Kudos
Caring Deeply: Missoula Couple Working to Dig a Well in Zanzibar
Clean water. For Missoula residents Said and Sara Hemed, it would be a dream come true if they could finish digging a well in Said’s native Zanzibar village so people there could have water to drink and use for washing -- without having to walk a mile to a water pump and haul it back in buckets.
Said (pronounced sye'-dee) and his wife, Sara, a Montana native, have other dreams too. They want to provide classes for adults and children on the six acres Said owns in Mchekeni, a village of about 300 people in Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania.
Along the way, they’ve launched a group, Artisans for Africa, and are selling handmade arts and crafts -- batik purses, screen-printed fabrics, leather baby booties, jewelry -- to raise the money needed to finish digging a well on the property.
The Mindful Life with Waylon H. Lewis
May “I” Be Of Benefit
I’m a “Dharma Brat,” the nickname—for the first generation to grow up from the get-go with the terrible technological brilliance of the West and the esoteric wisdom of the East—is said to be a mishmash of “Army Brat” and Kerouac’s “Dharma Bums.”
In any case, when you grow up Buddhist, you notice that everyone’s always sitting around. They call it meditating. As a child, I remember wanting to yell at a building-full of meditators at Karme Chöling, in Vermont, “What are you afraid of! It’s a gorgeous day! Get out there and live!” Only later did I realize what hard work it was. Working with your mind. Becoming friends with oneself. Seeing through the incessant blah bla blah that speeds by so fast that, like a spinning tire, it looks solid. We look solid, that is: we think we exist. From there comes the urge to preserve and protect. From there comes the us vs. them mentality. From there comes ego, which is something I know all about.
But if I didn’t holler at them there Buddhists, they sure did at me. When you’re a child living at a Buddhist retreat center in the middle of nowhere (the exact middle: Barnet, Vermont), what happens is you get told to shush a lot. I was a just a kid. I ran and jumped instead of walking and laughed and yelled instead of talking. That didn’t go over so well with the meditation crowd.
The mindful life with Waylon H. Lewis
An American Bigot
Man sees woman, man awkwardly approaches woman, woman gives number, man calls nervously, man/woman go for walk, man/woman go for drink, man/woman go dutch (these days) on dindin, man/woman go on two more dates (that’s the law) and spend a warm, raw, love-filled night together. Man/woman fall in love, get married, have children.
And that’s how the human races perpetuates this tragicomedy known as this precious human birth.
What’s the root of all this? It’s that tender love. And you don’t have to be a man/woman to share it. You can be a mom/baby, a dad/grandma, a boy/dog, a poet/moon. Love makes the world go around—and, like taste, you can’t legislate it.
The Mindful Life with Waylon H. Lewis
Why “elephant”?
I publish a little magazine, called 'elephant.' We've been around for 4 plus years, now, we print 35K eco-copies of each issue, we're available in five states in the Rockies, and we're just starting to go national. We focus on 'the mindful life' -- living a good life that also happens to be good for others (most folks just do one or the other--witness my mom, a poorly-paid teacher, who is all about others but lives in a one-bedroom, unheated apartment -- or your average hedge fund manager with requisite 10,000 square foot mansion in Greenwich with indoor squash court, underground parking garage and beachfront access).
The Mindful Life with Waylon H. Lewis
Today’s To-Do List: 1) Gay Rights 2) Animal Welfare 3) Save the Planet
Each generation inherits (and strips away, and adds on) a layer (or two, or 2,000) of history (or karma) from its ancestors. We don't only inherit a working knowledge of science; inventions such as light bulbs, 2-ply recycled toilet-paper and 5-blade razors and cars and solar panels; and traditions such as tea ceremony and baseball -- but we inherit Victorian houses, family and national feuds, poetry, beer, bicycles…etc.
We also inherit prejudices. Two centuries ago, poor folk weren't allowed the vote. A century ago, womenfolk weren't allowed the vote. Then came Civil Rights. Then feminism. Next three on the list, in my sage opinion?
The Mindful Life with Waylon H. Lewis
Toshiro Mifune, Willy Ryken, Cary Grant & Cyndi Lee—vs. the World.
Christians may be excused if they look upon 2006 as a dark time: for pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth are in rampant excess, for sale at every 7-11, as seen on TV.
Those heathens, the Buddhists, couldn’t agree more. They call this ‘the dark age,’ when even devoted ‘warriors’ for peace and gentleness are losing heart. One of the signs of this ‘dark age,’ it’s said, is a lack of respect for one’s elders (reverence is a value particularly pronounced in Confucianism, the Tao and Tibetan Buddhism—three ways of life that, less than welcome in their native country, survive primarily in $90 textbooks that college freshman have to, but don’t, read).
