A Soul as Vibrant as Her Hair, And Now She’s Gone: Remembering Jeanne-Claude

November 20, 2009

Christo & Jeanne-Claude

In the whirlwind of information crammed into my brain as a college student, there are many things that I learned throughout my classes that I have since forgotten. I remember reading a book really enjoyed in my Literature courses, but I can’t recall the author, or even the exact plotline, or listened to a particularly compelling lecture in History, which conclusion or ideas presented have since escaped me. But regardless of how foggy my memories of some of my favorite moments as a student become, I will never forget the first time my Art professor presented the vivid oranges and blues of art pieces created by husband-and-wife team Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

Their story of life-long love and companionship is as compelling as the bright hues that appeared in their art, and perhaps even worth noting – Jeanne-Claude’s signature blazing red hair. Collaborating on Christo’s artwork for over 50 years, their relationship rested on deep respect and true teamwork, rather than a muse-artist or assistant-manager relationship, translating into profound and globally famous works for decades. While Christo’s art is known for its temporary outdoor installations, works such as The Gates, which created an orange trail of rich orange fabric draping tall beams throughout a Central Park have created long-lasting impressions. Their work was meant to give viewers a new appreciation for their environment, whether it was a bridge or a landscape or a park.

The Gates in Central Park

The world will miss Jeanne-Claude, who died this week at age 74. Though she famously espoused, “Artists don’t retire. They die. That’s all. When they stop being able to create art, they die,” she and Christo had in fact been working on their next installation, which he will continue on without her. perhaps, if for no other reason than to live by her very quote. Her many achievements as an artist may only be shadowed by her successes in her personal journeys, a life many only dream of; she died having found the ability to make a living doing what she loved while continually inspiring people world-wide, all while finding a deeply profound love in a partner of kindred spirit.

Even as our memories fade to make room for new information, if nothing else – not even her fiery red hair and creative statements that have captivated art-lovers for a half a century – remember her passion for life, and ability to continually create and inspire the world, and use it as an example in your own life.

For an obituary on Jeanne-Claude from the Washington Post, please click here.


The End is Near! 2012 and the Work that Remains

November 19, 2009

Its opening weekend, the movie 2012 topped the box office charts by pulling in $65 million. In the film, Jackson Curtis and his family attempt to survive the catastrophic events taking place all around the world–from earthquakes in California, to erupting volcanoes in Yellowstone, to overwhelming tsunamis in Washington, D.C., the world falls apart around the ears of the Curtis family, and in front of our eyes.

But the movie 2012 is only one prediction in a slew of other prophecies regarding the events of December 21, 2012–the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar and the date of the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Author Jim DeKorne of The Cracking Tower: A Strategy for Transcending 2012, explains:

Within the past twenty years a growing body of literature has emerged to advise us of a major cosmic alignment focused around the date of December 21, 2012. Many of these prophecies are deduced from the Mayan calendar, others from shamanic vision quests using psychedelic drugs. Some groups imply this date will mark the end of the world [Filmmakers of 2012: Raise your hands]; a few declare that humanity will ascend (apparently en masse) to a higher level of awareness; still another asserts that we’ll either be absorbed or destroyed by a computerized ‘Artificial Intelligence.’

So what’s the answer? Jim DeKorne has a piece of advice: whatever happens on in 2012, “it is totally irrelevant to your private welfare.” The world’s future is not in your hands, but your own future is. The major refrain of the book–”Do the Work in the space in which you find yourself”–is one of the many times when DeKorne begins with a overwhelming topic–The End of the World–and zooms in to the reader. And even though The Cracking Tower delves into a discussion about the end of the world later on, it first sets up a framework for us to evaluate its meaning.

Applying the principles of Perennial Philosophy—concepts that appear in every world religion and correspond to the paradigm of human awareness—Jim DeKorne urges us to “Wake up, Turn inward, Meet Essence, Do the Work in the space in which you find yourself.” He explains:

‘Wake up’ means to extract your focus from the prevailing consensus trance. ‘Turn inward’ means to become acquainted with your personal sector of hyperspace…’Meet Essence should be self-explanatory. ‘Do the Work in the space in which you find yourself’ is the mantra my own Essence gave me many years ago. For me, it means to work from the center f the Cube of Space…It’s where the ego and the Self meet….The first phase of the Work is to determine your dharma (duty). After that, you can just do it to the best of your ability. It’s really all you came to do here anyway.

The world may very well end on December 21, 2012, but those who have read The Cracking Tower know that the world within is more valuable, more precious, and more rewarding than the world outside.

What is your Work? How are you accomplishing it in the space in which you are finding yourself?


Author Symposium: ALL ABOUT CHI

November 16, 2009

Berkeley Public Library logoNorth Atlantic Books logo

An acupuncturist, a Reiki teacher, and two artists who work with chi and creativity and chi gung will present their healing arts on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 2-4 p.m. at Berkeley Public Central Library in downtown Berkeley. This is the second author panel in the free series Get Well! Alternative Practitioners Talk With You About Healing, sponsored by North Atlantic Books and Berkeley Public Library.

Moderator for the Nov. symposium is Lindy Hough, Co-Founder and Publisher of North Atlantic Books in Berkeley.
The panelists:
- Kaleo and Elise Ching, Chi and Chi Gung;
Authors of Chi and Creativity: Vital Energy and Your Inner Artist
- Don Beckett, Reiki healer;
Author of Reiki–The True Story: An Exploration of Usui Reiki
- Robert Johns, Acupuncturist;
Author of The Art of Acupuncture Techniques

Authors will describe their practices and theoretical framework and read from their books. Audience questions will be followed by a book signing.

Kaleo and Elise Ching live and practice in El Cerrito, Robert Johns practices in Berkeley, and Reiki teacher Don Beckett is from Mesa, Arizona.

“We’re interested in helping people understand how these modalities work and how effective they are. Hearing how our authors, who are also practitioners, treat different diseases helps people see whether a given modality might be helpful with their own troublesome conditions or something a loved one is struggling with.” Most people who don’t use alternative medicine find it hard to distinguish how these different systems work. “The goal of the November panel is to have the audience come away with a clearer idea of how chi energy works in Reiki, acupuncture, chi gung and creative work,” Hough said.

“The Berkeley Public Library is excited to be working in partnership with North Atlantic Books to better serve the interest in mind/body/spirit their readers are seeking,” said Douglas Smith, Deputy Director of the Library. “We’re pleased to be expanding our programming, outreach, and collections in these important directions.”

ALL ABOUT CHI
Get Well! Alternative Practitioners Answer Your Questions About Healing series
Saturday, November 21, 2009
2pm-4pm
Berkeley Public Central Library
3rd Floor Community Meeting Room
2090 Kittredge Street
Berkeley, CA 94704

Do you plan to attend this event?

Wheelchair accessible. To request a sign language interpreter, real-time captioning, materials in large print or Braille, or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6107 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs.


Free Thanksgiving Appreciation Meal at Café Gratitude

November 13, 2009

Cafe Gratitude Banner

If 10,000 households spend their Thanksgiving meal dollars on local food, we’ll invest about $446,100 into our communities. Sounds pretty good to me! But for those who won’t be preparing their own holiday meal this year, Café Gratitude will be serving a FREE Thanksgiving Meal at each of their restaurants.

For the past 5 years, every open Cafe Gratitude location (all in the San Francisco Bay Area) has served this free meal to an average of 300 people, as a way to give back to customers and to the community for their support and patronage all year long. On Thanksgiving, the cafes operate on 100% volunteer efforts, of both employees and non-employees. This year there will be four Cafe Gratitude locations serving the Thanksgiving Appreciation Meal, all open from 11am to 3pm. Please join in the festivities and bring your friends and family, bring someone new, or come serve your community!

Participating Locations:

San Francisco
2400 Harrison Street (@20th Street)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: 415-830-3014

Berkeley
1730 Shattuck Avenue (@ Virginia)
Berkeley, CA 94709
Phone: 510-725-4418

San Rafael
2200 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone: 415-578-4928

Healdsburg
206 Healdsburg Avenue (in the Olive Leaf)
Healdsburg, CA 95448
Phone: 707-723-4461

To volunteer for the Thanksgiving Appreciation Meal at Café Gratitude, please arrive to the location nearest you, between 11am and 3pm. There is no need to RSVP. Together, all volunteers will serve as many meals as possible, until all the food is served.

Café Gratitude gives special thanks to Veritable Vegetable, Bariani Olive Oil, and other local merchants, who have donated food to the Thanksgiving meal in past years. To donate this year, please contact info@cafegratitude.com.

Will you be attending? If you don’t reside in the Bay Area, is there a free Thanksgiving meal in your city?

Café Gratitude has published several books with North Atlantic, including
I Am Grateful, Sweet Gratitude, Sacred Commerce. They are all printed on 100% recycled paper!

CLICK HERE to learn more about Café Gratitude and to get more details about the Thanksgiving Appreciation Meal.

Thanksgiving @ Cafe Gratitude


“Alternative” Medicine – the Real Alternative to the “Health Care” Crisis

November 12, 2009

Don Beckett author photo

Don Beckett, the author of Reiki: The True Story, offers a poignant look at the realities of modern medicine, health care, and how to promote harmony in your life.

“Alternative” Medicine – the Real Alternative to the “Health Care” Crisis
By Don Beckett

First of all, let’s acknowledge that much of what is passed off as Reality nowadays is just the opposite. For example, any kind of medicine except pharmaceutical drugs, nuclear radiation, and surgery, is commonly called Alternative Medicine. The implication is that drugs, radiation, and surgery are Real Medicine, and any other kind of medicine is Fake Medicine. People easily accept this notion, especially because most of us have such a profound ignorance of history. The slightest glimpse into the past will show anyone that the so-called Alternative Medicines are, in reality, the traditional, natural, time-tested ones. The pharmaceutical approach is truly the Alternative – and whether it even fits the definition of medicine is questionable, to say the least. (Webster’s Dictionary defines medicine as: “the science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease” – which are not things accomplished or even intended by the use of pharmaceutical drugs.)

In the U.S.A. we’ve been simmering for months in a big debate over “Health Care” reform. And, again, the reality is just the opposite of what the words would lead us to believe. “Health Care” is really not about health, it is post-Orwellian code for the maintenance of disease. Pharmaceutical Medicine takes a materialistic and microscopic view of life; therefore, it cannot understand the origin of disease; therefore, it cannot possibly heal disease.

There was a time – before the use of pharmaceuticals became so overwhelming – when Medical Doctors had at least a desire to heal disease, and when their treatments often did allow the patient’s body to heal itself. The healing occurred not so much from what the doctor did as from what the doctor refrained from doing. It was understood that, in most cases, the body could heal itself if the patient merely stopped whatever behavior had created the disease in the first place. The doctors’ famous oath – including the pledge to “do no harm” – illustrates the traditional understanding of exactly this fact. But nowadays this pledge has become increasingly a travesty, as modern medicine has become synonymous with pharmaceutical medicine, and as the harmful effects of pharmaceuticals have become undeniable. In fact, “medical treatment” is now among the top causes of death in America (some say it’s Number One; and even the Journal of the American Medical Association has listed it as Number Three).

Sadly, doctors have increasingly become little more than delivery mechanisms of pharmaceutical drugs. And even the makers of these drugs have stopped pretending that pharmaceuticals are capable of healing anything; their admitted function is merely the suppression of physical symptoms. This in itself is contradictory to the pledge of doing no harm. The suppression of symptoms actually prevents the body from healing itself. The energies of disease are driven deep into the body and trapped there. People feel better, because the symptoms have been hidden; and they make the mistake of believing that the drugs have healed them.

Until recent years, this was not such a dangerous mistake. When I was a child, for instance – and even after that – doctors did not generally prescribe a drug for extended periods of time. Drugs were seen (accurately) as emergency measures; they were taken for relatively short times, only until the body could regain sufficient balance that the suppression of symptoms was no longer necessary. Then, without the continued intake of the drug, the body could bring the original disease to the surface and release it, and also (eventually) rid itself of the drug toxins. But nowadays the whole strategy is to get as many people as possible taking as many drugs as possible, every day for the rest of their lives! (Ka-ching, ka-ching – listen to the Song Of The Cash Registers!)

What people are not seeing in this picture (though I can’t imagine why) is that, after years of daily pill-taking, the body eventually breaks down to such a point that it can no longer hold the trapped and destructive energies of the mountains of pills that have been consumed. These extreme energies finally break loose and create havoc in the body (and people say things like, “I don’t understand it – I haven’t been sick a day in the past 20 years, and now suddenly, overnight, my whole body is full of cancer!”) … and, at that point, nothing can overcome them.

Thanks to this campaign by the drug industry, it has now become a life-and-death matter that we not succumb to their brainwashing! Despite the nonstop advertisements urging us to “Ask your doctor if *^%#@()()+&$$ is right for you!” … it’s crucial that we see pharmaceutical medicine for what it really is – extreme, emergency treatment – and that we use it only in that way. Any pills taken for long periods of time will have unintended and dangerous consequences. Therefore, it’s important that we take them for no longer than truly necessary.

Health Care … or Disease Maintenance…?


Yes, we’re having this big debate over “Health Care” reform – but the only reform will likely be in who pays for the drugs and the doctor visits and the high-tech tests and procedures, all of which are merely disease maintenance. And the reality is, these things have become so expensive that no one – not patients, employers, insurance companies, or government – can afford to pay for them any longer.

This is actually quite a blessing in disguise – because it will force us to get real about health care. It will force us to focus on health and healing instead of on disease!

One more false appearance we’ve been seduced by – and this goes back way before pharmaceuticals – is that there are many diseases. This leads to the belief that we need many different remedies. However, in reality, there is only one disease and one remedy.

We are not materialistic, biological machines, even though we give that appearance. Each of us – and every living being – is a projection of the One Spirit, the one and only Source, the true Self. Everything in our world is composed of vibrating photons of light, projected from the Source. We humans have been given the luxury, and the awesome responsibility, of controlling our energetic vibrations – and one thing we have done with that is to create disease: in ourselves and in the world around us.

There is only one disease, and that is the result of creating vibrations that are not in harmony with the vibration of the Source. This one disease manifests in various forms, as various symptoms. We mistake the variety of symptoms for a variety of diseases – which we call cancer, heart attack, pneumonia, AIDS, kidney failure, swine flu (also earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, pollution), etc. – but in reality the only disease is disharmony between our vibration and Source vibration. Compared to infinite Source, we are infinitesimal; guess which one (Source or us) is most affected by the disharmony!

Seen accurately, pharmaceutical-surgical medicine is emergency medicine. In life-or-death situations, drugs and/or drastic mechanical procedures are sometimes the only things that can keep us in the physical body – and I’m grateful to them for saving my life, at least three times. But we must realize the difference between such emergency provisions and real healing.

The only real healing comes from getting ourselves back into harmonious vibration with our Source, the infinite Self. In a word, Self-realization. All roads lead to Self-realization … because there is nowhere else to go! We are all continuously being healed, as we are drawn inevitably to Self-realization – though some roads are quicker and more pleasant than others, and we can choose our own road.

We can choose the pharmaceutical-surgical road (which will eventually get us there, by leading to something better) … or we can choose a road more in harmony with Source, to begin with. We can choose a road such as Meditation or Yoga, Martial Arts, Conscious Breathing, Affirmations, Macrobiotics, Johrei, Reiki, etc. (and many variations of most of these). In doing so, we are choosing real Health Care instead of disease maintenance.

Do you agree with Don Beckett’s analysis of our Health Care system?

CLICK HERE to learn more about Don Beckett’s book, Reiki: The True Story.

CLICK HERE to read Don Beckett’s story behind the writing of Reiki: The True Story.

CLICK HERE to visit Don Beckett’s website.