WAKENED

One minute past 1 a.m.Sunday September 6th 2020 Window View Photo taken at 7:30 p.m. Saturday September 5th

Wakened suddenly at midnight. Why? Just because. So I'm Listening to poetry-Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “I Am Waiting” from A Coney Island of the Mind.

Saturday evening I had a brief and cordial conversation with my nephew, assuring him thatI'm fine and asking after his well being, sending hugs to my Sister in law, his mother. I've seen nothing of either of them since my brothers wake last year in December. His Mass Card sat with other departed ones on the main altar at my zendo for 49 days-a comfort to me having the Sangha to share my loss with.

SAVED by BEAUTY

“I believe the world will be saved by beauty.”
So claims Prince Lev Nikolyaevich Myshkin, the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky's great novel, 'The Idiot'.

 The life and work of Dorothy Day, the iconic, celebrated, and controversial Catholic whom Pope Francis called a “great American”, told with illuminating detail by her granddaughter.

https://youtu.be/n2gRRMbJxDU

Dorothy Day
(1897-1980)
A prominent Catholic, writer, social activist, and co-founder of a movement dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor. Her life has been revealed through her own writings as well as the work of historians, theologians, and academics. What has been missing until now is a more personal account from the point of view of someone who knew her well. Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty is a frank and reflective, heartfelt and humorous portrayal as written by her granddaughter, Kate Hennessy. *Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty" challenges ideas of plaster saints and of saintly women. Day is an unusual candidate for sainthood. Before her conversion, she lived what she called a “disorderly life,” during which she had an abortion and then gave birth to a child out of wedlock. After her conversion, she was both an obedient servant and a rigorous challenger of the Church. She was a prolific writer whose books are still in print and widely read. While tenderly rendered, this account will show her as driven to do good but dogmatic, loving but judgmental, in particular with regards to her only daughter, Tamar. She was also full of humor and laughter, and could light up any room she entered. *An undisputed radical heroine, called “a saint for the occupy era” by The New Yorker, Day’s story unfolds against a backdrop of New York City from the 1910s to the 1980s and world events spanning from World War I to Vietnam. This thoroughly researched and intimate biography provides a valuable and nuanced portrait of an under-sung and provocative American woman.

https://www.amazon.com/Dorothy-Day-Intimate-Portrait-Grandmother/dp/1501133969

New Yorker Article
"Radical Faith"
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/13/dorothy-days-radical-faith

Thursday
8.27.2020
2:30 p.m.
Manhattan Window View
The air is warm and damp carried through open windows into these rooms three flights above the street. There's sweet sandalwood incense burning and the big box fan is making its welcoming white noise, blending all the elements. That cloud carries a message of storm.

CALM RETURNS JOY RISES

Tuesday

8.4.2020

11:15 p.m.

The storm passed as all things do. The air returned to warm and I slept a while. We never lost power. Lucky. Only a few branches and foliage fell and were immediately swept up by police personnel. The second night of this full 'sturgeon' moon rose and calm prevails here, though I know there was much damage elsewhere thanks to face book friends, but no serious injuries in my circle. Caring thoughts for those in the storms track who lost much, were injured or died.

Wednesday
8.5
8:15 a.m.


Joy

https://youtu.be/AqKHALkqiOU

STORM

Monday

8.3.2020

11:30 p.m.

The sky is yellow tinged and there is a feeling of 'impending' in the thin breeze tonight. I am prepared with Battery radio and a crank up weather unit, flashlights, batteries, candles in glass, water and food. My old land line can plug into the jack directly if the answer machine fails. I will miss the internet and TV if we lose power. 

Manhattan Window View

 Tuesday
8.4.
6 a.m.

No rain yet, but it is rolling in and I'm hyper-vigilant with anticipation. Still unwell and feeling weak. Gifts arrived from Jude Hill, so I can make cream of rice which will be soothing. Caring friends are also soothing and two others offered to send supplies as well. I think the relative isolation of the past months has worked its way into my psyche reactivating old fears.
10:30 a.m.
Had a most comforting and entertaining phone conversation with Sensei, Robert Chodo Campbell and that feeling of loneliness evaporated.

Outside the trees are dancing and the warm wind feels good. The storm is due to break after noon. We're 6 long blocks from the East River, so even if it floods, it's most unlikely to reach us. I'm content.

Equanimity
https://tricycle.org/magazine/perfect-balance/?fbclid=IwAR35-EdqmrjW7ROww063dkyy_IlQLNCIOKLDZtCfWHsnMMpENjrnt5Iq3fo

Storm Report

https://abc7ny.com/weather/hurricane-isaias-headed-toward-nyc-warnings-issued/6338560/?fbclid=IwAR2AhCH1nUvObRIzthBKs51muOoR1mKuRRke47d8rQFl30e8lOdz-I8JewM

*

INSPIRATION

JULY 29th 2020

Manhattan Window View West

7:30 a.m.

Words That Changed The World

with Jeremy Irons and Carey Mulligan

"For 15 years, Intelligence Squared has vigorously championed the spoken word. The finest speakers from across the globe have come to our stage — to argue, to move, to persuade and change minds. Their speeches epitomise the vital role that public speaking plays in our lives. To celebrate the power of oratory, we held a major event which will showcase how great speeches have swayed the course of history and demonstrate how, more than ever, we need them to help define our values and who we are."

(1 and 1/2 hours of worthwhile words that lift language with note that each is a historical fact and an integral representative of the time in which each was delivered)
NOTE
IF THE VIDEO TAKES TOO MUCH TIME TO LOAD- CLICK ON THE URL BELOW THE PICTURE

https://youtu.be/xegAFhfIbHU 

7 p.m.
After Zoom Zendo Meditation
Beyond the din and clamor of my silent City, above these dark caverns, the moon appears.
'
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