Election over, Life Can Now Go Back to Normal

What a relief. Now I can get back to the groove I was in until they put Bush in the White House...

I've just created a massive, four hour sound-experience of selections of Gertrude Stein, some from her autobiography which is pleasant storytelling about Bohemian Paris circa 1907-17, and the Birth of Cubism. The other 3 hours are renditions of Stein's experimental poetry - renditions that I've been wanting to produce since 1972, when I first discovered Gertrude Stein.

They're not for everybody - they're really trippy - the Chef d'Ouvre is "Patriarchal Poetry" - this video is the first ten minutes of that 65 minute piece. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch

The whole four hour extravaganza is organized here:
www.archive.org/details/Po...illaCuronia

Kirtan Summit

The Kirtan Summit was spectacular! I'm so inspired now it's almost impossible to sit still! I've been developing lots of new kirtan using Hebrew and Aramaic, and alternate freely with Sanskrit, and I love my harmonium. We've done some actual kirtans and I've made a website now to corral all of the information about it: www.kirtanjah.org.

I've also been leading "Four Worlds" meditations that combine Kabbalistic ideas, William Blake, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Tao te Ching, Navajo pollen rites, and Ekhart Tolle, accompanied with harmonium and Tibetan standing bells, taking people to some deep places....

It's all about bhakti and simcha - and broadening horizons. I'm going to Berkeley, Lama Foundation, and the Rainbow Gathering this summer. [The picture is of the Maqbara hermitage where I'm going to spend a few days in deep contemplation....]

Jai Jai Gurudeva - Tehallel Yah

Gemini - Sivan / Tammuz - Beltaine

This picture is right outside my window where I work.

Lots of activity! Here's some slices:

new movies:
www.youtube.com/ekadasarudra - freaky, fun stuff

www.youtube.com/xcalicoco - Kabbalah and ambient videos

www.youtube.com/rafisimcha - videos accompanying me playing the piano

www.youtube.com/oldnewsclipster - old news clips

Here's the Kabbalah group I organize
kabbalah.meetup.com/255/

New Moon Aries / Taurus - Rosh Chodesh Iyar - Sefirat ha Omer

Tiferet sh'be Tiferet - Ruach Nachon Chadesh b'Kirbenu - Linton Kwesi Johnson - glicky dred - bin makin videos on youtube.com
- pranayama - asana - dance & the LCD projector is happening, thus enviro-ritual-learning party fun!

Coming soon: Ameba Clothing on Geraldo Rivera, The Sun King, Video Sex Gluttons and lots more

www.youtube.com/watch

Carving the very air with word edge, fine distinction, and Ruach ha Kodesh

I've been leading and participating in so much great group ritual lately! My own mystical-visual Kabbalat Shabbat Friday night, complete with K'Gavna and Atkinu Seudata, both Sefirotic unification invocations, and a big dinner. 12 people came. I led Shabbat services Saturday, about 60 people were there! I used Smetana's "Moldau" theme for B'riech Shmei during the Torah service - it's breathtaking. People really love the way I lead, and say my Hebrew is beautiful. There are so many different tunes to remember, besides all of the difficult language - it's quite exhilirating.

Havdalah was at Rabbi Hoffman's and that's always a nice way to come out of my 3 hour Saturday afternoon nap. Larry Grunfest said something hilarious. He never says a word and looks like he's half asleep, and then he'll say one word that will totally crack everyone up. We were talking about choices, and all of life's issues about making them, and the Rabbi says "Larry what do you think?," and Larry stirs out of his half-slumber and says - "Uh, yeah, I'm pro-choice -" - anyway, and there was some really good kugel, salmon and wine . . .

Sunday morning davening is always amazing - with a guitar, tambourines, and our loud voices, I'm sure we can be heard several houses down. Now Josh Sachs has been showing up - his Hebrew is right up there with Will's, the Rabbi's and mine - we are a powerhouse! Such diction! Such force! Like a team of fresh horses, we launch the morning and the week with vigor and courage, creating harmony and energy unparalleled. We are Jedi, generating a wave of holiness, and riding the half-pipe of creation itself. I'm SO grateful to the Creator Before Time for allowing all of this to happen (¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.->

Dances of Universal Peace is really great, too. It happens every wednesday night and there are usually about 40 to 50 people, dancing in concentric circles around a little band on the round rug in the center - a clarinet, flutes, drums, mandolines, accordion, etc. The leader plays a guitar, and teaches us first the words, in anything from Hawaiian to Hopi, and the tunes, and then the steps, and we do 8 or 10 different dances each week. I've gone 6 times and only done the same dance over one time. We do dances from India, or China, or Russia - it's really great. www.dup-co.com/index.html

I was at Shambhala Mountain for a week, meditating and doing yoga - the food was perfect, 90% vegetarian and some fish, the setting is beautiful, and the learning was brilliant. It was BuJu - a Buddhist/Jewish melange that hits a lot of notes. I took some pictures of the Stupa of Dharmakaya that Liberates Upon Seeing.
Pictures: www.flickr.com/photos/ocosingo/
Shambhala Mountain: www.shambhalamountain.org

Our Tarot and Kabala groups have been good too. I want to combine the Yoga/Dream group into a generalized arts/drumming/performance troupe, we'll see how that goes.

There's so much to do! I've also been learning Bach's French Suites for piano - they are increèble!

Ah, yes, and Monday Talmud - we've been meeting for 6 years now, and we're on page 14. It's quite interesting to have this same thread of thought going all of this time with the same people, 90 minutes a week . . . we're studying tractate Chagigah - ostenstibly a discussion of the 3 Biblical festivals - but we've talked about the 7 levels of heaven, and the green thread that encircles the universe, and the river of fire, and the sweat of the angels dripping on the souls in Gehinnom - it's really out there!

My syncretic look at Judaic and Vedic thought: torahveda.org

Check out Daniel Tammet, neo-sapiens - functional, well-adjusted autistic savant who recited pi to 22,514 digits with no errors in 5 hours, who can instantly recognize any prime number, who sees numbers as colors and shapes, who learned Icelandic in one week, and who wowed them on Letterman: www.optimnem.co.uk/

Equinox - Spring - Aries - Channel it - Guard it - Ride it - Care For it - May the Force Be With You

Expanded memory, smooth sailing

My new computer is amazing! 4 gigs hardrive, 500 gigs ram . . . it glows in the dark!

Our yoga group is happening - we may perform at the Mercury Cafe! You can see more pictures at yoga.meetup.com/404/.

I just discovered this incredible artist, Luke Brown, a luminary in the school of Robert Venosa and Alex Gray. Very inspiring: spectraleyes.com/

Deep meditation - the harmony resonates in ever growing circles. . .

Creation - Manifestation

The Sunset Yoga group is taking shape - last night we had 12 people! We have a real, official "teacher" now, and it was really nice to be doing yoga by the fountains and the sunset with a group of people. I'm envisioning us doing yoga-performance by lakes, flowerbeds, rivers, and at events where spectators can become participants.... You can see our altar in the pavilion above.

Our "Library Shabbat" services have been well attended [18 people last time] and raved about. [I'm also delighted that people are calling it "The KLS" - sounds like "The KLF" or something...] The siddur I've been creating is getting more refined, and it's really gratifying to facilitate people into a meaningful spiritual experience. Several people who have been long-estranged are actually showing up and participating, which feels great. The friction with the more orthodox factions of our community is easing up too, since the two really don't conflict. Tomorrow I'm leading the orthodox service, and I don't hold back - it's 2 1/2 hours of dense Hebrew and Aramaic with all kinds of complex melodies and call-response parts, and I feel it demonstrates that there's something for everyone, and that it's all legitimate. My Hebrew is now to the point that when I daven, I carve the air with flaming syllables - crackling letters of fire that bend the very light - Jaws drop, goosebumps appear, and hearts open...

My computer guru is coming over Sunday, and after that I will have a "screaming" system, as he puts it - I will essentially be able to time-travel with it - I'm on a system that's not changed since 1996 - so after that I'll be able to fiddle with this blog among other things FROM HOME, so I don't have to do it at work clandestinely....

Also, I've just re-connected with my good friend, mentor, and piano teacher, who I haven't heard from since 1993 - he's living in Chiang Mai Thailand! He's been there 10 years, speaks fluent Thai, and runs his own sporting goods business! The first thing he said was "come live here, you'd love it!" If we can't restore legitimate government in the USA in November, I might just do it. If Bush and the Neocons can't be called to account, it will be too late for western democracy, and I'm expatriating ASAP.

Here's a great quote:
Great people talk about ideas.
Average people talk about events.
Small people talk about other people.

Also, here's an insane link. The subject matter is utterly psycho, but the website is Really Cool.
www.armorofgodpjs.com/

Midsummer 2006 - Formation

Things are happening! We've been having weekly Sunset Yoga meetings in the park, and more are scheduled, with guest teachers. We've been developing an alternative "Library Shabbat" service at Kohelet, and it is very well recieved, because it makes it easier for people with less experience in Hebrew to have a meaningful spiritual experience.

I went to the Rainbow Gathering, and had an amazing time at Jerusalem Camp, where I met many profound people and had many deep meditative experiences. I learned many new tunes and concepts, and regard the entire week as a high point in my life.

There is a HUGE amount more at the Gathering than can be experienced in one visit, and I saw many things I would like to have had more time to enjoy. Next year I will go earlier and stay longer.

I also went to Aish Kodesh in Boulder and ran into some people that were at the Gathering, heard some really good live music, and refreshed my inspiration. Here's a link to an mp3 file of some music from the Gathering - I called it "cosyidisodred" - nothing like those dredlocked yids - the light of the world....
kohelet.org/go/web/to/ko...idisodred.mp3

Here's a picture of an [1/2] hourglass I made from a kit I got at klockit.com - I used the dremel tool to carve the sun and moon in the top and bottom.

It's a constant challenge to keep positive with the situation in the world today. Patience takes practice, and if we didn't have adversity, we'd never get to practice...

Springtime in the Rockies

The very air seems to burst with possibility. I'm helping with an exhibit on the main floor of the Library that hundreds of people will see, that we're calling "What Does Democracy Look Like?" - we're hoping to raise people's conciousness before November...

I'm also helping craft an alternative service at our shul that will have simpler Hebrew, more repetitive chants, more English, and more meditative silences. This is a very exciting project and one that people have been clamoring for for years.

I never get enough time for meditation and practice / yoga, I guess that's good in a way, it keeps me hungering for it...