nevermind the bricolage

Enlightenment

I came across this old image of a yogi--advertising the apparent ease of traveling between various dimensions and thought about how appealing that might seem to some--it all seems to simple. Then I discovered Michelle Blade whose work encompasses the human condition, philosophy, spiritual exploration etc. and thought there was an interesting juxtaposition, all these people scurrying up a mountain searching for enlightenment--perhaps this is closer to the way it is.

The painting is called 500 People Climbing Mt. Shasta to Achieve Enlightenment.

Ensor Skulls

James Ensor

Breath 2 Wonder

I helped curate a big event at the Episcopal General Convention this week. It was called Genesis: Breath to Wonder, and was essentially a 7-cycle multi-sensory experience exploring connections--to earth, humanity and the sacred. Breath, sky, water, earth, connectivity, mystery wonder, were the seven sections, each of them formed by different elements, music, poetry, prayer (old and new), yoga, meditation. Brian McLaren took part, he was in the connectivity section and gave some free-flowing thoughts about connectivity and the changing shape of words. Highlights for me were the painter I found, Norton Wisdom and my poet friend Dominic. Wisdom is an LA treasure, he paints on plastic which is lit from behind and he creates spontaneous images in response to what is going on around him. He has been doing this for years and has a large, global following. He came with his own guitar player who uses trippy loops and cool grooves to create wonderful, textured, ambient soundscapes. There is quite a thrill as images emerge, and then a bit of shock when he just wipes them away and starts again. My friend Dominic has a way with words--he is always putting together these fairly spontaneous rhymes about life in the immediate. He rounded out Brian's section with a poem called Connectivity.

Connectivity
Between you and me
Jesus do you love me
If you do text me l.u.v.
Cmon jesus answer me
Text me a.s.a.p.
Yo j, hit me back man
Catch me if you can
I'm the gingerbread man
Twitter me this batman
I fly by night
I google at the speed of light
Receiving information from the a.d.d. generation
Attention deficit spirituality
Fragmented message from a cosmic reality
Forwarded to me
And cc d
The lord downloads in mysterious ways
Maybe these are the last days
Of fear
For those who have a hands free ear let them hear
The beginning is near
Shed a tear for the king of pop
Dance till you drop refresh your laptop
Don't stop till you get enough

Gate

Last week there was a fairly unique gathering, held on one of the major movie studio lots here in Los Angeles. It was the inaugural meeting of a group called, Gate (Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment), a spiritual movement committed to encouraging uplifting and spiritual themes in cinema. Founded by a bloke named, John Raatz, he enlisted the help of Eckhart Tolle, and a number of celebrities, including Jim Carrey, to help get the thing off the ground. Carrey hs always had a spiritual inclination--I actually led a bible study at his home a few years back (which was quite interesting for a number of reasons), so it comes as no surprise to me that he would be involved in something like this--a spiritual movement for entertainers. There is a lot to think about in this whole thing--the 'designer' aspect for instance, the development of a form of spirituality catering particularly to those in the arts, which would seem to follow a wider trend in religion in the West. The involvement of Eckhart Tolle, who seems to be the go-to spiritual teacher of the moment (he is all about "the moment"), underscores the commitment to some kind of practice and discipline. John Raatz, the founder of Gate, is a man with a fairly long history of involvement in films of a particular spiritual nature--he was behind Baraka, for instance. Here's what he had to say about the movement he is trying to get going,
"Transformational media therefore speaks in various ways of wholeness but it’s also a very gossamer term that everybody understands, certainly experientially but even intellectually. So I tend to shy away from using that word. I’ve even said that transformational films or transformational media is simply about life and the process of life, and the unfolding of life in all of it’s various ways and at all of it’s various levels. I haven’t yet created an official definition, one I’m comfortable with, one that I feel includes all the genre represents.
One thing that I do feel that distinguishes transformational media and films, is the intentionality behind the creation of the film or the media project. I think there are filmmakers out there who have created transformational films but they’d not necessarily call what they’re offering a transformational film. It would appear to them to simply be a well told, well produced story about some person or some process or some aspect of life that they find particularly appealing or universal.
They wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a transformational film whereas if you speak with many transformational filmmakers or producers of transformational media products, they will probably be much more explicit in there desire to share with you that there is a particular intention that they might term evolutionary, healing, transformational, or alternative or progressive..."
I don't know where this will go, and I haven't had the chance to check it out personally because it is invitation only at present (invitation-only religion, that's another conversation to be had I think!), but I will keep my eyes and ears open on this one and see what shakes out.

Ash

From dust we came, to dust we return.

Illuminated?

Looking more like a high-end magazine than a book, The Bible Illuminated, is another attempt to put the Bible in a contemporary form. The accompanying website declares,
"Illuminated World seeks to introduce today’s audience to a revolutionary contemporary Bible, one that encourages dialogue and is culturally relevant, readily accessible and easily digestible for any reader regardless of religious, economic, racial or social background.
We have no religious agenda and support no specific faith. Bible Illuminated is intended to be a unique vehicle for reacquainting today’s reader with one of history’s most important texts."
There are some cool, and occasionally provocative images, and a surprising use of the King James text. It's funny that many contemporary versions (the Canongate Press Pocket Canons, also used KJV) use what is surely one of the more inaccessible translations. I guess it's the classic, poetic style that gives it a kind of gravitas? Anyway, this is more than worth a look, although I think that if the creators want people to reacquaint themselves with the Bible, they might want to explore using a more readable text.

MagicAL MistaKes

I went to hear Richard Rohr speak last night at St. Monica's, the local, and thriving, Catholic church. He was giving a seminar about Advent. He's a great speaker, I enjoy the wide range of things he manages to draw upon and together. There were many 'quotables,' I particularly liked some of his comments about prayer, mostly because I am not not much of a formal 'prayer' and haven't been for some time, so I always pay attention when someone speaks about prayer to see if there is something I have been missing. Prayer, according to Rohr is simply learning to see with new eyes, and he regards that as the supreme task of the spiritual life. Rohr is pretty bold and confrontive when it comes to the church, even though as a Franciscan, he is deeply embedded in it-he talks a lot about low-level Christianity and the 'roman mind' which he believes needs to be humiliated a bit more before it will finally relinquish its hold over the religious domain. I actually went to see Rohr because Spencer, a friend of mine, was going to be there and I wanted to catch up with him, but because of Rohr's insight and generosity, I got some great things to think about and act upon.

Pew

A large article in the Los Angeles Times today revealed that the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has finally released the results of a massive survey about spirituality in America. Some early results, released in February, showed that Americans were switching religious affiliations in record numbers and that many more were abandoning ties to organized religions altogether. The more specific results released yesterday have some interesting pointers about California. Firstly, it really is different from the rest of the country, particularly with regard to religious practice. Californians apparently, are less religious and much less certain about the existence of God than the rest of the nation. They don't pray as much, are less inclined to take scripture literally, and are much more pluralistic, embracing more than one way of interpreting religious teachings. Californians are also more accepting of homosexuality than the rest of the country

Dharma Punx

Noah Levine is out to start a spiritual revolution of his own. A lifelong punk, he has furnished his spiritual life with a deep well of surprising and insghtful explorations of Buddhism in America using his punk-past as a launching pad. I have been to hear him teach and lead meditations a few times and find him to be a really compelling speaker and all-around radical. His group, Dharma Punx, have recently launched a new venture, a Buddhist meditation center here in LA called, Against the Stream (the title of his last book), a place where he intends to reframe Buddhist thought and practice. His/their philosophical approach is decidedly Western, this is buddhism contextualized for a new audinece of disctinctly western practitioners, and the site (www.againsthtestream.org) will give much more detail about who they are and what they are up to.

Dear GoD

From the coolhunter comes a new and provocative site dedicated to spirituality in the 21st century. Dear-God is a new approach to web-based spirituality, a sort of post-secret confessional destination. The intention is to get people from around the world to unburden their lives, coolhunter says, "Dear God is completely non-denominational and the term god is used in the broadest sense – encompassing every religion’s concept of a higher power; be it a Christian god, a Muslim god or simply a fluid idea of universal energy. In its first week, the site has sparked an organic revolution, with people all over the world embracing the opportunity to unburden themselves, to share their hopes and fears with others in an effort create hope, healing, inner peace and clarity." The site comes from a trend spotting site with a keen eye for both cultural  desires and focus, but also with a sharp sense of design. I have been saying for a while that design will eventually make a significant contribution to spirituality in the 21st century and here is perhaps another signifier.