More Ecstatic Sufi Soul

  Vaisnava Meets Sufi, Akbar Looks On (source)

Well,...snow on the mountaintops on June 20! 

A good friend just turned me on to this channel and group [links below]. A music studio in Pakistan, sponsored by Coke (yes, that one!), that's producing video and audio of some of the finest contemporary South Asian musicians. What I hear is some of the best collaborations and arrangements of Eastern and Western music out there today - to me, a perfect balance of virtuosity and instrumentation from both sides. And I mean really "out there", in the highest sense, in particular Sufi soul music and poetry.
Go to COKE STUDIO HOMEPAGE or COKE STUDIO YOUTUBE CHANNEL to listen and/or view many extraordinary sessions. I am posting just three examples, two by the legendary Abida Parveen, and one by Saieen Zahoor. [That's all I could manage to load today, due to being on dial-up.]

I can't think of much to say these days on a mundane or spiritual level, concentrating more on the musical side of things and other non-verbal expressions (with humans and animals), because that's what does it for me, especially in these hard times. And hard times is what's goin' down in Pakistan and the whole of South Asia. I can't think of anything better to do here than spreading the awesome sacred music of the people of these lands. They are all Love Tribe, and my heart goes out to them as they have given me the greatest joys of my sojourn on this Earth. The YouTube comments also clearly express the brotherhood and mutual respect between the varied cultures in this part of the world, contrary to media lies.


[translation]
O my Master
When the invisible revealed himself
He changed his name from Ahad (the One) to Ahmad (the commendable Prophet)
By illuminating this world and the world after
Bahu, who was hidden, also came forth
Allah, My Master
My Beloved has come to my abode
(And when he revealed Himself), my heart could hear the din even within
The one who is unaware is equal to one who is a non-believer
My spiritual guide taught me this
My eyes opened from devotion
I have betrothed my life to Him
I have devoted my life to him
I earned such love
That I realized what death is even before dying
And so discovered the eternal truth
My Beloved has come to my abode
(And when he revealed Himself), my heart could hear the din even within
My Protector…
Ali…
Ghous and Qutab would not come to the levels set
But lovers go beyond that
The levels that lovers reach
Ghaus is unaware of those
Divine lovers remain in unification
For they reside every where yet nowhere
I can sacrifice myself for those
Those who in His proximity
My Beloved has come to my abode
(And when he revealed Himself), my heart could hear the din even within
When I was me, I couldn’t see Him inside
Now that He is apparent, I can no longer see myself anywhere
When that veil of darkness was lifted
There was no need to light a lamp
My Beloved has come to my abode...
I am a puppet, the strings in my Beloved’s hands
I dance in a trance for my love, the way my Beloved wishes
My Beloved has come to my abode...
Bullah, He came and gave me hope
My Protector
Ali


[translation]
You read to become all knowledgeable
But you never read yourself
You run to enter your mosques and temples
But you never entered your own heart
Everyday you fight Satan
But you never fight your own Ego
Bulleh Shah you try grabbing that which is in the sky
But you never get hold of what sits inside yourself
Stop it all my friend
Stop seeking all this knowledge my friend
Only an Alif is what you need
God is Greatness, God is All
I shall follow the Jogi (ascetic/Sufi)
Those who deny the strength of Truth
God does not give them courage
We have drowned in the river of Self
The boat and the flowing waters do not matter


[translation]
O my creator… my lord…
I am famous for my affair with Him
(For that love) infinite sorrows and pain have been repressed
Give me the potion that you gave to Shibli and Mansoor
So that I (Baidam) am also intoxicated by this wine
I am famous for my affair with Him
The tradition of loving God is unique indeed
He who loved God the most, could never be idle again
I am free, I am shelter-less
Wherever I am, I am the whole universe
And though God has no abode but his creation’s heart
All I want to know is that where do I reside?
The sky and earth, and everything in between, cannot contain your being
It is only my heart where you can reside
But where God lives, I am just a speckle there
For him who wants to have a presence, it’s only dust (ash) at his threshold, which can have alms

Grandpa's Catfood Vouchers

Señor Coyote made his appearance in the afternoon in the back yard recently, and the tribe has been serenading the full moon for a while now every evening. We're relieved, and as well for the City council endorsing the state-wide initiative against all trapping on public lands. The fight will be uphill with the psycho bitch governor and her minions, I'm sure, but the vote was unanimous and there's some big name backers on board.

I'm pretty sure the Paul Watson video (Whale Warrior) I posted recently has been pulled. It probably violated copyright codes, in which case I would maybe have to side with Capt. Watson or the producers if it was posted against their wishes. I however do feel it is such an important film, that it wouldn't hurt to have as many views ASAP. I would suggest looking for screenings in your area. Maybe the DVD is for sale?

I bring it up from having had the opportunity to view all 7 parts eventually later, and what I came away most moved by is the answer Capt. Watson  gave to an interviewer onboard at sea to a question about his values and mission:

"It's dangerous & humiliating. The whalers killed whales while green peace watched. Now, you don't walk by a child that is being abused, you don't walk by a kitten that is being kicked to death and do nothing. So I find it abhorrent to sit there and watch a whale being slaughtered and do nothing but "bear witness" as they call it. I think it was best illustrated a few years ago, the contradictions that we have, when a ranger in Zimbabwe shot and killed a poacher that was about to kill a black rhinoceros and uh human rights groups around the world said "how dare you take a human life to protect an animal?" I think the rangers' answer to that really illustrated a hypocrisy. He said "Ya know, if I lived in, If I was a police officer in Harrari and a man ran out of Bark Place Bank with a bag of money and I shot him in the head in front of everybody and killed him, you'd pin a medal on me and call me a national hero. Why is that bag of paper more valued than the future heritage of this nation?"
This is our values. WE fight, WE kill, WE risk our lives for things we believe in... Imagine going into Mecca, walk up to the black stone and spit on it. See how far you get. You’re not going to get very far. You’re going to be torn to pieces. Walk into Jerusalem, walk up to that wailing wall with a pick axe, start whacking away. See how far you’re going to get, somebody is going to put a bullet in your back. And everybody will say you deserved it. Walk into the Vatican with a hammer, start smashing a few statues. See how far you’re going to get. Not very far. But each and every day, ya know, people go into the most beautiful, most profoundly sacred cathedrals of this planet, the rainforests of the Amazonia, the redwood forests of California, the rainforests of Indonesia, and totally desecrate & destroy these cathedrals with bulldozers, chainsaws and how do we respond to that? Oh, we write a few letters and protest; we dress up in animal costumes with picket signs and jump up and down; but if the rainforests of Amazonia and redwoods of California, were as, or had as much value to us as a chunk of old meteorite in Mecca, a decrepit old wall in Jerusalem or a piece of old marble in the Vatican, we would literally rip those pieces of shit limb from limb for the act of blasphemy that they’re committing but we won’t do that because nature is an abstraction, wilderness is an abstraction. It has no value in our anthropocentric world where the only thing we value is that which is created by humans."

I don't know if that's the entire exact quote - I got it off 'wikiquote' - the video is now scrubbed. I think he had the word 'genocide' in there somewhere too....and something about 65 million years' worth of extinction in last 60 years....oh yeah, and about those wacky Chinese and their obsession with consuming powdered penises of most of the endangered animal bredren on the planet.
Now there's a problem for the brilliant Asian scientific minds to occupy their "research" time on and sink their teeth into! Especially after the HUMAN BREAST MILK breakthrough/success (from cloned cows) - almost ready for the supermarket shelves. As did the New Zealander geniuses btw (from cloned goats). Year two thousand and eleven in the Kaliyuga, and Koreans still eatin' dogs ('sexual prowess' or somethin-er-other) as they crank out those Hyundais, Samsungs, and all the other assorted plastic crap for the dumbass 'merkins.  
Dogs. Well, a Jewish Israhelli court ordered the stoning of a dog charged with trespassing (in the courthouse) while embodying the spirit of a formerly expelled judge who had been cursed by associates to transmigrate into that form.... 

Getting burnt out on the unveiling yet? Could we have made this shit up? Did we? Back in those bad acid days?
No more ethnic studies in that shitty little state of Arizona's schools. Them and Colorado and Texas...WTF is up with these assholes surrounding us in the Southwest? Oh, right, we are too...more new fires today, south of Tucson, while we ponder their genius cutting of forest-fire budgets for 2011.
This just in: Jesus is gettin' real pissed that we haven't used up the planet  yet, so the flock needs to get busy [busier?]. Nope. Didn't make it up. Came out of a politician's bum-hole.....As "turey" quoted the Jamaican saying, "di higher di monkey climb, di more him batty show". Ok, you can call it 'apocalyptic'. I don't care anymore. Laughing so's you don't cry is the current mantra.
Uh huh, they want to make more "reforms"....SoylentGreen Inc. will just send grandpa his monthly allotment of coupons for chemical food-like substances and a KingKitty FancyFeast variety-12-pack. Food Stamps: too inefficient, sorry.
The whole food thing is so fucked. Because of the win-win floods [to the extinctionists] on our biggest river systems, we have the corn price doubling from last year's....nice, huh? AND...GMO seeds just a'washing on down South with the currents. It's only half begun....Can't....find.....words....anymore.
Must be some way outta here [said the joker to the thief, too much confusion, can't get no relief, etc etc]

Back in the 'hood....we passed the "Snake Capture-and-Release" course last week. Safely moved two rattlesnakes into and out of a container. Just needed to focus on the reptilian world for a time, while I continue with the bird-world explorations. [guess it's a Shaivite thing (grin)] Many endangered harmless snakes around, and cops have a habit of pulling their guns when called on a snake situation. Or the locals just assume they're all 'possessed' creatures, and grab the nearest weapon. The teacher has done hundreds of snake relocations, as well as managed snakes for the film industry. I'll have to get me some kevlar or plastic chaps ("gators"), then be on call if needed. I got plenty respect for serpent power and the danger involved, but feel comfortable in the endeavor. There was that year in Delhi when I passed some daily quality time with the snake clan family set up in front of Humayun's Tomb in Nizamuddin. Those guys grabbed wild cobras out of old rock walls, with their bare hands, to add to their show. That shit's multigenerational, of course. Here we use long tools/hooks.

Hubble "Owl Goddess"

 
Good sessions with new Owl friend, we'll have our second outing next week with kids. We're both getting more relaxed with each other, or at least he's accepting that he's assigned to 'school' me and he's stuck with the situation.  He is "getting up" on my hand and letting me tie the jesses without too much resistance. But definitely making me do MY half of the 'work'.

Lying Down For Justice: The POSCO Satyagraha in Pictures
[Satyagraha: truth-force/love-force/soul/force/truth-insistence]

All photos: POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti

This is just more ongoing attempts at environmental and cultural destruction insanity in India in the State of Orissa. A steel corporation from Korea is basically GIVEN tribal agricultural land to plunder; goddamn people in the way, bring in the army (India's "Green War"), people decide on satyagraha move to lay down on the ground surrounding village with CHILDREN AND WOMEN bravely taking to the front lines. See for yourself.

India is also just going through a scandal involving the arrest of a famous yoga guru for fasting against the national mafiacracy-cum-govt corruption, the arrest viewed by tens of thousands. The Oriya kids' satyagraha was also all over newspapers and teevee. Impossible to hide anymore, eh?

Did I mention I despise slimy rich Indians? All fanatics, Ram/Krishna-capitalism or whatever...is their excuse. They hate their tribal past, but love their SUVs and 'mobiles'. 

Offended? It's not personal. We're equal opportunity haters here - of all slimy rich morons and planet-rape-enablers. 





Have to end this with a word from writer/researcher/blogger A.Peasant - 
"this is a guerrilla war
we are the guerrillas.
our terrain is the emotional world.
our language is love.
they don't know our terrain.
they don't speak our language.
and we greatly outnumber them.
draw them out and pick them off.
your weapon is the truth.
use it."

Killing Innocence - The Wetiko Obsession

Shiva Family by Kailash Raj, from exoticindia.com

The thoroughly sickening situation regarding kids in our Wetiko-infested world has been brought up in dramatic fashion in recent days, both in S&MSM and in the blogosphere, with articles describing the prison-model school environments and the almost uncountable abuse scandals involving those self-imagined "elites" of the corporate and political spheres, and their massive support-systems of minions. I hesitate to use the word 'abuse', because it comes nowhere close to the actuality of what is and has been for decades and even centuries taking place in the rarified worlds of 'our lords and masters'. We also don't really know where to draw the line that separates the 'minions' and the majority of the human race as it exists today in all of the so-called 'civilized' countries, including amerika, europe, and many places in the middle-east. Almost everyone has a bloody hand in this despicable business, just by participating in the great lies of human 'culture', political, social, financial, and religious. What the 'elites' do filters right on down to our very neighborhoods and cities, and touches all our lives, and is an intricate part of everything that goes on culturally all around us all day every day.

There truly is a War On Kids taking place. It is a subset of the universal War On Life, which prominently features an ongoing War On The Feminine, from girl-child to Mother Earth and everything between. It's also astonishing how many elite, or elite-wanna-be, female-gendered human imposters participate in this abomination. The bitch whore Clinton, like her bitch whore predecessor, continues to express how "unfortunate" and "regrettable" child- and women-deaths in Afghanistan are. Maybe the 'liberals' express it more often, while the 'conservatives' merely growl and mumble something about 'law of the jungle' and 'freedom isn't free', but it's all meaningless posing for their fellow demons and the fellating media gentlemen and ladies of the dark. And everyone who watches, listens, believes, and takes seriously the monstrous cover-illusion being propagated is equally responsible and damned. All mouthpieces who espouse these overwhelming current trends of disenfranchising women and children already on the edge of survival, in the media, the legislatures, and corporate offices need to have their identities recorded and ultimately taken out back and.....well, whatever seems appropriate. Timing is of the essence.
There is a new film on the festival circuit entitled "THE WAR ON KIDS". A trailer and more info is up on the website. Haven't seen it yet, but reckon it's sufficiently horrific.

How in freakin hell, I'm just asking, can something like what we're living in - this race toward total omnicide on all fronts, especially targeting women and children - possibly be believed to be simply arising out of a mutational freak of 'human nature', when we certainly know within ourselves that nothing of the kind of psychosis exhibited existed in our Divine Self at the time of our birth, nor did it apparently exist at any significant level in societies 5000 years previous. Something deeply 'other' has infected and effectively destroyed the 'humanity' - the interconnected human being - of most of the species. The Gnostic and the Vedic and the Indigenous traditions all can lead us to personally and collectively discovering the origins of the world-destroying plague - termed 'demigods' by some, Wetikos by others, but as to a remedy we seem to be left with only self-discovery by whatever means we can muster to re-connect with higher levels of Spirit, including ancestral, Devic, angelic, avataric allies, animal familiars, and such; and if we are graced with karmic fortune, a connection to a living realized being(s) present today in our midst. Basically, all this just leads to a deeper awareness of our own mortality, and the impermanence of all things, as well as the placement of the unborn/undying Self at the center of creation. But we have some inborn sense that Life in this dimension is meant to continue, that youth and innocence are to be treasured and protected, and we carry a debt to those who, in the time of our own innocence, nurtured and bestowed upon us the gifts of overstanding and necessary skills to pass on faithfully like we been told...

The demons apparently figured out a while ago that targeting innocence for destruction is guaranteed to create mass insanity in any species.
In my small world I see astonishingly advanced children almost daily, kids with remarkable abilities in creativity, mental acuity, healing abilities, and general spiritual awareness. I have to conclude that this is also the case in every village and urban environment in the world. I also see them being ruined by unimaginably powerful and numerous forces loose in their wonder-full worlds. The emotions generated sometimes make me unable to breathe while I witness or hear of the amount of senseless abuse going on around where I am (and around the world). And even in our small town the headlines read: "Teachers to be laid off", while millions of scarce dollars are used to build 1) a "judicial complex" [read: huge jail, more cops, more psycho judges]; and 2) a "sports complex/'eco-park'" [to attract more mafioso 'sports' franchises to attract more asinine patrons to the infestation of casinos littering our Rio Grande valley]. Meanwhile the epidemic of child-abuse, battered women, and incest proceeds unabated. I won't even get into the habitat destruction involved in these insane projects....

I have to re-quote blogger A. Peasant here, because I've never found a more perfect statement on the overall world situation with respect to our children, and the shared sentiments of many of us as parents and grandparents -
"The harm to children reverberates in the space that connects the society of normal people. It rips a hole in that divine space of creativity, of spirit, of love that normal people all share in their natural empathy which the media constantly tries to beat out of us with their steady stream of desensitizing violence and porn. And it hurts. You don't have to know the people to feel their pain. You can imagine it. You can empathize, you understand. Words are not necessary when you can feel these things, and it's normal to feel these things. It's universal. It's totally normal to want to rip somebody's jugular out with your bare hands if they hurt a child. That's normal. People don't need to apologize for those feelings, those raw instincts. It helps us survive. Even wild animals like elephants instinctively put their young in the middle of a circle when predators approach. So what is to apologize for? Are we not also created with everything necessary for survival, plus more? Damn straight. We're supposed to be this way, we were made this way and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

So the word is that the new mutant bio-weapon combinate strain of e-coli in Europe TARGETS WOMEN, especially of child-bearing age. Is it all obvious enough yet?
Even better, it has been reported (in the f#%$& INDIA press!, later in UK and various alt. health sites) that in a Canada study of PREGNANT WOMEN living on a diet of GMO shit (yer basic 'supermarket' fare: GM soy, corn, potato), 93% were found to have the insecticidal protein from the "Bt" Mon-satan-o 'engineered' product IN THEIR BLOOD AND IN THEIR UMBILICAL CORDS, so it is clearly mutating the genetics of all future generations. A total Monsanto round-up needs to commence immediately. And world-wide.

Does anyone else find it interesting that ALL the non-human species

The Gentle Barn calf rescue

exhibit, on close observation, what we consider and understand to be the absolute essence of INNOCENCE? We have become an infected and toxic species imbedded within a natural Matrix of thousands of species hardwired to act in ways that preserve balance. The programming has attempted, and mostly succeeded, to entirely delete any consideration of balance, any hesitation to interfere with natural orders, any conscience to question any manner of manipulation of our environment and others who inhabit it, to enshrine our supposed "specialness" and "superiority" above all things of this world. The INNOCENCE, if noticed at all, is to be quickly dismissed from our minds.

That's how we get examples of heartless behavior like the ones previously exposed here last month and last year regarding the severe abuse of calves on 'dairy farms' (Conklin) in Ohio and (E6) in Texas. The ALF-type actions of the group MERCY FOR ANIMALS revealed what many of us have known goes on in "concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)" in the horrific videos released and posted here.
Well, in the latter case, I am happy to report that felony animal cruelty charges have been leveled against the owner and a number of employees in the "E6" Texass case. Furthermore, an organization called THE GENTLE BARN, based in CA,  recently covertly visited with the MFA infiltrator and managed to video the rescue of four chosen calves from the Texass operation. Sure, a drop in the bucket, but the symbology of this action is incredibly inspiring. The Gentle Barn sanctuary's particular focus is the use of all their formerly severely abused animals to assist in the rehabilitation of SEVERELY ABUSED CHILDREN. Many of the children are so traumatized that they cannot express their own painful inner world, but they are able to comprehend and relate to the animals' histories including their newfound freedom, joy, and healing. This has proven to have profound affects on the children's own ability to open and heal, as you might expect. I don't know, but this is an awfully bitchen phenomenon, having huge implications, in my view. A great example of 'right livelihood' and right use of an acquired environment/property.

As the director notes, "dairy farming [in today's world] = veal". That's the simple, stark reality. I have limited my personal dairy consumption to organic cheeses and half-and-half in coffee for last 30+ years. Too much time in India, intimately knowing my revered neighborhood cows, necessity of ghee for Ayurvedic health, [and possibly too many previous Indian lifetimes,] for me to give it up and go completely vegan. The height of sweetness is having the neighborhood cows drop by for a visit and a treat. Matter of fact, 9 cows and a calf just visited here as I took a break from writing this to finish the Cancer Moon plantings in the yard. Just a coincidence, I'm sure. They came by yesterday for the first time as I began this post in a bovine-loving state of mind.

Here's an ALF tribute video out of Spain that I recently came across, with excellent music to accompany the message. (Lyrics translated) [If you don't know the story of "Britches", HERE is the definitive video.]


Turning away from the 'paths'/wetikos, into sanity: Recommending an outstanding article authored by Prahlad Shekhawat entitled SUFISM TO COUNTER FUNDAMENTALISM over at countercurrents.org, an excellent source for all things South Asian.

"The great Mughal emperor Akbar was a keen follower of Khwaza Moinuddin and made annual pilgrimages to his tomb in Ajmer, India. He married a Hindu princess, gave her due respect and her son inherited the throne. He was fond of organizing Sufi dances and musical concerts. His empire extended from Kabul to parts of Burma....Akbar, although a devout Muslim evolved a composite multi-culture and encouraged rational enquiry and inter-faith dialogue to promote understanding and social harmony. Akbar founded a new all faith forum called 'Dine Ilahi' where scholars and spiritual leaders from all faiths were invited to dialogue and learn from each other’s point of view. In his autobiography, Akbar Namah, he affirmed: 'The various religious communities are treasures entrusted to us by God. We must love them as such. It must be our firm faith that He blesses every religion. The Eternal King showers his favors on all men without distinction'."

Aho, OmTatSat