Wednesday

Touching the Earth—September 2020 Newsletter

Eleventh Hour Calling

An article by Emily Takahashi

We have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now we must go back and tell the people this is the HOUR.

It is time to speak your truth.
Marybeth had prayed for guidance about what she could do, and the answer that came was this seemingly crazy bell-ringing action.

Create your community.
Be good to each other.

How do we bring Family Camp home?

Through these glimpses of “awake,” we recognize the power and intention of our own experience.  We arrive in each moment with an open mind and heart.

Join us.

This could be a good time!

Since that first gathering in early 2019 on the corner of Spruce and 13th Streets in Boulder, the 11th Hour has never failed to call out for 11 minutes at 11 am on the 11th of the month.

It is never the same.  Sometimes the day is bitterly cold and a small group huddles at the corner under winter hats, warming itself into good cheer through companionship.  Sometimes the 11th falls on a gorgeous weekend of warm sun, and still there are those who show up, despite the lure of a good bike ride, or a trip to the mountains.  Sometimes we are many.  Sometimes we are few.  There are the consistent faithful, and there are the curious one-timers.  We are Jews, Buddhists, Christians, and non-affiliated people of faith, welcoming any and all who have a deep yearning for a healthy thriving planet.

See who is in there with you and Celebrate.

— Elemental Expression —

Every month, we offer a space for one of the Collective’s members or friends
to share their work, art, or passion…

Deirdre Leber

© 2020 Deirdre Leber. All rights reserved.

Artist Statement

My paintings, synthesized from observation and imagination, are a dialogue between the seen and the remembered, the planned and the surprise that happens on the canvas. In these images of water and women, a tension is created between representation and abstraction as the figures appear and disappear in the fluid surfaces of each painting. Water is a mysterious and vital element. It is both immensely powerful and at the same time soft, intimately linked to birth and sustenance as well as to death. Working with both brush and palette knife, I layer one color over another. In this way, the contrasts of opacity and transparency, of thick and thin, of solid and liquid are the dance of my paintings.

© 2020 Deirdre Leber. All rights reserved.

To find out more: http://www.deirdreleber.com/

LOCAL DRALA

“We should all experience working on the land, literally and properly.
That is the best way to wake ourselves up:
smelling earth, actually experiencing good earth.”
—Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche—

Feel the Dirt at Karmê Chöling
by Donna Williams

As I settle into Residency here at Karmê Chöling, I’m turning my attention to the possibilities of the land, and how it might teach us to “extend the glide” and develop ways to help our sangha adapt to the imminent realities of climate chaos.

Can we develop a model at Karmê Chöling that Shambhala communities elsewhere can duplicate?  A model that incorporates our desire to protect the Earth and be of benefit to others?  One that is based on warriorship principles to lessen our own fear and ignorance, and to move out from that with confidence to help our world?

That is presently the inspiration of The Foragers, a group made up of staff members, residents, and neighbors who are connected both to Shambhala and to forward-thinking ecology and activist groups of Vermont.

In the midst of this contemplation, I received an email from a friend who has done many retreats at a cabin that I manage. After sharing reservations about going on retreat during the pandemic, he wrote the following:

“My other concern was the social milieu. If many are starving and out of work in VT, is it risky to be a Massachusetts “vacationer” in a remote cabin? I’m guessing that with school starting, October is going to be a bad month for the virus. So my thought, for now, is that I’d like to do a retreat but thought I’d wait and see how things look.”

This took me by surprise! As a ponderer of “Deep Adaptation” by Jem Bendel, I know that we will be experiencing much social collapse, as the global climate crisis deepens. I have read…
Click here to read the full article.

Upcoming Events

Shambhala Touching the Earth Collective
Community Gathering
Saturday, September 26 at 3:00 pm (Atlantic)

Please join us on to raise our collective lungta and harvest ideas and inspiration about the 2020-2021 Strategic Plan and how we will move forward in the year to come.

It will also be an opportunity to celebrate our successes, and give thanks to each other, after almost 2 years of existence!

Make sure to bring libation and snack!

Zoom link
https://zoom.us/j/92549958422?pwd=N0EzWkdLVzZZeHU4T21yejZSd21IZz09

Meeting ID: 925 4995 8422
Passcode: 432359

Humanity at a Crossroads:

A conversation hosted by Richard Reoch

Saturdays, October 17 and November 14 at 3 pm (Atlantic)
More details soon!