Phone: 507-384-8541
Mountains and Waters Alliance: updates, and a news rant 9/11/2025
Dear Friends,
Here are some more upcoming events plus a rant (and some sane thoughts) on the recent news.
Rant:
Today is the 24th anniversary of 9-11, the day when some people flew planes into the World Trade Center and a couple of other places, and when hating Muslims became a thing. (A few people preferred to blame it on Jews.) All my grandchildren have grown up in the world created by that event and the violent, racist response of waging war on countries that didn’t even have anything to do with it.
About a week ago, a lone shooter killed children praying at a Catholic grade school – which the shooter had attended. That became an excuse to blame trans people for acts of violence – while the overwhelming majority of shooters are still straight white men.
A shooter wounded four people at Evergreen High School in Colorado. A shooter killed Charlie Kirk as he was making a speech – the slanders and the stories are going wild, with no basis in fact. Anyone who points out that he was a source of hate, racism, or misogyny is corrected for unkind speech – heard it twice on public radio – while the right wing openly encourages the same hate that Kirk preached.
There’s also the matter of Russia sending drones to Poland, denying it, and Poland calling for help from NATO allies – just to have a meeting, a very small step. Less drama, but this direction could lead to war.
Many more questions. One thing I wonder is how long people will keep thinking that orange man is the source of the problem rather than its symptom. When will we actually take a good look at our culture and ourselves?
Sane Responses
I want to refer to this beautiful essay, “Reflections on the Death of Charlie Kirk,” in which Qasim Rashid considered why have empathy for someone who had none. How to stay human. How to be connected to our values rather than pushed into knee-jerk retaliation.
In Dispatches from a Collapsing State: “Opportunity in Crisis,” Jared Yates Sexton points out some very uncomfortable things. Read at your own risk; it’s a bit like taking the red pill in The Matrix.
I don’t remember who pointed out that we need to think long term, and getting caught up in revenge doesn’t do that.
What are our values? How large is our embrace? Can we include the whole world in our hearts? And are we willing to act?
Events
Several new recordings are posted on the website, from a 10-minute radio interview to a 2-hour workshop.
Online events coming up (details on this page):
- September 14, Lake Superior Interfaith Community Church, Duluth MN
- September 21, Minnesota Zen Center, morning talk.
Other events (same page):
- This weekend, 9/12-14, in Duluth, MN.
- Next weekend, 9/20-21, Saturday in Red Wing at Fair Trade Books, Sunday at Minnesota Zen Center.
You can see my itinerary after that. I’ll post details for local events, and will send a blog post to update online events.
Please take heart. We are not alone, and the world is still with us. Please love and defend each other.
Love,
Shodo
Mountains and Waters Alliance – quick thoughts and August events
Announcements:
Here are a few upcoming events.
August 12 and following Wednesdays, online, 6:30 Central Time:
Zen study group resumes this Wednesday, and continues weekly through September when I leave for the book tour. It will probably continue into the fall, led by senior students, or a new topic may be chosen. Topic is a philosophical text, the Samdhinirmocana, considered a precursor of Yogacara Buddhism. (You don’t have to understand that to join the class.)
Let me add that studying this text was extremely helpful to me in forming what I teach now.
To enroll or to ask questions, email me at shodo@mountainsandwatersalliance.org.
August 17: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northfield, 10 am Central Time. I’ll be one of three authors giving brief presentations for the Sunday service, which is in Northfield, Minnesota. For local people.
August 17: online interview about the book, 5 pm Central Time, at https://prn.live/. Recording will be available later at https://resistanceradioprn.podbean.com/. Resistance Radio is a weekly show with Derrick Jensen, sometimes known as the poet-philosopher of the environmental movement. He asked great questions, as he always does.
Thoughts: “We understand that these are our last days.”
Remembering Anas Al Sharif, a well-known journalist with Al-Jazeera. I want to note that he is accused of being part of Hamas. I thought this was false; the answer may be more complicated. Taking a deep breath, I offer you his final letter, regardless of his alliance. The letter speaks for itself, of love and faith.
This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would extend my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of occupied Asqalan (Al-Majdal). But Allah’s will came first, and His decree is final. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification—so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.
I entrust you with Palestine—the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls.
I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland. I entrust you to take care of my family. I entrust you with my beloved daughter Sham, the light of my eyes, whom I never got the chance to watch grow up as I had dreamed.
I entrust you with my dear son Salah, whom I had wished to support and accompany through life until he grew strong enough to carry my burden and continue the mission.
I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose blessed prayers brought me to where I am, whose supplications were my fortress and whose light guided my path. I pray that Allah grants her strength and rewards her on my behalf with the best of rewards.
I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah (Bayan), from whom the war separated me for many long days and months. Yet she remained faithful to our bond, steadfast as the trunk of an olive tree that does not bend—patient, trusting in Allah, and carrying the responsibility in my absence with all her strength and faith.
I urge you to stand by them, to be their support after Allah Almighty. If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles. I testify before Allah that I am content with His decree, certain of meeting Him, and assured that what is with Allah is better and everlasting.
O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family. Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for me with mercy, for I kept my promise and never changed or betrayed it.
Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.
Anas Jamal Al-Sharif
I only wish to honor his faith and courage. I will chant for him, in the 49 days of my own tradition.
If you would like to offer something to his people, here are some suggestions:
- Leonard Education Organization. education is resistance. LE.O supports mostly underserved Palestinians in their journey for higher education, wherever they can be placed. The organization provides basic needs rather than scholarships. LE.O students have attended several colleges in Minnesota, and elsewhere, not only in the U.S.
- These are all well-known and reliable. I’m trusting you can find them: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), Anera, UNRWA, World Central Kitchen, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen. The most famous of them are not short on money, but on ability to reach the people in need without being killed themselves.
I also share this essay, which proposes that what is happening in Gaza is not very different from what is likely to happen to the rest of us, if we do not stop it. https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/killing-witness-gaza
I have to go. Love and peace to you all.
Shodo
for Mountains and Waters Alliance
Mountains & Waters Alliance July 26, 2025: The time for half-measures is over.
In the world:
These Palestinian journalists are on hunger strike until children in Gaza have food. They ask us to join them. I am joining them today, for one day, because I can do that. If you join them, let me know and tell your friends. There must be a way to tell them too, I’ll learn. (U.S. tax dollars are freely available to fund the genocide – and to kidnap immigrants and activists, drive ordinary Americans into poverty, and enrich the richest – while Israel blocks food deliveries and the U.S. burns food. The last bits of democracy are holding on by a thread.
Like most of us, I feel pretty helpless in the face of an obstinate government. I found this possible action (besides protest and lobbying, of course), and share it with you. My friend Kritee Kanko, Zen teacher and activist, writes:
This is my birthday week and like last year, I am inviting your contributions to beloved sangha member Sarah Habib’s mutual aid effort for sending life affirming food supplies to Gaz@n mothers and children. In spite of the blockade, her friend in Gaz@ has been bringing love and hope to many families. You can see updates on this page. Last year we sent around $3000 through Sarah to G@za. We have already raised over $2600 this year. You can donate to me directly through this link and I will send the money to Sarah. Please mention “KK Birthday fundraiser” when you send me money. Also you can add your name/initials to this list so that every bit of money feels accounted for.
P.S. World Central Kitchen is functioning again.
Meanwhile, I will pray. That’s what I best know how to do. I will call on the river and the trees, the rocks and grasses, the white pines and cedars, the bald eagle and the pocket gopher, the earth under my feet and the stars and clouds, and every deity I know – I will ask them all for help, during this day of fasting, and after.
Mountains and Waters Alliance
We are at a change time – not exactly matching the enormous transition in the world. In one week, I’ll end my job to give my whole energy to this work. The book tour starts in September. The launch party is Sunday afternoon, September 7, at the farm. People seem to be agreeing with me about the potential of the book; we’ll find out. Online talks will be posted when they’re ready. In the book page, you can read excerpts and endorsements, pre-order the book, ask me to come offer an event or an online talk – whatever fits. The publisher has discounts for book groups, churches, and several other categories. Email me and I’ll connect you.
There’s a dream, described in the book, of people gathering together in local centers or ritual action and community, in solidarity with earth and all beings. Study groups could evolve into that. And I would support you in any way I can.
Money
We have enough money to do the book tour, if I suspend my stipend for the duration. With the support of the Advisory Council, I’m doing that. I have a safety net that will last several months or cover one disaster. And generosity is coming toward me from people along the way.
The donation button works now. If you’d like to support the trip, or MWA in general, please use it. (If it breaks again, the backup plan is Zelle, which sends money straight into the MWA account.) It’s still possible to support MWA through iGive, which sends a trickle of money to us when you shop online.
The Book Page
The book page tells you where I’ll be, and how to invite me for speaking, teaching, leading – gathering together in ritual and prayer – deep political discussions – whatever fits. I’m going east this fall, west in 2026, and then we’ll see.
Zen Study Group
Zen study group will meet Wednesday evening, August 6, 6:30 pm Central Time. We may have an altered schedule while I’m traveling. If you are interested in joining, please email me now, and I’ll send details.
I welcome your prayers for this work, with all beings.
Love and solidarity,
Shodo
Committed – Mountains and Waters Alliance Nov 2, 2024
Beloveds,
The United States has an election in just a few days, and we don’t know what will happen. Predictions are everywhere, but it is impossible to know. People are afraid.
We cling to the hope that our way of life will continue.
If you’re Buddhist, you may know that clinging is part of the causal chain that leads to suffering. If not, pay close attention and you can see it working.
Everything changes.
We do not know the future. Our actions have results, yet we can’t guarantee what those will be. This means that both despair and hubris are foolish wastes of energy. The future is unknown, and thus we can move into it with full hearts.
As I write today, November 2, 2024, the new moon has just passed and grows again. The turning known as Halloween, Samhain, All Souls’ Day, Day of the Dead, and other names throughout the world, honors the entry into dark and cold, fallow time, a rest for minds as well as farms. This year, storms and floods ravage places people thought were safe, climate change is undeniable, autumn finally turns cold. War rages, genocide expands, hate and fear flourish in the public realm. Night is like that, sometimes.
People have lived through such times before. Sometimes they return and thrive, sometimes they go forward reduced. As gently as I can, let me mention that our future must consume less than our present, yet every year we increase. (The alternative energy produced is simply being added to the supply demanded by our ravenous society for AI, internet, advertising, self-driving cars and other absurdities.) I encourage you to live in such a way that your well-being does not require increasing mining, child slaves, endless war, and the extermination of the wild. Please be ready to thrive without the gadgets. People have done so, everywhere before modern industrial society with its billionaires and without its soul.
There’s a political edge to all of this.
I’ve been reading and now listening to Timothy Snyder, who has studied authoritarian regimes for years, who wrote On Tyranny and now On Freedom. He’s both more worried and more hopeful than one might imagine. I recommend listening to this short talk now, before voting if you haven’t.
He says
“I lived in eastern Europe when memories of communism were fresh…. I have spent decades reading testimonies of people who lived under Nazi or Stalinist rule. I have seen death pits, some old, some freshly dug. And I have friends who have lived under authoritarian regimes, including political prisoners and survivors of torture. Some of the people I trusted most have been assassinated.”
There are many voices of encouragement, and of sanity. I can’t post them all.
Please vote.
Remember to research issues and local candidates, before you find yourself without a local library, or with a school that censors original thinking. If you can find time to volunteer for someone who speaks your mind, please do it.
I’ll be working the polls on election day, and gathering with others for calm and support afterward. If there is violence after the election, know that there are people preparing for a strong and nonviolent action afterward, and if that’s needed, I’ll pass along what I know for those who want to help.
A few more things:
In the face of the Uncommitted Movement, which refused to vote for genocide and now seems to risk of electing a dictator – I propose a Committed Movement. These folks would promise to show up on Inauguration Day to pressure the new President Harris to stop funding genocide. Walking a fine line: (and it’s illegal for me to recommend a candidate anyway.) The whole thing doesn’t end with the election, it begins here. We can’t disappear. Guess I’d better plan for a trip in January.
Sweet friends, please spend as much time in love and beauty as you possibly can. Join group prayer and meditation. Pray to whoever you like, or ground
yourself in the deep peace that sustains us all, or join me in asking for help from all our relatives whether forests or eagles, prairies or mice, even thunderstorms. There is an awakening happening. Don’t miss it by feeding the monster with fear or anger.
I’ll write again mid-November,
and that will include news, events and such. Right now I’ll just mention: Zen-style meditation on election day, online: November 15-17, work weekend here; December 1-8; December 21. All the local events are described here. And there’s space for two residents, long-term or short-term.
Love and commitment,
Shodo
Mountains and Waters Alliance – October 2024 – Facing today’s world
I’m thinking about how we prepare spiritually for the U.S. election (if we’re involved) and all the rest of what’s happening – which changes every day, and has been painful even to watch.
Thoughts:
The election is just over two weeks away. I promised to work the polls, and have not yet done the training, but I will.
Unlike many people, I don’t know the answers about the election. I’m afraid of what Trump or Vance would do – and it breaks my heart to seem to approve the genocide in Gaza, Lebanon, and wherever else. I’ve made a decision for myself: I’m voting for the most workable opponent, and then doing the real work, all year, every year. Still, elections have effects. Please consider all the races – Congress, state offices, judges, school boards, library boards, county soil & water – all of them. So many races that are officially nonpartisan have been filled with people who have strong partisan agendas, and if we don’t pay attention we may lose things we’ve taken for granted for entire lifetimes. Please pay attention and vote.
There’s a thing called hope, which is in short supply these days, and is criticized for misleading people into complacency. I want to talk about what hope means for me.
Hope means the future is not known. Hope means there is a chance, however tiny, that we may survive, may come to our senses collectively, listen to the warnings of hurricanes and floods, abandon our commitment to profit for the wealthy, turn toward providing clean air, water, food, shelter and safety for our children and grandchildren – and for the children of Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Syria, Western Sahara – I would have to name every country in the world to be complete. This aching wound that is the world right now!
The story of chrysalis comes into my mind. Caterpillars go into chrysalis and completely dissolve before becoming butterfly. I cringe a little. When my family and I are safe and well, and others are dying, I have no right to put on rose-colored glasses. I have no idea what will be born from those who are going through the fire right now, those who survive fire and flood and genocide. But this, here, in this country called United States, this needs to disintegrate o rebirth can happen. And that needs us to be willing to fall apart, to be hungry, and to lend a hand just as we’re hearing from western North Carolina right now – and watching in Gaza and Lebanon – the commitment to all of us – even if that hand is just offered to a neighbor in a snowstorm, or a child with a hurt.
I found this poem. Adrienne Rich, 1978
My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.
-Adrienne Rich
Nearly fifty years ago, it looked like this. More is lost now than I ever imagined then, and still the power of life arises in us. This afternoon I helped my neighbors plant three hundred willow trees, to hold the bank by the creek, and felt the power of community. We continue to act. Please, whatever you expect, whether you think hope is real or a delusion, cast your lot with those who reconstitute the world.
I’m sending a separate post with fall events and our news.
Mountains and Waters Alliance – staying steady
Since I last wrote, the United States has changed. The Democrats have a new presidential candidate, a vice-presidential candidate (my Minnesota governor), and enthusiasm abounds. It’s a relief.
Buddhist practice is to keep going, whatever seems to be happening.
Also war, killing, starvation and sickness continue in Gaza; Israeli media report literal torture within Israeli prisons, but U.S. mainstream media says nothing. In Bethlehem, Combatants for Peace resists illegal settlers taking their homes – and some foreigners join them in the old tradition called accompaniment – but this time they’re shooting Americans too. https://www.dropsitenews.com/
Some voters imagine that Harris/Walz will do it differently, others don’t. Some refuse to participate in an election with no peaceful alternative, others plan to organize after the election. I don’t know how many just don’t care.
Buddhist practice is to keep going, whatever seems to be happening.
Climate catastrophe is in our faces – floods, droughts, wildfires – and it’s getting a tiny bit more attention, but most people aren’t yet ready to consider giving up their conveniences. Even when driven from their homes by floods, storms, or fires, they try to resume normalcy as much as possible.
What does practice mean, in such a situation?
I ask because I don’t know the answer. Today, even though I have a list of what practice means to me now, I’m leaving this space blank.
What does practice mean to you, now?
UPDATES
We just keep going here. We continue at the slower pace required by Shodo’s medical situation, still expecting full recovery. Summer retreats included a 
weekend Earth Apprentice retreat, in which we spent time with the white pine grove and developed a plan to turn an old shed into a small, screened zendo.
Summer classes included our regular weekly class plus a joint class at Zen Center North Shore (Massachusetts) co-taught with Joan Amaral and Catherine Gammon, both dharma sisters from Shodo’s time at San Francisco Zen Center.
Summer is in full abundance, flowers and green plants, the first tomatoes, more flowers.
UPCOMING
August sesshin will be August 16-18, almost here.
September (dates unknown) there will be a trip for wild ricing with the Honor the Earth camp at Palisade, Minnesota. October 19-20 Shodo leads a retreat in Atlanta, and Rohatsu sesshin will be here December 1-8.
Work days or weekends are not yet scheduled, but things happen along the way.
ALWAYS
We have two rooms available for residents, short or long term, please ask. (You will need outside income.)
I’ll tell you when the book finds a publisher.
Mountains and Waters Alliance – spring 2024 notes
Dear all,
Here are a few notices as we head into spring. I’m still in recovery from shoulder surgery, keeping typing to a bare minimum. This takes us through June and begins July.
Zen things:
Sunday morning dharma talks online, March 24. April 7.
Wednesday evening classes, starting April 3 and May 1: Bendowa, or “The Wholehearted Way.” Please register.
April 6, daylong retreat at Midtown Atlanta Zen, no online. For more information email here. Topic: Zen practice in challenging times: We’ll talk about fear, hope, despair, and how to practice when the world seems to be falling apart.
Land things:
April 20-21, May 17-19, July 19-21: Earth Apprentice Retreat. (donation requested, registration required)
We’re starting spring cleanup and garden projects. Volunteers are welcome. Specifically, Saturday afternoon volunteering, in the spirit of Earth apprenticeship, will start when weather and my body allow. Contact me to get on the email list for when we get started.
Things I’m going to attend that might be of interest:
March 24 (11 Central Time, after my dharma talk): free showing of the short film, The Opening, and discussion, likely with the filmmaker.
March 26, 10:30 Central Time, presentation on the Congo to a climate discussion group, by David Albert. I know him, it will be good, and email me for the link, which I don’t have yet.
May 2-11, (2 hours every morning), Virtual dharma study intensive (9-11 Central Time, 10 days) online with Shohaku Okumura. Registration required.
June 19-23, “Practicing the Way in this very moment” Zen retreat at Hokyoji (SE Minnesota) – registration required
Please look at the annual schedule for further events.
As weather is crazy, politics are frightening, and violence overseas is unthinkable, please do a few things:
Pray, or chant, or ask for help from the many living beings who make our world. We are not alone here. Even in this scary election year. Volunteer for candidates, issues, and situations that make sense to you.
If you have donations to give, please do.
I’ll mention https://bodhicitta-vihara.com/, which is literally changing the lives of girls and women in India, helping them from poverty and half-slavery to education and a workable life. Of course, sending money to https://www.unrwa.org/, the most reliable provider of food relief in this desperate situation. In the U.S., Censored News is an independent and honest news source for Red Nations news, surviving on donations for over 20 years.
I will stop here, skipping fine organizations in many tribal nations, states, and countries, because I don’t want to go on forever.
To support Mountains and Waters Alliance, I encourage you to sign up with iGive.com, but we also accept money. Everything is here: https://mountainsandwatersalliance.org/donate-support/.
Thanks for following. May your life be joyous and your heart peaceful.
With love,
Shodo
For Mountains and Waters Alliance
Mountains and Waters Alliance Feb 6, 2024: Quick updates and a statement on Gaza
Dear Friends,
I’ve had to modify my schedule because of some medical issues requiring minor surgery. Here’s a reminder of offerings for the next couple of months.
Classes:
In 2024 we’re doing a series of 3-week classes addressing core teachings. The next one begins this Wednesday, February 7, and focuses on the practice and meaning of zazen, or sitting meditation. It’s still possible to register and receive a copy of the text before we begin. Information here.
The March online class begins March 6, and focuses on core Zen teaching through the well-known Genjo Koan – “the matter at hand.”
April class begins April 3, on “Bendowa” or “The wholehearted way.”
The rest of the 2024 schedule is found here.
Talks:
Friday, February 9: It’s still possible to attend the in-person talk in Duluth, Minnesota. Information here.
Sunday, March 10, 10 am: I’m giving a dharma talk at Minnesota Zen Center, both in person and online. Information and link here. Keep clicking until you find “Sunday talk” on March 10.
Sunday March 24 is an online dharma talk at Hokyoji (also in Minnesota, and part of my Zen history). Information and link here.
Retreats:
Sesshin – a silent weekend retreat – will be March 15-17, here at the farm in southern Minnesota. Registration is essential. (Also in August)
Earth Apprentice retreats – combining spiritual relation with land and in meditation – April 19-21, May 17-19, and also July. More information later, feel free to ask.
Other land-based activities (such as work days) will be clarified as my physical recovery progresses.
Call for ceasefire in Gaza
Then I offer this call for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East. It became impossible to say nothing, so here it is.
We call for
· immediate and lasting ceasefire in the Middle East.
· Immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas or in Israeli prisons, the term hostage including anyone held without charge or with only political charges;
· A negotiated settlement providing peace, security, human rights, and dignity for all inhabitants of the region known variously as Israel or Palestine, and moving to establish the same on a long-term basis;
· A Truth and Reconcilition Commission comparable to that of South Africa after apartheid, seeking restorative justice and building a path forward, while not excluding consequences for harmful actions;
· Reparations to individuals, families, and organizations that have lost people, health, home, livelihood in this region. Reparations for events occurring elsewhere (such as the Nazi holocaust) shall be sought from those who caused them.
And a note: the history is so long and the injustices so many that rather than trying to address them, I choose simply to point toward resolution.
Deep listening offerings
In starting Mountains and Waters Alliance, I looked for a way for ordinary humans to enter the magical, liminal quality of relationship with the other beings. I assert that the other beings are conscious. In that, I join with millennia of humans who, in a variety of languages, have lived with the trees spirits and earth gnomes, talked with them, and worked together with them.
This talk from January addresses this; it’s my first spoken attempt to address this way, and I find it a good beginning. The first 40 minutes are the talk itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej0Tdu0YymA
The next talks from others go deeply, each in a different direction, that add much to what I say.
David Suzuki:
This hour-long talk spins out the nature of the problem – how we live, too many of us, and the mindset – “We don’t need nature” – “We create our own habitat” – and other nonsense that brings us to this miserable state. Even though the talk is about the situation and not about solutions, the first step is to really understand the problem, and it’s good on that.
Bayo Akolomafe and Post-Activism
He speaks and writes about failure, about the cracks in reality, and about monsters. He takes us to a different place; it can be hard. Can we allow the earth to shift under our feet? Bayo invites us to a profound welcome of the movement of Life.
https://vimeo.com/750490178/41eff6db22
We’re in a time of creativity and new growth; I imagine offering a long list of resources, but it’s an overwhelming thought. So I offer these two plus my own.
There are a few events coming up at the farm; I’ll post them separately.
Love to you all,
Shodo
for Mountains and Waters Alliance
Even In War
About two days ago, a shooting war began between Russia and Ukraine. Everyone knows who is right and wrong, except me. People have sent essays and speeches, and I can add a few bits of information or links. Here is just one source of many: a talk by Vladimir Pozner. There are some common themes in these alternative voices: that Western powers promised that NATO wouldn’t expand eastward, and then it did; that Putin once wanted to join NATO and was turned down. I do not support Putin or the invasion, but the media has gotten into that cheerleading mode that I cannot join.
War is never good. Claims of innocence are always suspect, though innocence does exist in the world. What to do? Praying for peace is always a good thing; meditating for justice is also safe. That’s all I’m going to say. You’re invited to add a comment with your favorite information source.
Meanwhile, life goes on here, far from the war. It’s a little disconcerting, being aware that all our lives are in the balance and not quite sure what to do. But really, not so different from dealing with global warming, or violent racism, or most things: what can we do? Joanna Macy describes three kinds of action: holding actions, building the new future, and spiritual work. I’m mostly involved in the latter two, living in a present and working for a future spiritually based and connected with all of life.
It would be great if people who are doing things add a link or a short comment – especially about these very immediate events including the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
News at Home:
A local reporter came to do a story, and did this beautiful and wise description of what we’re doing here:
Local group uses Buddhist practices to to seek understanding
There seems to be a paywall. They told me people could generally access the article once or twice before the paywall came up, but some people are having difficulty. I am trying to arrange access.
In response to this welcome, I will offer some introductory afternoons later this year, summer or fall.
Spring 2022 Events:
- This spring, we have a 5-day sesshin March 18-22: silent sitting and walking meditation, shared meals, very simple. (Register soon please)
- On March 26, a Saturday morning, I’m giving a dharma talk “Together With All Beings: Understanding the Self” online at Heartland Zen.
- April 10, a Sunday morning, I give a talk online at Hokyoji Zen Monastery, no title yet.
- May 5-9 I will be attending the Genzo-e (teaching retreat) at Sanshin Zen Community, with my teacher Shohaku Okumura, available online.
- June 5, a Sunday morning, I give a talk online and in person at Clouds in Water Zen Community, no title.
- June 17-21 is the summer 5-day sesshin.
- Online groups continue, and are coordinated by email, newcomers welcome:
- The Gift of Fearlessness, Sundays 4:30-6 pm Central Time, weeks 1, 2, 4, and 5
- Zen study group, Wednesdays 6:30-8 pm Central Time
- Monday morning zazen – sitting meditation, Monday mornings 5:55-7 Central Time
We expect to have construction in April, dates unknown, and there will be a chance for volunteers to help – especially with moving furniture, possibly with painting and other work.
Poem
Last, I want to leave you with this poem by Wendell Berry. It’s from 1977; I can’t say it’s still true 45 years later. I still offer it.
A Vision
If we will have the wisdom to survive,
to stand like slow-growing trees
on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it,
if we will make our seasons welcome here,
asking not too much of earth or heaven,
then a long time after we are dead
the lives our lives prepare will live
here, their houses strongly placed
upon the valley sides, fields and gardens
rich in the windows. The river will run
clear, as we will never know it,
and over it, birdsong like a canopy.
On the levels of the hills will be
green meadows, stock bells in noon shade.
On the steeps where greed and ignorance cut down
the old forest, an old forest will stand,
its rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots.
The veins of forgotten springs will have opened.
Families will be singing in the fields.
In their voices they will hear a music
risen out of the ground. They will take
nothing from the ground they will not return,
whatever the grief at parting. Memory,
native to this valley, will spread over it
like a grove, and memory will grow
into legend, legend into song, song
into sacrament. The abundance of this place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom and indwelling
light. This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is its possibility.
Wendell Berry
Sending blessings to you. Inviting you to pray for peace, love, and joy, for justice and freedom. Inviting you to stop by the nearest old tree, or meadow, or creek, to greet them warmly, bring an offering of any kind (a song? A cookie?) and speak to them the same prayers, share with them, consider them as friends and allies.
Love,
Shodo
Personal Action: response to the IPCC Climate Report
The IPCC climate report triggered a lot of thoughts about how to get to action.
1: Getting to Political Will
Given the scale of the problem – climate change is being driven by enormous corporate, military, and government offenses, while our personal consumption has very little effect – why bother changing your own life?
This is why: so you can be ready to live without the destructiveness of fossil fuels and much more.
- If I drive a car to work and do not have another way to get there, driving that car becomes a: “need” rather than a want. This makes me an ally of fossil fuels (or lithium mining, if my car is electric) rather than an ally of the planet.
- If my children or grandchildren live thousands of miles away and I want to see them, this makes me “need” airplanes, trains, or at least cars. This makes me an ally of fossil fuels rather than an ally of the planet.
- If I heat my home with fossil fuels, without them I will freeze in winter. This makes me an ally of fossil fuels rather than an ally of the planet.
- If I heat my home with firewood cut with a chainsaw and split with a power splitter, and don’t have a backup plan for cutting and splitting, I will freeze without whatever powers them. This makes me an ally of fossil fuels (or lithium mining, if my tools are electric) rather than an ally of the planet.
- If my water comes from the city, or from a well on an electric pump, when that system fails I will have no water for drinking or bathing. Without water people die. This makes me an ally of centralized electricity systems even if they come from mining or fossil fuels that devastate the planet.
That’s enough examples. If our lives depend directly on use of fossil fuels, lithium mining, or the like, nearly all of us will protect our lives first. And our children’s immediate lives, even if we are sacrificing their futures to do it. We need to get off that dependence – every one of us – or we will not be free to interfere with the system that is plunging us into climate disaster.
That’s about it on personal lifestyle – and it’s a lot to do. Every single person who claims to be worried about climate change needs to get rid of this dependence, or they will be an enemy at crucial moments.
There is more.
2: Material Disruption
Roger Hallam, a founder of Extinction Rebellion, gave an in-your-face talk about what it takes to make change. First, effective strategy involves material disruption of the machine – political or industrial machine, that is. Protests and marches raise energy, feel good, help with networking – but they don’t interrupt the machine. Interrupting the machine actually does interrupt the machine. Like that well-known tactic of the strike. Like the Valve Turners who safely shut down the pipelines bringing Canadian oil into the U.S. Like every person who has ever blocked a road or locked themselves to a drilling rig.
When you begin resisting, the authorities call you ridiculous, terrorists, and your demands unthinkable. If you’re effective, they arrest you. At some point, they quietly begin negotiations.
Hallam suggests that 500 people in jail or 3000 arrests is what it would take (for the UK); he gave historical examples including the US Civil Rights Movement. He points out the difference between a protest and actual disruption: it’s disruption that works.
Right now in Minnesota at Line 3 (StopLine3.org) people are showing up, disrupting the drilling of the pipeline under the rivers. They’re also filing court actions, publicizing the leaks, pointing out the disastrous social consequences of man camps, pointing out the many ways the drilling is illegal, petitioning any public official who has clout, pressuring the banks that fund these projects and the insurance companies that protect them – materially interfering with the pipeline construction in every possible way.
People specialize in things they can do. Some people physically block the machinery, which gets them arrested and often abused. For each such person there are five or six support people. Some people write letters or phone their legislators.Some send money, or raise money. And everything you can imagine in between. Look at your options – and get ready to live without fossil fuel. Stop thinking electric cars will save our way of life: they won’t.
If we’re going to stop fossil fuels, we have to want to actually stop them. That means some of us have to be doing the other work, securing food, transportation, health care, education, community, shelter, and safety for after we succeed.
Hallam observes that, just like in military strategy, it works to focus on one target at a time, and be overwhelming there. Line 3 is happening now, the team is strong, and although Minnesota’s official actions are closer to its worst stereotypes than its best, it’s far from the worst place to be in jail. (Maybe it’s not possible, maybe we are strong enough to overwhelm them in multiple places at once – the point is to think strategically and work together.)
Finally, Hallam says there are practically no excuses for not getting out there.
I’ll say, about this other work, that the only people excused are the ones at the front lines or those working 80 hours a week (yes, they do that) on legal, lobbying, fundraising, and the like. The rest of us – well, do we want to be allies of the earth or allies of fossil fuels? Let’s get to work on that sustainable infrastructure called food, shelter, transportation, health care. And community.
Covid update on MWA Events
Dear Friends,
This is an update on the events calendar I sent out last month. It seems like a good idea to be more careful with the unknowns on the new Covid variants. The uncertainty of life is requiring us to pay attention.
When you register for any event, please let me know whether you are vaccinated, which seems to give considerable protection. Also let me know if you are especially vulnerable or live with vulnerable people. We did this safely twice last year, before vaccines, adjusting precautions as we went.
Online:
Wednesday evening study group continues,
currently working with Taigen Leighton’s Zen Questions. If you’d like to join, email me. More details here.
Gift of Fearlessness
specifically designed as a space to care for ourselves and each other around the challenges in today’s world. We will resume in September. Email me if you’re considering joining. We’ve been meeting Sunday evenings. Details here.
Monday morning Zazen
Mondays, 6 am Central Time, details here.
At the Farm
Workday August 14.
11-5, lunch and snacks offered. We have garden projects and building projects. I have been out of state (returned August 3), so consider what feels safe to you. Probably entirely outdoors. Details here.
Land Care Retreat: moved from August 13-16 to August 20-23:
Combines sitting meditation with outdoor work as sacred ceremony. Garden, land care, and possibly some building. Free to past volunteers. Please register – we’ll go ahead if there are three registrations by the 15th. Details and registration here.
Sesshin September 17-21
(Thursday night to Tuesday afternoon): Sitting silently together, in the zendo or outdoors. Probably cancelled, but let me know if you plan to come. We may just wait for December. Registration required; fee or work exchange. Details and registration here.
October 9, 11-5: Transplanting day
We have raspberries to prune and move, rhubarb to divide and plant, possibly hazelnut bushes, strawberries, and who knows what else.
All the workdays are Saturday but could be extended on request. All come with a great lunch, free camping and so forth for those who stay extra – and probably veggies or plants if you would like some to take home.
December 1-8: Rohatsu Sesshin:
This will definitely happen, but possibly online.
Seven days of silent meditation, honoring the enlightenment of Dogen (founder of Soto Zen). A very quiet kind of adventure. Requires registration plus fee or work exchange. If you have not done sesshin here, we’ll need to talk first.
And in the world:
The construction, the protests, and the arrests continue at Line 3 in northern Minnesota. A central information 
source is http://stopline3.org. They are asking people to come now, but there’s plenty of other support to offer, especially contacting your legislators, the governor, and the President.
I don’t need to tell you about wildfires, floods, heat waves, disasters, and deaths continuing. We live in difficult times. Please take heart. (Note The Gift of Fearlessness group as a space to hold this .)
With love,
Shodo
Notes from the Treaty People Gathering
Over 2000 people gathered in northern Minnesota June 5-8 to protect land, water, and treaty rights against Enbridge Energy’s Line 3. Over 200 of us were arrested in the process, and hundreds stayed at Camp Fire Light, at the place where Enbridge plans to drill under the Mississippi River near its very beginning. Now the center of action is at Red Lake Treaty Camp, where drilling seems imminent.
The most important thing I have to offer here is comments on the importance of treaty rights, a paradigm-changing teaching from attorneys Frank Bibeau and Joe Plumer. I’ll follow that with a brief outline from the Treaty People Gathering, action steps, a personal report from a friend who risked arrest, and a million links if you want to go farther. For background information, you can read the first two paragraphs on each of these: https://www.stopline3.org/issues/ and https://www.stopline3.org/chronicles
We are all treaty people
It’s important to understand treaty rights and what they mean. The bold comments are direct statements from Frank and Joe in the Sunday morning training.
We have to understand current events in terms of the treaties.
They said it so clearly that I finally understood.
Those treaties were made between the ancestors of indigenous people and the ancestors of the white people.
Even though my personal ancestors arrived much later, I too am a treaty person.
We are all governed by the many treaties made on this land, by our mutual ancestors. This is a shared history, white and indigenous, and it binds us together.
The whites did not understand the indigenous relationship with the land. They assumed that tribes owned land, and could sign it over.
Right off this tells you something was wrong with them. Owning land? Well, they also thought they could own people. Now they pretend not to own people, and they are very confused when we talk about land as a being with its own rights, its own existence, as everyone used to know.
Whites also did not seem to understand the meaning of a treaty. In a treaty, the two parties are separate and remain separate. Neither acquires the right to dominate the other. Another problem is the white understanding that the only thing reliable is what’s on paper, even though they were making agreements with people who had no history of writing and sometimes did not speak English. One such treaty is expressed in a wampum belt, showing two bands extending side by side, never crossing over, separate and equal. This is how treaties are.
For many decades, whites didn’t even honor their own version of the treaties, reneging on promises such as food and supplies, leading to disputes such as the Dakota War of 1862. The current dis-honoring involves the right to hunt, fish, and gather – what good are those rights if the waters are poisoned, the fish dead, the forests paved? No tribe agreed to have its lands destroyed.
Treaties are the supreme law of the land, above the Constitution. They cannot be changed without agreement of both parties.
If a bully can make an agreement and ignore it, there is no international law, no community of respect, and no protection against the force of the strongest weapon in the hands of the most brutal invader. Respecting treaties is essential.
For those who want to go deeper, this link has a detailed discussion of treaties in the Great Lakes area, rights, history, and common misunderstandings: http://glifwc.org/publications/pdf/2018TreatyRights.pdf
As I listen to the attorneys talk about treaty rights, I sense something going on that I can’t quite name. It feels like being on the edge of a cliff, needing just a slight push to go over. After – the right to mine, drill, and destroy ends, and the power of bullies gives way to the power of relationship. Human communities and inter-species communities are able to make our way.
Frank Bibeau says, “Every time Line 3 gets closer to happening, it pushes our treaty rights closer to the front, and now we’ve gotten to that place with the litigation starting with the Corps of Engineers.” (https://grist.org/food/line-3-pipeline-protests-enbridge-wild-rice-treaty-rights/ )
The matter of indigenous people being arrested for trespassing – on land that was stolen from their ancestors historically, that is supposed to be public land, and that was turned over to a private corporation with only token concern for the damage they will do – it shows how everything is wrong-side-up. The matter of using helicopter and sonic booms (can cause permanent physical and mental damage)
We stand at a turning point in history. And the whole world is watching. (The international press was visibly present.)
And now some stories from that weekend and after.
The gathering
Most of us arrived Saturday, either at the main camp or the MNIPL camp (Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light). The main camp had a welcoming ceremony Saturday afternoon, while at the MNIPL camp a dozen people were making signs and others helped us all find our cabins or tent spots. After a Gandhi Mahal dinner we (MNIPL) gathered on the beach for talks, prayer circle, and an end-the-Sabbath ceremony.
Sunday was a long day of training at the main camp – and was hot, dry, and more hot.
We were divided into three groups: red, yellow, and green. Red meant you planned to get arrested. Yellow meant willing to be arrested. Green meant staying as safe as possible, understanding there are no guarantees. After the morning speakers, each group received its own training.
The action:
Very early on Monday, about half of us went to the pumping station. That’s described in Ann’s report below. MNIPL hosted a prayer circle at a different location, then most of us went on to the bridge – the main action spot, a road crossing of the tiny Mississippi. The red group headed for the planned pipeline crossing (near Mississipi headwaters) and stayed there. The yellow group chalked on the bridge: “President Biden, Honor the Treaties, Stop Line 3.” The green group marched, chanted, listened to speakers, chanted some more, and waited for news. It was hot. Teams brought water and snacks.
Mid-afternoon the leaders announced that we had no arrests here, and that work was stopped at the pumping station for a whole day. The red group began building Camp Fire Light. The rest of us dispersed – many to take a dip in the Mississippi Headwaters at Lake Itasca. Back at camp, we relaxed, recovered, heard of the first hundred arrests, and eventually had a closing circle. Night brought the gift of a cooling thunderstorm.
The next week:
From Monday to Monday was a long ceremony at Camp Fire Light. Then, Sheriff Darin Halverson came to carry out Enbridge’s eviction notice. After peaceful negotiations, the protestors left as a procession with drums and singing. Here’s a writing about that from Tuesday night:
from Neo Gabo Benais: “The right to have ceremony under the treaties protection was honored by a county sheriff… The Northern lights task force [coordinated police response to protests]… was quick to mobilize and try to take over the easement but the sheriff held them off for 3 days. …the sheriff honored our treaties and let us have ceremony and leave in peace with zero arrests…. we ended up with 50 people choosing citations to fight for our treaties as we demand to be seen in federal court. 
Now that’s how you fight the black snake, together. Everyone left this action energized and not traumatized. Everyone is waiting for the next one. Howah!!!! Miigwech!!!”
Also Monday, June 15, a court decided in favor of Enbridge continuing to build. The dissent from Judge Reyes was priceless:
‘This case is about substitution. Substituting supply for demand. Substituting ‘shippers’ for ‘refineries.’ Substituting ‘pipeline capacity’ for ‘crude oil.’ Substituting conclusory, unsupported demand assumptions for reviewable ‘long-range energy demand forecasts.’ And substituting an agency’s will for its judgment.’
What you can do:
from https://treatypeoplegathering.com/:
- Call President Biden: 888-724-8946. Say: “President Biden must honor the treaties and protect our climate by stopping the Line 3 tar sands pipeline now.”
- Donate to the bail fund for over 200 water protectors arrested last week: https://treatypeoplegathering.com/donate Help get them out of jail.
- Join. Now it’s Red Lake Treaty camp, drilling on the Red Lake River just started today. The State has authorized 5 million gallons of water for this, during a drought. Learn more at the Rise Coalition Facebook page where you can also ask for more information.
I’ll end this with a first-person account from the action at the pumping station. Ann Schulman writes about her own experience.
Water. Healing. Helicopters.
Dozens of people had been in the field all morning, dragging logs, dead trees, and rocks, onto the road and digging ditches. About eight of us, mostly Seniors, were sitting on a slab of concrete thirty yards away and drinking water in the shade of some metal structure. It was hot, over 90 degrees and none of us were inclined towards heavy lifting.
A helicopter, somebody said that it was ICE (probably so), had been flying over the area for a while and kicking up a lot of dust. After a time, people had trickled away from the field. Not everyone. Three people (that I could see) were still in it when the helicopter began a vertical decent directly onto their heads. I panicked. Didn’t the pilot see that there were people underneath him? How could he be landing? It wasn’t an empty field! I stood up and saw two figures run off to the right, somebody said that it was a woman and a girl. But a male figure disappeared in a cloud of dust beneath the helicopter. Where was he? I fought the sand and dirt blowing into my face to keep my eyes on the disappeared person. After three or four brutal seconds, a running figure darted from the haze with a helicopter a body length from the top of his head.
As I watched this person run, I remembered an image from the movie The Fog of War. Only this wasn’t a war, or a war zone. It was a peaceful protest with over a thousand civilians at the Enbridge pump house site.
My friends shook their heads in disgust. They had had enough. Machines flying into human beings, who are protecting the water through peaceful protest was way more than they wanted to see. I was too frozen inside from what had happened to notice that it was time for me to go too. My eyes had become irritated and swollen and had begun to water. And water. And water.
The next day my friends drove my car the four hours back to St. Paul, while I scheduled an emergency appointment. The closest eye clinic that could see me on such short notice was another forty-five minutes away.
The doctor asked how the dust and sand had blown into my face. I said, “It was a helicopter.” She stared for a second, not quite comprehending. “You got too close to a helicopter?” she asked. “No,” I answered. “A helicopter got too close to me. “ I added. “It was a Line 3 protest.”
She remained silent, turned her back, and typed into the computer.
Maybe she knew how dirty tar sands are. Maybe she understood about Tribal Sovereignty and genocide and wild rice, maybe she knew that the modified pipeline would cross under the headlands of the Mississippi twice, under twenty two rivers, and over two hundred bodies of water on indigenous land before arriving on the shore of Lake Superior. Probably she understood that spills happen regularly from these pipelines and the Great Lakes and world might not recover. Maybe the silence that I found deafening was actually compliance with a clinic rule about not getting involved?
“Its irritation, not abrasion,” she said after the exam. “Use water drops four times a day.”
Water. Healing. Helicopters.
Mní wičhóni
Water is Life.
Minnesota, Life, Death, a Call for Support
I wanted to post spring flowers and updates on the garden. But too much is happening here.
I was following the processes at Line 3, the not-yet-approved pipeline that is being built rapidly anyway, to take tar sands oil through Minnesota to a Wisconsin refinery for export. Indigenous-led resistance is meeting harsh police action, paid for by Enbridge. (It’s like a cash cow for the local police.) If you want to make one phone call, or do more, here’s the link for information. (The simplest action is a call to President Biden)
And I hosted some activists for a couple of weeks after their arrests, while they quarantined for the Covid that eventually two of them had. They were ultra-cautious about contagion, extremely respectful, volunteered some labor. I learned just a little about how much work it is to be arrested, and the lives of those who make it their primary calling. Sonja Birthisel, Johnny Sanchez (taking the photo), Leif Taranta, Cody Pajic, Julie Macuga, Darius Jordan (not in picture).
Remember George Floyd, killed May 25, 2020? The next day’s peaceful memorial march was met by police brutality (and right-wing violence) and a worldwide summer of protests followed, including a lot of property damage and continuing police brutality. Next week the jury on the Derek Chauvin trial (he killed George Floyd, in Minneapolis) will receive final instructions and produce a verdict. Officials prepared for the trial and protests by erecting barricades and calling in extra forces.
It never stops. Last Sunday in Brooklyn Center (a Minneapolis suburb) Daunte Wright was shot in what should have been a routine traffic stop. This four-minute video shows a peaceful and spiritual march two days later. Every day there were protests at the police station, and on Friday with hundreds of people.
The next morning, Louie Tran says on Facebook “to my white friends who still don’t get it”
“Can’t sleep because of what happened in BC last night.
- Police kettling protesters swiftly causing panic and chaos like a blitzkrieg
- Police using chemical warfare, rubber bullets and flash bang stun grenades on protesters, medics and the press
- Police driving their vehicles quickly through streets where protesters are running because they caused the panic.
- Surrounding a church that was providing safe sanctuary for the protester community. (Tried to get a warrant to entree but was denied)
- Macing a photojournalist in the face, tackling him down and pushing his head to the dirt and ripped his Press credential off throwing out to the ground. This was shortly after a Federal District judge granted a temporary restraining order against the State Troopers from harassing, arresting and physically assaulting the press.
- Detaining the Press/Media and taking photos of their credentials, IDs and face before letting them go.
- Arresting medics [Apparently prioritizing medics in arrests]
Please make a phone call or several. I would think that out-of-state calls would have extra impact as they recognize it’s a national issue. It doesn’t take long, you’ll probably talk to a machine. Here:
- Gov Walz 800-657-3717 (answering machine takes message)
- Att. Gen Keith Ellison 651-296-3353 (M-F 8-4:30 only; no email found)
- Sheriff Hutchinson 612-348-3744 (not taking calls as of Sunday noon)
- Mayor Mike Elliot of Brooklyn Center 612-460-1765 (mailbox full as of Sunday noon, try Monday?)
- Ilhan Omar 612-333-1272 MN Representative for that district (no mailbox, try later)
- Tina Smith 651-221-1016 MN Senator (mailbox full Sunday noon, try Monday)
- Amy Klobuchar 888-224-9043 MN Senator (answering machine takes message)
So there we are. I’m remembering a long-ago spring that included tulips by the sidewalk and a nuclear power plant (Three-Mile Island) at risk of melting down – and what would we do to be safe? This spring feels the same. I’m not directly in danger, but this mentally ill society, this white supremacist society endangers all of us.
Be well, be at peace, and quietly consider your own contribution 
to the well-being of the planet.
You’re already doing something – acknowledge yourself for it,
and if you want to do more, please do.
With love,
Shodo
MWA March 27, 2021 – Sorrow, shock, new life
As we weary of the pandemic and look forward to spring – forgive my rambling. And note the recording and the events at the bottom of the page.
A gunman has shot and killed ten people in a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. Less than a week earlier a gunman shot and killed eight people in massage parlors in Atlanta. Now, the state of Georgia has passed a draconian voter suppression law, and yesterday arrested a Black legislator for knocking on a door so she could witness the governor’s photo op. In Washington DC The US Senate cannot organize itself to stop minority rule (the filibuster). The Voting Rights Act is moving strictly on partisan lines, because Republicans admit they can’t win an election honestly.
The State of Minnesota has seated a jury for the trial of Derek Chauvin, who was filmed killing George Floyd, which started enormous protests, some violence, and became the occasion for more violence by police against protesters and journalists. The State has invested enormous sums in policing, fencing.
Official violence continues against people resisting Line 3 in northern Minnesota; sheriff departments are raking in the cash as Enbridge makes the mandated payments for pipeline “protection.” Line 3 is in court again and there’s some hope of legal victory. At Thacker Pass, the protest against lithium mining enters its third month of calling environmentalists to account along with mining companies.
Geneen Marie Haugen writes “I am stunned each time another hideous event exposes human depravity or psychosis or indifference for the lives of others. Every time, I (perhaps foolishly) anticipate some kind of collective awakening. …My belly aches with longing to mend what has gone awry, if only I could identify it. I want to be able to say, ‘Here is a way.’
Me too.
I’m reading a book called They Thought They Were Free: the Germans, 1933-45. The stories of ordinary individuals who joined the Nazi party are chilling; the way they manipulate truth and memory is uncomfortably familiar. But here is a comment from the author’s academic friend about his own choices. On taking the loyalty oath, “That day the world was lost, and it was I who lost it.” Although it had enabled him to hide fugitives and save lives, he said “If I had refused to take the oath in 1935, it would have meant that thousands and thousands like me, all over Germany, were refusing to take it. Their refusal would have heartened millions. Thus the regime would have been overthrown.” He speaks about not being ready, not having enough faith that he might make a difference, and so he took the easier path.
We know people who took the harder path. Daniel Ellsberg escaped life in prison (unlike Reality Winner, Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and even Edward Snowden in exile). Others have paid a different kind of price: Peter Norman, Australian runner supporting Carlos and Smith’s 1968 Olympic protest, lost his career and more – depression, alcoholism, and painkiller addiction after an injury. In 2000 he had no regret for standing up. Hugh Thompson, after stopping his soldiers from participating in the My Lai massacre, “was denounced as a traitor, and spent much of his life suffering from depression, PTSD, and nightmares.” And young Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans were executed by the Nazis. “Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go.”
What is appropriate action? What does each of us do, in a time when things are so ? And then how do we become the people who can take the risk? When I walked along the KXL route in 2013, there was no way to predict what the results would be – and it is still not possible to say what we contributed to the eventual protection of the land. But doing it made me alive. It was hard. Afterward it was hard to go back to ordinary life. Mountains and Waters Alliance, here on the farm and writing online, feels more mundane. But if I abandoned it, I would no longer feel alive.
Spring is in the air; amid the ruins of authorized violence and voter suppression, life renews. Line 3 protests with sacred ceremony mixed with arrests and legal battles. Buddhist Justice Reporter looks deeply at the Derrick Chauvin trial. Protect Thacker Pass asks hard questions and confronts the self-deception of the environmental movement. Part of the great upswelling on behalf of the earth and our humanity, Mountains and Waters Alliance asks us to become allies with forests, mountains, and rivers instead of trying to be gods.
It’s a frightening time. So always is labor and birth. Be alive.
Announcements:
Here’s a recording of a dharma talk called “Refuge,” given at Red Clay Sangha in Atlanta. Here’s a link for a talk Sunday morning, March 28, also called “Refuge.”
Partial re- opening:
The months of April through June will be a work-practice period at MWA; come for what time you can, join us in zazen and in work. Covid safety continues as a priority,including quarantining in place, limited numbers, etc. In May we do construction, the first step toward solarizing the house. Meditation retreats and work retreats follow through the year; online groups, classes, and zazen continue.
Take heart. Something is rising. We are part of it, we are alive.
With love,
Shodo-