever? Yeah? TEACH THROUGH
EXAMPLE, HUH?
Outings can often be an example of how shitty (outwardly) experiences
can be beneficial too. At the circus where this photo was taken we saw
an abused and neglected "miniature pony" which we prayed for, talked about,
and, after the circus, brainstormed on possible practical things we could
do to save the poor thing from further cruelty. Every experience is a chance
for education, and ACTUAL TALKING WITH EACH OTHER! Not turning away and/or
hiding from ANYthing in life with your child helps them to grow into strong,
unafraid, intelligent human beings.
Don't have to squirt out a child to still be involved.....
Yes- in fact, they do not have to be your own children at all. There
are many ways to touch our future hopes though nurturing them, body mind
and/or spirit.
The Kidcast For Peace provides an avenue for many of us "adults" to
help the kids get their strong voices heard about what kind of world they
want to be living in when they grow up, and how to insure that there even
IS A FUCKING PLANET HERE THEN! Ideas for creating and/or maintaining peace
on the globe, caring for the environment and more come from the mouths
of these more-aware-than-most-people-give-them-credit-for "Kids". This
particular kidcast was live in streaming video on the net, documented archivally
on the web page, and will be shown on the local TV station.
Rise and shine, mama! Breakfast club starts at 6:50 AM and since you're
the only volunteer that gets there that early on most mornings, there are
some kids that need help finishing their homework that's due that day,
or need someone to read to, that would be lost without you! Now, sign in,
sit down, and give your best to these sweet dear little ones :)
Sometimes we're all kinda slow to wake up, but soon we're in the swing
of things!
Reading can and should be totally fun, when it is for you, it infects
the kids, and they have................
Too much fun?
Seeing the desperate attempts to get back to the land (kalo patch from
the side of a main street) and traveling to see those who have taken it
to the next step (desperation and extreme grief leads to positive action.....
another proof of "all good?") out at Duke's lo'i and extremely pono land,
reaffirms how much we need and crave that closeness and interdependence
with Gaia :) Note: coconut in foreground fell naturally from a tree to
the ground, forgotten..... was retrieved by a "Keiki O' Ka Aina" (me),
cracked on the sidewalk till it opened, then was shared with all. WALK
YOUR TALK!
Sometimes the smallest things can help change the world. Everything,
every step, every smile, every precious touch, every difficult thing too,
all weave together, when married with the great good intention to be so,
to make us into better human beings, and, therefore, makes the world a
better place.
Potendia The Pigeon is grateful that 3singingeagles helped to fix her
wing, and now hangs out around the campus of Maui Community College sharing
her ALOHA.