Author Archives: Jo Beall

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 194 – 6/28/2021

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we are nomads in the vast skysea

dancing waves of rainbow mystery

singing songs of peaceful harmony

today i’m reminded of the song, “too damn hot” necessitating a trip to a cooling center – you may have heard that the pacific northwest is broiling and breaking all recorded high temperatures – so this will be short and sweet…

“There is no independent existence. There is no you and no me apart from other people and the earth and the wind and the sun. We exist because of numberless causal factors—our genetics, the love of our mothers and fathers, our place in time, the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and so on. And we are defined by our relationships to others and to our world. This is the matrix in which we act. When designing a garden we will again and again remind ourselves of this and cultivate the mind that thinks in unfolding, evolving energetic systems. Because a garden is a complete mandala, its parts relate to one another. Together they form one whole energetic system. The parts are inseparable from the whole, and the whole is inseparable from its parts, and both are in process of changing.”

~ Excerpted from:The Sound of Cherry Blossoms Zen Lessons from the Garden of Contemplative Design by Alxe Noden and Martin Hakubai Mosko,page 19–20 ~

in this moment of stillness beyond space and time, deepest bows to the Beloved, the all flowing source of love, wisdom and truth and to allparts populating our one whole cosmic sea of love energy…

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 193 – 6/27/2021

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today is another day of astonishing sunlight breaking all records… a day of walking with sunlight, feeling the inner sunlight, being sunlight, painting sunlight on the canvas of the more beautiful world we create with every thought, word and action, breathing in light, breathing out love…

~

Instructions to Painters & Poets

I asked a hundred painters and a hundred poets
how to paint sunlight
on the face of life
Their answers were ambiguous and ingenuous
as if they were all guarding trade secrets
Whereas it seems to me
all you have to do
is conceive of the whole world
and all humanity
as a kind of art work
a site-specific art work
an art project of the god of light
the whole earth and all that’s in it
to be painted with light

And the first thing you have to do
is paint out postmodern painting
And the next thing is to paint yourself
in your true colors
in primary colors
as you seem them
(without whitewash)
paint yourself as you see yourself
without make-up
without masks
Then paint your favorite people and animals
with your brush loaded with light
And be sure you get the perspective right
and don’t fake it
because one false line leads to another

And then paint the high hills
when the sun first strikes them
on an autumn morning
With your palette knife
lay it on
the cadmium yellow leaves
the ochre leaves
the vermillion leaves
of a New England autumn
And paint the ghost light of summer nights
and the light of the midnight sun
which is moon light
And don’t paint out the shadows made by light

for without chiaroscuro you’ll have shallow pictures
So paint all the dark corners too
everywhere in the world
all the hidden places and minds and hearts
which light never reaches
all the caves of ignorance and fear
the pits of despair
the sloughs of despond
and write plain upon them
“Abandon all despair, ye who enter here”

And don’t forget to paint
all those who lived their lives
as bearers of light
Paint their eyes
and the eyes of every animal
and the eyes of beautiful women
known best for the perfection of their breasts
and the eyes of men and women
known only for the light of their minds
Paint the light of their eyes
the light of sunlit laughter
the song of eyes
the song of birds in flight

And remember that the light is within
if it is anywhere
and you must paint from the inside
Start with purity
with pure white
the pure white of gesso
the pure white of cadmium white
the pure white of flake white
the pure virgin canvas
the pure life we all begin with

Turner painted sunlight
with egg tempera
(which proved unstable)
and Van Gogh did it with madness
and the blood of his ear
(also unstable)
and the Impressionists did it
by never using black
and the Abstract Expressionists did it
with white house paint
But you can do it with the pure pigment
(if you can figure out the formula)
of your own true light
But before you strike the first blow
on the virgin canvas
remember its fragility
life’s extreme fragility
and remember its innocence
its original innocence
before you strike the first blow

Or perhaps never strike it
And let the light come through
the inner light of the canvas
the inner light of the models posed
in the life study
the inner light of everyone
Let it all come through
like a pentimento
the light that’s been painted over
the life that’s been painted over
so many times
Let it all surge to the surface
the painted-over image
of primal life on earth

And when you’ve finished your painting
stand back astonished
stand back and observe
the life on earth that you’ve created
the lighted life on earth
that you’ve created
a new brave world

~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti ~ Rest in Power ~

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 192 – 6/26/2021

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today is Torture Awareness Day, at home and around the world, Guantánamo has become a symbol of injustice, abuse, and disregard for the rule of law… originally intended to be an “island outside the law” where terrorism suspects could be detained without process and interrogated without restraint, the prison and military commissions at Guantánamo Bay are catastrophic failures…

  since the prison camp opened in 2002, almost 800 men have passed through its cells… in addition to unlawful detention, many were subjected to torture and other brutal treatment… today, 41 men remain, nearly all held without charge or trial; dozens of these detainees have already been cleared for release by the U.S. military and national security agencies but they continued to be stuck in a quagmire in which no arm of government is willing to end the violation of their rights — and Guantánamo’s blight on our nation’s reputation and security…

it is long past time for this shameful episode in US history to be brought to a close… while they await our humanity, let us re-member ours with Thay’s poem, Please Call Me by My True Names…

“Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow— even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch, to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings, learning to sing in my new nest, to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower, to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, to fear and to hope. The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that is alive.

I am a mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river. And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond. And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks. And I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate.

And I am also the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands. And I am the man who has to pay his “debt of blood” to my people dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth. My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once, so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up and the door of my heart could be left open, the door of compassion.”

may the door of every heart open with compassion…

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awaken today in the field of the dream weave… i have moved to somewhere unknown where there is much exploring called for… i love the energy of this space and being reunited with people living in another realm and that this pilgrimage is so flowing and so effortless…

what an auspicious dream on this tenth moonth anniversary of my most recent rising from the deeps, from the dead, from the tidal pool where crabs reside right in the midst of mutation… still under the glow of the full moon, i reflect on how “and still i rise” is very apropos as a theme song for moi…

i intend on listening to the injunctions of this moon to be pulled by and dance in rhythm with the soul song singing me on the cusp of a new decade and new seven year cycle, to release what no longer serves so as to live more and more deeply and expansively in the kingdom of joy being loving presence; yes, i’m always up and down for being infused with WILDness (Wonder, Imagination, Liberation and Devotion)…

may today be a celebration of divine indulgence, of diving deeply in the ocean of devotion, of delighting in being breathed in and out like the oscillating waves of the deep blue sea… a day of thanksgiving, of bubbling joy, a day of reverence, of being in the moment… a day of deep peace in whatever is, a day of embracing love and harmony… a day of walking lightly upon the earth, a day of being filled with a zany mirth… a day of tiptoeing between the veils, of feeling the tides lifting all sails… a day of trusting our one heart to carry us home…

“To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.”

~ Joy Harjo ~

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 190 – 6/24/2021

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this capricorn strawberry honey moon exact at 11:40 am pdt today marks the end of soulstice portal and first half of the year and is a time of great release… we now enter the waning half of the year (northern hemisphere) and the waxing half of the year (southern hemisphere)… it’s a potent moment of eternity to release outdated beliefs, patterns and structures held within…

our capacity to experience embodied joy, pleasure and love sacred medicine is amplified now with a standing invitation to do what makes you feel good without shame or guilt as the moon’s energy supports shedding self-imposed limitations and unleashing our inner wild self! with the earthy power of Capricorn magnetizing creative passion and welcoming delight, it’s time to celebrate!!

this capricorn moon portal reflects the need to make important choices in our lives to bring deep dreams and desires forward for the benefit of our own lives, and for the planet…. this moon can bring clarity, listen within and move in the direction that feels good in your heart, wombspace and intuition re-membering the universe always rewards our trusting the gut…

let’s close this full moon ceremony feeling the freedom that comes from releasing what no longer serves and the spaciousness that comes to all as we open our hearts more and more widening and deepening the circle of compassion….

and, now, let’s close this sacred space of ceremony with the blessing we began reciting 22 days ago into the sacred fire within, the inner light of great spirit residing in all our relatives: may this day be blessed with gifts, lessons, understanding and friends… may our energy be a gift to all we meet… let us be centered, healing and open facing the day with courage, kindness, insight and compassion… may we honor this day…

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 189 – 6/23/2021

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“…Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
YouYou may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one…”

~ John Lennon ~

in this moment of eternity on the eve of the full moon, this peace pilgrim has a very special invitation for everyone for tomorrow… for decades and decades, peace is the cause of my life and the unitive field of consciousness is what everything’s all about… so, you can imagine how i love world unity week and the opportunity to co-host a movie with the director/producer of this inspiring and transformational documentary about one of the many patron saints of world unity and peace…

i imagine many of you may already know that i’m talking about “The World Is My Country,” and may be like i am – someone who’s watched this film multiple times and would be quite happy to watch this film daily… if you are a newbie, what a treat awaits as you watch Garry Davis transform from bomber pilot to world citizen #1 peace movement initiator…

here are the deets – look so forward to witnessing a world of peace with you…

Join us for the FREE SCREENING of “The World is My Country” Full 83 minute Feature Film and Q & A with Director Arthur Kanegis
at World Unity Week!

Please tell all your friends!

June 24 – 5:00 PM pacific — 8:00pm EDT — Midnight GMT/UTC
LINK TO ZOOM ROOM:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83114637833

–You’ll see Garry Davis issuing World Passports to legendary folk singer Joan Baez, to Jack Canfield and to Barbara Marx Hubbard!

–Deepak Chopra, Jean Houston, William Ury and so many other dignitaries proudly received their World Passports.

–Rod Roddenberry, the son of Star Trek founder Gene Roddenbury calls his World Passport phenomenal and says: “I have always loved the concept of the United Federation of Planets-  And united earth!”

–Mos Def (aka Yasiin Bey says “my country is called Earth.”

–David Gallup and the World Service Authority legal team spring to the defense of Yasiin Bey and thousands of stateless refugees.

— See how you can get your own World Passport, World Birth Certificate, World Marriage Certificate, and so much more.

Synopsis:

In “The World Is My Country” movie Martin Sheen presents the epic true story of the daring, controversial, decades-ahead-of-his-time Garry Davis. A Broadway actor, Garry was so horrified about bombing a city in World War II that he reinvented himself as “World Citizen #1” — challenging the UN and all the national governments — taking on their border guards and armies– in a dramatic quest to unite the people of our world. Garry’s bold acts drew Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Camus and a cast of thousands into a dramatic adventure that culminated when the UN unanimously passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Event co-hosted by Jo Beall.

Join us and feel the thrill of being an empowered Citizen of the World!

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 188 – 6/22/2021

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Honoring World Rainforest Day!

today on World Rainforest Day – a day encouraging action and awareness to protect the world’s rainforests – stop, take a breath, and reflect on our intimate relationship to the life-giving power of the Amazon rainforest and all that she provides for us as the lungs of the planet…

i love this image, even more, i love seeing pachamama as a rainforest showering us with breath, giving us life… so, let’s take this moment to feel pachamama  breathing us through our one heart flowing right into the stillpoint, our ground of being, oneness… in this sacred space, we open our hearts in rhythm with beloved’s flowing breath and feel the suffering and the joy of the cosmos and in the silence hear the whispers of what’s ours to do with our out breath…

i love this image, this metaphor returning to me on this day of pilgrimage when i’m re-membering the conception of the poetic peace pilgrimage over six years ago as a daily breathing practice in rhythm with flow… i love this image, this metaphor returning on this day of pilgrimage when i awaken in wonder and awe of  great mystery and of bearing witness to the medicine of these cosmic lungs…

thank you, pachamama , for giving us these organs of breath, may we steward more and more response-ably and sustainably…

some invitations for stewarding lovingly:

Be grateful: To start with, action to protect the rainforests must begin now. Before we unmindfully cut trees to build our homes and offices, we need to take a deep breath and thank the rainforests for being the lungs of the planet. A real-eyes-ation of this might make us switch to more sustainable ways of development…

Contribute: We may also offer monetary and voluntary support and contribute to organisations that work to preserve the rainforests…

Eat a meat-free meal: Cattle farming contributes significantly to deforestation. Eating a meat-free meal can go a long way. We can start by going vegetarian for a day, week, month or a year…

Pass on palm oil: Rainforests are being cleared to expand palm plantations. Passing on palm oil and choosing products with alternate oils can be one small step that we can take on our part…

Spread the word: Creating awareness to preserve the forests can be one small act of kindness that we can show for the benefit of all…

may we re-member we are part of the earth as the rainforest is the womb of life from where we emerged with answers to questions we have yet to ask…

“The silencing of the rainforests is a double deforestation, not only of trees but a deforestation of the mind’s music, medicine and knowledge.” ~ Jay Griffiths ~

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 187 – 6/21/2021

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“If you are seeking, seek us with joy
For we live in the kingdom of joy.
Do not give your heart to anything else
But to the love of those who are clear joy,
Do not stray into the neighborhood of despair.
For there are hopes: they are real, they exist –
Do not go in the direction of darkness –
I tell you: suns exist.”

~ Rumi ~

as i feel the warmth of the outer sun, i’m drawn to the inner sun and i’m re-membering the river of joy below the river always present, always flowing inside of me, inside of you… settling down beside this river of joy, feel the connection to the always present source, always flowing love through us connecting us all as one ocean of compassion… feel our one heart beating resonantly, singing in soulful harmony…

may our hearts burst open in unconditional love

may our minds be illumined by a peace passing all understanding

may our bodies be flooded with central sun’s light

may our spirits touch all that is with our transforming radiant presence

Peace to all beings
Whether near or far
Known or unknown
Real or imaginary
Visible or invisible
Born or yet to be born.
May all beings
Be well and happy
And free from fear.
Peace to all beings
Within and beyond the imagination
In the world of ideas
In the world of memories
And in the world of dreams.
May all beings
Be well and happy
And free from fear.
Peace in all elements
Of earth, air, fire and water
Fulfilled in space
Peace.
Peace in all universes
From the smallest cells in our bodies
To the greatest galaxies in space
Peace
And light rising
Peace to all beings
Within each being here To those beings that have been in the past
And to those beings that are yet to be in the future
May all beings
Within each being here
Be well and happy
And free from fear.

Take all that I say,
And toss away
All that does not
Resonate
For we do not learn
Wisdom and Love
We re-member what’s within…

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 186 – 6/20/2021

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“Empty yourself of everything.  Let the mind rest at peace.  The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.  They grow and flourish and then return to the Source.  Returning to the Source is stillness, which is the way of Nature.  The way of Nature is unchanging.”  ~Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

~

how i love this day of soulstice and standing still with the sun

re-membering life is a pilgrimage to the inner sun, sol, soul,

the city of gold in the heart within the heart, sacred space of radiance…

holding the treasured wisdom of our true value and how the world always goes on…

~

as the wise pilgrim moon waxes into fullness on this soulstice with so much to celebrate and commemorate, in the southern hemisphere we breathe in the shortest day while in the northern hemisphere we breathe out the longest day… are you feeling gaia breathing in rhythm with light waves? are you feeling the earth of your being breathing in the waves of light? as we stand still with the sun, i invite your paising with me and reflecting on some quest ions… who am i? what do i want? what am i here to give? what am i greatfull for?

today, the veil between the worlds is so thin, a magical day to see through the mists… to return for the divine union between heaven and earth to occur… a sacred moment of the divine masculine spirit pouring the luminous light all over the cosmos as we celebrate sacred father energy freeing us to enter the vast unknown, to stand still with the sun…

let’s gather together now under old oak trees, nurtured by the ground, the living green grass under our feet, to honor the longest/shortest day of the year… witnessing the pain of our earthmother, today we celebrate Her saying prayers of healing, for the world and for all Her children being mindful that today is World Refugee Day and that 258,000,000 people of the human variety are displaced. that’s one in 30 human beings…

“We join with the earth and with each other.
To celebrate the seas.
To rejoice the sunlight.
To sing the song of the stars.

We join with the earth and with each other.
To recall our destiny.
To renew our spirits.
To reinvigorate our bodies.

We join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery: for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life.We join with the earth and with each other.
To bring new life to the land.
To restore the waters.
To refresh the air.

We join with the earth and with each other.
To renew the forests.
To care for the plants.
To protect the creatures.

We join with the earth and with each other.
To create the human community.
To promote justice and peace.
To remember our children.”

~ From the United Nations Environmental Sabbath ~

~

may we re-member as we stand still with the sun that in each of us, there’s a little of all of us, there is only one of us here and in the most overarching sense, we are all refugees, all desiring beloved community, a refuge in the storm… as we take a sacred pause and stand still, may we reflect on the transformation we are being called to leap into shifting from a culture of war to one of peace, the beloved community of ubuntu, of compassion and care…

in this moment of eternity, this moment of the astonishing light of our being, may we all awaken to our sol, our inner radiance of divine love…

Poetic Peace Pilgrimage – Year 8 – Day 185 – 6/19/2021

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On June 19, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate. Ninety-nine years earlier, on June 19, 1865, we celebrated the first African-American Emancipation Day, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States… Let us celebrate on this bittersweet day, made the sweeter with Juneteenth now being a federal holiday, with the words of President Obama on June 19. 2016…

“Just outside the Oval Office hangs a painting depicting the night of December 31, 1862. In it, African-American men, women, and children crowd around a single pocket watch, waiting for the clock to strike midnight and the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect. As the slaves huddle anxiously in the dimly lit room, we can sense how even two more minutes seems like an eternity to wait for one’s freedom. But the slaves of Galveston, Texas, had to wait more than two years after Lincoln’s decree and two months after Appomattox to receive word that they were free at last.

Today we commemorate the anniversary of that delayed but welcome news. Decades of collective action would follow as equality and justice for African-Americans advanced slowly, frustratingly, gradually, on our nation’s journey toward a more perfect union. On this Juneteenth, we remember that struggle as we reflect on how far we’ve come as a country. The slaves of Galveston knew their freedom was only a first step, just as the bloodied foot soldiers who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge 100 years later knew they had to keep marching.

Juneteenth is a time to recommit ourselves to the work that remains undone. We remember that even in the darkest hours, there is cause to hope for tomorrow’s light. Today, no matter our race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, we recommit ourselves to working to free modern-day slaves around the world and to honoring in our own time the efforts of those who fought so hard to steer our country truer to our highest ideals.”

here we stand in this moment of eternity, a mere five years later but it feels light years away as we witness and participate in the rising tide demanding that America be the land of the free, demanding that justice for all be the law of the land, demanding that we start funding life re-membering we belong to each other rather than living under the delusion that we are separate leading to funding death and destruction and domination…

i woke up this morning intent on taking former President Obama at his word with this old spiritual singing me… “woke up this morning with my mind on freedom”… grateful to be spending this day with a communion of beings who have devoted decades and decades to bending the arc of the moral universe towards justice and feeling we are witnessing a baby step in the bending toward being beloved community…

may we all wake up each moment with our mind on freedom for all, speaking truth to power and raising hell until we walk the talk of life, liberty and justice for all relatives…