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daily renewal


 

Evening

and nighttime are

times of rest for cultivated people.

Accordingly you should withdraw into the

chamber of spirit and embrace oneness without

parting. Since there are no worldly feelings enveloping

you, neither is there an original sublime truth —

when you are like a dead man for the time

being, that is called great rest. After you

get to the point of dreaming and

sleeping without becoming

muddled, you see the

effect of mastering

seriousness.

 

Then

the following morning

is the time for the cultured person’s

“daily renewal”. Accordingly, you should rise

early and daily seek what you have yet to attain,

with the determination to do ten times or a hundred

times what others do. The days become months, the months

become years; those who study without question of how

long it takes, be it three years or five years, never

fail to reach sagehood. When you are mindful

at every moment, nurturing it with each

breath, the work is never interrupted;

perfected day after day and month

after month, learning will

shine with light.

 

The Cultivator of Realization

the master keeps her attitude unstructured

 

There is

no one method for

attaining realization of the Tao.

To regard any method as the method is

to create a duality, which can only delay your

understanding of the subtle truth. The mature

person perceives the fruitlessness of rigid,

external methodologies; remembering this,

she keeps her attitude unstructured at

all times and thus is always free

to pursue the Integral

Way.

 

She studies the

teachings of the masters.

She dissolves all concepts of duality.

She pours herself out in service to others. She

performs her inner cleansing…gently eliminating all

obstacles to her own understanding, she constantly

maintains her unconditional sincerity. Her

humility, perseverance, and adaptability

evoke the response of the

universe and fill her 

with divine

light.

 

from Hua hu Ching, Chapter 18

 

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psa from my inbox: the future is to be defended

How did we arrive here? A planet on the brink of collapse due to the greed of a few and the plundering of the Earth. As the network of resistances Futuros Indigenas states: “the 12th October of 1492 disembarked from Europe the illness that we know today as the climatic and civilizational catastrophe.”

Between the fifteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century, the number of death reached 56 million, 90% of the population prior to colonization in Abya Yala (also known as America) was exterminated by enslavement, hunger and pandemics used as a strategy of war. If that wasn’t enough, 15 million people were traded like commodities and forced to leave their homes in Africa to be enslaved in the new colonies. In the modern era, between 1970 and 2020, 94% of the animal population has been exterminated in Abya Yala. In those same years the wealth of the 1% has literally, rocket launched.

COP26 is around the corner. Nation States and Corporations will gather together to negotiate the future. But what makes us think that those who prioritize profit over people and the planet will be willing to make the structural changes that our present needs? It is upon genocide and ecocide that the western civilization was imposed: colonialism, capitalism and racism are the building blocks of what we know today as climate crisis. Climate solutions need social justice.

That is why today we honor those who have resisted for 529 years. Those who with their diverse ways of knowing and being have cared for what matters the most: life. Those who survived and with their actions are showing us the path. As of 2021, 80% of the remaining biodiversity exists and resist in indigenous territories around the world. Land defenders are living alternatives to the climate crisis.

In preparation for the upcoming Culture Hack Content Labs we share with you this briefing document to set the context for our webinar. Culture Hack Labs has been tracking an emerging narrative space that looks at the relationship between Indigenous custodianship and climate collapse. During the briefing on Oct 15 at 11am CST, we will share what narratives can be amplified in defense of cultural and ecological life in times of climate crisis, pandemics and war.

This is a call to journalists, artists, media hackers, community organizers, content creators, and funders. We need your support to help create more awareness around the role of Indigenous stewardship of land as a critical solution to the climate emergency. We invite you to be part of the resistance. We invite you to take action and amplify the stories and voices of those who are on the front lines defending the future.

 

download the briefing

 

quiet emptiness, drifting without direction

 

Learning the way means not wasting time;

diligent practice, over and over, is required.

We never know what we’re after at first —

just an abstract idea.

Step by step, we get a handle on things,

we learn to bear all kinds of burdens, 

even worry.

 

When our heart is empty the light of Tao shines within us,

yet this radiance should not be displayed.

The sublime has all manner of power;

acknowledging this allows us to enlighten the lost.

 

A slim and willowy lady is what the gentleman sought,

but not all women are submissive.

In the end they walk their own different ways.

Clouds and mud divide our lonely boats.

 

Quiet emptiness,

drifting like clouds without direction:

coming and going without hindrance.

This is the true Way.

 

Real power is empty, without image.

Like buddha-nature, its blessings are sublime:

no sound, no form, no color.

 

Loy Ching-Yuen