This field trip of the spring semester revolved around the Santa Monica area with 2 major stops. First stop was the Santa Monica farmers market which was a sensory stimulating experience. With the freshest and most colorful of fruits and vegetables accomponied by an abundance of free samples, it was a perfect start to the day. With the ocean providing the all-loving backdrop, the scene is one of these which synchronizes perfectly with the imagination of what one visualizes the california lifestyle to be. Beautiful people, organic food and lots of words combining to create an ever evolving sculpture, the Santa Monica farmers market.

The second stop was a nonprofit community garden called Ocean View farms. A beutiful plot of land located on a hill in Santa Monica, the community garden is thriving with over 300 indiviudal plots and about 450 people on the waiting list. Shown around by an amazing gentlemen named Ed, we were granted access to a relatively private enviroment which we were thankful for. The attention to detail and beauty of it all was truly inspiring as tending to a small plot of land is an activity that offers little reward in the typical sense of the word when relating to the current societal context. The main driver of work is solely monetary these days and it gave great hope as to the positive shift in mindset which is occuring between the earth and the human species, which has temporarily taken itself out of the laws of nature and believed to exist outside of that which is naturally so. With the impacts becoming more evident, a recoil movement to harmonizing with the natual laws is in full effect and orginazations like Ocean View farms and the Myra House are creating amazing enviroments for learning and self expression.

Great teachings about the importance of soil were learned this past week as members of the people community added 2 new members to the Myra House Arbor community.  What we don’t see is often most important and this certainly holds true when relating it to the proper enviroment to grow a tree.

The majority of the 2-day tree planting event involved digging very deep into the southern california desert like underground to make room for a cosy cocoon of freshly composted soil.  This proper soil is the most important step we as human beings can do for a new tree as the other aspects such as amount of sunlight and water are basically out of our control.  The two new members are a Persimmon Tree & a Asian Pear Tree.

This past Sunday marked the largest community dinner we have had the entire semester as the host, Jason, prepared cuisine from India, a culture that he holds dear in his heart.  The dinner was more than a nice gathering to consume organic food as it felt more like a crash course into various aspects of the culture, teachings and practices.  Making connections between seemingly non related actions and ideas is one true mark of knowledge in my eyes and this dinner was full of these symbols.  For example, the host chose to bring out each dish one by one, instead of the typical community dinner style of bringing all dishes out at once.  He relayed to us later that this method of serving the guests was a teaching in and of itself about an important idea that is prevalent in many Indian teachings, and teachings across cultures.  This way of serving was a reminder to fully taste and appreciate your dish when it is there and then to completely let go of it when the next dish comes out.

Letting go seems to be one of the most popular topics among the interns and residents this semester as we try to figure out universals, constants in this human experience and keep arriving at the same point. The only constant is that everything is in a continuous flux.   So much strife seems to stem from our habits to create expectations for something to be exactly how it was and this is revealing itself as the ultimate reminder to let go of past regrets and future expectations to become ever more engulfed in the present moment. As the present is the only time anything is ever alive.  From naan to red dahl, from jasmine rice to mango lassi, the cuisine came and went as we all got a microcosmic experience of the practice of letting go and syncing up to the natural flow of the dinner and on a broader scale, life.

After the physical feeding was over, we engaged in spiritual feeding practices with a mediation at the table and a typical multi-religious Sunday night service in the chapel.  Jason took us through self-inquiry exercises and we shared our feelings on the question which is the most basic and most unknown all at the same time, Who am I?.  The variety of answers were amazing and the host connected all of our answers together at the conclusion of the exercise by reminding us that simply I am…, We are…  We can fill in anything after the 2 word phrase but when expanding our perspective we realize we are a person, an existence of limitless potential.  The chapel service was highlighted by readings from four scriptures: Confucian, Hindu, Jewish, Christian.  The Confucian text offered one temporary answer to the question who am I and I thought that this one best sums up how the Myra House community would answer the question.  We are…

“Heaven is my father and earth is my mother, and even such a small creature as I finds an intimate place in their midst.   Theorfore, that which extends throughout the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature.   All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions…” -Chang Tsai

“We accept the love we think we deserve.” – Stephen Chobsky

The spirit of Valentine ’s Day ushered in experiences and conversations of subjects not typically discussed in everyday rhetoric.  It was also the Asian New Year and a very special day in the Myra House because some members are of Korean descent.  These two unique energies merged and the dinner and communal sharing were very meaningful and transparent.  The theme of the dinner was the color red in honor of Valentine ’s Day.  From red quinoa to red cabbage to goji berries, basically all edible things that we carry at Ecoterra encoded with the red frequency were prepared.

Ingesting these red frequency foods is said to promote vitality of the first bodily energy center, the root chakra, which relates to survival in the physical world and the lessons learned from this material experience.  The underlying topic of the night was the divine concept of love and the various ways each of us has given, received, or witnessed the condition less feelings.  Feeling a sense of love seems to be very important in the attempt to create a relaxed and contempt existence.  This state of acceptance in turn helps sustain our survival in our respective societies and the world.

The discussion was a great reminder that love is an immaterial root and its abstractions into the third dimension take infinite forms.  We typically think that the ecstatic feelings of love are accessed predominantly through human relationships and attractions but the conversation was a great reminder that what we call love is entirely subjective and can be felt with and through whatever beings or symbols we are open enough to feel it with.  This quote by Stephen Chobsky is becoming ever more apparent as reality seems to be this collection of material events in which the individual, the engager, attaches whatever emotions he or she feels to these objective events and experiences.  Thus it might be just as Chobsky says, a mere choice to get ever closer to bliss on the love gradient. The Myra House community strives to become conscious choosers as devote a great part of our everyday life to promoting and receiving love. This relates to another topic discussed which was the relationship between love and acceptance.

“To believe is to utterly let go; to love is to utterly accept.” – mff

Saturdays gardening reminded us that with all things beautiful comes the complimentary relationship that we have given a negative connotation with our dualistic tendencies.  The early morning consisted of removing Stinging Nettle which is a fast spreading plant native to most continents and seems to enjoy the sunny California weather like most people.  Gloves are a necessity as when the plant is connected to the life giving soil via its roots, any contact will become a dull sting.  Seeing connections in practices and instances that seem to be not related is a meaningful practice and one that seems to be prevalent here amongst the community.  In all that we do the idea that this community is a microcosm of the whole seems to pop back into the collective.

Seeing metaphors  and symbols in our garden activities are very useful in learning lessons and teachings that are helpful in understanding more about the human existence.  Stinging Nettle is a great reminder that there are very few universals in this experience and that most people, environments and beings exhibit a certain quality but always carry the complimentary quality along with them.  Through the human perspective, while alive and connected to the ground Stinging Nettle is considered a plant to steer clear from because of its stinging qualities. However, all the while Nettle is one of the most powerful medicinal when cut from the roots and dried for a couple of days.  It is a good teaching on not “judging a book by its cover”, as if we only experienced the Nettle through touch than we would  just get rid of it and its powerful medicinal qualities along with it.  Symbolism of treating all as delicate creatures and the power of changing form and changing perspectives.

Sunday services take on the pluralistic vibe with an intent focus on delving into religions and faiths of all kinds.  The Myra House is a community that is trying to see past names and into truths.  This is promoted as residents and interns of all backgrounds are accepted without predisposition. The past Sunday night service harped on the similarities between those persons on a quest for those emotions or feelings which are not readily seen and more specifically revolving around three questions that seem to underlie the spiritual journey. Who am I (Who are we)? How should I (we) to live? What can I (we) hope?.

Letting these questions play out and allowing oneself to transcend innate assumptions can often be an experience unlike ever faced before, no matter if the trio of questions arises at age 20 or 70.  Trying to get to the root of an infinite concept, ie. The universe in which we are a part, can be overwhelming without the proper environment and people to be their when you are in need.  The Myra House has supplied this comfort and holistic environment for so many in the past for the support necessary to progress on their journey of limitless potential.  The 3 current interns certainly share this thanks as the community has become the perfect atmosphere to learn about everything holistic and sustainable, but even more importantly to learn more and more about these three questions which so many face.  The basis of the daily spiritual practice in the Myra House chapel gatherings were relayed to us in the service in the following italicized text.

HUMBLE -> we keep our heart open and mind empty as we sit on the cushion either by kneeling or arranging legs in a comfortable position centering each own balance.

SIMPLE -> we follow a lead and gong sound casting eyes on the flickering flame of a candle (or the cross or an icon), sing songs and attentive to the reading and brief sharing of grateful things.

MINDFUL -> we contemplate with Divine presence in attention to particular incident  and a person’s suffering, hurting and groaning in aware of what is happening locally and globally with full compassion.

Aligning with above quest, we as a community grow and mature holistically toward a more wholesome way to know better own nature and identity, to learn to be happier by meaningful and compassionate choice, and to live confidently sensing desirable future.

“What do I need to give up? The car, the money, the house. What??? No, not so easy, give up the one doing the doing. Simpler, but much harder. The final great surrender, and the only one that matters.  Only then, only then, That.” – Gary Weber

The community was in full attendance for the initial launch of a new weekly event at the Myra House. Jason Gorenstein, a Myra House community member, will be hosting communal meditations Monday night’s beginning at 7:30 p.m. Jason has most recently studied under a significant figure in the non-dual movement, Gary Weber, and has acquired amazing techniques in leading meditations to help all those involved promote silence in our mind and mindfulness in our hearts. The basic sequence for last nights gathering was yoga, self inquiry, yoga, shavasana (lying down meditation). Jason organically incorporates free flow yoga postures and stretches into the time which provides a fine compliment to the stillness.  The session that he lead us through is one for people with any kinds of experience or non-experience in meditation and yoga as his respect for the individual and uniqueness of every body and mind is amazingly present as there is no forcing of anything.

This mantra that he has incorporated into his teaching and living practice is one of the upmost importance.  When the realization that difference is a characteristic that we should revel in as opposed to resist, our world and our relationships with people, animals and the environment become much more respectful and delicate.  We are all unique expressions of the same divine light, consciousness and it is this that we must remember. All other persons and aspects of this life are different pieces of the collective self that are the most precious learning tools and mirrors which promote self-realizations. The continuous collection of present moments which we are hooked up to provides this necessary washing anew to see all persons with a clear lens without bias’s and prejudices that we carry over from the past and other tangential experiences.

Happiness Beyond Thought Meditations

Monday @ 7:30

Questions or Concerns please email: JGHappinessBeyondThought@gmail.com

Saturday marked the Myra House sustainable gardens first harvest of the 2010 year. The community was in full attendance picking for a couple of hours and gathered buckets full of Pommellos, Kumquats, Tangerines, Oranges and Lemons. There is just something a little different in the eating experience when seeing where the fruit comes from and knowing that it doesn’t travel thousands of miles to get there.  It was great as we got to experience nature first hand and bring a temporary close to the cycle of energy the trees put into making these fruits which are an integral part of sustaining the human race. Understanding the relationship which seems to be a crucial part of staying in balance, giving back to the being, organism or source when it gives to you, I was wondering how to thank these trees which just supplied us with amazing energy.

Mother nature is the most gracious mirror for all who make connections and draw symbolism. With nature embodying this state of pure love and selflessness that we are trying to reconnect with and re-promote at the Myra House, it seems no thank you’s are necessary to properly complete the interaction. A much more complete way to bring a close to the harvest would be to learn from and mimic these all loving tendencies of nature and pass on these gifts of fruit throughout the surrounding communities.  Ecoterra has become a great platform to do this as the health market has essentially become the new age tree.  At Ecoterra, we try to inhabit this mindset that the fruit bearing trees have mirrored to us, to convert our energy into live mediums for others to fuel from and when this cycle is in its perfected state those who give will receive even more.

Two environments for the same cause

A trip to Santa Monica highlighted this past week’s events. It was Ecoterra Staff appreciation night and Sung & Myra treated all to an evening of fine Italian pasta for dinner and Raw, vegan milkshakes for desert to show their thanks. Sung connected the present situation with the staff at the Ecoterra and a parable (Matthew 20: 1~16 in the Gospel) in the bible which is summarized and discussed in the following italicized text:

The story was essentially a metaphor discussing the idea of “the kingdom of heaven”. This idea is a concept very similar to the the Taoist principle of the way, the Buddhist ideal of nirvana and countless other traditions trying to capture the divine of emotion of pure love and bliss in modern rhetoric. The parable is conveyed through the master/ worker relationship and dynamic.

The master needed work and he found some workers at the beginning of the day and promised to pay them 10 dollars for their days work. The workers agreed and the day continued. At about noon, the master realized he needed more work and found another group of workers whom he promised 10 dollars for the day; and the workers agreed. The day continued and at about 5 pm, the master ran into another group in search of work and invited them to work for the rest of the day for 10 dollars. The workers agreed and at 6:30, the 3 sets of workers, those who came at 9am, those at noon and those at 5 pm gathered to collect their pay. Those workers who had been working since 9 am started to bicker because those who came later were receiving the same wage and an uproar occurred. Calm and collected the master replied simply stating, “ Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for $10? I choose to give to the last worker as I give to you…Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

This situation was similar to the present moment at the table as the staff experience ranges from 2 year veterans to 2 week interns. The master symbolized two ideals, depending on how deep or broad you engage in the story. Sung related the kingdom of heaven to the holistic living center where the opportunity to live and work is always available. In addition, the master is reminiscent of the even greater community we are linked up to which helps counsel and fuel our individual journey both spiritually and physically. The life giving breath and present moment is all loving and it will be there no matter how soon or later an individual finds it. In direct relation to Ecoterra, the store is gradually shifting towards more of a co-op model in which it will be entirely run democratically by the surrounding community. It seems that a fine balance of, trusting in the universal laws and spirit which governs all organic matter and accepting certain societal roles where we feel most at ease, will result in an individual achieving a state of mind evermore closer to that of the kingdom of heaven, the way, nirvana or simply stated happiness.

A key part of the internship program is working at Ecoterra Health Market and this semi-urban setting provides a fine and meaningful contrast, a yin and yang type complimentary environment to the serene Myra House about 3 miles away up the mountain. The Myra House and Ecoterra mission are basically synonymous as they both trace back to the same root, the synergy of Myra & Sung, and both implore these ideas of love and selflessness. In addition both provide a healing environment for all people with the Myra House keying on the reviving of our spiritual selves and the Ecoterra Health Market and Pharmacy focusing on our physical selves with food, juices, herbs and supplements. Synergy is seen through these 2 organizations as when they merge they produce people that are greater than the sum of their parts while simultaneously providing two environments to uphold the proper relationship between freedom and structure which is necessary for optimal progression.

The night began with a dinner prepared by the three interns with a sandwich night theme. The meal prepared was much greater than a simple gathering to enjoy local, organic, vegetarian cuisine. The interns have expressed great interest in expanding the prepared food options for the Ecoterra health market and made potential new sandwiches for the community to try. Two types of sandwiches were made, 1) Hummus sandwich 2) Lentil, vegetable quesadilla. The meal blended well with the staple of kimchee in the Myra house community. It was great to have members of Jason’s family join us for the gathering.

The dinner naturally drifted to the chapel as Sung guided us through a service of acceptance and recognition through the context and teachings of four various schools of thought, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism. Sung relayed to those present the mission and purpose for the Myra House. To briefly summarize, he pointed out the 3 hubs in which all other spokes stem from. These core ideals are essentially what keeps the Myra house wheel spinning and organically progressing in a continuous process since the initiation of the non profit organization in 2001.

Small is beautiful

The relative small size of the community promotes quality relationships. Even though it is a small community, it is modeled and is a microcosm of the entire universe with all of the interaction between different beliefs, religions, ecosystems and live beings.

Another world and life are possible

Myra House is a community of hope and promotes the idea of broadening out your perspective in all facets. We are transcending norms and feel that community style living is one way to learn maxims and teachings necessary for a harmonious existence amongst people and the environment.

Love is a verb

Life is a continuous series of presents that constantly wash us anew. In this respect, we need to constantly remind ourselves that there is always room for improvement as all can progress in their respective journey at any moment. More specifically concerning the love emotion which seems able to have a positive effect on any and all situations.

The dinner and service wrapped up a very fulfilling week at the Myra House and Ecoterra health market and set the stage for a great semester to come.