Body/Mind Wisdom

vmay 2005

" There is an unbroken continuum from the wisdom of the body to the wisdom of the mind, from the wisdom of the individual to the wisdom of the [universe]" Rene Jules Dubois

Connections to the Land Art of the Dreaming

When speaking or painting a dreaming story the traditional owner refers to a living ontology that links pre-history and the distant future in the present. The artists perceive themselves to be inside their country and paint themselves as their country; the land features, the tracks between water holes, the mythic songlines of supernatural beings before time, and so on.

Neglected Places

I want to pay attention to places that have been radically disturbed.
Riding up Wilson Hill on the way home from Point Reyes today I pulled off into the dusty place on the side of the road. The view of Petaluma from this overlook is spectacular. I look out over the brown hills spotted with dark oaks and scrub in the ravines, A hazy sky from the many wildfires burning in Northern California, and the busy web of roads and patchwork of buildings following the 101 freeway in the center of the small valley. I breathe in the expansive sight and the quite space around me before looking down at my feet. The grassy bank that leads down about four feet to the weathered barbed wire fence is littered with trash. I have thought to clean this place many times, but I would need gloves to protect me from broken glass and human waste. I know many people come here to enjoy this view. Why do they leave trash behind? I tie a small TIASP tag onto the fence with wire. I will return with gloves to clean up this sacred place.

I am a Sacred Place

My body gives and nurtures life
I live in a
sacred place
The land where my house sits
The road my car travels on
This town was built on the Marshlands
of the Petaluma River – The sacred home
of millions of critters and
humans
past and present.
The sun shines on me everyday
The rain and
wind and soil
The food I eat
The birds and moles
Fox and deer.
The rocks and trees
The weeds in my garden
We are sacred

All
of us

Trees

"For seven days and seven nights [the buddha] sat in meditation supported by the tree. During the seventh night he was tormented by every possible distraction of the mind. Mara, the voice of delusion challenged him ferociously, asking what right he had to sit by the fig tree seeking truth. To counter the force of ignornace, he touched his right hand to the earth. Whith theearth and tree as witness, the powerful realization of interdependence was revealed." (in Terrapsychology by Craig Chalquist)

“Sometimes a tree can tell you more than can be read in a book.” (C G Jung)

This is a Sacred Place

People are telling me stories about their sacred places! I am trying to record them – the discourse, I feel, is important. What is sacred? Why? Why not? What does it mean to you? How do you recognize a sacred place? Is it just a matter of attitude? These are some of the questions that I and others are asking themselves.
What do you think?

www.tiasp.org