Anda #7 - July 22, 2023
An especially eclectic and fun edition. Andas are where I share associative blobs of links to what I’ve been exploring, seeing, listening to, and reading.
Jaya Kula community member Susan Fauman makes magical, talismanic jewelry!
Over the coming months in these Anda posts, I’ll be featuring Jaya Kula community members who offer exemplary services and beautiful objects.
Stay tuned!
Into the Heart of the Mountain - a forthcoming, feature length film by Annegre Bosman about Roshi Joan Halifax’s Nomads Clinic and Buddhist feminist perspectives. Gorgeous and moving!
Where did the word “woke” come from? When Huddie Ledbetter coined “woke,” it meant that when you’re a Black person, you need to stay woke to stay alive.
Dimi Mint Aba - Mauritanienne singer and instrumentalist. Most likely, you have never heard music such as this. A revelation.
William Shatner finally travels to space at age 90 and discovers that the final frontier is learning to take care of Earth.
“Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe. I thought I would experience a deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration."I was absolutely wrong. The strongest feeling, that dominated everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced.
"I understood, in the clearest possible way, that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, of adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting so starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet.
"This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realized that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I did my share in popularizing the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is and will stay our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable."
~ William Shatner
I’m a Virgo - Boots Riley creates a new Oakland-based, Black, anti-capitalist, superhero who’s into kindness and healthy food for body, mind, and spirit.
Recent Democracy Now interview with director Vinay Shukla and journalist Ravish Kumar on While We Watched, the soon-to-be-released documentary about journalism in India today.
The Hundred Most Holy Places on Earth - an annotated list from Patheos’ Sacred Space Initiative.
Zen teacher Zenju Earthlyn Manuel holds the relative and the absolute together in her brilliant essay “Awakening Fueled by Rage.”
And I couldn’t resist adding this little plug for Soapgirl: purveyor of the nicest goat milk and other handmade soaps, elixers, and potions. You can get ONE bar of goat milk soap and use it for both body and shampoo. Doesn’t dry anything out, creates no plastic waste. Plus, when you have only a single bar of soap in your shower and no nasty plastic bottles, it sparks joy and is aesthetically very cool. Comes in a bunch of flavors. There are even more flavors if you stray from the goat milk herd. Made in Texas.