Mondo Monkey the Time-Traveling Chimp

Ten Principles

2008-06-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ten Principles

1. Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

2. Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

3. Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

4. Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

5. Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

6. Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

7. Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

8. Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

9. Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

10. Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

Liberty 24th Century BC

2008-02-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

Freedom (ama-gi) written in Sumerian cuneiform

Sri Chinmoy, The Wings of Joy

2008-01-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

We are all seekers, and our goal is the same: to achieve inner peace, light, and joy, to become inseparably one with our Source, and to lead lives full of true satisfaction.

To live in joy is to live the inner life. This is the life that leads to self-realisation. Self-realisation is God-realisation, for God is nothing other than the Divinity that is deep inside each one of us, waiting to be discovered and revealed. We may also refer to God as the Inner Pilot or the Supreme. But no matter which term we use, we mean the Highest within us, that which is the ultimate goal of our spiritual quest.

A spiritual person should be a normal person, a sound person. In order to reach God, a spiritual person has to be divinely practical in his day-to-day activities. In divine practicality, we share our inner wealth. We feel the divine motivation behind each action and share the result with others. Spirituality does not negate the outer life. The outer life should be the manifestation of the divine life within us.

~Sri Chinmoy, The Wings of Joy

J. William Lloyd - Freedom Hill - My Neighbor

2008-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

I have started researching on my old friend J. William Lloyd. He died in 1940 at age 83.

From Wikipedia:

John William Lloyd (J. William Lloyd) (June 4, 1857 – 1940) was an American individualist anarchist.

He based his individualist anarchism upon natural law, rather than on egoism as Benjamin Tucker did; this was a source of conflict amidst otherwise friendly relations between Tucker and himself. Lloyd later modified his position to minarchism.

Lloyd moved to California in the early 1920s. He set up a small community called Freedom Hill somewhere in present day Sun Valley, CA.

Many of his works were published by the Freedom Hill Pressery. Lloyd listed his address as Swallow's Nest, Freedom Hill, Roscoe, California.

The press way run by Lloyd's friend, LeRoy "Freedom Hill" Henry M.D. Freedom Hill Henry published many obscure, low run editions on various spirtual topics.

Does anyone know where Freedom Hill was? I am guessing that it was in La Tuna Canyon. If you think you know, please email me here.

El Mono, time-traveling Bonobo

Photo Credits:

Above from University of Michigan Archives, J. William Lloyd.

Below right from Los Angeles Times, Freedom Hill Henry

Below left from Google Books

HANUMAN

2007-12-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Enduring Relevance of Hanuman

In Hindu symbolism, a monkey signifies the human mind, which is ever restless and never still. This monkey-mind happens to be the only thing over which man has absolute control. We cannot control the world around us but we can control and tame our mind by ardent discipline. We cannot choose our life but we can choose the way we respond to it. Hanuman, when he was a child, was tempted by the sun and he rushed towards it thinking it to be a delectable fruit. On his way however, he was distracted by the planet Rahu and changed his path. Thus Hanuman is the temperamental human intellect, which is unquiet and excitable. It is only by diverting it to the path of pure bhakti (devotion), that it can be made aware of its profound and silent essence.

According to the Hindu point of view, there is no objective world 'out there.' The whole manifested world is a subjective phenomenon created by our own selves. We - as humans - have the unique ability to condition our minds. In other words, we have the power to change the way we perceive life. And by changing our perceptions of life, we have the power of changing our world. When Hanuman enters Rama's life, he changes Rama's world. He transforms a crisis (the loss of Sita) into an opportunity (rid the world of Ravana). He transforms a victim into a hero.

Thus, Hanuman is no ordinary monkey. While embarking on the search for Sita, the monkeys were confronted by the vast ocean lying between them and Lanka. They wondered how they would make their way across this mighty obstacle. Someone suggested that Hanuman jump and cross over the sea. But Hanuman was doubtful, "I cannot do that," he said. At that moment, one of his companions reminded Hanuman of the awesome powers lying dormant within him. Instantly Hanuman regained memory of his divine strength and he successfully leaped across the ocean. Thus our mind too needs to be reminded of its divine potential and of the fact that it can achieve phenomenal heights provided it believes in its ability to perform the task in question. Truly Hanuman is symbolic of the perfect mind, and embodies the highest potential it can achieve.

The Spiritual Significance of Hanuman

The goal of all mystical yearning is union of the individual soul with the universal soul. In the Adhyatma ('spiritual') Ramayana, a Sanskrit text dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth century, Sita represents the individual (jiva-atma), which has separated from the universal (param-atma) symbolized by Rama. In a beautiful interpretation, Hanuman here is said to personify bhakti, which annihilates the 'ahankara' or ego (Ravana), and re-unites the two.

Honours

Shortly after he is crowned Emperor upon his return to Ayodhya, Rama decides to ceremoniously reward all his well-wishers. At a grand ceremony in his court, all his friends and allies take turns being honoured at the throne. Hanuman too goes up, but without desiring a reward. Seeing Hanuman come up to him, an emotionally overwhelmed Rama embraces him warmly, declaring that he could never adequately honour or repay Hanuman for the help and services he received from the noble Vanara. Sita, however, insists that Hanuman deserved honour more than anyone else, and asks him to seek a gift. Upon Hanuman's request, Sita gives him a necklace of precious stones adorning her neck. When he receives it, Hanuman immediately takes it apart, and peers into each stone. Taken aback, many of those present demand to know why he was destroying the precious gift. Hanuman answers that he was looking into the stones to make sure that Rama and Sita are in them, because if they are not, the necklace is of no value to him. At this, a few mock Hanuman, saying his reverence and love for Rama and Sita could not possibly be as deep as he was portraying. In response, Hanuman tears his chest open, and everyone is stunned to see Rama and Sita literally in his heart.

Click here to learn more about Hanuman.

That I am I

2007-11-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

This is what I believe:

That I am I.

That my soul is a dark forest.

That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.

That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back.

That I must have the courage to let them come and go.

That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.

There is my creed.

~D. H. Lawrence

Peak Oil

2007-11-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

Kenzi Shiokava - Old Friend

2007-11-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

Archeology makes the mind wonder and brings an appealing emotion as well as understanding, and an indelible mystery of presence. From its very process I find inspiration. From any discarded material that has gone through the process of history and humanization is the potential of presence, not only physical but also spiritual. I feel in them the mystery of history and seek to bring out the spiritual essence and presence inherent in such materials.

I use discarded wood, railroad ties, telephone poles, beams and other woods shaped by the element and living things in the environment, and strive to work these materials without losing their natural qualities and vitality. To create a form not by imposing a preconceived configuration but by interacting within the structure so that the mediums own life history becomes the determinant of the final form. To execute the sculptures hand tools are used. I feel that to develop these materials in this manner it is impossible to go at a machine pace. It is essential to feel nature’s vitality and endowments.

Being a humanist, my art is deeply rooted in that sense. It evolves from my spirituality. And the essence of the approach is freedom of spirit. Finalizing, I strive to keep each work as natural as the medium itself yet to exist in another realm, exuding emotion and spirituality. Such as in the “Thunder Silence” of Zen.

Kenzi Shiokava

12 Theses for a Non-violent Culture

2007-11-03T09:57:00.001-07:00

12 Theses for a Non-violent Culture

Dieter Duhm

1. Home for the children

In a non-violent world children grow up in confidence and trust. The future of humanity depends on the fate of its children. A childhood marked by distrust and violence will not bring about humane beings. Provide a home to children where they can again trust their parents.

2. Love and trust

Love is the source of humane thinking and non-violent action. Love comes from trust and trust comes from truth. Create living environments where human beings have no reason for lies and fear. Create the social and ecological conditions for love. Confidence and love are the most fundamental powers in all of creation.

3. Sexuality

Sexuality is an elementary force of life and of the joy of existence. Sexuality is free. It can neither be confined by marriage pledges nor by tight moral constrictions, instead it needs truth and trust. Create the moral and social conditions for free sexuality.

4. Partnership

Partnership is the highest form of relationship between the sexes. It has its roots in a common way of thinking. In no way is partnership in opposition to free sexuality, because it is itself free of jealousy. True partnership is the most radical model for a relationship between human beings that is free of violence and fear. Create the mental basis for a partnership free of jealousy.

5. Community

The organic environment for human beings is the community. Natural values like truth, trust, solidarity and responsible participation without philosophical nit-picking, can only be realized within communities that have developed organically. The non-violent society of human beings is a network of communitarian communities. Only in this way can the original concept of socialism be brought to reality in a humane way. Create functioning communities.

6. Freedom and autonomy of the individual

A free world comprises individuals who say what they think and share what touches them. They are not subordinate to anything but their own knowledge and consciousness. The mature community is a grassroots democracy of free individuals. It is a human collective that is not led collectively in the name of a leader or an ideology. The individual and the community are equal and complementary forces in a non-violent world.

7. Thinking

The reflecting intellect is a young and powerful fruit on the tree of evolution. Free and creative thinking dissolves all rigid ideologies. The secrets of existence are beyond all scientific or religious terminology. Individual autonomy is a direct result of a thinking that is free of fear. Overcome all creeds and dogmas of scientific and political systems. Create universities for the powers of growth inherent in free thinking.

8. Religion

Just like Eros and the intellect, spirituality is one of the elemental powers of human existence. We live in an endless radiant universe. Everything we are and everything surrounding us has roots in the universe. Spiritual love is the connectedness with the whole. Therefore we do not need a religious confession nor predetermined answers. The answer will come through the spiritual opening of the mind. Create a free religious spirit without laws and without dogmas.

9. Nature

Nature is our link with Creation. We are its offspring like a child that is born from its mother's womb. The secret of human existence is part of the secret of nature. Whatever we do to nature we do to ourselves. The outer and inner environment are two aspects of the same world. Let us take care of Mother Nature and become aware of the processes of growth and their rhythms and interrelatedness. Cooperation with all vital energies and respect for life are the prerequisites for a non-violent and humane civilisation.

10. Animals

Stop all cruelty toward animals. Like us they are part of the living organism of the biosphere. Like us they are beings with souls, just at a different level of evolution. In a non-violent culture whales are not killed, animals are not kept for slaughter, and fur farming does not exist. Create spaces for a co-existence of human beings and animals that is free of fear. Animals do not exist for us to slaughter but to help us to learn to see.

11. Biotopes for healing

All of the thoughts above join together to form a new biotope for healing. Such a biotope contains the informational totality for a non-violent existence on Planet Earth. Create pilot models for this informational totality. Create international centers where the social, technical, ecological and spiritual structures are such that the healing powers of life - trust, Eros, Logos and symbiosis - are promoted in the best possible way.

12. Network of human beings

Today, within all countries and cultures on earth there are people who have irrevocably understood the necessity of a positive inner and outer revolution. They all contribute certain thoughts, certain convictions, and certain aspects to the overall view of the tasks at hand. It is not machines but people who decide if a future worth living is possible. In that spirit we want to invite you to join the network for a non-violent earth.

Translated out of:

Dieter Duhm: Politische Texte für eine gewaltfreie Erde, Verlag Meiga, 1992

Mondo's old friend wrote:

2007-10-29T16:31:00.002-07:00

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

Listen to Howard speak about The Dream here. (it takes a moment before he starts speaking, so be patient).

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

"Μην αναρωτηθείτε τι ο κόσμος χρειάζεται. Αναρωτηθείτε τι σας κάνει να έρθετε ζωντανός, και να πάτε κάνει αυτού, επειδή τι οι παγκόσμιες ανάγκες είναι άνθρωποι που έχουν έρθει ζωντανός." Howard Thurman

世界が必要とするものをあなた自身に尋ねてはいけない。世界が必要とする何を生き生きして来た人々であるので、生き生きして来させる尋ねするそれを行きなさい何があなた自身に。ハワード Thurman

"No se pregunte lo que necesita el mundo. Pregúntese qué hace que usted viene vivo, y vaya hacen el, porque qué el mundo necesita es la gente que tiene vivo venida." Howard Thurman

I was reminded-reminded by the blog by Olga Varlamova.

What is ZEGG?

2007-10-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

What is ZEGG?

Another Type of Politics
ZEGG - the Practical Details
Community
Consciousness in Love
Spirituality
Ecology and Permaculture
Children and Youth
Creativity
Finances

What is ZEGG?:

We are a community project and an international meeting point for a culture worth living. In living together, studying other cultures, and in cooperation with committed groups, communities and individuals we are exploring the foundations for a non-violent way of living.
Some questions that move us:

How can we integrate personal development, new ways of living and political engagement to realize a humane world?
What inner sources and know-how is needed to live ecologically, sustainably and non-violently?
What social structures do we need in order to make truth among lovers possible?
Which life forms support the development of our human beauty, compassion and ability to love?
How is the level of peace in a culture related to its ideals of love?

We look forward to interested guests and mutual inspiration.

The ZEGG Community

Shamanistic Hunting of The Kalahari People

2007-10-13T22:00:00.001-07:00

A Howling Dervish

2007-10-13T14:15:00.001-07:00

The Great God Pan and Pheidippides

2007-10-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

Before they left the city, the Athenian generals sent off a message to Sparta. The messenger was an Athenian named Pheidippides, a professional long-distance runner.

According to the account he gave the Athenians on his return, Pheidippides met the god Pan on Mount Parthenium, above Tegea. Pan, he said, called him by name and told him to ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, in spite of his friendliness towards them and the fact that he had often been useful to them in the past, and would be so again in the future.

The Athenians believed Pheidippides's story, and when their affairs were once more in a prosperous state, they built a shrine to Pan under the Acropolis, and from the time his message was received they held an annual ceremony, with a torch-race and sacrifices, to court his protection.

Anton (Tony) Krupicka Running Movie - Indulgence

2007-09-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Think Hemp

2007-09-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hiroshima | Monkey's Perspective

2007-09-04T18:14:00.001-07:00

GIZMO: Love Them Humans

2007-07-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Narrator:

This movie is a collection of stories starring people obsessed by a dream.

With their strong will and shear endurance they strive to change their world by being inventive.

Creating an invention does not mean necessarily the development of a new device or mechanical contraption.

Many wish to reshape the human body, overcome the elements and push beyond ordinary physical limitations.

Man's muscles became part of his own highly efficient machine.

In each of the following stories, there is a individual willing to challenge new frontiers.

Through courage and creativity, they put dreams to the test.

Simply by being inventive, everyman has the chance to move the world.

El Venado Gana el Hardrock 100

2007-07-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Scott Jurek is El Venado

All One! All One! For We're All One Or None!

2007-07-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you Dr. Bronner...

Tourism is sin, and travel on foot virtue.

2007-07-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Tourism is sin, and travel on foot virtue.

--Werner Herzog

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

2007-06-11T22:54:00.000-07:00

Life: preserve and protect life...BIG life, all around you...the natural world, i.e., do no harm.

Liberty: preserve and protect freedom...freedom of choice, of ideas, of expression.

Happiness = freedom in the living world.

Amerika's religion needs a revival.

el mono

Monkey Chicken - El Gallo Mono

2007-05-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

My eyes weren't focusing well when I made this self-portrait. el mono

My Friend Martha Graham

2007-04-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

'"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others"'

from The Life and Work of Martha Graham ^[1]

Earthlings

2007-04-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers. The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.