April NonRequired Reading List
Contemplify / NRR #101
“In the descent of our understanding of ourselves from “made in the image of God” to only humans to animals to machines, I don’t know exactly when or how free will begins to be replaced by determinism. It is clear to me only that materialism itself is deterministic to the extent that it disables the high principles and ideals that we once looked to as motives—love, reverence, beauty, mercy, faith, sympathy, compassion, kindness, and the rest—which are not materials and do not necessarily lead to material results. Under the rule of materialism, we are motivated by what we perceive as the goodness or the good consequences of material commodities—ease, comfort, speed, facts, wealth, power, and so on—with which we are now obsessed.”
Something has been off the last hundred days. The air is thick with it and easy enough for many of us to put a finger on. There seems to be an uptick in disheveled fatuity spewing from puerile voices in positions that are supposed to require honor. We have seen orders signed from the highest office that trot out demonstrable dangers to those already trying to survive on the margins. The survivable margins slims while trepidation expands like Ronald McDonald’s waistline. Courageous politicos on both sides of the visible aisle speak more eloquently on the tragedy this creates, much more than this ol contemplative shoveler. But I can say—this is no way to treat your neighbor. Or a stranger. Or a way to build flourishing communities.
We must begin with simple statements to dismantle the souped up hot rod of fear dangerously encircling all of us. Fear takes advantage of panic, dominative power feeds off fear, and we immediately forget that paper beats rock. If you catch the eye of a power hungry fear monger when they are not blowing bubbles for the camera, their eyes betray their performative certainty. My how frightened they are. The pee stain on their pants is the last traces of their invisible character hiding dormant in their bodies. Fear has them quivering in their penny loafers and hastily taking action in nostalgic acquiescence for unsovereign power…or they will be swallowed by their peers. When fear drives you to the market, you sell fear everywhere you go. Greed learned that lesson young from fear. Fear and greed were bunkmates at summer camp together when they were just pimply faced kids.
Character is not cultivated by taking the easy path or lining your pockets with cash. Character is nurtured by self-examination, kindness, patience, and perseverance. And when you do slip up and crack your character, like say, by taking a shortcut or sending undeserving innocents to a prison far away…come back to yourself. The self that is beneath the layers of bravado and locust dust. The self awaiting. The self that was made in the image of God. Holden Caulfield would say it sounds phony and overly simplistic. It is too damning of a position to let fear breathers off the hook. Take a breath and a sip of cool water and realize we are all still on the hook. From this hook hangs the golden rule that shows up in every major religion. Come back to this simple human guideline that offers a semblance of self-governance and proudly stands with your neighbor. The golden rule is how we learn we belong to one another. It might lead to other useful maxims like ‘Welcome the stranger, orphans, and widows’, ‘Make amends’, and ‘Shake what your Mama gave you’. If fear mongers danced more, their whole way of being might look different. No joke. Gary Snyder says, “[If] you look at a society that sings and dances as a regular thing, it’s not that it has an effect on their life–it is their life.”
I was visiting friends in Mexico this past month. The plazas were alive with dancing, singing, and celebration. I heard stories of their national leadership prioritizing the poor. I heard stories of artists striking it rich through the mastery of craft and turning around to release their riches back into the community. That is wealth. While visiting Oaxaca, a friend said that whenever anyone talked about the richest man in the world, people were quick to add ‘and the poorest heart in the world’. This is the cultivation of character at a collective level, not the perfection of character, but the cultivation. I see an abundance of character in my home country, may it expand with dancing and song.
Contemplation is not practiced to forget your neighbors and elevate yourself, it is practiced to learn how to see them as no other than yourself through the presencing of abiding love.
Contemplify seeks to encourage all to see through the eyes of abiding love. The beautiful and ragtag Contemplify community tosses logs into that fire each and every time you crack open one of the offerings of Contemplify (podcasts, NonRequired Readings, Lo-Fi & Hushed Contemplative Practices). Thanks for your presence. Nothing more precious than your presence and time. For those who wish to support Contemplify through monetary means, you can do so by pressing the button below. Becoming a paid subscriber is a sweet kindness that keeps Contemplify a free resource for contemplatives in the world. Some folks want to support with a few bucks simply for the sake of supporting Contemplify (Hidden outlaws, I tip my hat towards you).
Those who become paid subscribers are automatically invited to join the weekly Lo-Fi & Hushed Practice Session on Wednesday mornings. A regular communal contemplative practice that supports the rhythms of your one wild and precious life. You can practice live with me and a community of practitioners or with the recording. Good, clean, contemplative fun. Hope to see you there.
(Also…because I am trying to make explicit what was implicit. If the Lo-Fi & Hushed Practice Sessions call to you but you don’t want to (or cannot) become a paid subscriber—no sweat—just add your name and email to this form and you will be included in the practice for free. Money should never ever be a barrier to contemplative practice or contemplative community. Practice makes practice. Always delighted to add more practitioners to the circle).1
April NonRequired Reading List
Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life by the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi & Zara Houshmand (Get it at the Public Library or Bookshop)
I happened to be in the same room as Tenzin Priyadarshi last month at an event. His presence dropped me like a encyclopedia on the noggin. There was a quality of presence with him and that settled and expanded my own. Upon my return home, I picked up his book Running Towards Mystery and had dozens of moments of qualitative recognition of how he became the man he is today.
When Priyadarshi was but six years old he began to have visions of monks on a mountaintop. Unable to stand these visions any longer, at age ten (!!!) he left his boarding school in India, discreetly borrowed some money, and took a train to the end of the line to an unknown destination. What he discovered from following his vision was the Buddhist monastery in his dreams and an open reception from the monk caretaking it. This is just the beginning of his story. Priyadarshi has followed that vision since boyhood through life’s roundabouts and family discord. You begin to see how all of his life is practice, for “practice is not something you do at a particular hour, separate from the rest of your life. It is never just recitation and chanting and drumming. Practice is a container and if done right, everything we do, every waking moment, is held inside that container.”2
Priyadarshi’s winding path has brought him into relationships with some of the greatest spiritual teachers of our recent history (and others less widely known) like Dalai Lama, Demond Tutu, Thomas Keating, and Mother Teresa. Ultimately leading him to become the President and CEO of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A place that allows him to build connections across contemplative traditions and the world’s most pressing challenges. His path does not need to be emulated, but read as food for the visions that meet you in your calling.
Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life is for contemplative misfits and bridge builders seeking to connect together what others say is impossible.
Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks (Get it at the Public Library or Bookshop)
I have never read a book that name checks ferns at such a high volume and with fervent praise. Oliver Sacks holds the attention of a non-fern loving reader like myself by peppering scientific and historical facts on travels to Oaxaca without pomposity. Wonder and intelligence flow through his pen.
My travels south to Mexico brought this book up to my eyeballs. Detailed and self-deprecating, Sacks exquisitely describes his adventures with a group of fern enthusiasts down to Oaxaca, Mexico. As a reader you get the daily rundown of the happenings of this quirky group of travelers with Mexican history backlit through personal reflection. Inspired by Sacks, I kept my own journal in Oaxaca to mark my airy travel thoughts. I agree with his attuned hand when he writes, “How crucial it is to see other cultures, to see how special, how local they are, how un-universal one’s own is.”3 Travel humbles me.
This is not a daring book or total book on Oaxaca, this is a friendly travel book formed by one person’s experience. And it was a gateway for me to seek out books on people whose lives were shaped by place and who returned the favor, like Benito Juárez and Francisco Toledo. Oaxaca Journals is easy reading for folks visiting Oaxaca, to wet the whistle for the richness that awaits.
Contemplify Update
Season Six is still in the works, episodes are being recorded, until then you can circle back through the first five seasons. As always you can find the complete list of Contemplify episodes here and below are the four most recent episodes of this season.
Peter Traben Haas on Prayer as a Practice of Centering, Abiding, & Radiating (Season 5, Ep 15 - Season Finale)
Backporch Advent Outpost with Hadewijch and the Mother of Love (Season 5, Ep 14, Bonus)
Katherine May on Enchantment, Building Community, Tasting Words, and a Drink of Lake Water (Season 5, Ep 13)
Andrew Krivak on the Inheritance of Loss, Death as a Character, and Like the Appearance of Horses (Season 5, Ep 12)
All episodes are available from Contemplify through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts worth their salt.
Arts & Articles
PLEDGING YOUR SOLIDARITY WITH IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES UNDER ATTACK (Dispatches from the Whirlwind): A new “Solidarity Pledge" is a vital part of the effort to build a grassroots response to the flood-the-zone assault. Read it and discern your involvement.
FANNIE LOU HAMER’S AMERICA (fannielouhamersamerica.com): This film is entirely in the words and songs of one of the great American heroes, Fannie Lou Hamer. Hamer was a “sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist” whose brilliance shone through her strategic vision and charismatic words for organizing a movement.
CAN USING A DUMBER PHONE CURE ‘BRAIN ROT’? (NYT): I am swapping out my iPhone for a Lite Phone. It is intentionally inconvenient. The New York Times did a review of it and it was unintentionally hilarious. The reviewer wants the benefits of not having a smartphone while not giving up any of the convenience. Is that not our culture in a nutshell? (h/t to Michael)
FRANCISCO TOLEDO (franciscotoledo.com): Discovering an artist is never the same handshake twice. Some friends kept telling me the stories of Toledo’s legendary humanity, kindness, and simplicity. This openned the doors for my appreciative gaze upon Toledo’s work.
May your image
reflect
belonging
in its welcoming.
In a pool of joy,
Paul
All Bookshop purchase links give a kickback to a local New Mexico bookstore and Contemplify. Big thanks to all who support in this way.
Contemplify never wants money to be a filthy barrier to practice. So if you want to practice weekly with this contemplative basecamp at Lo-Fi & Hushed but aren’t able to offer support (no sweat!), drop your name and email here, I will add you to the next practice. We would be thrilled to have you practicing with us.
Tenzin Priyadarshi and Zara Houshmand, Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life (New York: Random House, 2020), 77.
Sacks, Oliver. Oaxaca Journal. Reprint, Kindle Edition. New York: Vintage, 2012.
Contemplation…practiced to learn how to see them as no other than yourself through the presencing of abiding love.