DerykStauder

Pushing All He Owns     CC Jean Stmmell 2017 in SF Our Freedom Only Extends as Far as Our Possessions Reach Edward Burmila recently wrote an insightful piece in the Nation linking economic status with how free we are: People are only as free as they can afford to be. � For Americans, lacking guaranteed access to basic necessities like housing, food, health care��this is a constant dilemma.� ?1 As a result of stagnant wages coupled with the ever-rising cost of living, working folks are often stuck in stultifying jobs they hate, in order to keep health insurance coverage for their family. Many struggle on a precarious treadmill, living one step from disaster, lacking the savings to pay for even a $400 car repair: if you lose your job, you lose everything. Under these circumstances, it�s not surprising that some Americans cling to the only shard of individualism they have left, even if it is pointless and performative.  Burmila says it is these workers, the ones with di...

I photographed this petroglyph in a remote canyon on a private ranch near Abiquiu, NM. It was carved over 1000 years ago by the Anasazi, a Navajo word for �the ancient ones.    �The Spiral is known as an ancient symbol of evolution. One of the oldest symbols of human spirituality in existence, the spiral has been found carved into cave dwellings, rocks and tombs all over the world. It is said to symbolize the evolution of  the universe, the never-ending cycles of growth, change and eternal life as well as the cycles of the seasons.� As Americans, we view time as a one-way street where things are always getting better: We call this progress. But philosophers and sociologists see things differently, viewing our idea of progress as culture-bound, specific only to the modern western world.  It turns out our belief in endless progress grew out of the Enlightenment, a reaction against the medieval belief that God�s will determines our destiny. Over time, the notion of prog...

Above is a recent photo from my garden, featuring garlic scapes, the flower stalk a garlic bulb sends up about three weeks before the bulb can be harvested. Garlic has a long history, even stranger than its convoluted scape shapes. According to old Christian myths, garlic is demonic, springing from Satan�s left footprint, upon his first step on earth after being kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  Being left-handed, I take umbrage that the left side is associated with the devil. The meaning derives from Latin where �sin� is related to both the left side and being evil. Eastern European folklore, on the other hand, had the opposite view, believing garlic gave them protection against evil spirits.  This stance carried over into vampire lore, where garlic was used to ward off werewolves and dastardly bloodsuckers. In one Korean foundation myth, a female bear, after eating nothing but 20 cloves of garlic and Korean mugwort for 21 days, was transformed into a woman. She gave birth t...

This photo shows a 4-hour sequence of star trails captured from the Nature Park  of Noudar in Portugal's Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve.(Image: �  Miguel Claro ) Science first made us arrogant, now it humbles us For most of human evolution, the cosmic forces of the universe were magical, beyond our feeble understanding. We were humble and kept our heads down, acutely aware that we were the lowest denominator in a vast galactic mystery.  But as of late, over the last few hundred years, we have become smug and arrogant, coming to believe, because of our rudimentary knowledge of science, that we know everything � or soon will. We are like the three blind men, in the ancient Indian parable, exploring an elephant, each absolutely sure he ts right. The first feels the trunk and declares the elephant is a snake, the second feels an ear and claims it is a fan, and the third feels a leg and says it a tree trunk. Like the three blind men, the conclusions scientists draw are only valid wi...

These camouflaged, wild ducks I photographed yesterday, symbolize to me what Buddha meant by equanimity:   A mind filled with radiance and warmth of being, loving and compassionate, without hostility or ill-will.

                                                                         Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Nixon talking to protesters on the National Mall, May 9, 1970 When the Fuse is Lit: Vietnam and Now Some times, despite grave injustice, nothing happens for what feels like forever until one day, a fuse is lit, explosively releasing society�s pent up emotion. Based on my history, I�m thinking of Vietnam and now. When I returned from Vietnam in February 1968 to start classes at UNH, the war was already in its second decade � with no end in sight.  Amazingly, the campus still seemed more like the 1950s than the 1960s. Hair was still relatively, short,  dress conventional, and no general outrage about the war.  But that soon changed after a succession of signal events. Increasing opposition ...

Northwood Sacred Ox: 5/30/20 Jean Stimmell�2020 To Buddhists, the ox symbolizes the ultimate, undivided reality,  which is the ground of all existence.