¡Que Viva!
I try to be discerning about asking you for financial support. Today, I write with an opportunity for you to get behind a ritual endeavor of massive proportions. Burning Man is far from perfect. But it is a “temporary autonomous zone” like no other. It is a space that allows us to experience something other than the consensus trance of our default culture. A new and beautiful possibility.
It should be possible for Black, Indigenous and other People of Color to participate in this rite. To benefit from it. And to help define it.
¡Que Viva! is the BIPOC, femme-led camp that we are privileged to be a part of. And I am asking you to give any amount to support our camp’s infrastructure.
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To Dive Deeply Into Each Other
I like to think of myself as someone who turns towards whatever is in front of me. I want to be the kind of person that will face everything and avoid nothing. This is a big part of what I’m bringing to my work with the Better Men Project. And my partner often tells me that it is one of the things she admires most about me.
I’m trying!
And yet still, I fall short.
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Between Putin and Fundamentalisms
I am inviting you into a deep, somewhat intellectual, but definitely spiritual conversation. It is with one of my most important teachers in the practice of Emergent Consciousness Dialogue. Thomas Steinenberg. Host of “Radio Evolve”
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How Babies Are Born
Watching my son’s birth remains one of the peak experiences of my human existence. I fell into a state of ecstatic bliss. It was so wild and intense. The OBGYN, who does this all day, every day, felt compelled to take out his iphone and record this mad man who had fallen on his knees to sing the praises of God.
Birth is the miracle of life. The making of the mother. The magical Grace that opens up to the first breath.
And birth has been taken from women. This most sacred of human events has been redefined by an overly scientific, patriarchal, medical model.
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Men, Psychedelics and Trauma
I write to share the video of a webinar that brings together two of my most important passions, men’s work and psychedelics.
The webinar was sponsored by Canadian Psychedelic Association. It is meant to help us better understand trauma and how it shows up in our bodies and how it impacts our life. Patriarchy does not just perpetuate trauma on others. It actually limits and binds the human experience of those of us who are men.
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Finite
In a social media world that vacillates between endless positivity and bottomless outrage, I hesitate to share my recent reflections on mortality.
If you’ve known me for a while, you know that I’m a bright side of life type of guy. This has not changed. I make it a point to see goodness, seek beauty and cultivate joy.
I also grew up Catholic (no longer practicing). And yesterday was Ash Wednesday. This year’s beginning of Lent coincides with my more recent contemplations of our finitude. Of the irrevocable fact that our lives end. Sometimes tragically, and unexpectedly.
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Tonglen for the World
We are coming to the last part of our Six Week Cycle. We are expanding our circle of compassion, to include the whole of this ailing and beautiful world.
How do we open our hearts during the Sixth Great Extinction?
We are ancestors in training. This is what our descendants need.
All right action moves from this place.
Know and trust that you can do this practice. You are held. You are not alone. And it is always, always best to face what is actual and true.
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Winter Solstice Gathering
What are you doing on the Winter Solstice?
We can get so caught up in the rush, excitement, and yes, consumerism, of the Holiday Season that we might forget that there is a perfect night when we get to dance gently with our star.
You know I’m keen on remembering ancestors. I am grateful for the ways in which they made effort to transmit the most important things that they thought we should remember.
Before there was religion, before writing and the internet, we human beings used ritual to teach what is most important.
The main point of this note is to invite you to think ahead to December 21, and make yourself a little Winter Solstice plan. Find a way to honor this movement among the stars. Do something simple that connects you to this practice that we’ve been doing together since the early days of time.
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For Those You Love
I trust you are deepening your practice of courage and compassion.
I know that some of you are not receiving the daily texts.
Here I am including instructions for weeks 3 and 4, in case you find them helpful.
We are growing our circle of compassion. We are expanding our heart’s alchemy beyond our own selves to include the hurt of those we love.
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Face Everything and Avoid Nothing
We live in times of both hope and turmoil.
How do you face everything and avoid nothing?
Let’s practice together.
This Saturday, November 20, we launch Six Weeks of Tonglen. A practice of courage and compassion.
It would be great to see your face at 9:30AM East on Saturday, November 20, just for an hour. But please know that you are welcome to practice with us even if you can’t make it on Saturday.
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